9 Isekai Anime & Manga With Protagonists Who Want To Return To Earth

Highlights

• Isekai protagonists often want to return to their normal lives after being transported to a new world.
• Series like Arifureta, Log Horizon, and The Rising of the Shield Hero explore the desire to go back home.
• These stories feature characters who seek revenge, investigate their new world, and overcome challenges to find a way back to reality.

In the isekai genre, it’s typical for the main character to die in their normal life, and their premature death motivates some cosmic force to reincarnate them into a new world. There are also cases in which living people get transported to alternate universes, yanking them away from their normal lives.

Transitions for the reincarnated tend to be easier, since they know their life ended on Earth. However, for those who were suddenly taken, it makes sense for them to miss home. They still had lives and dreams they wanted to fulfill but were stuck in a strange, new place. These series tell the stories of protagonists who want to get back to their normal lives.

9 Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest

MyAnimeList Score: 7.21

In some isekai manga and anime, it isn’t just one person being transported. It can be three or four, or in this case, an entire class of students and their teacher. Hajime Nagumo in Arifureta is magically summoned to another world with the rest of his class and tasked with fighting in the dungeon.

All seems well enough at first, but after being injured and betrayed by one of his classmates, Hajime vows to climb out of the dungeon to do two things: get revenge and find a way home.

8 Log Horizon

MyAnimeList Score: 7.92

Video games are popular in the isekai genre because they are familiar. Fans of manga and anime are also usually fans of RPGs and MMOs, so it’s easier to imagine what it would be like living inside a game.

In Log Horizon, Shiroe and most of Japan’s gaming community are trapped in the game “Elder Tale.” Shiroe is a veteran player, so instead of wasting time, he begins investigating the world and its interactions with the game system. He and others must adapt to this new world before chaos takes over, all while finding a way back to reality.

7 The Rising of the Shield Hero

MyAnimeList Score: 7.97

Being stuck in a book or novel is a common thing in Isekai. In The Rising of the Shield Hero, Naofumi Iwatani gets literally sucked into a book at the library and taken to an alternate world. Along with three others, he is appointed as a hero with a signature weapon.

Being the Shield Hero, though, turns out to be the worst. He is ridiculed and gets no respect from the kingdom that summoned him. Not long after, he gets betrayed, leaving him alone and without resources. Naofumi’s goal becomes finding a way to go home.

6 Digimon Adventure

MyAnimeList Score: 7.77

Some people overlook the fact that the Digimon Adventure is an isekai. One summer day, seven children are whisked away from summer camp and dropped into an unknown world with monsters roaming around. These monsters are Digimon, creatures with dangerous abilities and capable of evolving.

The seven children begin their journey home with their partner digimon, facing dangers and threats while trying to find the truth about the digital world. Together, they and their partners must grow.

5 The Familiar of Zero

MyAnimeList Score: 7.22

Normally, the main characters in an isekai story get summoned to different worlds with few limitations. They all have autonomy and the freedom to make their own choices. In The Familiar of Zero, Louise lives in a world full of magic, and it’s customary for students to summon a familiar to aid them.

Unfortunately, Louise is known as “Zero” for her lack of talent and magic ability. When she does the ritual for a familiar, Saito Hiraga appears instead. Forced to act like a pet as other familiars do, Saito tries desperately to find a way home.

4 The New Gate

MyAnimeList Score: 7.66

Like in Sword Art Online, Shin was trapped in a video game death trap until the final boss was defeated. However, after the defeat of the monstrous Origin, a door presents itself, sucking him in before he can log out. The New Gate revolves around the world of the original video game 500 years into the future.

Still trying to find a way to log out, Shin looks for new information about the world after so many years have passed. It appears that his time as a player has become ancient history.

3 Aim For The Deepest Part Of The Different World Labyrinth

MyAnimeList Score: 6.83

• Japanese Title: Isekai Meikyuu no Saishinbu wo Mezasou
• Author: Tarisa Wariuchi

One day, Aikawa Kanami wakes in a dark room with no idea where he is. That room is a place in the Labyrinth, a large dungeon where adventurers go to earn money. He is quickly found and attacked by monsters, and his pleas for help result in even more danger.

In this world, monsters are fought with magic and swords, but as a normal person from Japan, it’s impossible for Aikawa to challenge the Labyrinth. However, he has no choice, as the treasure in the center of the Labyrinth can grant any wish. That’s his ticket home.

2 Path of the Perfect Evasion Healer

MyAnimeList Score: 6.45

• Japanese Title: Kanzen Kaihi Healer no Kiseki
• Author: Punichan

While riding the bus one day, Hiroki Sakurai is summoned along with two others to a different world. As usual, they are given Status Plates and stat points to allocate as they want. Hiroki has the job Priest with his Recover already maxed out, so he decides to put all his points into Evasion.

However, when the king who summoned him learns about this, Hiroki is immediately thrown out. He decides to travel alone in secret to find a way back to the real world while the other summoned people complete the quest as heroes.

1 My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me!

MyAnimeList Score: 6.84 (Manga)

After being abandoned for not gaining powers, Tomochika Dannoura is sure she’ll die, but suddenly the dragon attacking them falls over dead. The only other person left alive is Yogiri Takatou, the student in class who is always asleep.

However, he’s more than he appears to be. Takatou has the ability to will anything he can see to die. His victims fall over as if they’d had heart attacks. While it may seem cruel, it’s also the only way to survive in the cruel, new world.