The isekai boom isn’t quite over yet, if only because it’s had multiple mini trends within it, like people becoming villainesses, shapeshifting, or the ones about people getting a fresh start. Rifujin na Magonote’s story Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation starts off with a hopeless man trying to save some teenagers from a truck, getting struck and killed in the process.
However, he finds himself reincarnated in a new world as Rudeus Greyrat, a skilled magic user. With all his old memories, he makes the most of this new life. Its second anime season started running in July 2023, and its second manga adaptation is still running as of this writing, but fans should also check out these similarly intriguing titles.
8 That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime
Starting with familiar territory, fans may be aware of Fuse’s tale for its quirkier take on isekai without being too ridiculous (see Reborn as a Vending Machine). Like Mushoku Tensei, it starts off with an ordinary guy suffering an unfortunate consequence. Salaryman Satoru Mikami sees his dull but peaceful life end when he’s stabbed out of nowhere.
As he dies, he hears a weird series of commands. A moment later, he reawakens in a fantasy world as a Slime creature. With their new skills, and their Dragon ally Veldora, they create their own kingdom with a range of rivals willing to either join forces or oppose them. Fans can find English versions of the manga licensed by Kodansha USA or watch the anime adaptation on Crunchyroll.
7 How NOT To Summon A Demon Lord
Still, Slime’s Satoru was quite fine with their boring life until it was taken from them. Mushoku Tensei’s protagonist was a nobody until he became a fantasy hero. So, fans who prefer this angle may prefer Yukiya Murasaki’s How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord. Its “hero” Takuma is a shut-in who’d rather play his favorite RPG Cross Reverie all day. But then he finds himself pulled into the game and reborn as his character Demon Lord Diablo.
It turns out a pantherian (cat girl) called Rem and her elf friend Shera tried to summon Diablo and enslave him with their magic. Except Diablo’s ring reflected their spell and bound them to him instead. With two girls by his side and vast knowledge of Cross Reverie's lore, all Diablo needs to do is figure out how socializing works. The manga version can be found via Seven Seas Entertainment, and the anime is on Crunchyroll.
6 JK Kara Yarinaosu Silver Plan
Or “Silver Plan: Starting Over From a JK”, though Dal Young-Im and Hye-Sung Lee’s work hasn’t been officially translated into English yet. However, there are plenty of fan translations out there, alongside a live-action series. Its premise isn’t strictly isekai unless one considers the past to be another world. “JK” (“joshi kōsei” or high school girl) refers to its protagonist Sayuri, a spoiled girl who used her family's wealth to lord over her classmates.
But once Japan’s bubble economy burst, her family lost all her money, leaving her a middle-aged homeless woman in the present day. But she gets a second chance when, after being hit by a rock, she finds herself back as a high schooler in the 1980s. To save her family’s fortune, and make a better future for herself, she sets up a “silver plan” to save money, make friends, and make amends with whoever she upset.
5 Spirit Chronicles
Yuri Kitayama’s work Serei Gensōki: Spirit Chronicles did receive an official English translation via J-Novel Club, and it received an anime that can be seen on Crunchyroll, so it’s much easier to track down. It’s somewhat akin to Mushoku Tensei, but it also switches up the isekai formula by having its lead reborn as someone who’s already alive.
Killed in a traffic accident, Haruto gets reborn as Rio, a citizen from the Beltrum Kingdom seeking to avenge the death of his mother. Or rather his spirit ends up sharing space in Rio’s body. Their two clashing minds have to come to terms to save two kidnapped princesses, use a new special power that could improve their life, and get revenge on Rio’s mother’s killers among other goals.
4 This Village Sim NPC Could Only Be Human
Hiru Kuma and Kazuhiko Morita’s strip for Young Ace Up isn’t particularly widespread, but it can be found in English via Seven Seas Entertainment. It tweaks Mushoku Tensei’s formula by having Yoshio, This Village Sim’s jobless and hopeless shut-in lead, never actually enter another world. Instead, he has to help it out from his gamer chair.
One day, he receives a mysterious game called “The Village of Fate” where he plays as its guardian deity and has to help its people build their homes and protect them from threats. Yet the graphics are so good, and its AI is so smart that it seems like a real village with real people living in it. Through looking after them and bonding with their people, he gains a new lease on life.
3 Remake Our Life!
Nachi Kio’s work is somewhat similar to Silver Plan, only with a modern-day video game producer than a 1980s high school girl. Kyōya quit his salaryman job to follow his dream as a game developer. But then his company went bankrupt, and another game project he hoped to work on got canceled too. Without any other prospects, he’s left with no choice but to return to his parents’ place in Nara Prefecture.
That is until he finds himself pulled 10 years back into the past, right after he passed the entrance exam to Ōnaka University of Arts, his alma mater. With a new chance to make a fresh start, he aims to avoid the mistakes he made the first time around. The manga can be found on Kodansha’s K Manga service, while the anime is up on Crunchyroll.
2 The Holy Power Of Modern Medicine
While Silver Plan was originally created by Koreans, it was set in Japan with Japanese characters and published in the Japanese sci-fi/fantasy manga magazine Comic Valkyrie. Goreap and Hammi’s comic The Holy Power of Modern Medicine is different as it’s a straight-up Korean manhwa that’s been running on KakaoPage since 2022. Tapas Media began translating it into English in February 2023.
Its plot is kind of the reverse of Mushoku Tensei as its lead isn't a loser. Yusung was a famous doctor respected by all in the medical business until he was killed in a traffic accident. He's reborn in a fantasy world as a saint who can heal people with a single touch, thus seemingly making his medical knowledge obsolete. Annoyed by this, he finds a way to find a place for medicine in a land full of magic.
1 The Faraway Paladin
Lastly, Kanata Yanagino’s story starts off as pure fantasy. Will is a human who was raised in the city of the dead by three undead souls: Blood the skeletal warrior, Mary the mummified priestess, and Gus the sorcerer. They taught Will all they knew about fighting and magic, but if Will wants to know the truth about his origins, he’ll have to venture out of the realm of the dead and become a paladin.
But it’s during Will’s upbringing when he vaguely recalls his past life as a Japanese guy, using his memories of events and what he learned in that life to aid him in his quest. J-Novel Club has English translations of both the original light novel and the manga for Comic Gardo. While the anime version is up on Crunchyroll, with a second season due out at the end of 2023.