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The Great Isekai Review List
What is isekai?
According to Mangarock's definition of the genre:
"Isekai translates to "another world." This genre typically has a narrative where a protagonist somehow gets transported to a different world. The new world is more often than not in a fantasy setting, occasionally with traits pulled from JRPG games."
TV Tropes also goes further indepth into the idea, putting it under the trope name of "Trapped In Another World", which is basically just what "Isekai" means. Some people genre savvy to the idea might immediately think of a high school boy arriving in a JRPG fantasy world where they're super overpowered when it comes to combat, whereupon they get the attention of a stunning beautiful woman (or five). It's the definition of a power fantasy, especially for cis straight guys. However, even western works such as "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "Alice in Wonderland", and "The Wizard of Oz" could all theoretically count as "isekai".
For this post, however, I'll be focusing mainly on isekai series that have gotten a manga adaption of some sort, often from Japan or occasionally China and Korea, which have also started to lean into the trend. That means they'll be falling into a lot of Japanese tropes and cliches, although these aren't necessarily bad things.
All of the isekai I've read through and even vaguely enjoyed are included down below in the comments section, and all of them will be utilizing this same form:
Some of these categories are self explanatory even to people unfamiliar with the genre (Title, Main Character), but a few deserve some particular notice or explanation.
Cheat: A "cheat ability" is basically a power uniquely granted to the Main Character (MC) that allows them to have the upperhand in the world they've been transported to. That sort of thing isn't entirely unusual for many stories, as it is a handy way of making a MC notable, but it is a quality that is inherent to the power fantasy aspect that isekai series often at least nod to. However, the nature of that cheat can take on quite a variety of forms depending on the series. Some do a very basic sort of ability such as access to a never before seen magic, or simply a lot of magic. Others take a more subtle approach, such as a character using their knowledge of a modern world to improve a more medieval one. Seeing the different types of "cheats", how characters use them, and how it affects the setting is one of the things that I find charming about the isekai genre.
Transport: In other words- how did the MC arrive in another world/life? Sometimes, it's because a character was summoned, either by a god or a powerful magician. Other times, it's left as a mystery. Lots of isekai even have the MC die, and their soul is reincarnated in another world with memories of their past life. Depending on how the MC got there, and the whims of the author, it can have quite an impact on the MC's goals or emotions.
Pros and Cons: While they're named as that, these categories could more accurately be called "what I did and didn't like about this series", which means they're completely subjective and from my point of view. The summary will cover what the series is about, sure, but this goes more into my personal opinions.
General Warnings: This will be a simple list of general things to watch out for, such as gore, murder, rape, or sexual assault, along with anything else I think people might appreciate a heads up on.
Fanservice: This one is fairly self explanatory, with fanservice often being women scantily clad or men getting to be in sexy positions with them. Considering how much of a range fanservice can be, I'll be listing this rather in a scale of 1 to 5.
1 - No fanservice whatsoever
3 - Some fanservice, but no so much as to be describing
5 - Hope you like tits and ass, because there's going to be a lot of that
I'll give my reasons and some examples for this category, so that people have a slightly more substantial idea of what will happen.
Harem: Power fantasies don't only include having super amazing powers, but they also dabble in areas of romance, where the (often male) MC will have a bunch of women falling for him and sometimes even having multiple wives.
According to Mangarock's definition of the genre:
"Isekai translates to "another world." This genre typically has a narrative where a protagonist somehow gets transported to a different world. The new world is more often than not in a fantasy setting, occasionally with traits pulled from JRPG games."
TV Tropes also goes further indepth into the idea, putting it under the trope name of "Trapped In Another World", which is basically just what "Isekai" means. Some people genre savvy to the idea might immediately think of a high school boy arriving in a JRPG fantasy world where they're super overpowered when it comes to combat, whereupon they get the attention of a stunning beautiful woman (or five). It's the definition of a power fantasy, especially for cis straight guys. However, even western works such as "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "Alice in Wonderland", and "The Wizard of Oz" could all theoretically count as "isekai".
For this post, however, I'll be focusing mainly on isekai series that have gotten a manga adaption of some sort, often from Japan or occasionally China and Korea, which have also started to lean into the trend. That means they'll be falling into a lot of Japanese tropes and cliches, although these aren't necessarily bad things.
All of the isekai I've read through and even vaguely enjoyed are included down below in the comments section, and all of them will be utilizing this same form:
Some of these categories are self explanatory even to people unfamiliar with the genre (Title, Main Character), but a few deserve some particular notice or explanation.
Cheat: A "cheat ability" is basically a power uniquely granted to the Main Character (MC) that allows them to have the upperhand in the world they've been transported to. That sort of thing isn't entirely unusual for many stories, as it is a handy way of making a MC notable, but it is a quality that is inherent to the power fantasy aspect that isekai series often at least nod to. However, the nature of that cheat can take on quite a variety of forms depending on the series. Some do a very basic sort of ability such as access to a never before seen magic, or simply a lot of magic. Others take a more subtle approach, such as a character using their knowledge of a modern world to improve a more medieval one. Seeing the different types of "cheats", how characters use them, and how it affects the setting is one of the things that I find charming about the isekai genre.
