Isekai Anime With the Best Animation Since 2020, Ranked

Many elements converge to make a standout anime, especially when there are already so many well-loved classics and popular series. Quality storytelling, voice actors, and character arcs are crucial. Animation quality can really make or break a good anime; if it’s beautiful and smooth it makes it all the more desirable to pick up.

Committing to an anime series with clunky animation can be frustrating. Some CGI animation can truly be an eyesore if not done well. Animators get really creative with isekai anime, especially since 2020. The animation is creative and gorgeous, matching the tone and reinforcing the subgenre of new release isekai.

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10 Aoi Works in a Gorgeous District in Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits

Release Year: 2022

Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits has a very 2020s style for its character design. Aoi, Odanna, and the rest of the cast have thin faces, willowy necks, flowing hair, and bright eyes. Aoi can see ayakashi (spirits), and the ogre demon Odanna transports her to the spirit realm in a flurry of ethereal rose petals.

The ethereal animation continues as Aoi learns to make her home in the ayakashi realm. Recently there’s been an influx of slice-of-life isekai rather than grand adventure isekai, so there’s a big focus on beautiful and strange settings. Aoi is an amazing chef and the shots of the food she cooks are positively sumptuous.

Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits

A young girl with the ability to see ayakashi is sent to another realm to repay her grandfather’s debt and marry an ogre.

Release Date

April 2, 2018

Cast

Nao Tôyama , Emily Neves , Manaka Iwami

Seasons

1 Season

Studio

Gonzo

Creator

Tomoko Konparu

Production Company

Flying Dog

Number of Episodes

26 Episodes

9 Fluffy Paradise Is an Adorable Getaway

Release Year: 2024

Animal and nature lovers would fall in love with Fluffy Paradise so easily. The simple story line, sweet characters, and kindly creatures give the anime a truly dreamy quality. Akitsu gets another chance at life when she dies at twenty-seven and is reborn as the young noble girl, Néma.

As Néma, she doesn’t need to work herself to death like she did in her previous life. She can truly appreciate every small moment and take the time to appreciate her lush surroundings. The animation truly reflects that relaxing character journey. Néma befriends so many kindly creatures, like scarlet dragons and snowy tigers, with lovely character designs and expressive faces.

8 Mukouda Transports Into a Delicious World in Campfire Cooking In Another World with My Absurd Skill

Release Year: 2023

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Campire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill is a reverse power fantasy isekai. Normally, an isekai anime follows a precocious and adventurous protagonist as they grow their powers and ultimately face down a huge evil power or overlord. Mukouda and three other people from the regular world travel to a fantasy realm where they’re supposed to inherit great heroic powers.

Mukouda doesn’t really have much of a heroic power, though. His skill lies in cooking amazing dishes, and that’s the main focus of the character’s arc and the animation. His wolf sidekick Fenrir adds a dose of aesthetic majesty to the series that otherwise focuses on the beauty in everyday things.

Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill

Created by

Ren Eguchi

First TV Show

Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill

First Episode Air Date

January 11, 2023

Where to watch

Crunchyroll

7 Farming Life in Another World Weaves Together an Enchanted Natural World

Release Year: 2023

Hikaru dies and is reincarnated into another world in Farming Life in Another World. Hikaru is a wonderful farmer who takes great joy in working the land, and he’s curious about the local fauna. The isekai zeroes in on small treasures, like little flowers poking out of the earth and stalks of corn waving in the setting sun.

Farming Life in Another World is a great watch, but there is one downside. There’s some fan service, which is a definite downside of plenty of isekai anime. It doesn’t really add to the story and it can alienate viewers. But the main aesthetics of the anime are all about nature and the seasons.

Farming Life in Another World

Release Date

January 6, 2023

Cast

Atsushi Abe , Shino Shimoji , Aya Suzaki , Lynn

Seasons

1

Studio

Zero-G

Franchise

Farming Life in Another World

Characters By

Kinosuke Naitô

Creator

Kinosuke Naitô

Main Characters

Hiraku Machio, Ru, Tia, Ria

Production Company

Zero-G

Story By

Kinosuke Naitô

Writers

Touko Machida

6 I’m In Love with the Villainess Is a Romantic Fairy Tale

Release Year: 2023

I’m in Love with the Villainess turns fairy tale isekai on its head. It’s one of many new releases that combine isekai with romance as the main character’s transported, or reborn, into their favorite romance novel. The series really leans into the dating sim visuals common in the video game genre.

I’m in Love with the Villainess tells a sapphic love story between a royal villainess and a heroine, and many fans laud it as a wonderful yuri with no distasteful fan service. Their love story is full of shojo freeze frames, studded with flowers and hazy glitter. The aesthetics are lush and unapologetically girly with some nods to classic anime like Revolutionary Girl Utena.

I’m in Love with the Villainess

Oohashi Rei, an office worker, that’s overworked to death and suddenly finds herself reincarnated as Rae Taylor, the heroine of her favorite otome game, Revolution.

