Top 15 Best Isekai Anime That Are Worth Watching

In the mid-2010s, a specific theme exploded in anime, and every season, there are almost 5-6 shows centered on that particular theme. That theme is known as “Isekai.” Those of you who have been in the anime community for more than 4-5 years are likely to be familiar with this term, and some of you might even be fed up with the isekai genre because of the repetitive storylines, but here are the top 15 isekai anime that are too good to be left out.

“Isekai” means “the transport of a person from one world to another, either after death or just transportation during a phase of life.” The reason isekai is popular is that fans like to see how protagonists redo their lives in another world from the start and how they question life choices, which they probably didn’t before. Or they are just interested in seeing harems!

Let us start the list of the top 15 Isekai anime worth watching.

15. How not to Summon a Demon Lord

Synopsis: “How not to Summon a Demon Lord” follows the story of Sakamoto Takuma, a teenage boy who spends most of his time playing the game “Cross Reverie” and has become a master of it at this point. One day, he was suddenly reincarnated into the world of this game by two females, “Shera” and “Rem”, who wanted to enslave Takuma after summoning him.

Being the strongest player in the game results in the reversal of their Enslavement spell, and now, both these girls are slaves to our protagonist. So starts the life of our protagonist as he tries to break their Enslavement spell and explore the new world into which he was transported. Will he be able to free them from the spell that they brought upon themselves and survive in this new world?

The series shows us the classic isekai premise with an overpowered protagonist and a Harem which keeps developing throughout the series. The character development is not that amazing compared to other shows on this list, and it follows the Ecchi genre, but if you like Ecchi-harem, you will love this show.

14. Ascendance of a Bookworm

Synopsis: “Urano” is a young girl who loves to read books and wants to be a librarian so that she can read books all the time. Unfortunately, she dies in an accident after being appointed as a librarian. As soon as he wakes up, she finds herself as a little girl, “Myne,” in an unknown era.

She immediately gets frustrated over the fact that there are very few books here as there are no printing companies, so everything is done by hand, and the only books present are in the custody of nobles. Will Myne be able to give the people of this world the privilege of having books?

“Ascendance of a Bookworm” shows us a pretty unique plot where a girl gets isekai-ed into another world, and the whole synopsis revolves around book reading. When you think of isekai, you think of a repetitive, mostly lewd plot, but this anime gives you an out-of-the-box story and development, which is good for a change.

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13. Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun

Synopsis: “Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun” follows the story of Iruma, a young boy who has to earn money for his parents despite being very young. One day, he learns that his parents sold him to the demon Sullivan, who is the principal of the Demon School called Babyls. But Sullivan only wants a grandchild, and wants Iruma to attend the demon school “Babyls.”

But Iruma has to keep a low profile here to avoid the possibility of others knowing that he is a human. If a demon recognizes him, who knows what consequences will follow that scenario? Will Iruma be able to keep a low profile in this demon academy as a human and not be discovered?

“Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun” follows the classic isekai synopsis and the usual “I will keep a low profile and hide the fact that I am special” isekai setting. Although it is your everyday isekai, it does follow some promising character developments, which make the show addicting and worth watching!

12. The Vision of Escaflowne

Synopsis: Hitomi is an ordinary high school girl interested in the future telling through cards. She tells a future that one day, a man will appear who will defeat the dragon that enters the Earth, and fortunately, a boy named Van appears after a dragon appears in the sky above Hitomi. After he defeats the dragon, both Hitomi and Van are transported to a land known as The Land of Gaea.

In this land, Van is the prince of one of its kingdoms, the Kingdom of Fanelia. This kingdom is under attack by the evil kingdom, and Van has to protect it with the power of Escaflowne, a giant mechanical suit. Will Van be able to defeat the evil kingdom and save his kingdom alongside Hitomi?

”The Vision of Escaflowne” might be an old anime hardly anyone has heard of, but it is one of the most underrated shows. It has a classic isekai setting with a unique plot that has some decent character development for every character. If you are an isekai fan, give this one a try!

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11. The Rising of the Shield Hero

Synopsis: “The Rising of the Shield Hero” follows the story of Naofumi, a teenage boy who is transported to another world while reading a light novel. In this new world, he is summoned to the country of Melromarc. Naofumi realizes that he is one of the Four Cardinal Heroes, the Shield Hero, who is not respected among the masses because of his non-offensive abilities. The first partner, he receives is the daughter of the King, Malty.

Malty betrays him, and now his bad reputation worsens, making Nafumi fed-up with everything. He buys a weak slave, Raphtalia, to fight alongside him to fight the Waves, which come with dangerous monsters. Will Naofumi and Raphtalia be able to save the people of Melromarc from these dangerous waves?

