Summary
- Stories with OP main characters reincarnated as children are popular in Isekai.
- "The Faraway Paladin" offers polished animation and a heartwarming story.
- "Wise Man's Grandchild" balances an OP main character with a compelling villain.
There are many Isekai stories out there for fans of fantasy anime, and for those looking for overpowered main characters reincarnated as children, there are plenty to choose from. These range from stories about historical heroes who came back to live in a new age, to simple people from modern Japan who went to live in a fantasy world as younglings from a respectable family.
There are plenty of great Isekai anime that feature an overpowered main character reincarnated as a child. This ranked list will spotlight the finest of them all, considering storytelling, world-building, animation, and production.
7 Isekai Anime & Manga With Unique Monsters
Here are 7 Isekai anime and manga with unique monsters for fans to enjoy.
Updated March 28. 2025, by Lucas Simons: With the new Anime season ongoing, there are many new Isekai anime coming right away, including the arrival of The Beginning After The End, but even before that, there's a new Isekai anime with an OP child protagonist debuting: I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!. The series combines the best of the Mecha Genre with some goofy cliché characters (like a robot maid) and an MC suffering from the infamous 8th-grader syndrome. On the other hand, two more anime that suit the criteria of this list have been added: Parallel World Pharmacy, a cozy fantasy adventure about healing people. The other one is a fan's favorite: Ascendance of a Bookworm, a tale about a librarian becoming an overpowered little girl in another world.
10 The Faraway Paladin
A Promised Hero For A Broken World
The Faraway Paladin
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2021 - 2023
- Seasons
- 2
With incredibly polished animation, thrilling action scenes, and a great story to top it off, The Faraway Paladin is one of the best there is about overpowered main characters returning as children. The story of William and his unlikely family is both heartwarming and moving.
Unlike other Isekai, the main character slowly forgets about his past life as he grows, and becomes centered in the present. He becomes one of the best fantasy characters ever written.
9 Ascendance Of A Bookworm
Starts Slow, But Its Whacky Humor And Quirky Characters Will Take Your Heart Hostage
Ascendance of a Bookworm
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2019 - 2022
- Showrunner
- Mitsuru Hongô
- Directors
- Mitsuru Hongô
A librarian dies an ironic (and honestly, quite cruel) death, and she is reincarnated as Myne, a feeble girl of a commoner family. The world where she landed is not precisely paradise for a bookworm like her, since books are rare objects only available to nobility and the rich. So, what better way to express her love for books than by introducing the power of the paper-press to everyone? Heck yes, she's going full Johannes Gutenberg in another world.
So, this story that starts a bit slowly, since it tends to overly explain (like most isekai anime do) is, in fact, one of the best of the best, due to its mixture of lighthearted and quirky humor, and a lot of lovely side-characters that embellish the story of a book lover and her quest to fill the world with free access to knowled/overthrow the constituted order and start an inky revolution.
8 Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
One Of The Most Polarizing Isekai Anime
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- January 11, 2021
- Main Genre
- Anime
- Studio
- Studio Bind
- Japanese Title
- Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu
- Creator
- Rifujin na Magonote
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
- Creator(s)
- Rifujin Na Magonote
When people talk about Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, fans know there's going to be trouble. This polarizing Isekai anime has both hardcore fans and absolute detractors. It is undeniable that the quality of the production is above average, and that a great part of the show's charm is due not to the main character, but to the secondary ones.
Without Ruijerd, Eris, Sylphie, and many others, Rudeus wouldn't even be alive to begin with. Although the story is about his second chance in another world, the truth is that this is not an unipersonal story. Truth be told, despite having some regrettable tropes, the show is excellent. Viewers either love it or hate it.
7 Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!
One Of The Most Heartwarming And Funny Isekais
Didn't I Say To Make My Abilities Average In The Next Life?!
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2019 - 2019
- Seasons
- 1
- Studio
- Project No.9
- Japanese Title
- Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!
- Creator
- FUNA
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
Some say this series is not all about a reincarnated OP main character, but the satirical vibe that her untimely arrival in this fantasy world creates. Narraed with a curated and lighthearted sense of humor, the story of Adele and his merry band of troublemakers is one of the best things fans will see in this genre.
Though the animation and background effects are a little bit subpar, it compensates for this with beautiful character designs that have deep roots in Japanese RPG culture. It's a great and powerful friendship story, with a quirky OP main character.
6 Knight's And Magic
Reincarnation, Mechas, And Awkward Comedy
Knight's & Magic
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2017 - 2017
Cast
-
Rie TakahashiErnesti Eru Echevalier -
Shinsuke SugawaraArchid Kidd Walter
-
Ayaka OhashiAdeltrud Adi Walter
-
Atsushi ImaruokaDavid Hepken
A mecha geek is killed by truck-kun and sent to another world where fantasy and giant robots go hand in hand. No, it is not the world of Escaflowne, but an entirely different universe. In Knights and Magic, fans can find a lot of untapped potential related to the merging of two powerful genres. Though this story is a little heavy on awkward fan service, the quality of the anime is great.
