Well, here we are. We’ve seen human characters isekai’d in every which way, so much so that there really isn’t much blood to be squeezed from the overworked stone that is isekai anymore. However, when there is nothing left for human characters to do in another world, you always have the option of telling the same isekai story, but with the main character as a non-human.
Slime, skeletons, vending machines – Isekai can live on forever by making the main character into something increasingly ridiculous. If you are looking for isekai anime recommendations where the main character is a non-human, head on down below.
Isekai Anime With a Non-Human Main Character
In The Land of Leadale
Now, you may be thinking that Cayna looks pretty human, but let me “Well, Acktually” you here for a quick second like a big nerd and say that she is actually a High Elf.
In The Land of Leadale tells the tale of a girl who took up playing an MMO while hospitalized, and when she passed away, she woke up in that MMO. Of course, 200 years had passed in-game and there are only NPC characters around – including her own children that she had created in-game.
From there, she wanders around trying to find out what happened, but ultimately just enjoying being able to actually move around and interact with people.
Don’t let the female main character fool you, this isn’t a Cute Girls Doing Isekai Things affair, and it is no slouch when it comes to action.
Overlord
A human main character in an isekai is played out? Strip off that skin and show us the bony lich wonders underneath. But really, Overlord was actually one of the earlier isekai adaptations so having the main character isekai’d into an MMO as his undead MMO avatar wasn’t as slap-dash an attempt at innovation as it would be seen as today.
Overlord uses a non-human main character naturally. Many MMO players don’t play humans. Why be a human when you can be an orc or a catgirl?However, an interesting aspect of this series is that the main character is still human on the inside, but over time, you do see his decisions become a little more evil-aligned and lich-like, showing a bit of moral decay. Yet, that could also be caused by his variety of, also evil-aligned, guild NPCs that came to life when he was isekai’d into the game and worship him like a god. You act like the company you keep, after all.
Skeleton Knight in Another World
Unlike Overlord that fully explains the main characters’ skeletal appearance as an MMO avatar experience, Skeleton Knight in Another World makes his skeletal appearance the mystery.
He was reincarnated into a fantasy world as a skeleton. While having OP battle abilities, he hides his face and tries to live a low-key life that he enjoys… right up until he gets pulled into the intrigue involving an elven slave right, anyways.
Split between breaking down the slave rings and trying to figure out why he is a skeleton and how to fix it, Skeleton Knight in Another World does at least try to make his time as a non-human integrated into the plot rather than something that just is.
The Devil is a Part-Timer
The Devil is a Part-Timer wasn’t innovative from having a main character be a demon lord, it was innovative – at the time – for being about a demon lord being sent to our boring, magic-less world.
Enjoy watching this once all-powerful demon lord work his McJob and struggle to pay his bills.
Of course, while it started comically at first, The Devil is a Part-Timer does grow into bigger and more in-depth plots outside of comedy.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Alongside Overlord, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is the most successful isekai where the main character is a non-human. It takes the slime – a staple beginner monster in JRPGs – and reincarnates a man right in there.
As slimes can absorb the power of what they ingest, he ends up storing a new dragon friend inside his slime body, gaining tremendous might. As a slime of significant power, this leads him to befriend a series of increasingly more powerful fantasy beast creatures and form his own beast nation for the beleaguered targets of human adventurers.
While the main character being a slime is the hook, That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime dedicates itself to building an expansive world and a plot that goes beyond “slime is OP,” even if that is often the punctuation for many of the battles.
So I’m a Spider So What?
So I’m a Spider So What follows, not one person, but a whole school class that gets isekai’d. As is tradition, the outcast of the class is isekai’d not only elsewhere in the world, but as a whole different species – a spider.
In truth, the class also runs the whole gamut of isekai twists. Some are human adventurers with good abilities. Some have weak abilities. Some are even powerful fantasy creatures. Not this nameless protagonist girl, though. She’s a lowly cave spider that is all the way at the bottom of the food chain.
Much of this series follows her struggle. She has to take down enemies to level up and gain abilities, but she has to start very small. Even then, the small enemies are a struggle. Like any isekai with power scaling, eventually she grows wildly powerful as she levels up and evolves as a species.
