Isekai anime are a punchline among anime fans, especially thanks to Truck-kun. For whatever reason, these shameless power fantasies often started with the hero getting run over by a truck. Either that or they followed the usual clichés, such as entering an RPG game or being summoned as an overpowered messiah.
As popular as Truck-kun is, they're not the only way to get isekai'd into another world. Isekai is a lot older than some anime fans may realize. As a result, it's easy to overlook the other — and often more bizarre and hilarious — ways of being reborn in another world that don't involve vehicular manslaughter
Updated on March 26, 2023 by Angelo Delos Trinos: Given how ubiquitous the isekai subgenre is these days, it may seem impossible to find a truly unique isekai anime, let alone a noteworthy way of being transported to another world. But just because there are many overlaps doesn't mean that the genre ran out of original premises. This list was updated to highlight the weirdest and truly unforgettable methods of isekai travel.
10 Serve Fine Dining To Another World On Saturdays
Restaurant to Another World
One of the classic ways to get isekai'd is to literally find a door (or at least a portal) to the other world. More often than not, the isekai protagonist would just use this entrance and let the adventure begin. Restaurant to Another World subverts this by having the fantasy world's denizens enter the doorway, but only on Saturdays.
This is how the Western Cuisine Cat Restaurant operated. Every Saturday, The Master served any fantasy traveler who dropped by. Where most isekai protagonists would be amazed at their new world's food, the slice-of-life Restaurant to Another World flipped the equation by teaching fantasy races the wonders of modern dining.
9 Fall Into A 17-Year Long Coma
Uncle from Another World
It's generally accepted that when a character gets isekai'd, they either vanish or die in their original world. Uncle from Another World subverts this by having Uncle's mind and spirit go to Granbahamal. Meanwhile, his body was left on Earth in a coma. Uncle's body was stuck in a hospital for 17 years, while his mind was adventuring.
The '90s-loving Uncle from Another World's isekai method stands out because it avoided the easy way out. Instead of having Uncle simply abandon his boring ordinary life, he's forced to reckon with his lost decade when the adventure ended. Surprisingly, the anime did this for comedy's sake instead of deconstruction.
8 Walk Out Of A Convenience Store & Blink
Re:Zero – Starting Life In Another World
The easiest way for an isekai to begin is to have the protagonist be summoned to the other world. This is usually done through a ritual that interrupts the hero's boring day. Re:Zero cut to the chase by having Subaru Natsuki walk out of a convenience store, blink for a second, then magically find himself in the streets of Lugunica.
As random as this seemed, Subaru's unremarkable arrival was the first of many ways the genre-defining Re:Zero deconstructed the isekai power fantasy. Subaru learned the hard way that he wasn't Lugunica's prophesied champion, even if his entrance seemed serendipitous. He only overcame such juvenile preconceived notions after suffering a lot.
7 Push A Button You Shouldn’t
Isekai Quartet
Isekai Quartet was a celebration and a parody of the four biggest isekai anime of the 2010s. As such, the casts of KonoSuba, Overlord, Re:Zero, and The Saga of Tanya the Evil all got isekai'd into a generic Japanese high school after they all received a novelty red button. They gave little thought to the button's origins before hitting it.
Upon arriving in the high school, the characters didn't really question their new world and just rolled with it. Their egos and personalities then clashed in the silliest ways possible. A big red button is too ridiculously simple an inciting incident for most isekai anime, but it's perfect for the criminally one-season Isekai Quartet.
6 Get Humiliated By "Truck-Kun"
KonoSuba: God's Blessing On This Wonderful World!
KonoSuba is the 2010s' most famous and vicious isekai parody, and it made its intent clear by opening with one of the most embarrassing deaths in isekai history. When the eternal loser Kazuma Satou saw a girl about to be hit by a speeding truck, he jumped in to save her. However, the "truck" was really a slow tractor.
Kazuma was so convinced that he'd be killed by the "truck" that he got a fatal heart attack. Even worse, he soiled himself in his final moments. Everybody from Kazuma's family to his neighbors and even the responding paramedics laughed at his pathetic demise. This embarrassing beginning to an isekai adventure has yet to be topped.
5 Take A Supernaturally Cursed Selfie
The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser Of Einherjar
Isekai anime where the protagonist gets teleported to another world with their smartphone (and internet access) are weirdly common. The Master of Ragnarok and Blesser of Einherjar is arguably this commonality's most infamous example because of how contrived its set-up is. In brief, Yuuto Suoh got isekai'd after he took a selfie.
To be specific, Yuutoh took a selfie with a cursed mirror as part of a dare. This, despite Mitsuka Shimuya (Yuutoh's childhood friend who has an obvious crush on him) protests. Immediately after, he found himself in a world where Norse mythology was real. Yuutoh then proceeded to become its overlord thanks to his godlike internet access.
4 Get Bullied In A Bathroom
Girls Bravo & King From Now On!
Usually, the gateway from the normal world to the other side would be dignified or grandiose. This isn't the case for these two anime, where the isekai protagonists wound up in another world after getting shoved in a bathroom. This is one of the strangest isekai entry points, and it's a pity that more isekai anime don't use it.
The harem anime Girls Bravo (left) started when Yukinari Sasaki was kicked into a bathtub. He then woke up in a world predominantly populated by women. In King From Now On! (right), Yuri Shibuya got his head dunked in a toilet by bullies. Instead of the hospital, Yuri woke up in a fantasy world where he's actually next in line for the throne.
3 Get Isekai’d As Compensation From God
In Another World With My Smartphone
Accidental deaths are a common method of getting isekai'd, but few were literally God’s fault. This was what happened to Touya Mochizuki, who God accidentally killed via lightning strike. To make amends, God offered to resurrect Touya in a fantasy world, plus a wish for anything he wanted. Touya chose to be reincarnated with his smartphone.
God then went the extra mile by upgrading Touya's phone. Although it couldn’t call anyone from Earth, the phone now had infinite power and internet. This literal godsend was so conveniently overpowered and conceptually lazy that it gave In Another World with my Smartphone its infamy as one of the most transparently wish-fulfilling isekai.
2 Be Rude To God
The Saga Of Tanya The Evil
Technically, The Saga Of Tanya The Evil started after an unnamed salaryman got run over by Truck-kun's cousin, Train-kun. However, this only happened because Being X (aka God) made it so. Just before he connected with the train after he was pushed off, the salaryman was given a chance to repent by Being X – which he smugly declined.
Because common courtesy was beneath him, the salaryman nicknamed his savior after a variable and logically deduced that they were a fraud. Understandably infuriated, Being X let the train kill the salaryman. He was then reincarnated as Tanya, who was such an inexplicable genius that their human resources skills helped her turn the tide of a fantasy world's war.
1 Get Hit By Garzey's Goose
Garzey's Wing
On paper, the terribly-written Garzey's Wing is an old-fashioned isekai. Here, Chris Chiaki was summoned to Byston Well when he drove past an ancient shrine. However, what makes this so-bad-it’s-good classic stand out is that Chris was thrown into his isekai adventure after a giant glowing goose flew straight at him.
Even better, the goose hit Chris so hard that he woke up naked in Byston Well. To be clear, the goose yanked Chris' disembodied soul to Byston Well and left his physical body on Earth. Upon arrival, Chris' spirit was blessed with the power of having goose wings (aka Garzey's Wings) magically bolted to his ankles.