Isekai

Image: Konosuba | Copyright@ Kadokawa Shoten

Isekai, which translates to "other world" or "different world" is a popular subgenre of Anime and Manga.

Japanese folktales like Urashima Tarō are one of the earliest known examples of Isekai.

In books, light novels, movies, comics, anime, and video games, a character or characters are transported to and must endure in another world, such as a fantasy world, virtual world, or parallel universe. It incorporates both science fiction and gateway fantasy.

Isekai tales typically include a powerful protagonist who can easily overcome most enemies in the other world through his knowledge, skills and power. Such stories normally permit the viewer to explore the new environment at the same rate as the protagonist during the duration of the protagonist's journey or lifespan. This plot mechanism allows reduces the learning curve for the audience and allows them to enjoy the story without being overwhelmed by a data dump of the new world.

There are two broad categories of Isekai:

Isekai Ten'i – Transition into another world
Isekai Tensei – Reincarnation into another world

In Isekai Ten’i or "transition into another world" tales, the protagonist is transferred to another world/realm/domain (either through summoning or through portals).

In Isekai Tensei or "reincarnation into another universe" stories, the main character dies in one realm and is then reborn or reincarnated in another. A popular motif found in the Isekai Tensei is “Truck-Kun”.

Many modern Isekai works feature characters being reincarnated into another world after being hit and killed by a truck. Due to the prevalent use of this trope, “Truck-Kun” is a popular internet meme among Isekai fans.

In Isekai stories, the protagonist is often an average joe (ordinary person) who succeeds in their new setting simply because even ordinary skills or items of our world are regarded as "exceptional" in other worlds. This can include physical or mental traits, commonplace abilities or knowledge of arts and science. All or some of which may be more advanced in the new world which the protagonist has been transported or reincarnated into.

List of Isekai:

• The 8^th Son? Are You Kidding Me?
• 100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams
• Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter
• Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest
• Ascendance of a Bookworm
• Aura Battler Dunbine
• Battle Girls: Time Paradox
• Brave Story
• By the Grace of the Gods
• Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious
• Cheat Slayer
• Conception
• Cooking with Wild Game
• Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody
• Demon Lord, Retry!
• Devilish Darlings Portal Fantasy
• Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!
• Digimon Adventure
• Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?
• Dog Days
• Drifters
• Drugstore in Another World
• El-Hazard
• Endride
• Fantasy Bishōjo Juniku Ojisan to
• Fudanshi Shōkan
• Fushigi no Kuni no Alice
• Fushigi Yûgi
• Gate
• Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash
• Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise
• Handyman Saitō in Another World
• Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World
• High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World
• How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom
• How Not to Summon a Demon Lord
• I Kept Pressing the 100-Million Button and Came Out on Top
• Idaten Jump
• I'm in Love with the Villainess
• I'm Standing on a Million Lives
• I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss
• In Another World with My Smartphone
• In the Land of Leadale
• Infinite Dendrogram
• Infinity Game
• Inuyasha
• Isekai Cheat Magician
• Isekai de Mofumofu Nadenade Suru Tameni Ganbattemasu
• Isekai Izakaya "Nobu"
• Isekai Quartet
• Isekai Yakkyoku
• I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level
• Ixion Saga DT
• JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World
• Kaminaki Sekai no Kamisama Katsudō
• Kemono Michi
• Kiba
• Knight's & Magic
• Kono Healer, Mendokusai
• KonoSuba
• Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear
• Kyo Kara Maoh!
• Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato
• Log Horizon
• Magic Knight Rayearth
• Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
• MÄR
• Maze
• Miyuki-chan in Wonderland
• Mushoku Tensei
• My Isekai Life
• My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
• New Life+: Young Again in Another World
• No Game No Life
• No Longer Allowed in Another World
• Outbreak Company
• Overlord
• Pandora Hearts
• Parallel Paradise
• Pop in Q
• Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?
• Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World
• Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon
• Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire
• Record of Wortenia War
• Reincarnated as a Sword
• Restaurant to Another World
• Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles
• Shachibato! President, It's Time for Battle!
• Shangri-La Frontier
• She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man
• Skeleton Knight in Another World
• Smile PreCure!
• So I'm a Spider, So What?
• Spirited Away
• Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
• The Ambition of Oda Nobuna
• The Dawn of the Witch
• The Eminence in Shadow
• The Familiar of Zero
• The Faraway Paladin
• The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made
• The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody
• The Greatest Magic Master's Retirement Plan
• The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar
• The Misfit of Demon King Academy
• The Ones Within
• The Rising of the Shield Hero
• The Saga of Tanya the Evil
• The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent
• The Strongest Sage With the Weakest Crest
• The Titan's Bride
• The Twelve Kingdoms
• The Vision of Escaflowne
• The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat
• Those Who Hunt Elves
• Torture Princess: Fremd Torturchen
• Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs
• Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy
• Uncle from Another World
• Urashima Tarō
• Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion
• Wise Man's Grandchild
• Yakuza Reincarnation
• YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World