By Jake Buchalter
Updated
Though there are tons of isekai anime, fans feel the genre could still use more variety. Here are some great isekai manga that deserve adaptation.
Highlights
- Tyrant of the Tower Defense Game offers a fresh take on the popular "gamer gets pulled into the game" subgenre of isekai, with a unique twist on the protagonist's role and challenges.
- Surviving the Game as a Barbarian stands out by introducing creative new concepts and game mechanics into the isekai genre, while the main character's intelligence sets him apart from typical barbarian characters.
- Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha has the potential to be a successful anime adaptation, with its cold-hearted yet kind main character, well-designed mobile game mechanics, and inventive isekai setting.
The isekai genre of anime is so bloated at this point it's comical. As things currently are, there’s some new isekai show every season (or multiple). And, these stories almost always feature the same old protagonists who suddenly find themselves in new or strange situations, which can have isekai fans feeling like every new adaptation is just another drop in the bucket.
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However, every now and again there are standout adaptations such as Re: Zero, Reincarnated As A Slime,or more recently The Great Cleric, but those are few and far between. Thankfully, there are still quite a few amazing isekai manga to pick from as far as future adaptations go. Here are some of the best examples for potential future shows.
Updated August 18th, 2023 by Jacob Buchalter: The list of new and upcoming isekai series, and especially isekai anime adaptations, is always growing. While the isekai genre is pretty oversaturated at this point, that doesn't mean people are going to stop watching shows related to it or look for the 'diamonds in the rough'. And, after recombing through all the most well-known isekai series around, here are some of the best examples of unique, well-written, or just refreshing isekai manga/manwha series that absolutely deserve an anime adaptation.
17 Tyrant Of The Tower Defense Game
In recent years, it feels like the 'gamer gets pulled into the game they're addicted to' subgenre of isekai has only become more popular. And, while a lot of these series end up recycling a lot of the same tropes and plot devices, a standout series called Tyrant of the Tower Defense Game tries a lot of new things while excelling at all the tried-and-true things that make this sub-genre so popular.
Essentially, a popular 'retro game' streamer who managed to beat this game for the first time ever after years of attempts is then pulled into the game world by the 'developer' to beat it all over again. However, this time, Retrotaku won't be beating it as a player, but rather he'll have to beat it in the body of one of the game's most well-known characters. To be more specific he'll be possessing the body of Prince Ash, one of the more useless plot-relevant characters in the game, who is also a character everyone else thinks of as scum. From here, readers will get to see just how Retrotaku manages to succeed in spite of Prince Ash's reputation, how he integrates his knowledge from the game into surmounting seemingly impossible battles, and so much more.
16 Surviving The Game As A Barbarian
In much the same way that Tyrant of the Tower Defense Game managed to capture the tactics and organization difficulties of a hypothetical brutally challenging RTS game, Surviving the Game as a Barbarian does the same thing but with a more Western RPG style or dungeon-crawler-type game.
However, the aspect in which this series excels the most is in the way it introduces so many creative new concepts into an otherwise overdone subgenre of isekai stories. For one, almost all the 'game mechanics' that other similar isekai stories usually depend on work completely differently in this story. Two, the main character literally can't reveal that they're not who they say they are, as people who get 'transported' to this game world and are discovered to be possessing the bodies of others are killed on the spot. And three, the character may play a Barbarian, but he isn't actually a Barbarian in terms of intelligence, so he uses all sorts of inventive solutions other Barbarians would never come up with. While the light novel has a sizeable amount of chapters, the manwha isn't all that far along yet, so this may be a bit of an early recommendation, but anyone who has read this story will likely agree it's more than worthy of an adaptation.
15 Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha
And finally, to round out the 'gamer pulled into their game of choice' category of isekai series that needs an adaptation, Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha is another newer one that would absolutely do incredibly well as an anime, especially with how popular Gacha-style mobile games seem to be these days.
