The isekai genre experienced immense popularity a few years ago, but many fans are getting tired of seeing redundant plots and characters. The series will always suffer if the protagonist feels boring or uninspired, and fans won't give the series the time of day if the protagonist is downright unlikeable.
Many recent isekai stories have tried so hard to bring a new twist to the genre. As a result the stories either don't make sense, or aren't given enough time to properly develop their characters.
10 Knight's & Magic: Ernesti Echevalier Is Too Obsessed With Mechs
For fans who want to see the combination of isekai and mechs, Knights & Magic combines both of them flawlessly. Unfortunately, the protagonist isn't particularly interesting, and is easily overshadowed by the mechs he creates.
Ernesti woke up in a child's body, but rather than question why he was there or even feel guilty about taking someone's body, he is quickly enamored by nearby mechs. His obsession with these machines and his past knowledge made him an expert, introducing breakthroughs in the technology. However, his love for mechs is the core of his personality and motivation.
9 Killer Shark In Another World: Shiromi Rabuka Traf Is Constantly Being Hit Or Dragged Around
In a manga that plays on every trope seen in cheesy shark movies, it's impossible for human characters to stand out. Most are treated as fodder for the shark's rampage, which can be more terrifying than expected. Shiromi summoned Same the shark as her familiar.
While it adores her, she cannot control it at all. It often drags her around, and the people who are attacked by Same usually focus their wrath towards Shiromi. Shiromi feels more like a punching bag who is struggling to do the right thing, but can't do more than cry at the center of Same's carnage.
8 The Saint's Magic Power Is Omnipotent: Sei Takanashi Brings Nothing That Isekai Fans Haven't Seen Before
Sei Takanashi is an office worker who was forcibly summoned to Salutania to become the saint. Sei plays into the "overpowered protagonist" trope, but brings nothing new or interesting to the table. She can heal all wounds, and through the power of love, she can eliminate the dark forces that plague the world.
Her process of getting stronger involves accidentally showing off her power before turning around and confusedly wondering if she just did that. Her character development is also severely limited thanks to the anime's frequent use of still images to show pasing time.
7 My Next Life As A Villainess: All Routes Lead To Doom!: Katarina Claes Is A Little Too Dense For Her Own Good
Katarina's desire to avoid the bad endings of the original game made her go out of her way to help the game's main characters. As a result, the main love interests fell for her. However, Katarina is so dense that she is oblivious to these feelings.
Thanks to this, she has given none of these love interests a proper rejection, leading to many of them vowing to spend their lives dedicated to her rather than moving on. Katarina causes many of them, particularly her adopted brother Keith, a lot of pain when she incorrectly assumes that they like someone else. She has given these characters fals hope with accidental confessions, in the case of Nicol.
6 High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even In Another World: Tsukasa Mikogami Is Willing To Sacrifice People For The Greater Good
Tsukasa is a natural-born leader, and despite being in high school, he became the prime minister of Japan. He is responsible for making plans and rallying people to his cause once he and his group of friends end up in another world. He has a tendency to favor the many over the few.
Although Lyrule was responsible for saving his life, he was the first to suggest throwing her under the bus in order to protect the village, despite the fact that her captivity didn't guarantee the village's safety. He wanted to save her, but refused to verbalize it as an option until the villagers insisted on it. In his position of power, he also has done other morally gray things, such as rallying people under a false god and introducing nukes to the world.
5 It's Been 10 Years Since You Asked To Break Off Our Engagement, If You Insist That Much, Let's Break It Off!: Prince Robert Graham Constantly Asked To Break His Engagement Because He Liked The Attention
Prince Robert was engaged to Diana Bailey for 10 years. Throughout this decade, he would repeatedly approach her, stating that he found someone better and wanted to break off their engagement. Each time, Diana would work hard to upstage these women in their various talents, such as cooking, dancing, and singing.
Robert only did this because he liked her attention and liked to see her work so hard for him. Diana eventually got tired of the cycle and agreed to end their engagement. This caught Robert off guard, and he burst into tears and admitted his wrongdoing. Diana, understanding his intentions, had the patience of a saint, and forgave him when he apologized.
4 Villain Lady Wishes To Be Like A Nightingale: Leysritt And Gilbert Keep The Truth From Falz
Reincarnated from a nurse, Leysritt von Lotus saves Prince Falz's life. Falz becomes eager to marry the woman who saved him, and mistakes Eleanor Teu Mclaren for Leysritt. Leysritt never clears up this understanding and chooses to get engaged to Falz's brother, Gilbert.
Leysritt wanted her freedom, but by omitting the truth, she forces Eleanor to live a lie. Gilbert isn't much better. Despite loving and feeling indebted to his brother, he is keeping the truth from Falz in order to have Leysritt for himself. Falz will surely feel foolish when he finally discovers the truth.
3 The Villainess Will Obtain True Love: Prince Gilbert Manipulated Two Women To Get A Love Confession
In this short story, Prince Gilbert seduces Marialle, making her believe that he wanted to toss aside his fiancée, Sylvainne von Einzbern for her. In front of a crowd, he tells Sylvainne that he planned to break off their engagement based on Marialle's empty claims of being bullied by Sylvainne.
This leads to a heartfelt confession from Sylvainne. Gilbert admits that he staged the whole thing in order to hear Sylvainne tell him she loves him. A baffled Marialle is carried away by guards, and Gilbert and Sylvainne get a happy end despite the toxicity of the scenario.
2 Maou-Sama, Retry: Aku Is There To Praise The Male Lead
Aku is one of the protagonists in Maou-Sama, Retry!, but after being rescued by Hakuto, she is just there to praise him to anyone willing to listen to her. Her gratitude towards him is justified. He saved her from the demon that her village sacrificed her to, and gave her a pampered life.
However, it is easy for fans to get tired of seeing her tell the male lead just how awesome he is, when the fighting scenes and his other acts of kindness would have been more than enough.
1 The Reprise Of The Spear Hero: Motoyasu Kitamura Is Still Impossible To Like
The spear hero is a character originally from The Rising Of The Shield Hero. He is detested by fans due to how easily he was manipulated and how he would always go out of his way to torment Naofumi Iwatani. A character so hated managed to get his own series, but it did little to redeem him.
After being betrayed by his former party members, he starts to literally see women as pigs and only hear oinking, which does nothing to make him more likable. He retains his obsession with Filo, and every time he resets time, his makes meeting her a priority. He is so in love with her that he assumes that they'd fall in love upon their reunion, so he starts creepily referring to Naofumi as his father-in-law.