14 Anime Featuring Unconventional Mecha Designs
These anime present some interesting twists on the typical mecha design seen in series like Gundam.
This unconventional tale of romance and adventure has earned millions of fans. There's also a chance that the anime will continue, since there are around 17 volumes of the light novels with lots of fantastical adventures, waiting to be told.
5 Parallel World Pharmacy
A Cozy Isekai Adventure About Healing People
Parallel World Pharmacy
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2022 - 2022
- Network
- AT-X
- Writers
- Jackson Oh
A professional biochemist and renowned pharmacist dies and is transported into a fantasy world, where he assumes the mantle of envoy of the gods and the identity of a young noble from a family of healing mages. What begins as a simple quest to heal the world from all its ailments ends up becoming the journey of a young boy (formerly a grown-up man) to introduce modern medicine in a world that has advanced a lot with magic but has forsaken the true origin of diseases.
Mixing magic and his pharmaceutical knowledge, the MC will soon discover that many of the diseases of this new realm are similar to some of the worst plagues that happened in his original world, like the Black Plague and the Spanish Flu. Instead of going around beating people and trying to save the world and forming a harem, this anime is all about curing those in need of treatment, which is a nice change for a market overcrowded with edgy OP main characters reincarnated as children.
4 Wise Man's Grandchild
The Child Main Character Is Okay, But The Villain Breaks The Screen
Wise Man's Grandchild
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2019 - 2019-00-00
WHERE TO WATCH
- Studio
- Silver Link
- Japanese Title
- Kenja no Mago
- Creator
- Tsuyoshi Yoshioka
- Number of Episodes
- 12
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
Wise Man's Grandchild is not like most Isekai anime, where the main character is a lousy harem maker. It has a lot of great qualities, such as polished artwork and character designs, enthralling and compelling storytelling, and a well-written villain. The reasons for the BBEG's rampage against the world are heartbreaking and infuriating, and the audience might feel swayed by his agenda more than that of the main character.
This is a great Isekai anime about a person regressing as a child and becoming one of the most powerful mages in existence. It is one of the few Isekai stories where the OP main character also helps the rest of his crew to become as overpowered as him, and together, they create the Ultimate Magicians.
3 By The Grace Of The Gods, I Will Live In This New World
A Heartwarming Tale About A Boy And His Slimes
By The Grace Of The Gods
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2020 - 2023-00-00
WHERE TO WATCH
- Seasons
- 2
One of the most incredible elements of this Isekai anime is that its main character, a reincarnated person in the body of a child, has retained his natural innocence and joyful spirit. He hasn't become one of those world-breaker reincarnated people who revel in destruction. Instead, he intends to live a cozy life in the most heartwarming and hardworking of ways: raising slimes. These are quite OP, thanks to his cheat ability, but still innocuous enough to be environmentally friendly.
In this fantasy adventure shonen, fans will meet lots of quirky characters, experience funny moments, and enjoy a cozy and relaxed experience. No demon lords, no tropes fallen out of nowhere, and the best part: no unrealistic expectations.
2 The Aristocrat's Otherworldly Adventure
It Has A Harem, But It Also Has Its Good Moments
The Aristocrat's Otherworldly Adventure: Serving Gods Who Go Too Far
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- April 3, 2023
- Seasons
- 1
- Studio
- Magic Bus, EMT Squared
- Japanese Title
- Tensei Kizoku no Isekai Boukenroku: Jichou wo Shiranai Kamigami no Shito
- Creator
- Yashu
- Number of Episodes
- 12
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
- MyAnimeList Score
- 6.67
The Aristocrat's Otherworldly Adventure is a fantasy adventure series with a typical kickstart as a teenager reincarnating in the body of a child and receiving dozens of blessings from the Gods. From there on, the story relies on a cozy realm-management structure and tells the tale of a noble child growing up to be a "herald of the gods." Using his god-given skills, Cain Von SIlford has to breathe new life into a stagnating world using his knowledge from his past life.
This is another good example of a divisive Isekai anime, that is both beloved by fans of the genre, and also criticized due to certain differences between the light novels and the adaptation. But it is up to each viewer's own criteria to define if they like this series or not, as the reality is that the show is well produced and the animation has great quality.
1 I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!
It Has Just Started. Still, If It Follows The Manga, It Will Become Huge
I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- April 5, 2025
- Main Genre
- Animation
- Studio
- Quad
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
What started as the trick of an obscure entity to feed on the suffering of a depressed office worker/gamer, ended up becoming a turn-around epic adventure of reincarnation in a Sci-Fi universe of Mechas, Intergalactic Empires, and evil nobles trying to overtake countless worlds. The main character is reincarnated as a child in a failing noble family from the galactic outskirts, and his parents try to pin down a huge debt on him. Little do they know he will reverse his fortune and become one of the most overpowered Lords of the Galaxy.
With his ridiculous 8th-grader syndrome attitude (similar to that of a certain Eminence In Shadow) Liam Banfield might be the MC that fans need right now, to switch the stale mood of Isekai OP main characters turned into children, for one that quickly evolves into a rampaging teenager Robber Baron trying to dominate the galaxy. Quite a freaky but fun story.
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