Highlights
- The isekai genre has many underrated gems that offer unique stories and themes beyond the typical skill progression and romance tropes.
- The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World combines the concept of Power Rangers with isekai, resulting in an interesting story of justice and heroism.
- The Savior's Book Café Story in Another World offers a refreshing change of pace with a middle-aged protagonist who opens a book café instead of saving the world, while also showcasing a potential romance subplot.
To be an isekai fan and not know about titles such as Overlord, No Game, No Life, Sword Art Online, or the new hit The Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is nearly unheard of. These legends are the projects that turned the isekai genre into the absolute powerhouse it is today. They're also what a veteran isekai fan would recommend to a novice to get them into the genre.
However, while these stories are amazing, with their massive influence and humongous fanbases, they've unfortunately also hit a point of being so influential that their ideas can seem predictable if viewed from a modern lens. Additionally, they tend to strongly overshadow some of the lesser-known and underrated isekai manga/anime gems.
18 Underrated Isekai Anime
Nowadays, Isekai anime are inescapable. For every Sword Art Online and Overlord, there is a great but underrated isekai anime.
Because the isekai genre is so vast, with all sorts of stories being incorporated into the reincarnation theme, there is no shortage of good and unique titles. Some of them, however, are a bit more underappreciated than others despite their immaculate art and premise. Not every isekai needs to revolve around skill progression or a budding romance with a prince or duke, and thankfully they're not!
8 The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World
MyAnimeList Score: 7.01/10
Japanese Title | Sentai Red Isekai de Boukensha ni Naru |
|---|---|
Writer(s) | Nakayoshi Koyoshi |
Status | Ongoing |
Other Genres | Action |
Powers Rangers and Isekai? What could go wrong? Well, apparently a lot, because The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World doesn't exactly start on the most positive note. The protagonist, Asagaki Togo, was a red ranger in his previous life who died sacrificing himself for the greater good.
Despite being a hero and going out with a bang, the man had more than a few regrets before his ultimate demise. So, like any good isekai, that unyielding will to survive caught the attention of the isekai gods, leading to Asagaki's reincarnation. The new world he's reincarnated into does not have rangers or meticulous evil organizations that plot for world dominance, but it does have bad guys. So, Asagaki continues his pursuit of justice as a red ranger against them.
7 The Death Mage
MyAnimeList Score: 7.04/10
Japanese Title | Yondome wa Iya na Shizokusei Majutsushi |
|---|---|
Writer(s) | Densuke (Story) Kojima, Takehiro (Art) |
Status | Ongoing |
Other Genres | Drama |
Getting reincarnated time and time again, retaining all the painful memories of your past lives, and even being promised a blessed life ahead by God but getting cursed instead — that's a lot for one kid to take, no? Hiroto Amamiya suffers this exact fate solely because of a small oversight on the reincarnation God's part.
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These five Isekai protagonists had tragic lives before their reincarnation.
His first life ends on a tragic note, with him and a bunch of his classmates drowning in a boat accident but only him getting the short end of the stick by having his powers taken away. He suffers the same tragic end in his second life and is cursed by God yet again. Now more determined than ever, he vows to make his third reincarnation the final one.
6 The Wrong Way To Use Healing Magic
MyAnimeList Score: 7.33/10
Japanese Title | Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata |
|---|---|
Writer(s) | Kugayama Reki (Art), Kurokata (Story) |
Status | Ongoing |
Other Genres | Action |
The most unexpected, miracle-esque things happen to the most ordinary people — this is a recurring theme in not only isekai, but a lot of anime and manga in general. Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata follows this theme as well, featuring Ken Usato, an ordinary high-school student who has a considerable amount of animosity towards people who aren't ordinary. Ironically, the man befriends the most extraordinary people in his school: the president and vice president of the Student Council.
Everything changes when the three of them are summoned to a fantasy world with magic. Ken believes he's just as average in this world as he was in his previous one, but he's way off. He possesses a type of healing magic that's considered so rare, that he's now being pursued by all sorts of people—the good, the bad, and the unhinged.
The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic has a pretty good anime adaptation.
