Summary
Isekai anime has seen its popularity skyrocket, leading to creators exploring more self-aware and humorous concepts within the genre. Some isekai series stand out for their bizarre premises, such as the main character becoming a business tycoon in a fantasy world or a fantasy villain being forced to work as a waitress. The isekai genre has also been parodied, with series such as Do You Love Your Mother and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attack? and great Jahy will not be defeated! , which offers clever and humorous twists on traditional isekai stories.
Isekai has become one of the mainstays of anime in recent years, with many popular series involving their heroes being taken into novel settings. While many popular isekai series still present simple, irony-free stories, others have begun toying with more self-aware and humorous concepts. Several series are notable for being based on strange isekai facility.
Thanks in part to the success of series like Sword Art Online, the isekai genre has exploded in popularity since the 2010s. At that time, writers began to realize the creative freedom available in the genre and the many series that followed Sword Art Online in the years that followed took the genre in novel directions. Many anime creators have realized that it’s possible to take the isekai genre in some truly strange directions.
19. The hero becomes a business tycoon in a fantasy world
Black Company’s dungeon
18 Kinji doesn’t want to work, and his opening monologue explains how he used a complex investment plan to accumulate enough passive income to achieve that goal. Unfortunately, soon after his explanation, he is drawn into a fantasy world where he finds himself forced to perform menial tasks. Both extremely lazy – despite possessing excellent financial skills – Kinji’s next mission revolves around taking over the mining company and amassing enough money to achieve his previous goal of never having to work a day in your life, even in this new world.
17 Feudal Japan but everyone is female
Battle Girls – Time paradox
16 Historical series, especially those set in Japan’s Sengoku period, are not uncommon in anime. Battle Girls tries to do something unique with this idea by making every character depicted on screen female – with the exception of a dog who serves as comic relief for the show. Modern high school student Yoshino Hide is transported back in time to an all-female alternate version of 16th century Japan, where she accompanies warlord Oda Nobunaga, playing a more or less identical role to the historical Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
15 Fantasy Mech Series in which the villain is Sir Isaac Newton
Escaflowne’s vision
14
In the first episode of The Vision of Escaflowne, high school student Hitomi is transported to the world of Gaea, an eccentric world that blends high fantasy and machinery. It is quickly established that Hitomi was not the first person from Earth to travel to Gaea. Several characters remember that Hitomi’s grandmother went to Gaea, and the series’ villain, Emperor Dornkirk, is heavily hinted to be the historical Isaac Newton, which was eventually confirmed by the series’ writers. . The real-life Newton’s scientific acumen and interest in the occult were promoted to its highest logical level thanks to the technological superiority of the Zaibach Empire and its ambition to build a machine to control controls the destiny of Emperor Dornkirk.
13 ancient Chinese geniuses became music producers
Ya Boy Kongming!
12
The historical Zhuge Liang, also known as Kong Ming, was one of the most famous figures of China’s Three Kingdoms period. Famous for his brilliant tactical mind and uncanny ability to read and predict his enemies’ behavior, Zhuge Liang adapted surprisingly well when reincarnated in modern-day Shibuya. He soon meets an aspiring singer named Eiko, and out of gratitude for her helping him adjust to his new life and find a job as a bartender, he agrees to become her manager. He uses his tactical brain by helping Eiko launch her music career. One of the best reverse isekai series of recent times, Ya Boy Kongming sees Zhuge Liang reinvent many of his famous tactics from Romance of the Three Kingdoms to help Eiko conquer the recording industry.
11 The heroine is a spider
So I’m Spider, So What?
10
According to isekai, the most famous series about a main character being reincarnated as a low-level monster is probably That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, but it’s not the only series to use this idea. So I’m Spider, So What? sees a high school girl reincarnated as a generic low-level spider in a high-level dungeon. Unofficially known as Kumoko, the heroine is forced into a world where both human adventurers are searching the dungeons and other monsters are trying to kill her. Kumoko is a unique and memorable isekai protagonist, both because she quickly adapts to such a dangerous setting and because she remains very brave as she grows stronger and transitions from her common henchman character. usually becomes a late-game boss character.
