Isekai protagonists are often normal high school students or office workers who use their new life as an opportunity to change everything about themselves. Some become adventurers, some become farmers, and some become an entirely different species.
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Some isekai protagonists, meanwhile, end up becoming parents. It's fairly rare among the various isekai stories out there, but there are still a handful of examples of protagonists becoming a parent in some way after being transported or reincarnated in another world. Here are some isekai protagonists that were either parents before, or became parents after being sent to another world.
Adoptive parents or found families will be considered. Mushoku Tensei is not included since the anime has not explored Rudy's role as a parent all that much yet.
Updated on April 5, 2025 by Mark Sammut: Isekai anime with parent protagonists are quite rare, but they do exist and often offer something fairly different from the theme's standard releases. This article has been expanded with a few more recommendations.
7 Special Mention: Hiraku Machio (Farming Life In Another World)
It Takes A Village
Farming Life in Another World
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- January 6, 2023
- Japanese Title
- Isekai Nonbiri Nouka
- Studio
- Zero-G
- Based On
- Novel & Light Novel
- Creator
- Kinosuke Naito
- Number of Episodes
- 12
- Streaming Service(s)
- HIDIVE
Hiraku Machio dies suddenly and is offered an opportunity to be sent to another world in a younger, healthier body. Hiraku takes the chance to start a new life with the help of the Almighty Tool offered to him, and what starts as a small farmstead soon blooms into a small village.
As Hiraku tends to his farm, he begins encountering many beautiful young women who become interested in his work, including Ru, who quickly becomes his wife and the mother of his first child, Alfred. In the manga, Hiraku has even more wives (and therefore even more children), but does his best to care and provide for them all.
The anime barely touches upon Hiraku's role as a parent, so this mention is primarily for the source material (or an eventual season 2).
6 Mamako Oosuki (Do You Love Your Mother And Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?)
A Young Mother Trying To Connect With Her Son
Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2019 - 2019
- Network
- Tokyo MX
- Japanese Title
- Tsuujou Kougeki ga Zentai Kougeki de Ni-kai Kougeki no Okaasan wa Suki desu ka?
- Studio
- J.C.Staff
- Number of Episodes
- 12
- Based On
- Light Novel
- Creator
- Dachima Inaka
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
Masato Oosuki and his mother Mamako are transported into a virtual video game world after he answers a questionnaire about his relationship with her. Finding her overbearing and overly doting, Masato is stunned to learn that the game world he is in is intended to improve players' relationships with their mothers, and that the two must become closer in order to leave.
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Mamako is an intensely loving mother to Masato, maybe to extreme levels. Despite Masato being much more experienced and skilled at video games, Mamako's baseline stats and equipment are so powerful that she often clears away foes before he can even get started. While the relationship between the two is certainly complicated, it's clear they care for each other as a family should. Despite being one of the few isekai anime with a parent protagonist, Do You Love Your Mother And Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? Is not that great of a show, and the relationship between Masato and Mamako can be a bit frustrating rather than wholesome. Still, as a silly comedy, the series can be entertaining.
5 Hajime Nagumo (Arifureta: From Commonplace To World's Strongest)
An Unexpected Parental Figure
Arifureta: From Commonplace To World's Strongest
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2019 - 2025-00-00
WHERE TO WATCH
- Japanese Title
- Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou
- Studio
- Asread, White Fox, Studio Mother
- Based On
- Light Novel
- Creator
- Ryo Shirakome
- Number of Episodes
- 42
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
Hajime Nagumo doesn't seem like the most likely parental figure in isekai manga or anime. After being betrayed and abandoned by his former comrades, he becomes vengeful and bloodthirsty, doing whatever it takes in order to achieve his goals.
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However, after meeting with some new allies and old friends, Hajime slowly began to mellow out, especially with the addition of the merfolk girl, Myu. Unlike the other girls who end up forming Hajime's harem, Hajime treats Myu like a daughter, and he is fiercely protective of her. Though they part after reuniting Myu with her mother, their parent-child relationship continues to persist.
