Despite its lengthy period of success, the isekai genre of anime has become quite convoluted and bogged down with harem fantasies. Having had their fill, many fans have given up on it entirely in favor of different types of stories. However, there are a few classic isekai series that stand out even among all the new series popping up every year.
Four female-led isekai — Inuyasha, Fushigi Yuugi, The Vision of Escaflowne and The Twelve Kingdoms — are all more than worth watching for anime lovers new and old alike. Here’s what makes each of them better than the many titles that make up today’s saturation of isekai content.
Older Isekai Anime Feature More Intriguing Romance Tales
While most anime with romance sprinkled in have remained pretty generic for the last decade or so, diving further back into older works reveals some gems with romantic fluff that will make fans swoon. Famed creator Rumiko Takahashi, for example, writes highly compelling romances within action-driven stories.
Although Inuyasha isn’t one of shonen’s “Big Three”, Takahashi’s success with the series lies in its main pairing, the half-demon Inuyasha and the human girl Kagome. The two don’t have a perfect romance, facing ups and downs together as the story goes on. Admittedly, the love triangle between Inuyasha, Kagome and Kikyo gets old — many still gripe about it today — but even so, fans were always rooting for Inuyasha and Kagome to get together.
However, as this romance and its divisive storyline remain talked about so many years later, Inuyasha can absolutely be considered a long-term success. There’s no doubt Takahashi created an isekai series with subtly complex characters, a compelling plot, and palpable romance that modern-day isekai fans seeking something different will enjoy.
Many Classic Isekai Depict Realistic Relationships
Isekai is heavily rooted in fantasy and almost always features fantastical elements beyond the viewer’s wildest dreams. A lot of modern-day series don’t truly develop their characters or have them establish meaningful relationships, which can be a turn-off for many. Older isekai anime, however, tend to feature more realistic relationships between the characters — and an excellent example of this is The Vision of Escaflowne.
Escaflowne is a mecha-isekai anime centered around Hitomi, a high school student who gets transported to a new and fantastical planet called Gaea. After meeting Prince Van and the rest of his kingdom, Hitomi is soon dragged into a war between the Zaibach Empire and Van’s kingdom. An interesting trait about Hitomi is that not everyone likes her. For example, she and Van’s childhood friend, Merle, don’t really get along. This is mostly because Merle is in love with Van and thinks Hitomi wants to steal him away from her.
Another hook of older isekai anime is that the stories focus on young females instead of overpowered teenage boys. The Twelve Kingdoms and Fushigi Yuugi are fantastic examples of this. Both feature strong female leads in Youko Nakajima and Miaka Yuki, respectively. Youko starts out as a reluctant hero, but quickly grows into the role of empress as she meets new people and develops meaningful connections and familial friendships.
Meanwhile, all Miaka wants to do is find her friend Yui and go back home — but after she learns she’s the Priestess of Suzaku, Miaka agrees to take on this difficult new responsibility. However, she doesn’t abandon Yui and never stops searching for her, wishing to send her friend back to Japan. And as these are all older isekai anime, they lack many of the tropes that have saturated modern-day series while starring more compelling characters and stories.
