Summary
The Isekai genre is known for taking protagonists on an adventure in a world where swords, magic, and fantastical creatures exist. These protagonists are usually overpowered and must do everything possible to survive in this new world or achieve certain goals, with the possibility of returning to their normal world.
Some Isekai anime take a different path and are sometimes known as reverse isekai. Reverse Isekai is when the protagonist leaves a fantasy world for the normal world, leaving behind their powers and becoming ordinary, just like Sadou Maou inThe Devil Is a Part-Timer!In other cases, instead of reverse isekai, the anime focuses on other elements like action, comedy, or romance.
The shows ‘barely acknowledge’ the isekai focus, although they do not totally ignore it.
Studio
Revoroot
This anime takes the usual Isekai path,where the protagonist diesand reincarnates in a fantasy world as an overpowered character. This anime is different because the protagonist, Azusa, does not want to fight monsters or do anything strenuous with her powers and immortality. In her previous life, she died from overworking herself, and because of that, she wants to live a peaceful life in this fantasy world.
Even as she gets bored and tired of her isolated lifestyle, she is still not interested in slaying powerful monsters like dragons or whatnot. But she sets out to make new friends that will keep her company and make her life interesting.
Silver Link
Fantastical creatures like elves, dragons, demons, beastmen, and others in Isekai anime usually fight against the main protagonist or work with them to achieve a certain goal. But these creatures have to eat and replenish their energies as living beings, and this iswhatRestaurant to Another Worldshows viewers.
This Isekai anime barely acknowledges its Isekai role as it focuses more on food and warm interaction between these creatures. There is no overpowered protagonist struggling to get back to the normal world; instead, the focus is on the different races of mythical creatures and how they exist in their fantasy world.
TROYCA
In the Isekai genre, the main protagonist transports or reincarnates into a fantasy world. That is the usual path most isekai anime take, but inRe: Creators, things take a different turn as viewers see the fantasy characters come to the real world.
Sota, the main character, briefly finds himself in the world of his favorite anime and returns to the real world, but not alone. He returns to find out that Selesia Upitilia, the protagonist of his favorite anime, has followed him and other fictional characters from this anime. Together, they try to gather the other fictional characters and prevent them from causing harm.
A-1 Pictures
Grimgar: Ashes and Illusionsfocuses on the survival and struggles of the main characters as they find themselves in a strange world without their memories.This anime does not tell viewers how the characters got to this world, but viewers can see how untrained they are and how being in this world is a serious threat to their lives.
These characters do not have powers, and things are not in their favor as they struggle to make ends meet.Grimgar: Ashes and Illusionsshows the harsh reality of being a stranger in a fantasy world, and these characters struggle to find their bearing in this world.
White Fox
The Devil Is A Part Timer!is an isekai anime that takes an interesting turn. The Demon King, Sadou Maou, leaves his fantasy world, Ente Isla, for modern-day Japan. Obviously, from his title, he was a villain and was actively trying to take over Ente Isla, but Emil, the hero, defeats him, which forces him to leave Ente Isla.
This anime does not focus on the Isekai part because Sadou is not fighting monsters or powering up like most isekai protagonists. Instead, he is living the life they lived before they found themselves in a fantasy world. In modern-day Japan, Sadou has no time to conjure up evil plans when he has bills to pay and work, as he now works at MgRonald’s, a fast-food restaurant. He also does not have most of his powers, as he left all that in his fantasy world, andhe is now an ordinary man trying to survive in the human world.
Books Take Priority Over Anything Else
Japanese Title
Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen
Aija-Do
Ascendance of a Bookwormfocuses on Myne, a weak and sickly girl who wants to make her books. Urano reincarnates as Mynein a medieval worldafter she dies under a pile of books during an earthquake in modern-day Tokyo. Urano was a book lover who always wanted to be a librarian but died before realizing her dreams.
In this new world, Myne has a lot of mana. She has physical limits as she is always sick and needs to rest to preserve her limited energy. This physical limitation does not stop Myne; she has Urano’s memories and love for books.This anime focuses on Myne’s journey as she looks for ways to create books, as books are quite rare in this era, and making them is quite expensive.
This anime focuses on Subaru’s mental turmoil so much that viewers might forget it is an isekai anime.Re: Zero Starting Life in Another Worldshows viewers how Subaru transports from his ordinary world to a fantasy world. Things take a dark turn shortly after he gets into this new world. Subaru meets Emilia (Satella), a half-elf girl who is a target to some thugs, and unfortunately, these thugs are able to murder her alongside Subaru. Not long after his death, Subaru returns to life by reliving the day, and he finds himself in a time loop that he desperately wants to escape.
Subaru is not an overpowered characterlike most isekai anime and is not conquering the world from monsters or anything. Instead, he is trying to win a battle against time and keeps recording more losses than he has ever counted. This constant loss has mentally drained Subaru, and what is even worse, no one else in this fantasy world is aware of his predicament.