5 Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear
MyAnimeList Score: 7.43/10
Writer(s) | Kumanano (Story), Sergei (Art) |
|---|---|
Status | Ongoing |
Other Genres | Comedy |
As cute as Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear sounds, it features one of the coolest, most hardcore female leads to ever bless the isekai world. 15-year-old Yuna is a recluse; she does not like going out, hates going to school, and despises everything that isn't her virtual reality MMO and stock investing (the latter being the reason she's a billionaire).
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Everything is all fun and breezy for her until she gets transported to her MMO world and has to fight magical beasts wearing one of the most tacky, "kawaii," bear suits ever. The worst part is, the bear suit is her armor and she can't win her face-offs without it.
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear has received a couple of enjoyable anime seasons.
4 The Savior's Book Café Story in Another World
MyAnimeList Score: 7.62/10
Japanese Title | Isekai ni Kyuuseishu to shite Yobaremashita ga, Around 30 ni wa Muri na no de, hissori Book Café Hajimemashita |
|---|---|
Writer(s) | Izumi Kyouka (Story), Sakurada Reiko (Art) |
Status | Completed |
Other Genres | Romance |
The Savior's Book Café Story in Another World comes as a breath of fresh air after a plethora of action/shounen recommendations. It features Tsukina Mizumori, a middle-aged nerd with a passion for books and cooking, who gets reincarnated into a magical world as its reluctant savior.
Instead of going out of her way and expending energy on trying to save a world she barely knows, she opens a book café on its outskirts. As the café's owner, she encounters a knight who, much like herself, is a secret bookworm. Both of them bond over the troublesome nature of their responsibilities (him as a knight, and her as the unwilling savior). Romance ensues?
3 Sister and Giant: A Young Lady Is Reborn in Another World
MyAnimeList Score: 7.70/10
Japanese Title | Oneesama to Watashi: Ojousama ga Isekai Tensei |
|---|---|
Writer(s) | Be-con |
Status | Ongoing |
Other Genres | Adventure |
For anyone looking for an unusual premise that focuses more on sisterhood rather than the power of friendship, Sister and Giant: A Young Lady Is Reborn in Another World would be their cup of tea. Hinako Kyogoku, a quiet and distant girl, finds herself in a world packed with all kinds of mythical creatures, giants included.
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Apparently, every reincarnated person in that world gets offered magical powers from its goddess, but Hinako firmly rejects the powers she gets. Instead, she takes a vow of sisterhood with an abandoned giant named Eiris from said world, and the two set out on a journey to find their lost families.
2 Growing Tired of the Lazy High Elf Life After 120 Years
MyAnimeList Score: 7.77/10
Japanese Title | Tensei Shite High Elf ni Narimashitaga, Slow Life wa 120-nen de Akimashita |
|---|---|
Writer(s) | Narita Koh (Art), Rarutori (Story) |
Status | Ongoing |
Other Genres | Adventure |
Growing Tired of the Lazy High Elf Life After 120 Years is a slice-of-life comedy Isekai manga with a premise that, funnily enough, bears a striking resemblance to Bilbo Baggins' shenanigans from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
The most amusing part is that, instead of a curious little hobbit, we have a bored high elf, Aesir, who's lived long enough to find his Elven woodlands' tranquility stuffy and dull. So, in order to ward off the impending boredom that threatens his sanity, he leaves his woodlands in search of a new adventure— something similar to what he did as a human before he was reincarnated as a high elf.
1 Drifters
MyAnimeList Score: 7.80/10
Writer(s) | Hirano Kouta |
|---|---|
Status | Ongoing |
Other Genres | Action |
Most anime fans agree that Hellsing is one of the best vampire-themed manga to have ever graced the anime realm. This is why Hirano Kouta's other work, Drifters is great news for Hellsing fans. It's a samurai action that successfully mirrors the essence of Hellsing while managing to stay true to its own story.
It centers around Toyohisa Shimazu, a ruthless samurai who meets his end in a brutal battle against the Tokugawa clan. Instead of finding eternal peace, Toyohisa is reincarnated into a world that holds other heroes and fighters who have met a similar demise. They now have to band together to defeat the nefarious Black King of this new and strange world.
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