Isekai manga are great, there's no doubt about it. With their outlandish plotlines and equally fantastical art, they've pretty much become a cornerstone of the anime and manga scene. However, regardless of their widespread popularity in the industry and the continuous stream of new releases in the market, there's this stagnancy that's taken hold of the genre. Almost all new releases of isekai manga have the same old story of "average person gets reincarnated as an unsung hero and has to work their way up to gain recognition and respect," accompanied by an art that's not bad, but not exactly something to sing praises for.

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This is why, despite the ungodly amount of new isekai manga coming out every day, there aren't many that particularly stand out. Nevertheless, numerous writers have recently begun to experiment with their writing by deviating from the typical archetype and incorporating darker and more philosophical themes into their works.

8 The Death Mage

Protagonist Goes Through Some Pretty Harrowing Stuff and He Hasn't Even Been Reincarnated Yet

The Death Mage, despite losing its intensity in the newer chapters, starts off on a pretty grim note. The way it explores isekai and reincarnation is largely different from what is usually seen in manga and anime of similar types. It focuses on multiple lives and reincarnations of the protagonist and adds a tragic, almost 'edgy' storyline to all of them.

It starts off with the protagonist, a high school student, losing his life in a shipwreck along with his classmates on an official school trip—only to find himself face-to-face with a God. Naturally, as a good person, Hiroto (the protagonist) pleads with said God for his classmates and himself to be reincarnated into a better life. Unfortunately, God messes up his rebirth, and Hiroto ends up getting cursed for a lifetime. In his second life, the poor guy essentially becomes a human experiment and is killed by the very classmates he saved in his first one. He vows to avenge himself and asks the same God to give him the power to do so in his third life, only for God to curse him more in hopes that he will let go of his thirst for revenge.

7 The One Within the Villainess

A Villainess Revenge Plot That Takes a Darker Turn Than Most Others in its Genre—Also, Eldritch Gods?!

Usually, manga and manhwa with villainess reincarnations follow a very formulaic pattern: the main character is isekai-ed into the body of a despised villainess from a certain book or game, most likely on the verge of an execution of some sort. The now isekai-ed character has to make sure she survives as the villainess and wins the favor of everyone around her by being likable and sweet.

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The One Within the Villainess takes a much more complex route and reincarnates a normal Japanese woman into the body of the villainess from her favorite Otome game, Remilia. The twist here is, that the actual villainess is on the sidelines in an intermediate dimension, keeping an eye on everything her newly acquired soul is doing. Unfortunately, despite "Emi's" maximum attempts at making sure Remilia survives, she fails, and the story eventually goes exactly the way it was intended to—with the villainess on the verge of getting executed. Just as that's about to happen, the real Remilia (who was on the sidelines, watching) takes back control of her body and swears to take down everyone who's messed with Emi.

6 The King of Death at the Dark Palace

Explores Themes of Survival, Desperation, and Forced Subordination

The King of Death at the Dark Palace, a quick read with only 13 chapters that, despite being so short, has some pretty weighty themes featured in it. Its isekai narrative takes an unconventional route, offering a unique perspective from that of a humble minion serving a necromancer—which is basically equivalent to Solo Leveling being published from the point of view of one of Sung Jin-woo's shadows.

It follows the story of a sickly noble boy who's lost all hopes of getting back on his feet. He has an unknown illness that gives him excruciating pain and renders him completely immobile. Although he doesn't wish to die a lonely, sad death, there isn't much to go by in terms of a cure, so he's left to sit and wait for his eventual demise. That is until he's reincarnated as a lowly undead by a necromancer, Holos, whom he must obey no matter what. Holos, being the boy's lord, orders him to fight and kill against his will.

5 Kuro no Maou

Graphic Violence and Other Mature Themes, Yet There's an Odd Sense of Realism to it

Kuro no Maou, at first glance, appears to be just another isekai manga: a typical reincarnation storyline where the protagonist goes from being a loser in the real world to becoming a considerably powerful character in a fantasy realm. However, the way this trope is executed in this particular manga is largely different from what readers are used to seeing in other similar works.

The main character is a somewhat normal high school student who loses his first life in mysterious, unknown ways and wakes up in another realm as a test for an experiment. He is subjected to all kinds of horrendous treatment from the lab people and is left at their mercy. All of this shifts when Maou, the protagonist, awakens some strange supernatural powers.

4 Drifters

From The Author of Hellsing—It's Bound to be Dark

Hirano Kouta, the author of Hellsing, is known for his incessantly violent yet remarkably comprehensive writing style that's clearly evident in most of his works. Drifters distinguishes itself not only from Hirano's other creations but also from other isekai manga precisely due to this relentless violence. The series features intensely graphic and brutal action sequences that leave readers queasy but engaged till the end.

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Drifters heavily revolves around themes of war and war tactics (not always realistic ones though). It follows the story of a samurai who dies in war against an enemy clan and is reincarnated into a strange world. This new world has its own set of problems and is on a path to destruction because of someone known as the "Black King." The samurai, Toyohisa, now a drifter, has to fight off the Black King with the help of a few others in order to save this realm from ruin.

3 The Wolf Never Sleeps

An Art and Story so Compellingly Unsettling, it Instills Readers with an Ominous Foreboding.

The Wolf Never Sleeps, for better or for worse, isn't anything special in terms of story. In fact, one could say that this particular book has one of the most ordinary premises and main characters out of all the other manga on this list—yet, ironically, that's precisely what sets it apart and makes it so unique.

The main character is neither an overpowered hero with a better-than-thou attitude nor is he a villain reincarnate with an overtly 'misunderstood' demeanor. He's just a guy with a penchant for exploring and occasionally getting himself in trouble with wild beasts. That's exactly what he does after he accidentally falls into a 'black whorl' that connects his realm to another dimension.

2 Overlord

The Quintessential Dark Isekai that Birthed the Ruthless, Unflinching, Not-Afraid-To-Kill Protagonist

Overlord is one of the trendsetters isekai anime/ manga that has established this trope to what it is today. It's also one of the few action series of its time that features an excessively strong yet morally ambiguous main character who has no qualms about doing questionable stuff for the sake of power. The overall ambiance of the series is very dark and ominous, seeing that it is reminiscent of a soulslike RPG—which is exactly what it is.

The main character is isekai-ed into his favorite multiplayer game, YGGDRASIL, as a significantly important character. He's a guild leader who's taken on the form of a Lich king and cannot return to his original human body. In order to strengthen his position in the world, he sets out to find more people like him.

1 Record of Highserk

Raw Realism of War and Its Effects as Readers See the Protagonist Turn Increasingly Impassive By The Minute

While there are plenty of manga and anime out there that show a certain image of war and violence, Record of Highserk takes it a step further and portrays the very realistic trauma it has on soldiers fighting said war. Despite being an isekai—naturally with fantasy elements—its representation of the brutality of war, in addition to an absolutely phenomenal art, makes it one of the best manga of this trope.

The main character, once an ordinary, overworked salaryman from Japan, finds himself reborn as a foot soldier in a new world, stationed on the frontlines of an invasion. He spends most of his time on the battlefield, clawing for survival while witnessing the loss of his comrades one by one. His descent from being a normal person to a traumatized warrior is so tangible, that it resonates with the readers throughout the course of the manga and is evident from the gradual emptiness in his eyes.

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