Release Date

October 2, 2023

Cast

Yu Serizawa , Karin Nanami , Ciarán Strange , Daisuke Namikawa

Seasons

1

Creator

Inori.

Producer

Asmik Ace, King Records, Ichijinsha

Writers

Ayumu Hisao

Number of Episodes

12

Directors

Hideaki Ooba

5 Sweet Reincarnation Combines Classic Isekai with Popular Cooking Anime

Release Year: 2023

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Sweet Reincarnation is like a bite of summer in an anime. The main downside of watching it is the lavish food animation will make viewers crave desserts. It’s like the board game Candy Land meets isekai.

Cooking and baking is a popular subgenre in new release isekai, but the protagonist tends to have culinary skills rather than magical skills, which they use to navigate their new world. Sweet Reincarnation protagonist Pastry has both culinary skills and magical powers, and his Replication skill works in concert with his confections. He’s the key to bringing sweets to a world where sugar is sparse.

4 Raeliana Lands Herself In a Romance Novel in Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion

Release Year: 2023

Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion has a fairly simple premise, but a great world and compelling characters. It’s based on the wildly popular South Korean web novel of the same name. It follows a young woman who’s reincarnated into her favorite romance story as a side character, Raeliana.

Raeliana needs to navigate tricksy engagements and court intrigue, all while trying to survive assassination attempts and guarding her heart from a flirtatious and surprisingly kind duke. She gets a great makeover scene, and the dance scenes are all about sumptuous gowns and sweeping romance. The animation focal points are beautiful dresses and settings; the visual tone speeds up during carriage chases; there’s a bit of everything that makes the series so well-balanced.

Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion

Living in a fairy tale may seem like a dream, but for this young heroine it is more like a nightmare.

Release Date

April 10, 2023

Cast

Jun’ichi Suwabe , Yūichirō Umehara , Saori Hayami , Ami Koshimizu

Seasons

1 Season

Studio

Typhoon Graphics

Creator

Milcha

Production Company

AT-X, Typhoon Graphics

Number of Episodes

12

3 My Next Life As a Villainess Is Bright & Cheerful

Release Year: 2020

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My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! is another great shojo isekai with plenty of romantic options, just like the otome games it’s inspired by. Catarina Claes is a lighthearted protagonist who turns her villainy around and becomes a very likable person in her world. It takes place in a courtly setting, so there’s a huge ensemble cast.

Though there are so many characters, each scene’s drawn with creativity. Each character has their own style, and yet they all blend in together well. The detailed character designs keep My Next Life As a Villainess from feeling like character soup.

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

A young girl dies and is reincarnated into a video game. But when she finds out that her role is the villainess destined for doom, she takes measures to change the game and avoid that fate.

Release Date

April 4, 2020

Cast

Maaya Uchida , Tetsuya Kakihara , Shouta Aoi , Miho Okasaki

Seasons

2

Studio

Silver Link

Creator

Satoru Yamaguchi

Number of Episodes

24 +OVA

2 I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss Has Two Great Aesthetics

Release Year: 2022

Aileen may be reincarnated as a minor villainess in I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Aileen has a very sweet, Disney princess style and personality. She is both idealistic and whip-smart, and knows how to navigate the glittering court whose beautiful fashions obscures royalty’s rotten nature.

When Aileen travels to the demon realm, everything is different. Aileen’s fiance, Claude, is a dreamy gothic prince, but he has the nature of a true leader and gentleman. I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss keeps things light and romantic, but it also explores the nature of virtue and vice with its aesthetic styles.

I’m the Villainess So I’m Taming the Final Boss

A doomed villainess in a dating game realizes her fate and role, and seeks to prevent her doom by romantically connecting with the game’s other villain.

Release Date

September 24, 2022

Cast

Rie Takahashi , Kana Hanazawa , Jun Fukuyama , Tomokazu Sugita , Yuki Ono

Seasons

1

Franchise

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss

Creator

Sarasa Nagase, Mai Murasaki

Distributor

Crunchyroll

Main Characters

Aileen Lauren D’Autriche, Lilia Rainworth, Keith Eigrid, Almond, Belzebuth

Production Company

Maho Film

Story By

Sarasa Nagase

1 The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent Combines Magic, Romance, & Gardening

Release Year: 2021

Sei’s reborn as a Saint in Salutania in The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent. The series combines many different subgenres. There’s a strong romance element, where the animators focus on small moments and subtle flirtations between Sei and Sir Albert Hawke.

There’s also a huge focus on Sei’s magical girl journey. As the Saint, Sei has an amazing gift for potion-making, and the animation lingers over her gardening, harvesting, and brewing up gorgeous and powerful potions. Though there are many small moments in The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent, the series is still a delight with plenty of forward movement, as well as gorgeously drawn magical events.

The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent

Sei is living her dream life in a magical kingdom. She’s popular for making potions, but will this obsession hurt her chances with Albert?

Release Date

April 17, 2021

Cast

Yui Ishikawa , Takahiro Sakurai

Seasons

2 Seasons

Creator

Yuka Tachibana

Production Company

Diomedea, AT-X, Bandai Namco Arts