Top 5 Isekai Anime, Ranked
Transported, reborn or summoned: the five other-world stories that are actually worth the trip.
Isekai is the most crowded genre in anime, and most of it blurs together. These five stand out, because they do something new with the idea of starting over in another world.
Dark, funny, cosy or villainous: there is one for every taste here.
1. Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World (2016)
2016 · TV series · 25 episodes · WHITE FOX
Summoned to another world with no powers except dying and starting over.
Subaru Natsuki loops back in time every time he dies, and he is the only one who remembers. It turns the usual power fantasy into psychological horror.
Its emotional peaks, especially the scene with Rem in episode 18, are some of the strongest in the genre.
2. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation (2021)
2021 · TV series · 11 episodes · Studio Bind
A man who wasted his life is reborn as a child with a second chance to get it right.
Rudeus grows up in a fantasy world from birth, learning magic, making friends and slowly confronting who he used to be. The world-building is detailed and the animation is gorgeous.
It is a coming-of-age story that is not afraid to show its hero's flaws.
Shop the Mushoku Tensei collection
3. KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! (2016)
2016 · TV series · 10 episodes · Studio DEEN
He brought a useless goddess to another world. It went exactly as badly as you would expect.
Kazuma ends up with a party of disasters: Aqua the crybaby goddess, Megumin who can cast one explosion a day, and Darkness, a knight who enjoys getting hurt.
It is the funniest isekai ever made, a parody of the genre that is also a great example of it.
4. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2018)
2018 · TV series · 24 episodes · 8-bit
Reborn as a slime, he builds a nation of monsters with kindness and diplomacy.
Satoru Mikami dies and comes back as Rimuru, a slime with the power to absorb skills. He befriends a dragon, names goblins and creates the town of Tempest.
It is cosy nation-building with big fights when needed, and one of the most relaxing isekai to watch.
Shop the That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime collection
5. Overlord (2015)
2015 · TV series · 13 episodes · MADHOUSE
A gamer stays logged in after the servers shut down, as an all-powerful undead king.
Ainz Ooal Gown finds himself trapped in his game character's body with his loyal NPCs, who think he is a genius. He decides to conquer the world, mostly by accident.
It is isekai from the villain's side, dark and funny at once.
If you want suffering and stakes, Re:Zero. If you want to laugh, KonoSuba. If you want to build a nation, Slime. If you want to play the villain, Overlord.
How we ranked: drawn from the isekai anime fans name most often across the major community rankings, then ordered by Anime Crush.