Isekai anime is when characters from normal life are taken to new worlds, where magic and strange creatures are everywhere. These shows usually show how the main character learns about themselves and discovers new strengths inside them. They have to change who they are to fit in this new world.
At first, Isekai just meant anime set in other worlds, but now it’s a whole genre with lots of different stories. In every story, the character faces new dangers and needs to figure out how to live in these strange and tough worlds. As they go on, they get special powers, but the real story is about how they grow and change inside. It’s about learning not only how to survive but how to become better.
Here are some Isekai anime you should watch, with a short description to help you choose what to watch next.
Top Isekai Anime You Shouldn’t Miss
1. KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World
After Kazuma Satou, a high school student and a recluse, dies in a funny and sad way while coming back from buying a game, he meets a beautiful but annoying goddess named Aqua. She gives him two choices: go to heaven or be born again in a fantasy world, which is every gamer’s dream!
Kazuma, looking for a new beginning, decides to take on the challenge of this fantasy world and is given the task to defeat the Demon King causing chaos in a village. Before he sets off, he’s allowed to choose one thing to help him on his journey. Naturally, he picks Aqua, thinking she’ll be the perfect partner. But, huge mistake! she turns out to be completely useless and the worst choice he could’ve made.
Their problems don’t stop there, living in this new world is nothing like Kazuma thought. Instead of having fun adventures, he and Aqua have to work hard to pay for things like food and rent. Their luck is awful, and things are just getting worse for them.
2. Re:Zero — Starting Life in Another World
When Subaru Natsuki steps out of the convenience store, the last thing he expects is to be pulled from his ordinary life and dropped into a strange fantasy world. Things quickly go south for the confused teenager, and just after his arrival, he’s attacked by a group of thugs. With nothing but a bag of groceries and a now-useless phone, he’s quickly beaten into a pulp.
Fortunately, a mysterious, beautiful woman named Satella, on a quest to find someone who stole her insignia, comes to Subaru’s rescue. Grateful for the kindness she shows, Subaru offers to help her in her search, and that night, they find what she’s been looking for.
But, unbeknownst to them, a darker force lurks in the shadows, and mere minutes after retrieving the badge, Subaru and Satella are brutally killed.
But then, Subaru wakes up, back at the scene he already knows, facing the same group again. When he meets Satella once more, the puzzle deepens as history seems to repeat itself in a mysterious loop.
3. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Satoru Mikami, a 37-year-old office worker, lives a typical, monotonous life in Tokyo, perfectly content with his routine except for his complete failure at finding a girlfriend. During a casual chat with a colleague, he becomes the victim of a random street attack and is stabbed. As he succumbs to his wounds, a strange voice echoes in his mind, reciting a series of commands that no dying person could understand.
When Satoru regains consciousness, he realizes he’s been reincarnated as a blob of slime in a strange, unfamiliar world. In this new form, he discovers he’s gained unique abilities, especially the power to devour anything and copy its appearance and abilities.
Soon, he stumbles upon a disaster-level monster, Veldora. The Storm Dragon, who has been sealed for 300 years after annihilating an entire city. Feeling sympathy for the dragon’s plight, Satoru befriends him and promises to help break the seal. In return, Veldora grants him the name Rimuru Tempest, offering his protection as a powerful ruler.
4. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
Even though he was bullied, mocked, and pushed around his whole life, a 34-year-old man still found the strength to try something heroic. But in a twist of fate, he woke up in another world as Rudeus Greyrat, starting a new life as a baby born to two loving parents.
Keeping all the memories and knowledge from his past life, Rudeus quickly adapted to his new world. With the mind of an adult, he began showing magical talent beyond anyone’s expectations, improving his skills with help from a wizard named Roxy Migurdia. Rudeus also learned sword fighting from his dad, Paul, and met Sylphiette, a girl his age who quickly became his best friend.
As Rudeus starts his second chance in life, he tries to make the most of it while dealing with the trauma from his past. And maybe, one day, he will find something he couldn’t find in his old world: love.
