Polarizing and divisive Isekai manga

Key points

• Inferior Magic Swordsman has a clichéd start but surprises with twists and depth.
• Live Dungeon! surprises fans with good character development and without the typical harem clichés.
• My Uncle Is from Another World is visually shocking but provides hilarious satire and human relatability.

Isekai manga It's pretty divisive type; some fans like it and some manga fans avoid it at all costs. And even within the overcrowded market of isekai fantasy stories, there are series that generate quite a bit of disagreement, with some of these series so controversial that they have divided the community between love and hate since their inception.

The following isekai series are tremendously divisive, whether because of the clichés they deal with, because they have similar content to other famous series, or for any other reason that generates discord in their fandom. From an overused topic that ends up being quite cute thanks to some well-placed plot twists, to a shocking and brutal satire from an author who hates the genre and, paradoxically, ended up creating one of the funniest isekai manga currently happening.

1 Lesser magical swordsman

It starts off cliché and turns out to be pretty decent

• Genres: Sword and Sorcery, Deception, Conspiracies, Action, Shonen, Romance, Adventure, Isekai, Fantasy
• Author: Hagiu Ak
• Artist: Hiroto Kanou

Where to start with this series? Hero Sent to Another World: Check. A beautiful girl saves him and goes together to the “Adventurers' Guild” – check. The “bottom up” trope: check. Everything in this series feels like average isekai and more of the same. That's why a fraction of its readers dislike this series. Now, for the positives. It gets better: the story is complex, with powerful twists and a final coup de grace that no one could have expected.

It has a rough start as it is difficult to swallow the same tasteless pudding over and over again. But if readers give it a chance, they might be pleasantly surprised. It turns out that this isekai manga is the exact opposite of what most readers of the genre were looking for. It has many conspiracies, many twists and a huge mystery to solve.

2 Live Dungeon!

It might look like another reincarnation in a manga game, but it will surprise you

• Genres: Games, Isekai, Streaming, Fantasy, Dungeon, Action, Fantasy
• Author: Dy Reitou
• Artist: Kotori Ryu

Live Dungeon! was harshly criticized for its similarity to other manga Re:Zero, No game, no lifeAND Sword art online. But where all these stories pale in comparison to the isekai game world is the surprisingly good character development.

A healer learning to be a leader. A tank who lacks confidence, but learns to protect others. A clumsy thief who learns little by little. And the best part? No ridiculous power breaks and no Harem situations. Just people working together to conquer the dungeon. Maybe that's why this manga is so controversial: it lacks many of the typical elements that isekai fans look for.

3 My uncle is from another world

Visually shocking, but fun

• Genres: Satire, Comedy, Romance, Mature, Seinen, Isekai, Reverse Isekai, Absurd, Fantasy
• Author: Hotondoshindeiru
• Artist: Hotondoshindeiru

An old man wakes up from a coma, discovers that he has been in another world all this time, and now he needs to learn to survive in modern Japan without all the things he loved. This manga series makes fans feel two different things. On the one hand: pure joy and fun, as it is a top comedy that perfectly mixes pure satire and slice-of-life situations.

On the other hand, many fans are angry with the story's main character “The Uncle” (also called The Ogre) for several reasons: his attitude, his decisions, and his appearance (among many other things). Everything about the MC is shocking and ugly, but maybe that's what the author intended when he designed him: to be human and relatable.

4 I'm a spider, so what?

Surrounded by cliches and criticism, but the story becomes really good

• Genres: Comedy, Isekai, Action, Shoujo, Fantasy, Xenofiction
• Author: Okina Baba
• Artist: Asahiro Kakashi, Tsukasa Ryu

Now here's a series that has a fan base mostly divided between love and hate. It started out as a lovely and fun premise, a satire of the average isekai. A girl is reincarnated as a spider, learns broken powers, and has fun doing some spider shenanigans in another world. The fans loved him like that.

But then, the author abandoned xenofiction and made her evolve into a half-person, half-spider (an Arachne). Every fan shivered in terror at what was about to happen, and the worst happened. No more spider, now she's a girl with Spider-Man powers. Many fans have expressed that this series lost its appeal when it went in that direction.

5 Reincarnated as a baby dragon

Dare to go where no other Isekai does

• Genres: Drama, Isekai, Action, Mature, Fantasy, Xenofiction
• Author: Nekoko
• Artist: NAJI

This series is a great beacon of hope for those who love isekai xenofiction, but also a great disappointment for those looking for the typical romance comedy story. Many fans like the graphics and pacing, but others are disappointed with how things have gotten worse. He's a bold version of the typical “office man reincarnated in another world”, only this time he has to survive day after day in the body of a little dragon.

The world of Baby Dragon is no joke, and some brutal developments (and some deviations from the Light Novels) have left fans in a corner. However, it is a fantastic isekai manga, with beautiful art and great character development. But fair warning: not for younger audiences, as the story can be quite cruel.

6 Goodbye Dragon Life

Walking the fine line between xenofiction and Isekai cliché

• Genres: Drama, Isekai, Action, Sword and Sorcery, Romance, Fantasy, Xenofiction
• Author: Hiroaki Nagashima
• Artist: Kurono

A powerful dragon dies and is transported to a fantasy world where he is reincarnated as a young human. Deciding to become an adventurer, he goes on a quest and meets an adorable half-woman, half-snake. And this is where fans find it so strange: the story walks a fine line between xenofiction and some of the worst clichés of the isekai genre.

More or less, it's a good plot if you can see past all the tackiness and overused clichés. It's desperately slow paced, which is why many fans of the genre don't like it, while others simply love the chilly new life of the dragon lord reincarnated as a human.

7 Reincarnated as a sword

Some say it's boring, but it has a good story (and no Harem)

• Genres: Isekai, Reincarnation, Shoujo, Action, Drama, Adventure, Sword and Sorcery, Comedy, Fantasy
• Author: Yuu Tanaka
• Artist: Tomowo Maruyama

An employee is reincarnated as a sentient sword. For those who grew up loving the Dungeons and dragons cultures (and other fantasy-related series) sentient swords are a dream come true.

For those looking for the typical fast-paced isekai power fantasy, this series is a nightmare. It's the absolute opposite of this. It's wholesome, touching, relaxing, with lots of good morals and great moments. And the best part? No ridiculous, clichéd harems, no arrogant heroes who always say, “I'm the chosen one.”

8 Killer shark in another world

Brutal, unapologetic, a furious critique of the genre

• Genres: Satire, Gore, Horror, Comedy, Isekai, Fantasy, Mature
• Author: Kubokem
• Artist: Kubokem

If readers have come here looking for the most controversial isekai manga, then this is the epitome of the concept: Killer shark in another world it's a manga created by someone who clearly hates the “summoned to another world” cliché, and wanted to make a great satire. And they did it! Brutal, without any remorse, he literally throws a great giant shark (which seems immortal) into a fantasy world, as the beast summoned by a magical girl.

Needless to say, the thing begins to tear its way through everything in its path, sowing destruction and chaos everywhere. Fans are divided on this series. While mature audiences are tired of typical isekai clichés, other fans think it's just too much. But since it never crosses the line, and is at best a silly satire, and at worst a gory action fantasy manga, it deserves a seal of approval.