“The Rising of a Shield Hero” is a perfect isekai anime with everything an isekai fan needs. From a weak protagonist and his diseased companion to a cruel world where he can power up perfectly. Although season 2 did not live up to its hype, it remains one of the best-written isekai-themed anime that every fan should watch, and we await the arrival of Season 3 now!

10. Log Horizon

Synopsis: Thirty thousand Japanese players get transported into the game named “Elder Tale” after its latest update. Among these trapped people is our protagonist, Shiroe, a veteran of this game and likes to explore the vast world of this game.

He interacts with the built-in characters and learns everything about this game to survive in this world alongside his two companions, Naotsugu and Akatsuki. Will Shiroe be able to make it to the end of this game and end it despite all the politics and mysterious puzzles which are present in this world?

“Log Horizon” introduced the political theme in isekai-themed shows and was worth every minute. It showed how even in a game, there are more than just fights and powers. How the protagonist thinks everything through before doing it and calculating every outcome made the show stand out in many ways!

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9. Cautious Hero: The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious

Synopsis: “Cautious Hero” follows the story of “Seiya,” a hero who is summoned by the Goddess “Ristarte.” He is pretty strong to the point of being overpowered. But, he is extremely over-cautious about battles, so he takes days to prepare for battles, and this causes a lot of inconvenience for Ristarte, who just wants the missions done.

Even when the job is simple, he overthinks every possibility that might happen regarding that job and does not hold back. Will Ristarte be able to make Seiya do the job for which she summoned him?

“Cautious Hero” took a turn from a classic, edgy isekai to a funny show, which was enjoyed by a lot of people. It showed us how being overpowered is not everything in an isekai. The end of this show was also pretty surprising, making it fresh and worth watching.

8. The Saga of Tanya The Evil

Synopsis: “The Saga of Tanya the Evil,” tells the story of a normal salaryman who gets reincarnated as a little girl into another world. He is reincarnated in an era of World War I, but the only difference is that there is magic in this world. The protagonist gets reincarnated as a girl named Tanya, who has a very ruthless and cold personality and is nicknamed “The Devil of the Rhine”.

Tanya wants to create an Empire that will be considered the strongest in the history of this world, so she starts ascending the military ranks. Will Tanya be able to make her army the most powerful one of them all and lead them the right way?

“The Saga of Tanya the Evil” showed us a unique premise where a male person gets reincarnated into a female body when he gets isekai-ed. And the theme of this anime is War, a fresh idea in isekai genre, and the psychopathic nature of the protagonist is also very appealing to some fans, making this anime quite popular.

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7. Overlord

Synopsis: “Overlord” follows the story of Suzuki Satoru, a teenage boy who is fed up with life and spends most of his time playing the DMMO-RPG game “YGGDRASIL”. He has an in-game character named Momonga, a large skeleton, “Ainz Ooal Gown”, who is a pretty overpowered wizard and is the leader of his dark guild.

One day while playing the game, Satoru gets trapped in the game world, unable to log out. Furthermore, the NPCs come to life. Ainz continues to play the role of a villain in this anime as he fights against the human race, while also searching for his friends in this new world. Will he be able to find all his friends and survive in this new world?

“Overlord” showed us to what extent a character can be overpowered. The main character has an arsenal of almost 700 spells, unlimited powerful servants, and much more, showing how getting reincarnated is worth it (TeeHee~). If you like classic isekai-themed shows, this one is definitely for you!

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6. The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat.

Synopsis: A world-renown assassin gets killed after getting betrayed and gets reincarnated into another world. Before reincarnation in this new world, the assassin is given a condition by the Goddess who reincarnated him that he has to kill the hero in this new world. So, our protagonist gets born as a baby boy named “Lugh” in a family of aristocrats.

But these aristocrats have the background of assassins, which makes the life of our protagonist easy. So, he is so good at this assassin business that he surpasses his father at a very young age.  Now, Lugh wants to collect talented people and defeat the hero. Will he be able to complete the job given by the Goddess and survive in this world?

“The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat” broke the cycle of boring isekai shows that only focused on the main character trying to power up and showed us something more interesting and appealing. The character development of even the side characters is pretty decent, making this show stand out in the eyes of isekai fans. All isekai anime fans are hoping for a Season 2 of this anime!

5. No Game No Life

Synopsis: “Shiro” and “Sora”, who are step-siblings, have an online reputation as the unbeatable duo under the name “ ”. One day, they receive an email that is an invitation to play a chess game. Despite being suspicious of this sudden mail, they go all in and start playing it with everything they have.

