Isekai has become one of the pillars of anime in recent years, with many popular series featuring their heroes being transported to strange new settings. While many popular Isekai series still offer straightforward, uncomplicated stories, others have begun playing with more self-aware, tongue-in-cheek concepts. Some series are notable for being based on such strange isekai premises.

Thanks in part to the success of series like Sword Art Online, the Isekai genre has exploded in popularity since 2010. At that time, writers began to realize the creative freedom in the genre, and many of the sequels that followed Sword Art Online in the following years took the genre in more fictional directions. Many anime creators have realized that the isekai genre can be taken in some very strange directions.

19 The hero became a business tycoon in the virtual world

Black company prison

18 Kinji doesn’t want to work, and the opening single explains how he used an extensive investment plan to generate enough passive income to achieve his goal. Unfortunately, as soon as he finished his explanation, he was forced into a fantasy world where he was forced to do back-breaking work. Both incredibly lazy – despite his excellent financial skills – Kinji’s next mission is to take over the mining company and raise enough money to achieve his primary goal of not even having to work a day in his life in this new world.

17 Feudal Japan, but everyone is a woman.

Battle Girls – Time Paradox

16 Historical series, especially those set during Japan’s Sengoku period, are not uncommon in anime. Battle Girls manages to do something special by feminizing every character on screen – except for the dog show that serves as comic relief. Modern-day middle school student Yoshino Hide is transported in time to an all-female alternate 16th century Japan, where she joins the warlord Oda Nobunaga, playing the same role as the historical Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

15 A fantasy mech series where the villain is Sir Isaac Newton

Vision of Escaflowne

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In the first episode of The Vision of Escaflowne, high school student Hitomi is transported to the world of Gaea, a world that mixes high fantasy and mechs. It is quickly established that Hitomi is not the first person to travel from Earth to Gaea. Several characters remember Hitomi’s grandfather coming to Gaea, and the series’ antagonist, Emperor Dornkirk, was widely rumored to be the historical Isaac Newton, which was eventually confirmed by the series’ writers. The real-life Newton’s scientific wisdom and occult interest is taken to its logical extreme by the Zeeback Empire’s technological superiority and Emperor Dornkirk’s desire to build a machine to control destiny.

13 Ancient Chinese genius music composer

That boy Kongming!

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The historical Zhuge Liang, also known as Kongming, is one of the most famous figures of China’s Three Kingdoms period. Known for his superhuman tactical mind and ability to read and predict the behavior of his enemies, Zhuge Liang surprisingly adjusts to his rebirth in modern day Shibuya. He soon meets a singer named Iko, and out of gratitude for helping him adjust to his new life and getting a job at a bar, he agrees to become her manager. Echo uses his tactical mind to help her launch her music career. One of the best recent reverse isekai series, That Boy Kongming sees Zhuge Liang reviving many of his famous techniques from Romance of the Three Kingdoms to help Eiko conquer the recording industry.

11 The heroine is a spider.

So I’m a spider, so what?

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As far as Isekai goes, the most famous series following the reincarnation of a main character as a low-level monster is probably that time reincarnation as Slime, but it’s far from the other series to use this idea. So I’m a spider, so what? A high school girl sees the reincarnation of a generic, low-class spider in a high-class prison. The heroine, unofficially known as Kumoko, is forced into a world where human adventurers in prison and other monsters all want to kill her. Kumoko is such a unique and memorable Isekai protagonist, both because of how quickly she adapts to such a dangerous setting and how brave she remains as she becomes more powerful and goes from generic minion to endgame boss character.

9 The hero’s armor is a bear onesie.

And and bear

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Thanks to making a fortune in the stock market, Yuna is able to spend every waking moment playing her favorite virtual reality video game. When given the choice to actually start living in the game, she jumps at the chance. Before she enters the game world, she is given a high level armor. Unfortunately for her, that armor takes the form of a cute bear onesie and matching gloves that look like hand puppets. The most common running joke in the series comes from the disproportionate disparity between Yuna’s underwhelming stats and amazing fighting skills and the appearance of her armor.

7 The hero and his mother got into a video game

Love your mom and her two-hit multi-target attacks?

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For reasons that are still unclear, the government has created a virtual reality game designed to improve the relationship between mothers and their children. When Masato is transported to this game world, his mother Mamako naturally comes with him, much to Masato’s horror. In addition to countless matches and wordplay based on the Japanese words for “mom” and “mom,” most of the series’ humor comes from one of the most relatable places of all time. Mamako is deliberately written as an invalid and overprotective mother, and the audience can feel Masato’s confusion at the chance for an imaginary adventure in the presence of his most wonderful mother. The series is a clever parody of both fantasy RPGs and the Isekai genre, with Mamako featured as a fantastic parody version of the much-loved Isekai main character.

5 A virtual villain is forced to work as a host

The great Jahi will not be defeated!

In the Dark Realm, Jahi was the Dark Lord’s second-in-command. After the destruction of the Dark Realm, Jahi finds himself working as a waiter, living in a cramped apartment, and his salary is reduced to a check. Portraying a stereotypical fantasy-genre villain in such a situational setting is a wonderful reverse isekai premise. The Great Jahi will not be defeated! It is also known for being an entirely female-led series. Aside from anonymous background characters, the only male character is the narrator. Although he does not have a direct effect on the plot, his death story adds a lot of humor to the series. Many of the series’ most touching moments come when Jahy is helped by her female friends, such as her boss and landlady. Thanks to the support of the other women in her life, things aren’t as bad as they seem with Jahi, and her friendships are the main reason behind her fictitious badass personality as she gradually softens.

4 The first animated Mario adaptation was Isekai.

A great mission to save Princess Peach!

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In the year In the year The 2023 movie isn’t the first time Mario has worked in an isekai. While the series went back and forth about whether Mario and Luigi were from the Mushroom Kingdom or Earth, the first full-length Mario adaptation was Isekai, nearly 40 years before the 2023 film. In the year In 1986’s Princess Peach’s Greatest Quest, Mario and Luigi are transported into their Nintendo entertainment system and face a desperate quest to save Peach from being forced to marry Bowser. Many of the specific character and plot details are ultimately shocking compared to what was written after the series, but there is a shocking consistency in the series with both the later games and especially the 2023 movie.

2 The hero is a vending machine.

Reincarnated as a vending machine, I now wander the dungeon.

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Vending Machine is the only unusual thing where Isekai’s main character is revealed as a new one, especially in the context of a typical high fantasy world. Reincarnated as a vending machine, I now enter that dungeon to create the amazing comic Isekai of Wander Dungeon. An unnamed vending machine meets an untimely end for fans and a vending machine known as Boxx is reborn in a fantasy world. For a series with such an inherently funny premise, like Vending Machine, I’m Now A Dungeon Wanderer, Life As A Messenger, is incredibly clever at exploring how a stationary and non-verbal vending machine works and how its characters live. In a fantasy RPG world adapted to modern technology, they use a vending machine in their adventures.

The explosion in popularity of the Isekai genre has led to more and more creators choosing to play around with the concept. Although there are still many isekai that play the genre in a consistent way and offer straightforward adventures in other worlds, a growing number of creators are choosing to write deliberately comic stories to lighten the genre. This led to some unusual Isekai premises.