9 The heroine’s armor is a bear
And And And Bear
8
Thanks to making a lot of money from the stock market, Yuna can spend every moment playing her favorite virtual reality video game. When given the choice to begin truly living in the game, she jumps at the chance. Before entering the world of the game, she was given a set of high-class armor. Unfortunately for her, that armor comes in the shape of an adorable bear and the matching gloves look like hand puppets. The most common running joke in the series is the mismatch between Yuna’s superior stats and excellent fighting abilities and the adorable appearance of her armor.
7 The hero and his mother end up in a video game
Do you love your mother and her two-hit multi-target attacks?
6
For reasons that have never been made clear, the government created a virtual reality game designed to improve the relationship between mothers and their children. When Masato is brought into this game world, his mother Mamako suddenly accompanies him, much to Masato’s horror. Aside from the countless puns and puns based on the Japanese words for “mother” and “mother,” much of the series’ humor comes from having one of the most relatable premises of all time. Mamako is intentionally written as a cold, overprotective mother, and audiences will likely share Masato’s bewilderment at having the chance to go on an epic fantasy adventure interrupted by the presence of his overbearing mother. The series is a clever parody of both the fantasy RPG and the isekai genre, with Mamako standing out as an excellent parody of a strong isekai protagonist.
5 An imaginary villain is forced to work as a waitress
Great Jahy will not be defeated!
In the Dark Kingdom, Jahy is the Dark Lord’s second-in-command. After the destruction of the Dark Kingdom, Jahy had to work as a waitress, living in a shabby apartment and living paycheck to paycheck. Transporting a stereotypical fantasy genre villain in such a mundane setting is a great reverse isekai premise. Great Jahy will not be defeated! is also notable for being an entirely female-led series. Aside from anonymous background characters, the only male character is the narrator. Although he has no direct impact on the plot, his deadpan storytelling adds a lot of humor to the series. Most of the series’ most touching moments come from Jahy being helped by her female friends like the Boss and Landlady. Thanks to the support of the other women in her life, everything Jahy faces is never as bad as it seems, and friendship is the main factor that gradually softens her Fantasy villainous personality. .
4 The first animated Mario adaptation was an Isekai
Great mission to rescue Princess Peach!
3
The movie Mario Bros. 2023 broke box office records, becoming one of the most successful animated films and video game adaptations of all time. The 2023 film isn’t the first time Mario has starred in isekai. While the series goes back and forth about whether Mario and Luigi are from the Mushroom Kingdom or from Earth, the first full-length Mario adaptation was an isekai, predating the 2023 film by nearly 40 years. In The Grand Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!, Mario and Luigi are transported into their Nintendo Entertainment System and find themselves faced with an epic mission to rescue Peach from being forced to marry Bowser. A lot of the specific character and plot details are confusing compared to what would eventually be codified later in the series, but there is surprising consistency with even later games in the series and especially the 2023 movie.
2 Heroes are vending machines
Reincarnated as a vending machine, I now wander the dungeon
1
The vending machine might be the strangest thing an isekai protagonist has ever reincarnated into, especially in the context of a typical fantasy world. Reincarnated as a vending machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon leans into that premise to create a great isekai comedy. An unnamed vending machine enthusiast meets an untimely death and is reincarnated in the Fantasy world as a vending machine known as Boxxo. For a series with such an inherently absurd premise, Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon is surprisingly clever in its examination of life as a sentient vending machine. , although motionless and wordless, will actually function and how the characters live. in the fantasy RPG world will adapt to modern technology and use vending machines in their adventures.
The explosion in popularity of the isekai genre has led to more and more creators choosing to experiment with the concept. Although there are still many isekai that play the genre ironically and present simple adventures in other worlds, more and more creators choose to write deliberately ridiculous stories that parody the genre This. This has led to several Weirdest Isekai facility of all time.