Granted, at the time of writing this, none of the manwha series turned into anime outside of Tower of God and God of High School have actually come out, so it's a bit of a risk to adapt, but the cold-yet-kind main character, well thought out mobile game mechanics, and incredibly inventive setup for this 'isekai' setting all make Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha a manwha that readers constantly find themselves struggling to pull away from.
14 Record Of Wortenia War
Starting things off with a pretty violent series, it's Wortenia Senki otherwise known as Record of Wortenia War. Usually, in most isekai series, a character is 'summoned' to another world and is typically told they need to defeat some demon king or work towards some other 'grand' goal. And, 90 percent of the time, the MC just eats it all up and goes along with whatever they're told. But in Wortenia Senki the setup and initial conversation after being transported goes a bit...differently than usual.
The main character, Mikoshiba Ryouma, was already an exceptional martial artist (taught by his grandfather) in a combat style meant for killing rather than disarming. But, Japan is peaceful, and there's no need for this mentality or skills in his world. That said, when Ryouma is suddenly transported to a new world, in the middle of eating lunch no less, he's able to finally put these skills to the test against the very people who summoned him without worrying about modern laws holding him back. After that, Ryouma has to carve out a life for himself alongside a pair of twin captives that he saves not long after he escapes the O'ltomea Empire. The concept alone of the summoned hero immediately killing his summoners and escaping the kingdom that summoned him is interesting enough, but that's only the beginning of Ryouma's long journey to making a name for himself as an accomplished soldier.
13 The Golden Word Master: The Four Heroes & The Innocent Bystander With The Unique Cheat
A surprising new 'trope' as of late for isekai series is introducing a protagonist with an ability thats a bit more 'out there' compared to the standard isekai cheat abilities. Everyone else is summoned to this new world with obviously overpowered 'cheat' abilities like being able to use all types of magic or knowing some advanced sword mastery right off the bat, while the main character has some 'odd' ability that seems difficult to make worthwhile in this fantasy world. In Konjiki no Word Master, MC Okamura Hiro is one of the best examples of this.
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Unlike other magicks, Okamura has the ability to use something entirely unique to him called 'Word Magic' and it basically allows him to assign the 'meaning' of words that he writes on anything to whatever he writes it on. The first example the story uses to show how this power works is Hiro writes the kanji for 'split' on a large boulder, and the boulder splits in half. Then, he writes 'origin' on one of the boulder halves, and the boulder returns to its original form. Because Okamura has such a passion for reading and words in general, the ways in which he uses this power are always interesting to see, which would make this series an interesting read by itself and that's before getting into all the world-building and political intrigue thats slowly but steadily introduced.
12 Walking In Another World
Unlike a lot of other series on here that made the list because of how much 'substance' they have, Isekai Walking (AKA Walking in Another World) is here because it's a very simple series that's always a delight to read. Basically, it follows all the standard isekai tropes such as:
- The Hero is summoned to a fantasy world of magic.
- Each 'hero' has absurdly overpowered stats and abilities right away.
- The main character doesn't have these absurd stats and is promptly thrown out/ignored by those who summoned him.
- Shortly after, they learn to live in this new world and quickly discover that their starting stats and abilities are actually much stronger than they first appeared.
And in this one, the protagonist (named Sora) has something called the 'Walking' ability. Basically, with every step, he gets 1 EXP, and with every level, his stats jump up and he gains one skill point to spend on a wide range of shockingly powerful skills. And, to make things even easier, he doesn't seem to get tired from walking anymore either. So, in just a few short days of walking around town, Sora goes from a feeble human to a relatively strong adventurer. Not only that but everyone in this story seems absurdly nice. So, rather than some standard isekai story about some overpowered MC constantly shredding through fantasy monsters, Isekai Walking is about a nice lad in a wonderful world who actually takes the time to explore and immerse himself in the new world he's been thrown into. Again, it's pretty tropey, and doesn't have a lot of 'depth', but it's fun, and that counts for a lot.