When the game finishes and they win, the Game God “Tet” transports them into a world where games decide everything. Feeling that this is the world where both of them belong, Shiro and Sora start from zero to beat God one day in a game to rule over this world. Will they be able to climb to the top and challenge the God of Games again?

“No Game No Life” was the show which started the controversy of “No Season 2?” because of how good it was. It followed the classic isekai plot and setting in a world where games decided everything, and the world-building of this show was magnificent. Isekai fans are still hoping for its second season, and we are also in the same gang!

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4. KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!

Synopsis: “Kazuma” is a shut-in boy who gets killed after trying to save a girl from a tractor, but in reality the girl was not in danger, and it was just a tractor passing by. After getting killed, he is told by the Goddess “Aqua” that he got killed for nothing. Aqua starts laughing while telling him that he had wet himself when he died. Angered by the mockery of Aqua, he makes a wish to transport Aqua alongside him instead of wishing for any power.

When they arrive in the new world, they realize that they are broke, and now, they have to look for a job. Despite being a Goddess, Aqua is pretty useless in normal deeds, making Kazuma’s life more chaotic. Will both of these fed-up people be able to survive in this new world by finding some source of income?

“KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!” diverted from the classic isekai setting and showed us a weak and puny protagonist who only thinks with his.. wiener. It showed us a comedy that was like non-other, and despite following hardly some isekai tropes, it is still considered one of the best comedy anime ever to exist!

3. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

Synopsis: Mikami is a normal worker in the world who is pretty fed up with his hectic everyday routine. One day, on his way back home, he gets attacked by a random bandit and is at death’s door. Luckily, his coworker is near him, and the last wish he makes is to “delete his computer history.” After such a strange last-wish death, he is reincarnated as a slime in a new world.

At first, he thinks he is pretty weak and useless as a little blob, but he meets the legendary dragon Veldora, and they become friends. He absorbs Veldora in himself to make him escape from a cage and sets out to make his kingdom of beasts. Will he be able to succeed in this new world and make his dynasty thrive?

“That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime” took the political aspect and expanded it, giving us an isekai that involved slow progression and good development. Its world-building and story progression is like no other, which is why it is so popular and good at the same time. The upcoming movie of this series is highly anticipated by fans!

2. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation

Synopsis: “Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation” follows the story of a 34-year-old man who dies on Earth after a disappointing life and gets re-incarnated into a fantasy world as a baby named “Rudeus.” Here he decides to do everything correctly, and thus, he starts living differently. He makes a girlfriend “Sylphy,” and becomes a full-fledged mage under his teacher “Roxy.”

Rudeus even takes on an apprentice because of his popularity as a young mage. His apprentice is a royal princess “Roxy.” One day, when they are training, a strange light strikes the Earth and destroys their whole town. Now, everyone that Rudeus knows gets spread throughout the world, and Rudeus now goes on a journey to find his loved ones. Will he be able to do so and find a solution to this situation?

“Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation” showed us how an Ecchi series is not always bad. With almost every aspect of this anime being perfect, it is what an isekai anime fan craves in his dreams. The character development, the music, the story progression, everything is on a level of its own! We are now waiting for the Season 2 of this masterpiece!

1. Re: ZERO- Starting Life in Another World-

Synopsis: “Re: ZERO- Starting Life in Another World-“ follows the story of a teenage boy, “Subaru,” who gets isekai’d suddenly. There, he meets an elf girl “Emilia” who tells him that her name is “Satella.” She saves him from bandits, and as payback, he wants to help Emilia find her lost pendant. Things get dark as both of them are killed in pursuit of her pendant.

Subaru is later restarted from the point he entered the mysterious world and realizes he has the power to go back in time after being killed. But this time, things go differently as Emilia reveals the truth that her name is Emilia, and late on, we learn that Satella is the witch who summoned Subaru into this mysterious world. Will we be able to learn the reason for Emilia’s lie, and Will Subaru be able to start his life from zero again in this new world?

“Re: ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-“ became something that no one expected. Season 1 had some flaws, but the explosion of season 2 changed everything. Character development, music records, opening and ending songs, insert songs, you name it, everything about this anime was pitch perfect which is why it is our #1 isekai-themed anime of all time. Unfortunately, there has been no announcement of a sequel for this masterpiece.

What are your thoughts on the “Top 15 Best Isekai Anime”? Did we miss your favorite Isekai anime on this list? Let us know in the comment section down below. We here at Anime Senpai would love to hear from you.