Want to dive deeper into the meaning of isekai and how this subgenre developed? Then keep reading. I’ll also share some isekai romance manhwa recommendations at the end.

What does Isekai mean – a short explanation for the Kanji

Isekai (異世界) roughly translates to “another world,” “different world,” or “parallel universe” in Japanese. It is a subgenre of Japanese entertainment, including light novels, manga, anime, and games, and is not typically used in everyday conversation. In Korean, the same concept is called isegye (이세계).

In Japanese, a distinction is often made between isekai ten’i (異世界転移), meaning “being transported to another world,” and isekai tensei (異世界転生), meaning “being reborn in another world.”

The kanji 異 (i) can have several readings, but in this context it conveys meanings such as “different,” “strange,” or “unusual.” The kanji 世界 (sekai) means “world,” and can also be understood as “society” or “universe,” depending on the context.

How does an Isekai look like? An introduction

Don’t we all know it: you’re living your life as a hardworking college student or a middle-aged woman, and then –bam – Truck-kun strikes out of nowhere. No one is safe… especially not if you were reading romance novels or playing an otome game the night before.

And if you have a terrible family situation or are deeply unhappy, your chances of encountering Truck-kun somehow seem even higher. But don’t forget sleep-senpai. If you get too absorbed in a romance novel or become overly invested in a character, your perfectly healthy body might suddenly give out overnight, without any warning.

It’s a tragedy, really… but there’s also a bright side to all that misfortune: 99.99% of the time, you wake up in the body of a stunningly beautiful or incredibly powerful character. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the protagonist, the villainess, a side character, the villain’s mother, or even a maid – the list goes on, but you will almost always be beautiful.

And there’s another thing that seems almost guaranteed: you’ll be unbelievably dense and refuse to accept your new reality. Or, if you end up in an isekai without romance, you’ll often find yourself as a protagonist who quickly becomes overpowered and saves the world in no time.

But for now, let’s leave this generalized and slightly exaggerated view of isekai behind and take a closer look at how the subgenre developed.

Isekai: When history was made

In literature “Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll which came out in 1865 can be viewed as one of the first Isekais in the western world, although the word Isekai isn’t connected to this story. Other works with the concept of changing worlds would be “Peter Pan”, “Chronicles of Narnia”, “The wizard of Oz” and so on. “El Hazard” and “Fushigi Yuugi” were some of the first Isekais in Japan where the protagonist was transported into another world. Here is an overview of popular works:

Before 2000:

• Inuyasha
• The Vision of Escaflowne

After 2000:

• Knight’s and Magic
• Saga of Tanya the Evil
• Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi

With the release of “Sword Art Online”, the genre gained a large following and became extremely popular. After that, many new works adopted isekai settings, leading to a noticeable saturation of the genre. At one point, a short story contest even banned isekai entries because there were so many – although this was only a one-time decision.

In more recent works, creators have tried to add new twists to the formula. Instead of becoming an overpowered human character, protagonists might be reborn as something unexpected, such as a spider (“So I’m a Spider, So What?”) or a slime (“That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime”). In recent years there has also been an increase in Villainess Manhwa, where the protagonist takes over the body of a villainess in a story and has to change the plot in order to survive. And the production of those kinds of Manhwa doesn’t seem to slow down.

Why is Isekai so popular?

It depends on what genre you’re reading but the protagonists in an Isekai often live an unfulfilled life. They had a difficult past and became Hikikomori, were abused by their families or unhappy with their job. If you look at that initial situation the appeal of an Isekai becomes pretty clear. You get to have a second chance at life. On top of that, you often have people to help and guide you and you get to have some special skills or are just very beautiful.

When you sit in your room and ask yourself, “What am I going to do with my life?” or “How am I supposed to overcome this?”, you can probably understand the strong appeal this genre has from a psychological point of view.

Isekai Romance Manhwa recommendations

If you are new to the genre and want to dive right in I have a few recommendations for you. This list won’t be very detailed, because I plan to publish a whole article about that topic. Here are some very popular picks:

Flirting with the Villain’s Dad

Official summary on tapas: “Ack! I’m trapped in this web novel, “Brigitte Wants to be Happy!” No prob, I KNOW what’s gonna happen so I’ll just—wait. I’m not Brigitte? I’m her aunt, Princess Yerenika?! Uh-oh. I’m stuck 20 years before the main plot… and everyone in my generation ends up tragically dead! Her parents, dead. Me, dead. Villain’s dad, King Euredian, dead. A-ha! That’s the key. I just need to prevent the villain from being born… time to break out some seduction schemes and flirt like my life depends on it!”

I shall Master this Family

Official Summary on Tapas: “The great Lombardi family was once at the top of the empire. After the death of its patriarch, the fate of the family and that of Firentia, born from a Lombardi and a peasant, fall to ruin at the hands of her useless and cruel cousins. But when she’s reincarnated as her seven-year-old self, she’ll work to protect the family’s honor, gain her grandpa Lulac’s favor, and prevent her own father’s death. In this lifetime, there’s only one way for her to win: become the head of their mighty household.” I shall master this family is a great Historical Romance Manhwa.

Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom

Summary: This manhwa retells the story of Snow White in a unique and refreshing way. Some familiar elements remain, such as the evil stepmother (Abigail), the abused daughter (Blanche), and the mirror on the wall. However, many things are different.

After reincarnating, Abigail no longer wants to be the evil stepmother. She is still completely obsessed with Blanche, but only because of how cute she is. She calls out everyone in the castle who mistreats Blanche –including her father. Over time, both Blanche and the king slowly begin to open up to her.

Villain’s are Destined to Die

Offical summary on tapas: “This game’s got me obsessed! It’s like it’s taken over my life… wait—HARD MODE ACTIVATED. No-no-no-no-no! It has literally taken me and thrown me into the part of Penelope Eckhart. Love is easy as the heroine, but as the hated villainess, I’m trying very hard not to die… at the hands of my brothers… the prince… a fork… every possible ending is death! This world is stacked against me, but can my wits and insider game knowledge score the affection of these male characters? Or the reset button???”

Who made me a Princess

Official summary on tappytoon: “The beautiful Athanasia was killed at the hands of her own biological father, Claude de Alger Obelia, the cold-blooded emperor! It’s just a silly bedtime story… until one woman wakes up to suddenly find she’s become that unfortunate princess! She needs a plan to survive her doomed fate, and time is running out. Will she go with Plan A, live as quietly as possible without being noticed by the infamous emperor? Plan B, collect enough money to escape the palace? Or will she be stuck with plan C, sweet-talking her way into her father’s good graces?!” Who made me a princess is Romance Manhwa with some of the best art out there.

Roxana

Summary: The story is about Roxana Agriche who isn’t the main villainess of a 19+ reverse harem novel, but rather part of a really psychotic family of assassins: the Agriches. Because she reincarnated, she knows the plot: After the death of her brother Cassis Pedelian the heroin Sylvia will go on a rampage and Roxana will end up getting killed. That’s why she tries to protect Cassis when her family kidnaps him while trying to keep up the act of torturing him so her father doesn’t get suspicious. However Roxana has been on Hiatus for a very long time, so I would not advice you to start it.