The isekai genre has become synonymous with the anime business, alongside bombastic fight sequences, blatant fan service, and adorable females doing cute things. The usage of reincarnation, a concept in which people are reborn into new bodies and identities after death, distinguishes Isekai anime.
They usually have their characters reincarnate into distant fantasy worlds full of swords and sorcery, thus some strange rebirths are unavoidable. Before the genre became famous, the soon-to-be hero would simply transform into another human, but with new writers in the game, the reincarnations are becoming increasingly unique, including ordinary mobs and even inanimate objects.
10 Visual Novel Antagonist
My Next Life As A Villainess: All Routes Lead To Doom!
After hitting her head one fateful day, Katarina Claes was seized by the memories of her past life as a normal high school student who loved to play the romantic visual novel game Fortune Lover. The game follows Maria Campbell, a commoner student at the Magic Academy whose noble heart grabs the attention of four potential love interests. Katarina may be the protagonist of My Next Life as a Villainess, but she's the game's antagonist.
Katarina sets out to avoid the paths that lead to her unfortunate outcomes after realizing she has turned into the antagonist of her favorite game. It's strange to reincarnate as a character from a work of fiction, yet many fans have fantasized of doing so.
9 Imperial Child Soldier
The Saga Of Tanya The Evil
When an irate laid-off employee murders the relatively unknown salaryman who fired him, the latter encounters the entity that created the universe: Being X. Unsatisfied with the state of humanity, he criticizes Being X, who in turn reincarnates him into the body of a European infant from an alternate universe, one Tanya Degurechaff.
The Tanya Story In The Evil, the time period is comparable to World War I. At the wise and grizzled age of nine, the protagonist is now a highly decorated officer of The Empire. It's not all that strange to reincarnate as a child; in fact, it's anticipated; but having such power at one's disposal is unique.
8 Pig
Heat the Pig Liver: The Story Of A Man Turned Into A Pig
The idea of reincarnating as an animal is not new. Some tribes had a long-held belief that it was an afterlife punishment for evildoers. So it should come as no surprise that the main character of an isekai would wake up as a pig, especially after consuming raw meat. Heat the Pig Liver: The Story Of A Man Turned Into A Pig's protagonist meets Jess Yesma, a mind reader who, despite tolerating his slovenly disposition, has plans to eventually eat him while in his new form.
A dark fate awaits Jess, one that the pig plans to save her from at all costs. Whether it comes to pass or not, anime fans will have to wait and see when the anime comes out later this year.
7 Spider
So I'm A Spider, So What?
One of the protagonists finds herself in the body of a spider in a magical realm after a tragedy occurs in an ordinary high school. Despite being born as one of the most pitiful mobs ever, young Kumoko is determined to rise through the ranks of the monster hierarchy for both survival and recognition.
In cultures and religions that believe in reincarnation, an insect was easily one of the worst outcomes imaginable, and So I'm a Spider, So What? showcases exactly why. Kumoko spawns into a world that wants her dead on arrival, and the series follows her exploits as she hunts other monsters to level up and live a fortunate life despite her circumstances.
6 Slime
That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime
Slimes are the lowest-level monsters in the majority of RPGs. They have soft bodies that make them impervious to physical blows, yet even the most simple magic spells cause them to melt. One day, a random knife-wielding criminal kills middle-aged salaryman Satoru Mikami.
Satoru dies while hearing a strange voice in his head, using his words as the catalyst that reincarnates him into such a pathetic creature. Fortunately for Satoru, his dying thoughts are also what saves him from becoming adventurer fodder, as he's now saddled with abilities that, if used creatively, can turn him into one of the world's strongest monsters in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.
5 Sword
Reincarnated As A Sword
In Reincarnated as a Sword, a nameless individual wakes up as a nameless weapon in a nameless forest. With his powers of telekinesis, he places himself in the hands of a weak but determined catgirl named Fran, who dubs him Shishou (which roughly translates to "Teacher").
Fran is a member of the Black Cat Tribe, a clan of puny Beastkin who've never been able to evolve into stronger mobs. Fran aims to achieve her parents' dream of becoming the first in her tribe to evolve; Shishou promises to stay by her side until she accomplishes her goal.
4 Magical Girl Stick
Reincarnated As The Strongest Wand In Another World, I'm Forcing A Girl To Be A Magical Girl Against Her Will!
Before he died rescuing his friend's daughter, Niimi Reiji was a fan of the well-liked magical girl program Magical Girl Charming Luluna. He is now a magic wand in a realm of imagination with the power to change any girl into a magical girl who, by chance, resembles his favorite character from his favorite TV show.
Before being forced to run in fright from an approaching monster, Walpurga was an ordinary rural girl. Now, because to Reiji's immense magical strength, she is Reiji's wielder and a reluctant magical girl whose power knows no bounds. Unfortunately, the clothing is considerably too revealing for her tastes, and she starts acting silly.
3 Vending Machine
Reborn As A Vending Machine, Now I Wander The Dungeon
A vending machine enthusiast is tragically slain by a vending machine when it falls on him one unlucky day. He is alone in a wilderness when he awakens, and he is running low on money, which is his only source of food.
Lucky for the newborn Boxxo, who is unable to move and can only communicate through pre-recorded voice recordings, young explorer Lammis finds him and brings him back to her colony. Despite his new limitations, Boxxo makes friends with his neighbors and gradually gets used to his new life as a food dispenser.
2 Virus
It's That Reincarnated-As-A-Virus Story
Only a very chaotic mind could imagine such a fate as reincarnating as a sentient virus that can drain its hosts' abilities and strength. For Walker Parazeet, the decision-making process consisted of the roulette wheel being spun.
Now, Parazeet is moving from body to body while using the alias Hobgoblin in a fantasy, acquiring everything and everyone he can to create a pandemic that will make him famous. Parazeet begins his mission to master every skill while partnered with a girl named Elena.
1 Onsen
I Was A Reincarnated As A Hot Spring In An Alternate World, And I'm Way Too Effective!
Sou Nanaumi decided to break up the genre by reincarnating its primary character, Atami Kusatsu, into a geological event, just when it seemed like reincarnation theories couldn't get much weirder. The story of the high school student begins when he passes away while traveling to an onsen and awakens to discover that he is an onsen in a fantasy realm with powerful medical capabilities.
The attractive women that come to bath in Atami make up for what would otherwise be a boring existence. Even just the premise of this little series, about a teenager who becomes a hot spring, will undoubtedly leave an impression on readers.
