Summary
Isekai is a sub-genre of anime which involves someone being taken from their world either through death, teleportation or some other means, to another world. It has become incredibly popular to the point of oversaturation. Now you have shows with many gimmicks with each show trying to one-up the other in terms of premise.
What is common to many of these shows is the fantasy setting, which almost always comes with monsters which would never be found on Earth. However, there are some shows that eschew all this to tell simple and fascinating tales. It should be noted that monsters do not include fantasticalraces like elves, dwarves or other humanoid people.
Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp
Elise de Clorance is a spoilt brat who meets her end due to her selfish actions which also unfortunately, cause the death of her family too. She dies, but is then isekaid to the real world where she is a doctor and takes the opportunity to help people, only to die again and be sent to her original world, but in her younger self.
The plot ofDoctor Eliseis mostly simple and sweet and, due to the focus on character development andElise turning her life around, there was nothing with monsters or the like. It just follows Elise’s attempts to use her medical knowledge from her past life to save people in her present world.
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
There are many similarities betweenMy Next Life As A VillainessandDoctor Elise. They both feature a girl in a world with a medieval setting who used to be pretty mean, but now wants to turn things around.
WhereMy Next Life As A Villainessdiffers is in the way the characters come across. Here, the protagonist is a villain in her isekai world, but that’s not really her, and knowing the fate of her character means she is doing all she can not to end up like that. Her aims are more to survive, which is noble in its own way. The story also focuses on characters and, with a story that doesn’t involve exploring the new world (it’s set inan Otome game), there are no monster races or anything of that sort.
Isekai Izakaya: Japanese Food From Another World
Isekai Izakayahas a very fascinating premise— a normal-looking restaurant is actually located in another world known as Aitheria. Here, people travel from afar to taste the food from Nobu.
This is one of those shows where the aim seems quite clearly torepresent Japanese culturein a positive light. Each episode, more or less focuses on one dish, how its made, and the satisfaction of the customers who indulge in it. At the end, there’s even a real life reprisal of the dish from the show. It’s a lovely slice-of-life and there are no monsters as all the staff and customers are regular people from different backgrounds and classes. An underrated show that is certainly worth a watch for anyone, including people who do not like isekai.
3Saga of Tanya the Evil
MAL Rating: 7.96
Saga of Tanya the Evilis a show full of monsters. However, all themonsters are humanand there is no beast in sight. The story follows Tanya Degurechaff who was a salaryman before facing death and being transported to a new world.
The world is dingy, dark, and torn by war. It is very much like earth, but with a few fantastical elements like magic. Tanya’s rise in the military ranks and her desire to win against the being simply known as X, leads her towards what looks like a dark end in this new world.
Hinamatsuri
Hina is a girl with immense powers that comes from an unknown world to disrupt the life of yakuza fashionista, Yoshifumi Nitta. He decides to take her in and hijinks ensue.
Since the setting ofHinamatsuriis in the real world, there are no monsters to speak of and instead, fans get hilarious moments of absurdity. Yet, the beauty ofHinamatsuriis in the supporting cast especially Anzu, a girl from Hina’s world who also follows her to earth and Hitomi, a girl from Hina’s class with some interesting abilities. Both characters receive quite a bit of development and while Hina stays mostly the same, Anzu and Hitomi turn out to be the real stars of the show.
Ya Boy Kongming!
There might be an argument aboutYa Boy Kongmingas an isekaiconsidering it follows a Chinese general from the second century AD who dies and is transported to modern-day Tokyo. However, it does follow all the requirements of the isekai genre, including the alien nature of the world the character is brought into. Kongming is set in Tokyo, meaning there are no fantasy creatures or even magic and, instead, Kongming helps Eiko climb up the entertainment ladder with shrewdness and skill.
The show is another of those that wasn’t immediately recognized when it came out as it wasn’t available on many of the regular streaming services. That said, it is certainly a great show with heartwarming characters and some pretty catchy tunes along the way.
