I like to keep you guys on your toes so today, we have the second ever guest post on I Drink and Watch Anime. This Top 5 Isekai list is brought to you by Sujith Kumar of findmesimilar.com. I hope you enjoy it. (For the record I haven’t seen all of these but I liked the ones I have!)
This is one of the more popular anime and manga genres that have garnered a lot of popularity in the past few years. The word Isekai comes from the words “sekai” which means “world” and the prefix “i” which implies that it is “other”. That, as a whole, marks Isekai as a genre that can range from humor and parody to something more epic, but always in a parallel world, completely new for our main characters. Here we shall take a look at 5 of the most popular Isekai anime that you can binge and enjoy, where our main characters will be (in one form or another) transported to a different reality or world.

Re: Zer0
Subaru Natsuki is an ordinary high school student who leads quite an unhealthy life. One day he finds himself transported into a world of sword and sorcery where he ends up being rescued by a beautiful semi-elephant called Satella. To return the favor, Subaru will play the hero and try to help her recover an emblem that has been stolen from her, but neither of them will know the terrible fate that awaits them, since both end up being killed. Only then does Subaru discover that he has the power to rewind his own death to an earlier point in his life, remembering everything that happened before his death. It’s kind of like the movie Groundhog Day, where the hero gets to travel back and re-do the events that led up to his death. Very fun and enjoyable Isekai which you will want to binge watch to the very end.

No Game No Life
No Game, No Life focuses on Sora and Shiro, siblings with great reputations as gamers which has led to them becoming actual internet legends.
These two gamers consider that the real world is only a badly designed video game that presents no real interest to them. One day, a boy named “God” summons them in an alternate universe where he has forbidden war and declared that everything is decided based on games, even the borders of countries.
Sora and Shiro will have to use their abilities to save this world, or let it crumble. Anime like No Game No Life are amazing to watch because of the setting, the characters, the action and the comedy. You’ll never get bored!

Overlord
The story begins on the closing day of the popular MMORPG game Yggdrasil. Guild leader Ainz Ooal Gown is the only one of his companions left, so he decides to stay online until the time that the server closes. To his surprise, the game does not end, and he is converted into his avatar, having maximum level, left to rule over all the NPC that inhabit the dungeon that his guild used as a base.
Our hero will have to interact with this new world that in part is based on what he knew from the game, while looking for more people that may also have been transported in the game. In the process he must keep the illusion of being a ruthless and cold leader in front of the NPC that worship him almost like a god, since most of them were created by the guild members.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Our main character’s journey to the new world is provoked by his fall from grace, by being killed. Different to other Isekai, his conversion takes place in a somewhat different body than normal. Our protagonist is not a human, not a player introduced in a video game and not a being of immeasurable power … but a simple slime!
His strength lies in the fact that he has the unique ability to devour anything and assimilate it. In that sense, what is transcribed is a tremendous potential at the level of combat and knowledge. It possesses as many skills and resistances, as well as a kind of mental companion with great information about the world. Our hero needs to learn about this new world, how to survive, how to navigate it, and how to become a leader.

The Rising of the Shield Hero
Four humans from four different times are transported to a world of fantasy after a magical ritual. The so-called heroes are intended to save the world from a strange phenomenon called “waves”. True to its name, every so often the world is beset by strange portals from which hordes of monsters emerge. The heroes, equipped with a series of legendary weapons that cannot be removed, will have to train, improve their level and abilities to, from time to time, face the mentioned waves.
Our protagonist, Iwatani Naofumi, receives the shield. Consequently, his offensive capabilities are very limited. In addition, the heroes cannot train together, as they do not receive experience if they are close to each other. Due to his lack of charisma, he ends up with only one teammate, but ends up being betrayed, cheated and accused of rape. Our hero will have to rise above all these challenges if he wants to fulfil his full potential!
Being transported to a different world sure seems fun, doesn’t it? Enjoy these 5 amazing Isekai anime that will make you experience new worlds and very relatable characters!
Author – Sujith Kumar is the owner of findmesimilar.com which provides similar games, movies, TV shows and anime recommendations.
Sadly I don’t have an avatar for Sujith so I’ll just send you out with a magical rini.
I wish we could get more No Game No Life. Not a special or a prequel but actually just more of the story. I really enjoyed this series, particularly the world the characters found themselves in.
Me too
“second ever guest post on I Drink and Watch Anime” wait… do I count with ao Haru Spring or is that not technically a “guest post”. If I’m the 1st I feel like I shouldn’t be and I am more appreciative for that honor regardless of if it was categorized as such. I am sorry if I’m the first I feel that should be a more prestigious thing.
Anyone cool guest, and a pretty solid list of Isekai.
Yes it did
I love Rising of the Shield Hero myself! Unfortunately can’t say the same about No Game No Life 🙄
I actually like NGNL. It never really occurred to me that it was an Isekai but it makes sense
True. Isekai has been one of my favorite anime genres, and I think watching Konosuba was the moment when I was *really* introduced to isekai as a whole, and kind of awakened me to the fact of how prevalent the genre was even in Western media (Neverending Story I’m looking at you)!
@Isekai in the West: It’s where stories like Gulliver’s Travels went after the world was more and more exhausively mapped. So instead of people travelling and decovering stuff, you’d get magical places elsewhere: Never Never Land, Oz, Narnia. An interesting one to look at is Astrid Lindgren’s Brothers Lionheart (which is deliberately ambiguous between isekai and a dying delirium).
so no Wonderland? Seems like the quintessential isekai
I’ve actually seen them all, and enjoyed them to varying degrees. Out of those, Re:Zero is my favourite, and the only one that has a chance of breaking my own top 5.
5. Log Horizon
4. Ixion Saga DT (comedy)
3. Visions of Escaflown
2. .hack/sign
1. Twelve Kingdoms
If .hack/sign doesn’t count, drop it and put Konosuba at (5) and move everything else up one spot.
Notable Isekai I haven’t seen yet: Now and Then, Here and There, Those Who Hunt Elves, and Noein (if that one counts; not sure)
Ok adding Ixion Saga DT and Twelve Kingdoms to my list
Hi Irina, Thank you very much for accepting my guest post 🙂
Pleasure
I really enjoyed both That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime and The Rising Of The Shield Hero. I was enjoying Re:Zero too but haven’t had the chance to watch too much.
Slime made me happy. I’m looking forward to more
Me too. I really wasn’t sure what to expect from it but it just felt so fun.
Watched all of them.