4 Takumi (A Journey Through Another World: Raising Kids While Adventuring)
A Rare Isekai Anime About Childcare
A Journey Through Another World: Raising Kids While Adventuring
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2024 - 2024-00-00
- Network
- TV Tokyo
- Japanese Title
- Isekai Yururi Kikou: Kosodateshinagara Boukensha Shimasu
- Studio
- EMT Squared, Bros. Bird
- Number of Episodes
- 12
- Based On
- Novel & Light Novel
- Creator
- Shizuru Minazuki
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
For better or worse, most isekai anime are escapist power fantasies that generally look to strip the protagonist of "normal" responsibilities. These shows are not going to saddle their main character with children, at least not to the extent that it is the core focus. Consequently, A Journey Through Another World: Raising Kids While Adventuring takes the genre in quite the usual direction, with the protagonist, Takumi, pretty much instantly adopting twins, Elena and Allen.
Now, to be fair, these two kids can take care of themselves if they are caught in a bind, so they are hardly presented as fragile beings who need to be protected by Takumi. However, the latter still spends a lot of time supervising and guiding Elena and Allen, especially since they are quite naive. While nothing too amazing, A Journey Through Another World: Raising Kids While Adventuring is a cute slow-life isekai anime that emphasizes parenthood.
3 Kenzaburou (From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad's Been Reincarnated!)
An Isekai Anime Protagonist Powered By His Parental Instincts
From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad's Been Reincarnated!
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2025 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- TBS, MBS, CBC, Tulip Television, BSN, tys, NBC, HBC, RKK, i-Television, SBS, IBC, BSS, MRO, OBS, TUF, RSK, TUY, tbc, RKB, SBC, KUTV, RBC, UTY, RCC, MRT, atv, MBC
- Japanese Title
- Akuyaku Reijou Tensei Ojisan
- Studio
- Ajia-do
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Michiro Ueyama
- Streaming Service(s)
- HIDIVE
Now, for something a touch different. From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad's Been Reincarnated! Is a villainess anime that shakes things up by featuring a middle-aged dad as the protagonist, with Kenzaburou reincarnating as the big bad in his daughter's otome game.
Technically, the protagonist is not a parent within the isekai setting since he is portraying a teenager; however, he relies on his fatherly instincts to get through most situations, including an innate love for dad jokes. Out of all the isekai anime parent protagonists, Kenzaburou is arguably the most overtly paternal. Also, From Bureaucrat to Villainess does not ignore his past life either, as the anime even spends time with Kenzaburou's wife and daughter that he left behind. Blending humor and drama incredibly well, this show is simply delightful and a must-watch for anybody into isekai, regardless of whether they enjoy the villainess subgenre.
2 Nitta (Hinamatsuri)
A Gangster And An Esper Become A Family
Hinamatsuri
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2018 - 2018
- Directors
- Masashi Ishihama
- Writers
- Masashi Sogo, Yûsuke Kishi
- Studio
- feel.
- Number of Episodes
- 12
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Masao Ohtake
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
Arguably the best reverse isekai anime ever, Hinamatsuri is a masterclass in combining comedy and raw emotion. A yakuza member who lives on his own, Nitta's life takes a strange turn when a pod with a girl's face shows up in his apartment. After trying to pretend it doesn't exist, he quickly finds himself acting as the caregiver of Hina, a young girl from another world who has incredible esper powers.
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Initially, Hina strong-arms Nitta into letting her live with him, but they develop a pretty wholesome relationship after that point. Unusual father-daughter dynamics are a central theme of Hinamatsuri, and that goes beyond just Hina and Nitta. Another girl, Anzu, ends up finding a home in the homeless community, a storyline that is surprisingly emotional and powerful.
1 Teacher (Reincarnated As A Sword)
A Weapon With A Heart Of Gold
Reincarnated as a Sword
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- September 28, 2022
WHERE TO WATCH
- Japanese Title
- Tensei shitara Ken deshita
- Studio
- C2C
- Based On
- Light Novel
- Creator
- Yuu Tanaka
- Number of Episodes
- 12
- Streaming Service(s)
- HIDIVE
After dying in an accident, a Japanese man finds himself reincarnated as a sword with incredible powers. Unable to move on his own, he is soon found by a Black Cat named Fran, who uses him to free herself from slave traders. Named Teacher by Fran, the two go on a journey to improve Fran's abilities until she can fully evolve.
Teacher doesn't necessarily have a strictly defined father-daughter relationship with Fran, but he does care for her and protects her as best as he can. His support is instrumental to Fran's growth as an adventurer, and without him, she would not be anywhere close to where she is now. Their dynamic is wholesome and believable, anchoring the story's heart and soul in the process.
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