The isekai genre has really taken the anime world by storm in the last few years. The simple premise of a hero from the modern world being summoned or reincarnated into a fantasy setting has been seen being played straight, played for laughs, and even turned entirely upside down with exciting twists on the formula.

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While there is plenty of good isekai out there, the genre has a habit of running rampant, and there are plenty of tropes in them that get used a little too often, to the chagrin of fans. The isekai craze, weirdness, clichés, and all have spawned some really hilarious memes on the upside.

10 The Isekai Starter Pack

Isekai Starter Pack Meme

With isekai being a new constant flavor in each new season for anime releases, viewers become increasingly more aware of the genre's most basic and common tropes. So much though that one could actually make a "starter pack" for beginners who are just starting to take a look at isekai anime, something like what's see in this meme here.

This meme boils down isekai to its most common elements. This includes skills that the protagonist either has already or gets over time, a villainous demon king the hero has to defeat, a harem that the hero ends up attracting (one of the more divisive tropes in the genre), and finally the method of transport to these alternate world (usually by crashing into the protagonist), a truck.

 

 

SAO vs Digimon...vs Wizard of Oz, owlturd comic Isekai Meme

There's a bit of debate and speculation as to what was technically the first big popular isekai when discussing the topic. When traced back to what may have kicked off the current craze, some would point to Sword Art Online. Obviously, though, SAO was not the first to ever do it, and some anime fans end up pointing to the first season of Digimon as the true first popular isekai.

In this meme template of the funny Owlturd comic, this debate goes on, but one hooded figure throws a wrench into the argument, implying that the classic movie The Wizard of Oz is actually the first popular isekai. Unexpected, but really funny to think about.

 

8 "It's Isekai Time."

It's Rewind Time, Isekai Truck Meme

Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. While most isekai protagonists don't really see themselves as wanting to be reincarnated in another world, there is something to be said about tempting fate. This is especially so when one of the most common methods of getting there is being hit by a truck.

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In this meme, we see Chiaki from the anime Gamers! doing just such a thing, and in the bottom panel, it's revealed that Truck-kun (pasted over the body of Will Smith) has heard her. What sends this over the top is the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure-style "menacing" characters beside good ol' Truck-kun.

 

7 "But Did You Die?"

Subaru, Isekai protagonist meme, but did you die?

Not every isekai protagonist is so wrapped up in the themes of "death and rebirth", but it is a constant trope in the genre. Regardless, isekai heroes have their good days and their bad days, but none may have it rougher than Subaru of Re:Zero.

This meme sees Subaru and several other isekai heroes (including Naofumi from The Rising of the Shield Hero, Kirito from SAO, and

Tanya von Degurechaff from Saga of Tanya the Evil) in a scene from The Hangover Part II. Considering all the suffering Subaru has gone through, the "Did you die?" question is all the more hilarious.

 

6 Trees Can Get Isekai'ed Too!

Isekai Tree, Truck-kun meme

With the number of truck drivers that accidentally send isekai protagonists to other worlds, it's amazing that they haven't gotten into any other kinds of accidents. In this meme, however, Truck-kun's reign of terror is almost stopped as it slams straight into a tree, but in truth, the tree has now been thrown into an isekai.

On top of being just a hilarious and unexpected twist, the tree ends up speaking and has an anime-style face too as it finds itself in a new world. Given that some characters have been reincarnated as slimes, spiders, and even a vending machine, an isekai about a tree doesn't seem too far off.

 

5 Isekai Boys & Isekai Girls

Isekai Boys & Girls Meme, Matrix

If it's one thing that can be said about the isekai genre, it's that it has lead to a lot of interesting and unique designs for characters, for the most part anyway. There's a lot of isekai protagonists that end up looking pretty similar to each other, average looking with messy/spiky dark hair. Not all of them of course, but enough where it's a trope in itself.

RELATED: What Is A Reverse Isekai? & 9 Other Questions About The Genre, Answered

This meme hilariously pokes fun at that, pointing out the colorful designs on the many female characters in isekai versus the boys who all look like Agent Smith's clones from The Matrix with dark anime hair.

 

4 Dio vs. Truck-kun

Dio vs. Truck-kun, Isekai & JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Meme

At this point, Truck-kun is just as notorious of an isekai antagonist as the usual Demon King is, with a pretty high body count to boot. A threatening presence to be sure, though maybe not for someone willing to take it head-on, like JoJo's enigmatic villain Dio Brando.

In this popular JoJo meme, we see Dio in the place of the isekai protagonist and Truck-kun in Jotaro's as they start getting close to each other with intensity. A hilarious meme on its own, but the prospect of an isekai starring Dio would be kind of amazing to see.

 

3 Blend-Isekai?

Blend-S Meme, Isekai Protagonists

Isekai heroes come in many flavors, not all of them being heroic or accomplished. Some can be morally grey, some can be pretty bad at being the hero, and some are even straight-up the villain of the story. Just some of the many ways the isekai formula has been subverted.

In this meme that parodies the opening to the anime Blend-S, we see Kazuma, Ainz Ooal Gown, Tanya, Subaru, and Naofumi take a spot, describing their characteristics that start with the letter "S". They're as one could expect from each of them, though Subaru's "Suffering" category really takes the cake in this one.

 

2 Cool Isekai Protagonists

Isekai Portagonist Meme, Space Jam

Isekai can encompass a lot of different anime, some that originally may not have even been considered as an isekai at the time of their release. This meme actually has some examples of that like Pokémon's hit spin-off game, Pokémon Mystery Dungeonor the popular Inuyasha series. Though there's one on here that wouldn't come to mind to most.

Alongside characters from Shield Hero and SAO, Michael Jordon from Space Jam is also among the list of "cool isekai protagonists". Another punchline that's not entirely correct, but also not entirely false either, and also a really funny bit of food for thought.

 

1 Oh, How the Tables Turn

Zombie Land Saga Meme, Truck-kun Gets Isekai'd

Not all isekai begin with the main character becoming the main target for a runaway truck, but it's become common enough that it's a trope these days. Still, after all the poor souls that have suffered at the wheels of Truck-kun, the tables have finally turned.

Featuring Sakura Minamoto from Zombieland Saga (not an isekai), this meme sees her taking special strength-enhancing pills that give her the power to roundhouse kick the truck into an isekai of its own for a change. What's more, it seems that the truck has been transported to Luginica from Re:Zero, so tough times are head for poor Truck-kun.

NEXT: 10 Anime Memes Every Otaku Is Gonna Laugh At