11 How Not to Use Healing Magic: Recovery Team Running Through The Battlefield
How Not To Use Healing Magic is one of the more creative isekai manga out there, even among the all-time greats, simply because the actual 'isekai' aspect of it isn’t overdone. For the most part, the story is about a relatively normal guy who simply has an aptitude for healing magic, but by going through the most grueling training by the world's best healer, this normal guy slowly becomes an unstoppable, unkillable, healing monster.
It’s a very well-written and, frankly hilarious, twist on the stereotypical image of healers in games or fantasy media being easy targets in combat. Ken Usato is trained to use his healing magic to heal his tired muscles/fatigue while working out, which massively increases his muscular gains in a much shorter span of time and slowly turns him into a superhuman above everyone else in terms of stamina, durability, speed, and strength. It does a lot of things differently and constantly surprises readers with new ways for Usato to shock and awe the people around him with his seemingly endless stamina. While the magic system in this series does seem to have a lot of similarities to something like Mushoku Tensei, the way the characters approach this magic, and use it to find workarounds to everyday issues, is a big selling point overall.
10 Welcome To Japan Ms. Elf
Welcome To Japan, Ms. Elf is also pretty separate from other isekai (much like many of the other series on this list) in the sense that it's not a power fantasy, and it's not gross with its fanservice, it's just an adorable romance/comedy isekai series. Additionally, this series also technically counts as both a regular isekai manga as well as a reverse isekai manga, as the MC constantly goes back and forth between worlds. There are a couple of key reasons why this series manages to separate itself from all the rest.
Firstly, the main character, Kazuhiro Kitase, only travels to the other world (AKA isekai world) in his dreams, returning to modern Japan when he wakes up or when he's 'killed' in the other world. Secondly, the slowly blossoming romance between Kitase and Maribelle, an elven Spirit Sorceress from the other world, never stops being cute. Third, the story spends more time showing Maribelle's reactions to modern Japanese food and technology than Kazuhiro's reactions to fantasy food and magic in his isekai dream world, which is just so funny to see in an isekai series.
9 Re: Monster
Re: Monster is one of the "trashier" isekai manga series out there as it has some absurd power fantasy stuff in it and a whole lot of (honestly gross) fan service, but if a reader can get past that, as a lot of anime/manga 'veterans' sort of have to learn to do with a lot of series, it's a very well written concept. Much like how So I'm a Spider, So What takes the 'game systems' approach to its isekai storytelling and pushes it to the utmost limit, Re: Monster takes the 'monster evolution' approach to isekai that fans of something like That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime will be more than familiar with and pushes it to a whole new level as well.
The main character Rou, otherwise known as Yatendoji is about as overpowered as an isekai protagonist can get in the sense he quite literally grows stronger with every single meal he eats. And, while it's exciting to see what Rou eats next and what skills he obtains, that's only part of the appeal. Frankly, a lot of the enjoyment of Re: Monster comes from all the characters and events around Rou. This includes stuff such as his little community steadily growing into what eventually becomes the Parabellum Mercenary group, or what variant the other goblins and creatures around him will become when they 'level up' enough and evolve, and even what world-shattering event Yatendoji will happen to stumble into next. It'd be tough to adapt, as some things would absolutely need to be changed or toned down (rightfully so) and that could make some of the more diehard fans angry.
8 Reincarnated As An Aristocrat With An Appraisal Skill
Reincarnated As An Aristocrat With An Appraisal Skill, or let's just say Aristocrat Reincarnation, is a pretty fresh and uniquely good isekai manga. For one, it's one of the only isekai in recent memory where the main character isn't mind-blowingly strong in combat right away. In fact, Ars Louvent (the protagonist) is pretty weak on his own throughout the entirety of the story, at least so far. But, because of the Appraisal skill he was gifted with when reincarnated, Ars has the best eye for talent, literally.
