Highlights
- Isekai anime often portrays NEET protagonists who struggle with mental health issues and social anxiety, showcasing their isolation and lack of human interaction.
- These protagonists are transported to another world, which gives them an opportunity to leave their shells and begin a new life, but they still face challenges and obstacles in their journeys.
- The inclusion of NEET characters in isekai anime adds depth to the genre and explores themes of personal growth, self-discovery, and overcoming adversity.
Isekai anime has quickly become a major genre in the medium over recent years by introducing some smash hit anime like Sword Art Online. However, not all isekai anime protagonists led fulfilling lives before being transported to another world as Kirito did. Some of them are victims of mental health issues or social anxiety that sees them spend all their time indoors without a shred of human interaction, and the medium is not afraid to portray it as such.
They are also called NEETs, which means Not in Education, Employment, or Training. Several isekai anime feature NEETs as their protagonists and show how restarting life in another world can make them leave their shells, and here are a few of them.
5 BTooom!
| Studio | Madhouse |
|---|---|
| Where To Watch | Crunchyroll, HIDIVE, Amazon Prime Video |
Sakamoto Ryota is an isolated, unmotivated, and unemployed 22-year-old with no interest in the outside world. His sole purpose is to dominate the online combat game called Btooom! Like most NEET characters, he lived with his mother and depended fully on her. One day, he suddenly finds himself on a tropical island without remembering how he got there.
Unbeknownst to him, he had been nominated as one of the special candidates who would participate in a real-life version of the game. After a few interactions with players that tried to kill him, he soon realizes it. With the help of Himiko, his in-game wife, he must survive the brutal world he has been thrust into and escape before the other players kill him.
4 Kuma Kuma Bear
| Studio | EMT Squared |
|---|---|
| Where To Watch | Crunchyroll, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video |
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear has one of the most interesting NEET characters in all of anime. Yuna might be a NEET, but she is quite successful and the breadwinner of her home. With all the money she makes off the stock market, one can’t fault her decision to retire early, even though she is still a teenager. She spends most of her time playing her favorite first-person perspective online game, World Fantasy Online, where she receives a bear suit item as a gift for playing for so long.
Turns out, the creator of the game is a god who ends up transporting Yuna and her bear suit into the game. The suit grants her abilities way beyond any other character in the world, making her practically overpowered. Despite initially objecting to living in a game, she quickly gets accustomed to it and starts preferring it over her real life.
3 No Game No Life
| Studio | Madhouse |
|---|---|
| Where To Watch | Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime Video |
The protagonists of this extremely intriguing anime are the inseparable pair of stepsiblings, Sora and Shiro. They became NEETs after the death of their parents, losing all attachments to society. They cannot do without one another, and if separated, their anxiety disorder kicks in, and they suffer panic attacks. In their solitude, they find solace in the games where together they dominate under the name of Blank.
Sora is a great tactician and observer, while Shiro is great with numbers and logic. After defeating Tet, a god, at chess, they are transported to Disboard, a world that revolves around games where the winner takes all. In this world, Sora and Shiro must rise to the top and defeat all the other species in order to challenge Tet.
2 ReZero: - Starting Life In Another World
| Studio | Studio White Fox |
|---|---|
| Where To Watch | Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ |
Natsuki Subaru, the super relatable protagonist of this series, was born to a great father who was highly talented. Subaru worked hard to live up to the expectations of being his son, but his entry into middle school showed him a larger world with way more talented people than him. As a result, he began to develop an inferiority complex and feel like he was letting his parents down. He stopped trying to stand out and became a NEET before being transported to the Kingdom of Lugunica.
This transportation was a chance to start over, but as the gods would have it, Subaru did not become overpowered like most isekai protagonists and was still rather weak in comparison to most characters in the show. However, he must toss his inferiority complex aside if he is to protect his newfound friends and loved ones from the Witch and her cult
1 Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
| Studio | Studio Bind |
|---|---|
| Where To Watch | Hulu, Crunchyroll, Disney+ |
Of all the protagonists, as mentioned earlier, none of them faced more grueling circumstances than Rudeus Greyrat. His life as a NEET was imposed on him by his peers, who continuously bullied and humiliated him till he lost all will to live and became traumatized by the outside world. He was thirty-four when he died in a road accident after his parents' death and his subsequent home eviction.
He sometimes views his death and subsequent reincarnation as a blessing, but his past life still haunts him occasionally. With his new chance at life, he is determined to live to the fullest and appreciate all the beauties of the world while investigating the mysterious Teleport Incident that threw his new life upside down.