Transport: In other words- how did the MC arrive in another world/life? Sometimes, it's because a character was summoned, either by a god or a powerful magician. Other times, it's left as a mystery. Lots of isekai even have the MC die, and their soul is reincarnated in another world with memories of their past life. Depending on how the MC got there, and the whims of the author, it can have quite an impact on the MC's goals or emotions.
Pros and Cons: While they're named as that, these categories could more accurately be called "what I did and didn't like about this series", which means they're completely subjective and from my point of view. The summary will cover what the series is about, sure, but this goes more into my personal opinions.
General Warnings: This will be a simple list of general things to watch out for, such as gore, murder, rape, or sexual assault, along with anything else I think people might appreciate a heads up on.
Fanservice: This one is fairly self explanatory, with fanservice often being women scantily clad or men getting to be in sexy positions with them. Considering how much of a range fanservice can be, I'll be listing this rather in a scale of 1 to 5.
1 - No fanservice whatsoever
3 - Some fanservice, but no so much as to be describing
5 - Hope you like tits and ass, because there's going to be a lot of that
I'll give my reasons and some examples for this category, so that people have a slightly more substantial idea of what will happen.
Harem: Power fantasies don't only include having super amazing powers, but they also dabble in areas of romance, where the (often male) MC will have a bunch of women falling for him and sometimes even having multiple wives.
Wortenia Senki
Title: Wortenia Senki
Other Titles:
Author: Yagi Yukari, Hori Ryouta
Main Character: Ryouma Mikoshiba
Gender: Male
Cheat: immediately down for murder, but also can absorb other people's power by killing them
Transport: Summoned (humans)
Summary: With a family dojo whose motto is that their style is only meant to kill, Ryouma expects to simply live out his life as he always has. However, in the middle of his lunch, he's suddenly transported to another world... and finds himself surrounded by people whose gazes he can't say he likes. After violently escaping, he decides to figure out a way to get home and how to make a life here.
Pros: Escaping Summoners, Morally Grey Protag, Multiple Viewpoints, Worldbuilding, War Tactics
Stories where the MC clashes against the forces which isekai'd them are always fun and interesting. When such a clash means killing the various armed guards around you, I feel like my intrigue gets hooked even further. Our MC has no hesitation in identifying that there's something disturbingly odd from the start of forcefully summoning a random stranger, and his identification of the coldness in their eyes only reinforces that fact. As he states, it's essentially self defense.
Yet that doesn't take away the fact that our teenage MC is extremely skilled at such violence, and demonstrates no hesitation in bringing that violence to its natural conclusion of death. That he can be from such a peaceful country living in a peaceful time and still do this is impressive, and almost worrying. While one could argue that he only does it to those who deserve it, like any good protag one would normally root for, well, there's still a ruthlessness to his actions in many cases that still manages to give one pause.
Adding onto this is how we often see the point of view from other characters. Right from the start, while our MC is dispatching those responsible for his situation, we see another person thinking of her grandfather- one of those involved. Her view of him as a kindly old man directly contrasts with what the MC is going through right now. It's an interesting consideration of why many characters do what they do, and it adds a little bit of dimension and depth to the story instead of us being stuck with the MC all the time.
Isekai also do best if there is something fascinating to their worldbuilding, and, while this series does nothing unique or special, it still manages to address various little issues that are quite interesting. One of those that caught my attention was a discussion of the guild for adventurers, where it was discussed just the kind of power they held over their own, and how that could complicate matters.
What I think might be this series' strongest point of favor, however, would be its focus on battle tactics. This is something that comes up in the latest arc most predominately, moreso than in the first and precious arc before it where we're introduced to the MC and the world. While it doesn't go wholly indepth on some things, it still makes sure to make mention of a great deal of the kind of politics, economics, and battle tactics which are all important to any sort of war, no matter how short lived. Even the use of rumors to unease the local populace is used in a way that I found quite clever and interesting.
Cons: Quick and Shallow
...If nowhere else, then in our initial introductory arc.
For such a grave crime of killing quite a few people, including a couple of important faces, it feels like we don't really get indepth on the consequences of that, or explore them completely. It even felt a little rushed, as if the story had somewhere else to be despite this problem being still the strongest connection to the isekai genre so far in my opinion. There is a chance that the story will dip back into that- we are only 23 chapters in at the time of this writing. So there's a chance for that to be a little more satisfying in future chapters.
General Warnings: Violence, Attempted Rape, occasional fatphobia, occasional in-universe sexism
Slavery: Yes
Fanservice: 3 - His two "combat slaves" are dressed in extremely skimpy attire that's not really suited for actual combat, mages or not, and we do get a couple of shots of sensual images when talking about sex slaves... And a ninja gets her clothes sliced through so that injuries can be looked at... But there's more violence than anything sexual, and focuses on tactics and other such things as well.
Harem: Yes