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Basically, anyone he inspects with this Appraisal skill shows him a chart of their real-life stats which shows their current level of prowess with a variety of skills, as well as their maximum possible potential with each skill. And, with this, Ars manages to surround himself with a merry group of (primarily female) masterclass fighters, wizards, strategists, and so on who are entirely dependent on him. While that may sound a bit manipulative, it comes off much more like Ars would've already treated these people well anyway, but they just happen to have a superhuman skill that benefits Ars.
7 Survival Story Of A Sword King In A Fantasy World
Survival Story of a Sword King in Another World is a roller coaster ride of a story. What starts out as an interesting yet incredibly dark concept where the MC is basically trapped in an endless loop of life-or-death battles, quickly turns into an action-comedy isekai series with an ever-expanding cast of hilarious characters. It follows a man named Ryu Han-Bin who has just finished his mandatory military service and is finally back home ready to relax and settle down. But, as soon as he sits down in his apartment Ryu is suddenly transferred to another world. But, before being thrown into the 'actual' fantasy world he was summoned to help, Ryu is brought to a 'tutorial' universe where a series of pop-up prompts (called a Guideline) introduces him to the tutorial that'll help him reach a certain base level of strength to survive in this new world.
The problem is that his Guideline malfunctions and Ryu doesn't get taken out of the tutorial after he defeats the tutorial mob. In fact, he doesn't get out of there for an absurd amount of time, all while being forced each day to fight an enemy relative to his current strength, which keeps growing with each kill as Ryu keeps getting stronger. By the time Ryu finally does manage to leave, he's a completely different person physically with a ton of trauma to boot. So, it's even more impressive that the series manages to pivot from this traumatizing Berserk-esque start to a more classic (yet still pretty unique) comedic isekai format.
6 Yakuza Reincarnation
Yakuza Reincarnation is a relatively recent isekai manga series, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. An old, hardened Yakuza elite is caught in a trap by one of his closest 'friends' and killed and starts to go through the process of being reincarnated in another world, as all isekai protagonists do.
But instead of being reincarnated in a younger male body to relive life at his 'prime', his soul takes over the body of a princess running away from her own kingdom that has betrayed her. Suddenly, he's gone from a 60-year-old man’s body to a frail and physically weak young girl. And, while this sounds like it'll be pretty scummy in terms of fanservice, the story primarily uses this contrast between the MC's soul and their body for comedic purposes. This is absolutely a series that most people read more for the art and combat scenes than they do for the plot, though the way this series approaches elves, magic, and superhuman abilities is interesting enough for most people to follow along with the story anyway.
5 Dungeon Reset
Dungeon Reset is a webcomic/manwha about humans who are suddenly pulled to another world, or 'dungeon' to fight for survival at the hands of some mysterious puppeteer. The protagonist, named Dawun, is thought to be dead at the bottom of a spike trap he fell into on the first floor and is left behind by the rest of the players as the Dungeon magically resets itself.
However, Dawun survived despite the system thinking he was dead, and this caused him to become a sort of “glitch” in the system, allowing him to exist outside the rules of the game. From there, this isekai manga story involves Dawun’s steady progression of learning new skills (all of which appear useless, at first), grinding up these skills until they become useful, moving on to the next area, and so forth. It's a very interesting concept where watching an MC advance in unique ways while living outside the standard 'rules' many isekai stories tend to force their characters into (and annoying the animal 'mascot' that runs the whole game) is more entertaining than the actual survival game itself. Basically, imagine that during something like the Hunger Games, there was just some guy living his life just outside the arena where the Hunger Games takes place, and no one seemed to mind or stop him from doing whatever he wanted.
