#12 Isekai Anime Series With a Female Protagonist

Isekai is the big thing in anime that doesn’t seem to be going away. Every new season has at least one isekai series, and usually they follow a similar formula. A nerd boy relatable to the target audience is sent to a new fantasy world where they realize their potential as a hero. It is a chunibyou dream come true. However, less prevalent are isekai series featuring the same thing happening to women. If you are looking for something a little more fresh in the isekai genre, typically the series with a sole female protagonist or a combination of protagonists tend to shake the formula up a bit.

The Twelve Kingdoms

This series is of an age where it is easily forgotten, but even when it was brand new, it flew under the radar. Not only does it feature a female main character that you watch grow into the world and a strong leader, but the world and each of its twelve kingdoms are explored and shown off for how unique they are.

Restaurant to Another World

The restaurant is one in our world, but it hosts other creatures that visit it on Saturday. While an isekai show about serving food in a restaurant isn’t the most cerebral plot, it highlights a lot of interesting characters, and most of all, delicious food. It has a classic message – food can bridge the differences between people.

Ascendance of a Bookworm

This series is the beginning of a newer isekai trend. One where the plot isn’t about saving the world or fighting, but it is about more slice of life things. In this series, a girl that loved books is reincarnated into a world where books are a rarity reserved for the rich. She is in a poor family, but endeavors to make reading more accessible for all.

My Next Life as a Villianess

Following an otaku girl that got isekai’d into her otome game as the villianess, this series manages to be both harem and reverse harem, though without any lewdness that can accompany them. The show is dripping with charm and takes a nice wholesome route to the genre. It is not about strife and battle, but rather life and relationships – something the main character lacked in her previous world.

Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits

Rather than be married off, a girl decides to pay off her family’s debt by working at an inn for spirits. You can tell by just looking at the poster what sort of show it is. There are many handsome spirit men at the inn and it becomes a reverse harem, but sometimes that is just right for a night of relaxation.

Fushigi Yuugi

Regarded as one of the earliest isekai shows, Fushigi Yuugi is an oft-forgotten classic. It is about two junior high girls that are sent to into a world based on an ancient Chinese book. These two girls are manipulated to be on different sides and serve as priestesses for two different gods. The person who succeeds in summoning their god first is granted three wishes, but their desires, as you would expect, don’t align.

Vision of Escaflowne

Although older, Escaflowne is as sweeping a fantasy story as any other isekai anime series. It doesn’t play the tropes for laughs, but rather makes the tropes. It is the story of a young girl transported to a new world with a prince that ended up in her modern world and suddenly finds herself embroiled in a war for his country.

Magic Knight Rayearth

Because the animation is so very…Early 90’s anime in style, this one is a series easily forgotten. However, if you can look past the art, it has a pretty good story about three girls transported to a new world (by flying fish) in order to become magic knights. As it is an early isekai story, you know what happens next. They play it straight and the girls aim to save the world.

Saga of Tanya the Evil

This is…a different sort of isekai. Isekai series with female protagonists tend to be a little more light-hearted and sometimes less action oriented. This is not so. Tanya is in fact an evil little girl who used to be an adult man before being reincarnated. She lands herself on the front line of a war for selfish reasons, so she can get off the front line as soon as possible and get back to nice safe bureaucracy.

Inuyasha

Sure, it’s named after the male main character, but Kagome, the girl who falls down a well and ends up in feudal Japan, is as much the main character as any. Their destinies are tied and there are only a few moments in which they are not together. Inuyasha is a lot of fighting and a lot of romantic drama all set in an ancient Japan that is also filled with demons.

These Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They?

This series features a group of mostly female main characters that are sent to a new world. In their reality, they have psychic powers but live mundane lives. They are then isekai’d to a new world that finally puts those powers to the test. It is an interesting twist to the genre.

No Game No Life

I debated on this one. The show features a male and female main character that both get isekai’d, but the female is the more passive of the two. Yet, after deciding to add These Problem Children are Coming From Another World and Inuyasha, which has both female and male main characters, I decided I mind as well because it technically counts. No Game No Life is a staple in the genre that has set many yearning for a second season. Again though, the female protagonist does play the more passive role because of her personality to a more feisty male main character, so keep that in mind.

Do you have any more isekai anime series with female protagonists? Let fans know in the comments section below.

Amerowolf

Founder of Recommend Me Anime. Combine 5 years of freelance writing with 15 years of anime fandom, and the result is a site that is (hopefully) more interesting to browse than your average news and episode recap anime site.