In spite of it being part of an ever-increasing list of isekai anime, That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime has proven to be a popular and successful series that serves as a breath of fresh air for the portal fantasy genre. Combining isekai with fantasy tropes and deep world-building, the series boasts a level of detail that most of its contemporaries simply can't compete with.

There's also its basic premise, which is, needless to say, fairly unique in its wackiness. The anime series will soon be getting its second season, but it will also be joined by a number of very similar shows coming to streaming services outside of Japan this year. In fact, it would seem that Slime's success has spawned an entirely new subgenre of isekai.

RELATED: 10 Facts You Need To Know About Reincarnated As A Slime

That Time I Jumpstarted a Subgenre

Besides Slime, another show that's soon to receive its second season is So I'm a Spider, So What?. This ridiculously titled show is about the aftermath of a battle between a legendary hero and a fearsome demon, with their collective magic affecting and transforming a normal high school class in another dimension.

The class's poorest student is transformed into a giant, very weird-looking spider, though she tries to make the best of it in her new reality. The problem lies in the fact that, despite being a big spider, she's fairly weak, and has to learn how best to adapt in a world where almost all of her former peers became either monsters or royalty.

Another new title coming out later this year is The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me?. The protagonist, former office employee Shingo Ichinomiya, falls asleep on a busy day, only to wake up in the body of a magically empowered five-year-old. Realizing that his new body is a member of a noble family, Shingo, in his new life as Wendelin von Benno Baumeister, embarks on a quest for adventure.

Meanwhile, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! features a rich heiress who realizes that she now lives in the video game that she was obsessed with in a past life. Unfortunately, in this life, she's the game's villain, meaning that she's destined to either be exiled or killed! These shows were all light novels before becoming manga and finally anime.

RELATED: 10 Best Isekai Manhwa For Fans Of Manga

Sign of the Slimes

The similarities to Slime abound, and not just because these anime all had their start as light novels. The quirky titles given to the series all match the precedent set by Slime, with each one highlighting the ridiculous nature of the story. With the exception of My Life as a Villainess, the shows also share protagonists that are fairly normal -- if not outright losers -- before embarking in someway on their fantastical new lives.

Then there's also the fact that the bodies that they wake up in are varying degrees of weird, ranging from magical children, derpy-looking spiders and of course, slime. This is distinct from most other isekai shows, in which the characters are in either their normal bodies or at least something close to them.

The use of tropes from JRPGs isn't exactly new to isekai, with stalwarts such as Sword Art Online and Log Horizon using MMOs as part of their premise, as well. A distinct trend in this new subgenre, however, is in the protagonists being a member of a weaker class or species, such as a child or a lowly slime.

Many of these shows' source material began to be serialized at around the same time as Slime began, so they're more contemporaries than Johnny-come-latelies. That means, however, that the light novels and manga for each had been out for a few years, and are only now receiving anime. That means it's likely that without the success of Reincarnated As a Slime, none of these zany stories would be getting reincarnated as anime.

KEEP READING: The 5 Best & 5 Worst Isekai Heroes, Ranked