5. Overlord
The last hour of the popular virtual reality game Yggdrasil has arrived. But Momonga, a powerful wizard and leader of the dark guild Ainz Ooal Gown, decided to spend his final moments in the game as the server was about to shut down. To his surprise, even though the clock struck midnight, Momonga was still fully aware as his character, and even more strangely, the non-player characters seemed to have developed their own personalities!
Facing this strange situation, Momonga ordered his loyal servants to help him investigate and control this new world, hoping to find out what caused this change and if there might be anyone else in the same kind of trouble.
6. Ya Boy Kongming!
Zhuge Kongming is famous as one of the best strategy experts from the Three Kingdoms period in China, back in the 3rd century. After leading his army to many tiring victories, Kongming became very sick during the Battle of Wuzhang Plains. The exhaustion and regret from the never-ending war haunted him, and as he took his last breath, Kongming wished that if he could be reborn, he would come back in a more peaceful time.
His wish came true, and Kongming woke up in modern Tokyo, with a younger body and all his memories intact. Lost in this strange new world, he found his way to a nightclub and met Eiko Tsukimi, an aspiring singer whose performance immediately caught his attention. Feeling sorry for his confusion, Eiko took Kongming under her wing and taught him about the current world, which made him interested in modern music. Seeing Eiko’s amazing talent, Kongming promised to make her famous and quickly became her manager.
7. The Eminence in Shadow
Minoru Kagenou always wanted to be as strong as possible, not to be recognized, but to blend in. During the day, he was just an ordinary student, but at night, he fought local motorcycle gangs with a crowbar.
After a truck accident, he thought his ambitions were over, feeling helpless. But then, he woke up in another world as Cid, the second son of a noble family, with magical powers. Taking the name “Shadow,” he created Shadow Garden to fight against the Cult of Diablos, which he thought was just fiction. But as the group grew, he realized that the cult was real.
8. Ascendance of a Bookworm
Urano Motosu loved books and had an endless desire to read literature, no matter the subject. She was almost about to get her dream job as a librarian before her life ended in an accident. As she took her last breath, she wished she could read more books in her next life.
It was as if fate heard her prayer, and she woke up reincarnated as Myne, a weak five-year-old girl living in a medieval time. Her passion for books was the first thing on her mind. She tried to find something to read, but she quickly became frustrated by the lack of books around her.
9. My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
Most people would love to be the main character in a world full of adventure, whether in a game or another world. But sadly, one girl wasn’t so lucky. When she regained the memories of her past life, she realized she had been reincarnated into the world of Fortune Lover, a game she used to play.
Unfortunately, the character she became, Catarina Claes, was the main antagonist of the game, facing total disaster at every ending. Using her knowledge of the game, she took it upon herself to escape the cursed fate she was stuck in.
But this wasn’t going to be an easy task, especially since she had to be careful not to trigger any death flags that could speed up the disaster she was trying to avoid. Still, to make a change that would affect everyone around her, she fought, not as a heroine, but as the villain.
10. Shangri-La Frontier
Rakurou Hizutome, a high school student, has a strange hobby of playing poorly made games — games that are unbalanced or filled with so many bugs they are almost unplayable. Some people who share the same hobby might know him by his in-game name, Sunraku. For his next game, Rakurou is recommended Shangri-La Frontier, a popular virtual reality game that is well-received and seen as a breath of fresh air compared to the terrible games he’s played recently.
After starting the game, Rakurou decides to sell most of his starting gear to get some extra money, keeping only a pair of boxing gloves, a bird mask, and a few weapons. He quickly becomes addicted as he carefully levels up his avatar.
But after meeting some intimidating monsters, he realizes that he might have underestimated the challenges of this mainstream game. As Rakurou moves forward, he has to use all the skills he’s perfected from his past gaming experiences. Soon, Sunraku’s eccentric playstyle shakes up Shangri-La Frontier.
Here’s a short review of one of the best Isekai Anime you shouldn’t miss, make sure to watch it on official sites to support the artists and the people who made it.
