Before we get started, what is Isekai? Isekai defines the sub-genre of anime where you’ll get to see the plot taking place in a different or alternate world rather than in the present world. For instance, consider Sword Art Online.
It usually takes place in the modern world, but when all the characters play the game, they find themselves in a different world. It mostly involves transporting the protagonist into a different world and the adventures he’ll face there. So, you might’ve had a clear view of what is an Isekai anime. Well then, why do you think the Isekai anime genre is so popular?
There are many reasons. The regular stories are hard to gain the attention of the audience. But if there is a unique plotline, you’ll watch it immediately. And these Isekai anime are mostly adventurous, so it is not a wonder being one of the most popular anime sub-genres in the anime realm.
So, here we are presenting you the list of best isekai anime, and these are best picks among the tons of anime out there. Make a toast with this wonderful list of isekai anime!
Also read: 10 Best Slice of Life Anime to Spice Up Your Life!
Table of Contents
Best Isekai Anime!
Re: Zero- Starting Life in Another World
Re: Zero is a top-notch anime of the Isekai genre. Some people might’ve dropped it by halfway and never gave it another shot. I guess they’re unlucky because this anime shows its true beauty after the half episodes. But it doesn’t mean the first half of the episodes are bad.
It slowly builds the pace, and when the time comes, it strikes you right at the spot. The story gets better over time, and you’ll be left with no words when it ends. The second season of the series will premiere in upcoming months. What’s the better reason than this to watch it? After all, it is one of the best Isekai anime out there.
The story follows Subaru Natsuki, who has been summoned to an alternate world when he is returning home from a convenience store. Without knowing who summoned him to a different world, he wanders and suddenly gets attacked. And when a mysterious girl saves him, he decides to help her as a favor. And when they finally manage to get a clue, someone kills both of them.
However, Subaru wakes up in the same to where he was summoned with a strange ability when he enters the new world. This ability lets him rewind the time by death. Can he save the girl from dying?
The Rising of the Shield Hero
Besides being a typical Isekai anime, this anime starts at a fantastic pace and turns out to be an epic one. It makes you wonder what will happen at each instant and becomes an obsession soon. You can’t even stop watching it for a tea break.
It’s not like I’m hyping it more, but it deserves this appreciation. The character development is fantastic, and the animation is so good that it makes the action scenes look even more epic. It lets you experience all the aspects, including light-hearted plot, dark characters, and intense pace. Well, I guess you don’t need any other reason to start watching it.
Naofumi Iwatani is an Otaku who leads his life like a regular guy. But one day, he is summoned to the other world as the shield hero along with the other heroes to stop an incoming calamity. And the shield hero has a low value among the kingdom, and they treat like a weakling since he can’t do anything in offense in war.
While facing such rumors, he gets a taste of betrayal and framed to a crime he hasn’t committed. Out of despair, he vows them to show what a shield hero is. Can he rectify his falsely accused blame? It is a must-watch Isekai anime if you’re into action-fantasy shows.
Also read: The Rising of the Shield Hero: An Irresistible Isekai Gem! (Season 1 Review)
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
This anime lets you have many feelings developed with its exciting plot and uplifting humor. It’s more like a perfect example of how an Isekai anime should be done. Unlike other MCs, the protagonist of the series is hilarious and always makes you smile through the end.
There are particular anime where MCs reincarnate as various things like a Sword, but this anime is a trend maker of those. If you’re still hesitant to watch it, I can’t help much, but if you watch it, you won’t regret it at all. Even if you’re not into Isekai anime, this could be a good start.
Mikami Satoru is a lonely man who stuck at a job that he doesn’t like. When he dies in the hands of a robber, he incarnates to a new life but as a slime monster. With the new life, he finds a reason for his existence and adjusts with the world as a slime.
However, when he meets other monsters, the chain of events lead to the change of a new world. The plot sure is unique, but what makes it genuinely incredible is its way of presentation. This anime is worth the time you spend and can become one of your favorites for sure. And it is one of the best isekai anime we can recommend you.
The Twelve Kingdoms
The Twelve Kingdoms is a type of anime that never overblows the action to rectify the weak plot. With rich story and decent character development, it made its way into the list of best isekai anime both in IMDb and Anime Ukiyo websites.
Its realistic approach towards life to detail of animation needs to be appreciated more. And the plot covers even some minor details and leaves you all the questions answered. When I meant overblown by action, it doesn’t mean there aren’t any epic action sequences. It does offer you incredible sword duels and many action scenes with monsters. It is a great anime to start with if you’re entering into the Isekai anime world.
Youko Nakajima is a high school student with a desire to be normal with his classmates. She does everything she can to help her classmates and becomes the class president. But due to her red hair, she never fits there. With her attitude, she lets them take advantage of her, and now she becomes lonely without any friends.
One fine day, a person claiming himself as her subordinate who came for another world approaches her. She is able to escape into her realm with him when some monsters chase her. And she is the rightful ruler of their kingdom, at least that’s what he claims.
Overlord
Generally, an Isekai anime consists of summoning the protagonist into an alternate or different world. But in the case of Overlord, it is different. Instead of the protagonist helping the people of the alternate universe, here, our MC decides to conquer the world with his new power.
Overlord can be many things, but boredom is not a part of it. If you notice every moment in the anime, half of those are too hilarious. And coming to the animation and visuals, it is one of the best works of the studio Madhouse for sure. This Isekai anime is a must-watch anime for an Otaku.
In a popular online video game, a player known as Momonga is stuck when it suddenly shuts down. And strangely, the game runs offline with its programming. Now he has nothing left to lose but to gain everything in his new home.
He decides to conquer it and finds many NPCs in the game and begins his journey as “Overlord.”If you’re into anime where MC is overpowered, then you can check this one. After all, it is one of the best Isekai anime out there.
Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World
Let’s say you’re in a bad mood or stressed out of work. You can watch a comic-con, but what if you’re a fan of fantasy anime and to make you relieve from the stress you need an anime. That’s precisely why this anime is in our list of best isekai anime. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a fan of action fantasy or comic con fan, it hooks you up right from the start.
The leading trio of the show is like the backbone of the show. It’s more like stress bursting anime without dramatic feels and cries in the end. If you want something to make you feel off of your boredom, this one is for you.
Kazuma Satou is a high school gamer who dies on a day by performing a heroic act. And he awakens in his afterlife where he finds a girl named Aqua who claims herself as a goddess. She guides the youth whose lives got cut short.
When she offers Kazuma to either go to heaven or to another world to defeat the Demon King, his gamer instincts make him choose an adventurous life. He can take only one thing with him to another world. After thinking over a bit, he wants Aqua to be his companion in his adventures, where he turns virtuality into reality.
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Inuyasha
It’s been more than ten years since Inuyasha ended. Still, we see most of the people watching this classic multiple times. It is instead a complex series than your typical anime you binge-watch in everyday life. It fills you with love, sex, horror, drama, and all kinds of feelings. And you have plenty of episodes and movies of Inuyasha to enjoy this show to an extent.
At the beginning of the 2000s, Inuyasha was one of the anime shows, which made quite a reputation itself, and still, now it is popular among the anime that show Japanese culture. So, if you’re looking for an isekai anime to entertain you with every aspect, this one is recommendable.
Kagome Higurashi is a high school girl who lives at a historical shrine in Japan. She is the reincarnation of the ancient priestess Kikyo. In her previous life, she guarded the ‘Jewel of Four Souls’ and sealed a half-demon known as Inuyasha. One day Kagome is pulled back to the history 50 years after Kikyo’s death from a well in the shrine.
Soon she learns the truth about her past life, and she must protect the Jewel from Inuyasha. But unfortunately, she scatters it. Now they both have to work together since Inuyasha is the only one who can get it for her from the other demons or whoever has it.
Sword Art Online
You might have heard more than enough adverse opinions on this anime. And also a few people hate it. But I strongly oppose those negative reviews. To be honest, it did have a few flaws in it, but despite those, you can find more than enough reasons to watch it. And the third and fourth seasons of the series are incredible.
So, at least for the last two seasons, you can binge-watch it. Once you watch it with your heat’s consent, you’ll have mixed feelings about the isekai anime, and you’ll either end up hating it or loving it to the maximum extent.
In the year 2022, a new virtual reality game launches, which let players inside the game through a nerve gear connected to their nervous system. Kirito the one such gamer who enters into the same game with an ultimate passion for gaming.
But soon, all the players in the game won’t be able to log out and finds that the only way is to finish the game. And if they are dead in the game, it means game over for them in real life too. Now Kirito and all the participants must survive in the game and finish it to get back into the physical world.
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How not to Summon a Demon Lord
If you’re familiar with the movies like Deadpool, then you’ll laugh off while watching this isekai anime. It is so adult in scenes and yet makes you laugh hard until your stomach aches out of laughter. I love how It merges the idea of an isekai into the harem genre.
It does have a bit of fanservice, but if you look into it, you won’t disappoint. At least that’s what we can promise you from this anime. Storywise, this anime is decent, and in other aspects, it is still decent, and thus, we brought it to the list of best isekai anime.
Takuma Sakamoto is a gamer who unknowingly transports to the virtual world of this favorite MMORPG game- Cross Reverie. His appearance in the game is the same as in real life, and his character name is Demon Lord Diablo. He finds two young girls, Rem and Shera, who try to make him a servant using a spell.
But the spell backfires since his character has a magic ring ability known as “Magic Reflection.” As a result, both girls end up becoming his servants instead of making him as theirs’. Sakamoto begins his journey to explore the new world to help those girls and find the reason why those girls summoned him.
The Saga of Tanya The Evil
You might think this is going to turn out to be another shallow anime with a lolly theme while watching the first episode. But don’t give up yet. The actual depth of the story reveals in the second episode, and you won’t even think about dropping it in the middle again.
With a good and complex story, it not only messes with your mind but also gives you a heartwarming feeling with some delightful scenes. And the story leaves you in a bit of dilemma state, but in the end, you’ll be able to figure everything out. This anime is one of those few cases where adaption surpasses manga. So, we would recommend you to watch it at any cost.
A Japanese salaryman who doesn’t believe in God reincarnates into the world of the 1900s, where the world is torn apart from wars. He becomes a part of the military as Tanya Degurechaff as a 9-year-old soldier girl. With her past life’s knowledge, she rises in the military to become a higher official so that she can be aware of wars.
However, she always puts herself in danger and thinks that’s what God planned for her sins in the previous life. Even though she is ruthless and cunning, viewers can’t stop supporting her character until the very end.
Also read: Best Romance Anime Series of all Time!
Honorable Mentions:
The Devil is a Part-Timer
The Philosopher’s Grandson
Restaurant To Another World
The Boy and The Beast
Log Horizon
Conclusion
Besides our ten recommendations, we have also compiled you with a small list of Isekai anime as honorable mentions. Make sure you check them since they are amazing as well.
Isekai anime takes the viewer into a different fantasy world and offers a beautiful experience. It reminds us of our dreams we used to dream when we were young. And it doesn’t matter whether they have a unique plot or a similar one, Isekai anime always presents it unconventionally.
The above list of isekai anime is made from the best of the best ones, and we don’t think any of them will disappoint you in the least bit. So make sure you watch at least any one of these. We hope you liked our list of best isekai anime. If you think we’re missing any other ones you can think of, feel free to drop your thoughts in the comment section.
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