Reincarnated as a Sword
Of all the things you would want to be reincarnated as, I reckon being a sword would rank rather low. No mobility, no speech, and only the best warriors treat their swords as precious. However, as with most isekai anime on this list, a healthy dose of magic can make anything viable.
Reincarnated as a Sword is about exactly what it says on the label. The main character is reincarnated as a sword. At first, he uses magic to fly around on his own and kill monsters, leveling himself up. However, eventually he gets stuck in the ground and is freed by a fleeing slave catgirl that he makes his official wielder.
With telepathic communication, they form a strong partnership and the series explores their series of interesting battles they face together.
The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated
Like The Devils is a Part-Timer, The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated is about – not a demon lord – but a demon being sent into our human world. There, she still has some of her demonic powers, but only a fraction that can be used for a limited time.
Enjoy as Jahy learns the modern struggle of choosing between paying your rent or eating a balanced meal as she eeks out a living working a minimum wage job at a bar.
What sets this apart from The Devil is a Part-Timer? Well, the occasional booba is different, but mostly it is its strong focus on comedy rather than growing into a more robust plot.
Butareba – The Story of a Man Who Turned into a Pig
From slime to spider, Butereba zipped past all the noble animals right to the degeneracy. While the series is about a man isekai’d into another world as a pig, at least the series leans into it pretty hard by making him act like it.
No, he doesn’t spend his time flopping in the mud and truffle-hunting, but instead he spends his time looking up skirts and savoring the softer supple thighs of his all too innocent, perfect, and eye-rollingly submissive female companion.
While Butareba relies on occasional degenerate comedy, it does set up a plot built on intrigue. Unlike the usual isekai anime, it doesn’t force-feed you every detail of how that world works, but instead strings you along in a way that makes you want to see what happens to these girls that journey to the royal capital at the age of 16 and are never seen again. It’s intriguing enough to keep you watching an isekai about a pig as the main character, anyway.
How Not to Summon a Demon Lord
Similar to Overlord, How Not to Summon a Demon Lord is about a guy isekai’d as his MMO character. In the series, two elves heard of his character’s prowess inside his game and tried to summon and enslave him. He was summoned as he real human mind inside the now-very real body of his avatar and ends up enslaving those two girls instead when the spell reflected off him.
The innovation in this series isn’t really from having a human mind inside the body of a powerful demon lord. Instead, How Not to Summon a Demon Lord gives a very specific portion of isekai fans what it knows they really want – a whole lot of ecchi.
Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon
Reincarnated as a Sword proved that with a healthy dose of magic, any concept can become viable enough. However, fans certainly thought we would go through a whole range of being reincarnated as more interesting objects before we got to the mundane ones.
No, anime skipped “Reincarnated as a Nail Gun” and “My Time as a Lady-Knights’ Garter Belt in Another World,” and are now all the way at Reborn as a Vending Machine.
Now, to be extremely fair, Reborn as a Vending Machines goes to great lengths of creativity to make the concept realistic, yet viable. Yes, he can change into different vending machines to fit his needs as he levels up. However, he can’t move on his own, needs sales to stay alive, and his communication is limited to only vending machine voice lines.
This means it allows him to be overpowered in the world, but not without some distinct disadvantages that you definitely would have if you were a vending machine.
Despite the disadvantages of being a vending machine, Reborn as a Vending Machine is still an adventure-based isekai with a surprising amount of action. It’s ridiculous action, but it does make for an unexpectedly fun watch.
Cinnamon Oda Nobunaga
I’m a big proponent that being reincarnated in the far past or far future of a world is still isekai since a large part of the plot – every time – is how different the world is now. In Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga, a lot of things are different for the old warlord.
This series is simple, light-hearted, and comically effective. It follows Oda Nobunaga who, after the deadly betrayal at Honnoji Temple, is reincarnated into modern Japan, but as an infinitely more pettable Shiba Inu.
It’s not just Nobunaga dealing with being a small dog in a big modern world, a lot of different warlords suffered the same fate – reincarnated as a variety of neighborhood dogs.
Honest in its general lack of plot, it is good fun to dog watch if you are also a connoisseur of Feudal warlords.
Do you have more isekai anime where the main character isn’t actually a human? Let fans know in the comments section below.
