11 of the Best Isekai Manga

Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu are three junior high students who have all come to Tokyo Tower on field trips with their respective schools. The girls suddenly hear a mysterious voice and find themselves summoned to a magical world called Cefiro by the Princess Emeraud, who believes them to be magic knights who were prophesied to save the realm. The trio discover they have magical abilities, learn to work together, and develop a friendship as they proceed through their journey in Cefiro.

Under the broadest definition of the genre, stories about being transported between times can also fall under the isekai umbrella. This classic manga follows Kagome, a high schooler in modern-day Japan, who one day falls down a well at a shrine. She is transported to the Sengoku period and meets Inuyasha, a half-demon. The two must journey to recover the scattered fragments of the Shikon Jewel, a powerful and sacred gem.

Oz Vessalius’s coming-of-age ceremony quickly takes a turn from celebratory to horrific when he is captured by the malicious Baskervilles, who claim his mere existence is a sin, and thrown into a supernatural prison called the Abyss that exists in a different dimension from the real world. The Abyss is home to monsters called Chains, and Oz befriends one named Alice, who helps him in his attempt to escape the Abyss as well as in his journey to discover the deeper meaning behind his own existence. This manga pulls inspiration from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, with plenty of references and nods throughout.

Miaka is a normal girl studying for her high school entrance exams when she finds a book titled The Universe of the Four Gods in the library. Upon reading the book, she and her friend Yui are pulled into an ancient Chinese kingdom, where Maika finds herself a priestess. She must now find the seven Celestial Warriors of the god Suzaku in order to save the kingdom and find a way home.

Takafumi’s uncle, who was in a coma for 17 years after being hit by a truck, finally wakes up claiming to have been in another world as a magical guardian all this time. Now, Takafumi must get to know his now-magical uncle, while also trying to update him on all that has changed in our world. This is a humorous manga that plays with and pokes fun at various isekai tropes.

The English release of this manga just started this month, so if you’re looking for something new, look no further! It’s about an older member of the yakuza who, after being killed in a trap, is reincarnated as a young princess in a fantasy world. As you can imagine, comedy ensues as we watch the princess go about her adventures with the mind and actions of a hardened yakuza.

Adapted from the popular light novel series of the same name, this manga follows a normal salaryman who is murdered in the real world and then reincarnated into another world as a slime with powers. In this new world, he begins to befriend other monsters, and they build their own nation. As their new nation grows, it starts to attract the attention of neighboring powers.

Rei Ohashi is a normal office worker who, in a (sadly) unsurprising depiction of Japanese work culture, works herself literally to death. However, she is reincarnated as the protagonist of her favorite otome game. But, instead of following one of the game’s original three routes in which she could have a romance with one of the princes, Rei decides to use her existing knowledge of the game to try to woo Claire, the main antagonist.

Urano Motosu is a book lover and aspiring librarian after our own hearts. When she is killed in an earthquake by being crushed by fallen books, her last wish is to be reborn into a world where she can do nothing but read forever. She is reincarnated, but into a world where books are rare and only reserved for nobility. With her knowledge from her previous life, Urano (now a 5-year-old girl named Myne) decides to create more books herself.

This manga is adapted from a light novel series written by Kugane Maruyama and illustrated by so-bin. A popular virtual reality game is being shut down, and Momonga, the leader of a powerful guild within the game, decides to stay logged in until the very end, even though all of his friends have already quit. However, once the shutdown occurs, Momonga finds himself within the game world in the body of his avatar. He sets out through the game world to investigate what happened and to see if there is anyone else who was transported from the real world as well. It’s an interesting look at morality, exploring a character’s psychology in a world where ethical lines have been obscured.

In this slight twist on your typical isekai, an unassuming restaurant in Tokyo secretly connects to another world. On Saturdays, this doorway appears and allows various creatures from the other world to come and eat at the restaurant. This slice-of-life variation on isekai highlights the stories of the restaurant patrons as they interact with the owner and each other while enjoying delicious meals.