Isekai continues to grow more popular by the year. Defined as when a character travels to another world, isekai are often believed to solely be about some man trapped in another world where he has immense power and tons of women like him. But that's not the only thing isekai can be. Sometimes it can be about traveling to a video game world that feels like real life, and sometimes it involves slice of life rather than straight up action.
Because of the sheer amount of different ways people can do isekai, it's resulted in the "genre" having no shortage of anime every season. Last year over a dozen different series launched that fell under the isekai banner, many launching to varying levels of acclaim.
10 Overlooked: Mairimashita! Iruma-kun Features A Character Being Sold To A Demon
Not every isekai is about being sent to a fantasy world or playing a realistic game. This series followed Iruma Suzuki, who lived a terrible life working for his parents who didn’t care about him at all. They cared so little, they sold him to a demon for money.
But rather than the demon having any unfortunate plans for him, all he wants is to have a grandchild to spoil. He sends Iruma to a demon school, where he has to pretend to be a demon lest he be killed by everyone there.
9 Too Popular: My Next Life As A Villainess Is A Reverse Harem Isekai
A rare case of an isekai where the protagonist has a reverse harem, My Next Life As A Villainess stars a young woman who’s reincarnated as Catarina Claes. Catarina happens to be a villain from the otome game Fortune Lover—who unfortunately has no happy endings in the game as the main character can remember.
Wanting nothing more than to live a decent life, Catarina starts trying to figure out how to avoid getting the endings of the game. This series became massively popular thanks to having one of the most likable characters in anime.
8 Overlooked: The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? Features An Adult Being Reincarnated As A Child
The 8th Son involved a twenty-five year old man suddenly being reincarnated into another world as a six year old. Initially believing he was the child of royalty, he soon finds out his family is all but broke, with everything going to the oldest kid while he’s the youngest.
However, thanks to his ability to read, Wendelin manages to learn that he’s a magician with incredible talents, which gives him a chance at a better life no one could have expected.
7 Too Popular: Re: Zero - Starting Life In Another World - Features A Character That Can Come Back To Life
Studio White Fox got yet another hit on their hands with Re: ZERO, a story about main character Subaru Natsuki who has no specific special powers other than one—the ability to come back to life after dying and remember exactly what happened.
The compelling plot and worldbuilding, combined with an incredibly likable waifu make this show. The season two announcement was a major deal, though unsurprising given the show’s popularity.
6 Overlooked: Infinite Dendrogram Explores Morality In The Virtual World
In Infinite Dendrogram, Reiji Mukudori has begun playing his world’s first full-dive virtual reality MMO. The selling point of the game is it’s meant to feel as real as possible...right down to the characters in the game. Though they’re still in only a game, when the characters are indistinctive from real people, how does that change everyone’s behavior?
Reiji struggles with exactly this question as he works with Nemesis, the partner that’s meant to help him in the game.
5 Too Popular: BOFURI: I Don’t Want To Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense Features A Character With An Absurd Level Of Defense
Kaede Honjou begins playing New World Online at the behest of her friend. Creating her character Maple, Kaede chooses to max out a single stat to avoid getting hurt. Still, she develops into a powerful fighter thanks to having such an absurd level defense, with nothing being able to harm her thanks to the set-up.
This series became a runaway hit because everyone loved watching Maple and her friend Sally get into as many shenanigans as possible. BOFURI has more of a relaxed vibe than most isekai, which helped its popularity even more.
4 Overlooked: By the Grace Of The Gods Explores The Journey To Becoming Your Own Person
Abused as a salaryman in his old life, Ryouma Takebayashi is brought to an new world. In this world, he becomes a master monster tamer, taming hundreds of slimes and living his own life in solitude...until a royal family invites him into their home.
Realizing all of his incredible talents, they encourage Ryoma to start enjoying the world more and becoming his own person.
3 Too Popular: Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 2 Places A Bookworm In A Pre-Printing Press World
Easily one of the most hyped anime of last year, Ascendance of a Bookworm is all about Myne, a young girl reincarnated into a fantasy world. All she wants to do is become a librarian, but she wakes up in a world before the printing press has been existed, making books both rare and expensive.
This series gets attention for its slice of life approach to fantasy world, as Myne isn’t about trying to become the most powerful warrior—she simply wants to enjoy learning.
2 Overlooked: I’m Standing On 1,000,000 Lives Features Characters Who Must Work Together In Order To Return Home
I’m Standing On One Million Lives starts out as another isekai with an edgy protagonist, but manages to rise up above that. The characters are all given strange tasks by a being known as a Game Master, forced to work together to be able to return to their own world. A
ll of the characters gradually learn more about themselves and each other as they improve on the surprisingly weak powers they’ve been given, all to have a chance at survival in this new world.
1 Too Popular: Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld Part 2 Stems From One Of The Most Popular Isekai Of All Time
Sword Art Online is by far the most popular isekai series ever created. War of the Underworld Part 2 finishes up the Alicization part of Sword Art Online, with Kirito and Alice working together to defeat the Dark Territory’s army. Admittedly, these days Sword Art Online isn't as big as it was when it first debuted, but the series is still mega popular.
How many other series could manage to adapt the third part of a franchise into three full seasons just to be sure everything was adapted properly? And A-1 Pictures turned in some of the best looking animation across all of the seasons, creating a truly beautiful world that fans can drool over until the release of the new film.