4 A Veterinarian in Another World
A Veterinarian in Another World isn't exactly a typical isekai setup, which readers will notice is a pretty common theme for all the series on here, but it also isn't quite an atypical isekai either. Kazami Shingo is reincarnated in a fantasy world, not as some slime or spider, but as a normal human who has all his previous life's knowledge of his profession as a veterinarian. There are a couple of other series like it (such as Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated In Another World As An Aristocrat) where an MC with a hyper-specific skill, specialty, or profession gets pulled into another world exactly because of this expertise, and a Veterinarian in Another World is one of the best examples of this.
This is a story perfect for people who always wondered about the more mundane aspects of fantasy-world creatures. Plenty of viewers wonder if dragons live in stables in fantasy stories or if harpies build nests. And, this series usually goes even further than answering those questions and even brings fantasy biology into the mix, which just shows how much the author cares about the finer details in world-building.
3 The Ideal Sponger Life
The Ideal Sponger Life is another romance-based Isekai manga series. It's one part political drama, one part isekai magic, and one part romance story, and that combination actually works better than one might expect. Zenjirou Yamai is dragged to another world by a powerful queen named Aura who wields some sort of 'bloodline-based' space-time magic. She just has one simple request for the man she summoned, for him: to marry her and live his life comfortably as her husband without ever attempting to usurp her power, as most 'common' men would eventually attempt to do in this situation.
Zenjirou accepts this offer and is sent back to Earth to prepare some things back in his original world, almost like he's making some big move across the world. After getting everything ready and saying his goodbyes, Zenijirou is transported back and becomes the Queen's husband. Not only is the romance between Aura and Zenjirou honestly adorable (and well-written for an actually adult relationship), but Zenjirou is actively fighting against the standard isekai trope of 'having a harem' constantly in this story. In his new world, men having multiple wives or royalty having concubines is a well-established practice, but Zenjirou wants to stay faithful to Aura, despite how much extra work that creates for him. And, on this concept alone, this story is so incredibly unique, though who knows how long it'll last.
2 The New Gate
This story has a similar beginning to Sword Art Online or.Hack, for those who are fans of the 'trapped in a game' concept. In The New Gate, though, the “trapped in a game” section of the adventure is actually just finishing up right where the manga begins, which is unexpected. The main character, Shin, has just finished clearing the final boss, and is expecting to finally be transported back home to Earth and out of the game he's been trapped in.
However, after walking through the door past the final boss, it turns out Shin has actually been transported to the same game world again, only this time it's much further in the future and there aren't really any 'game systems' anymore such as a stats screen or an options menu. This time it’s 500 years later, and all the NPCs have become sentient, living people. From there, Shin must find his old NPC companions, figure out what happened to the world in the last 500 years, and see if there’s any way possible to return home. It's still a bit too early in the series to tell, but so far The New Gate is shaping up to be one of the better trapped-in-a-game isekai stories out there, as this back-and-forth pull Shin feels for wanting to stay with the (now living) NPCs he loves or return home to his old life is something a lot of other series either don't tackle or handle very poorly.
1 Reincarnated As A Dragon Hatcling
Originally, this entry included both Reincarnated as a Sword and Reincarnated As A Dragon Hatchling, but anime fans have already seen how the Reincarnated as a Sword adaptation went, and hopefully, this dragon hatchling story gets a similar treatment.
Reincarnated As A Dragon Hatchling has a lot in common with So I’m a Spider, So What. Instead of a spider, though, the hero is reborn as a literal Dragon’s Egg. Thankfully, he’s not trapped in the bottom of a labyrinth as Kumoko was, but he’s still just a helpless egg in the middle of a dangerous forest. Where this story separates itself from most others, however, is that (at least so far) the MC doesn't get to turn into a human or even make human friends. In fact, as he levels up he's basically forced to keep picking more and more dangerous evolutionary forms in order to stay alive, pushing him further and further away from ever reconnecting with humanity. And, while these new forms are certainly powerful, they make it almost impossible for him to interact with humans in general. It's a great concept with some uniquely beautiful art that would absolutely draw in new fans if adapted faithfully.
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