Now that you’ve seen the 15 best isekai anime according to the My Anime List rating system, it’s time to explore the bottom ten isekai anime series. What will the worst isekai anime be? Keep reading and find out!
Why Do Some Fans Hate Isekai?
In the last post we explored reasons why some fans enjoy isekai stories, despite them being somewhat on the predictable side. Why do other fans positively hate all isekai shows? Some reasons might include…
- The perceived shallowness of the stories and cookie-cutter character tropes, in the worst shows.
- Over-reliance on established cliches, without taking chances and telling new kinds of stories, as Re:Zero did so successfully.
- Power-fantasy main characters who can do anything arguably get old after a while. (Which was one reason I enjoyed Shield Hero so much since he was the weakest and had the most difficulty rising in level.)
- It could be argued that there are too many isekai shows, just as anime was once overflowing with mecha anime, or idol shows, or light-novel based “siscon” series with ridiculously long titles, like He’s My Brother, But As Long As There’s Love Between Us, It’s Okay, Right? (a real title).
- Maybe it’s a reaction to the genre’s popularity? After SAO’s first season, which pretty much everyone loved, some fans got embarrassed at their previous fanboying or fangirling, and decided that the show was “pure shit.” Which is ridiculous, as SAO has continued to be outstanding, just not as good as those first 13 episodes.
So without further delay, let’s check out the list!
The 10 Worst Isekai Anime Series, According to MAL
Now we’ll look at the lowest-ranked isekai anime series on the list. Remember, this doesn’t mean these are bad shows at all, only that, compared to great series like Konosuba or Re:Zero or No Game No Life, these shows are just less popular. Sometimes it’s because they had more fanservice than the story, which isn’t something the MAL community generally likes (yet J-List customers probably love), or other times it’s because the execution or concept truly missed its mark.
Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
A series about Satoshi and Arumi, who find themselves flitting through several worlds which are tied to the old shopping district he grew up in. It was a fun show, just not one of Gainax’s best works.
How Not to Summon a Demon Lord
On the one hand, I love this show for giving me to many sexy GIFs to post to the J-List Twitter feed every day. On the other hand, I can see how this show would honestly rank lower than the more “serious” isekai shows like Re:Zero.
The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar
Another anime that ranked poorly that had a badly conceived story and over-used CGI. When all you can say is “well at least there some sexy fanservice moments for Peter to post to his Twitter,” it might not be the best show ever.
Note: I’d incorrectly ranked this show three positions below this. This is the correct ranking.
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody
When a tired programmer from Tokyo wakes up in an RPG fantasy world, where he finds he’s got superpowers and can do basically anything. While not the most original isekai series ever, it had a lot of positive reviews on MAL because it didn’t pretend to be anything it wasn’t. 6.61
CHOYOYU!: High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!
A group of high-achieving high school students survive a plane crash and find themselves in a fantasy world, where their natural talents allow them to excel. Are you a fan?
In a Different World with a Smartphone
A series that made an appearance on the list of worst harem anime series, this show has a lot of defenders who had fun with it. The show follows the main character who’s accidentally killed, so God puts him in an isekai universe where he can do anything thanks to apologizing. Should this anime be included in the list of the worst isekai anime series?
Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?
Like How Not To Summon a Demon Lord, Okaa-san Online show finds itself on this list of the worst isekai shows, but this is clearly because MAL users don’t like shows that are mostly made up of fanservice with little actual story. They’re not wrong, but I expect J-List readers are fans of the adventures of Mamako Oosuki.
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest
Another anime that seemed to miss its mark, it follows the story of Hajime Nagumo who is summoned to a fantasy world and tasked with saving the people living there. He is gifted with supreme fighting skill, and a cute bunny girl companion, because why not?
It seems this show suffered from trying to compress a long and still-ongoing novel series into a single season, among other problems.
Isekai Cheat Majician
Consider watching anime is my actual job if the first time I’ve heard about a particular anime is when its Tamatoys parody ero toy comes out, it’s possible the show hasn’t hit its true potential. The story follows two normal high school students who get teleported to another world where (surprise!) they find they have incredibly high powers.
Which isn’t a bad thing. Just like harem anime, which pander to our desire to be at the center of attention with many romantic partners vying for our hearts, it is what it is. I think I’d rather re-watch One Punch Man, instead.
Conception
Finally, we come back to the show that hit #1 on the worst harem anime list, too, which is also crowned as the worst isekai anime, according to the MAL rankings. Did you watch the show? If so, tell me how it ended because I dropped this show after episode 2.
So that’s the list of the 10 worst isekai anime series, according to the MAL rating system. Did any shows you love end up on the list? Tell us below or ask us on Twitter!
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