What better to offer in the honey trap of wish fulfillment and escapism than an isekai story about a character sent to another world where they fall in love? Everyone wants to be loved, and some even want to fall in love in a non-criminal, non-harem sort of monogamous situation.
Romance isekai actually aren’t as common as you might think. Everyone wants love, it just turns out that most people want the love of multiple different partners all at the same time, I guess. I don’t count the endless harems of the isekai genre as romance unless a very clear main girl is prevalent.
If you are hoping to escape harems and find some actual romance isekai anime with normal romantic relationships, we’ve got a few great anime recommendations.
Best Romance Isekai
The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent
A good chunk of isekai is often wish fulfillment and escapism specifically catered towards disillusioned younger men. This makes it so glaring by comparison that The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent is wish fulfillment and escapism for disillusioned adult women instead.
The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent follows an office worker who was summoned to a fantasy world. However, the ritual meant to summon a girl to banish the darkness messed up. It summoned the main character as well as a high school girl, and the prince of the kingdom chooses the other girl to be the chosen one instead.
Not really caring about that, the actual main character of this series finds a fulfilling job using her magic to make powerful potions. While doing that job, she saves a young knight commander from certain death, and they begin a relationship that grows over the course of the series.
Romance in this series is just one element, though. While it is cute to watch such a mature female main character get a little flustered by the affections of a dazzlingly handsome man, but her romance is just piece of her fulfilling new isekai life, not the driving factor of it.
I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming The Last Boss
Being transported into an otome game as the villainess is a small, but growing shoujo isekai trend. Unfortunately, otome games are synonymous with reverse harems. So instead of picking the main boy, or even committing to a best boy, they play out reverse harem fantasies probably for the same reason most isekai anime are harems instead of singular romances. Why have one when you can have all?
I’m The Villainess, So I’m Taming the Last Boss decides to do the unthinkable – focus on the main character’s romantic relationship with just one man. Yes, the earmarks of reverse harem are there, particularly in the second half of the series, but there is never a moment when the main character isn’t laser-focused on wooing the brooding, but kind demon lord.
The actual plot of the anime is pretty basic. She is reincarnated as the villainess of the otome game she was playing before her death, in order to avoid dying to game events, she decides to go woo the brother of the crown prince who dumped her – the demon lord.
As such, romance drives the plot of this series. Although, that does unfortunately mean it wedges in some older romance tropes to drum up some drama sometimes.
Re:Zero
Does it count as a romance isekai if the main character just has single-target sexuality for a single girl who is slow to realize her feelings at best? I feel like if I’m conflicted, then the answer is usually a “no,” but consider Re:Zero a “maybe isekai romance” to consider.
Re:Zero follows a boy isekai’d into a fantasy world where he immediately gets caught up in the political and deadly attempts made on a half-elf for various reasons. The main character – given the ability to time loop upon death, albeit traumatically – continues to throw his life away for her repeatedly as his affections for her only grow.
As he does this, he attracts a small group of other ladies that become interested in him, but can you call such situations a harem if he doesn’t return anything more than platonic friendship?
The Familiar of Zero
The Familiar of Zero, as an older isekai, harkens back to the days where action romance anime were particularly popular. It was a time when action romance anime like Inuyasha and Shakugan no Shana thrived, and as The Familiar of Zero was definitely trying to be more “action romance” than “boilerplate isekai.”
As such, there is as much focus on battles as there is on the relationship. It follows a pretty terrible mage who, finally succeeding in summoning a familiar, summons what appears to be a normal Japanese boy. Of course, as an isekai protagonist, he is so much more.
As the female lead is a tsundere, they were able to stretch the romantic dynamic in The Familiar of Zero for four seasons. Although, it can be said that there are some harem elements in this series, but again, as long as there is a clear main girl (which there very much is), I count it as a romance.
The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady
Initially, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady earned some attention by having the female isekai main character unabashedly proclaim that she was into women romantically. While not the first isekai with LGBT romance, it is particularly rare for any characters to be so open with their sexuality.
While The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady follows, mostly, the relationship between the a girl isekai’d into a royal family, but can’t use magic and another noble girl who was dumped by the crown prince, romance isn’t the main focus in this series.
The relationship between the two girls plays a crucial role in the story, but there are political intrigues afoot in the kingdom that actually make up most of the actual plot. That said, it doesn’t forget to feed a few relationship tidbits that romance junkies demand.
The Executioner and Her Way of Life
Like The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, The Executioner and Her Way of Life is also an isekai detailing a lesbian romance. However, The Executioner and Her Way of Life is a little less finessed with it in that the romance doesn’t play as large of a part.
The Executioner and Her Way of Life follows a girl sanctioned by the church to, rather literally, execute isekai protagonists. These Japanese teenagers often get transported to this fantasy land with destructive magic powers and all the frustration to vent of a modern adolescent, and after years of devastation, the church decided to just send girls out to kill them as they spawn in.
One her journey, she meets an isekai protagonist summoned by another kingdom that can’t die. As such, they start traveling together so she can find a way to kill her.
You might suspect the pair go through the usual “they grow close as they travel together” sort of relationship, and they do, but that doesn’t really change their goal. The isekai protagonist is mysteriously enamored with the executioner, and it is hinted that this is not the first time they met.
While you get to watch the relationship build in this anime, it is often more about the action; and while they have a building romantic relationship, it also might be a bit of a stretch to call this a “romance” anime.
The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion
When it comes to fantasy romance, Korean manhwa series tend to really enjoy telling glamorous romantic tales of nobility. The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion is one of the rare manhwa to get an anime adaptation, and like so many of its romance manhwa kin, it tells a royal romance, but with an isekai twist.
The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion tells the tale of an office lady that is pushed to her death and reincarnates into the world of a book she once read. There, she discovers that she is not the heroine, but the character that is murdered in the beginning and kicks off the heroine’s story.
Not wanting to die, she makes maneuvers that see her safe. The most effective strategy to stay alive sees her breaking her engagement to the man who would murder her by getting engaged to the love interest from the novel, a mysterious and manipulative duke.
As the series has as much a mystery to focus on as it does romance, it ultimately saved The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion from getting trapped in too many usual isekai tropes. Having other plots to explore keeps it from feeling stale like some other isekai romance anime.
Wise Man’s Grandchild
Say what you want about Wise Man’s Grandchild and its foundation as the modern formulaic isekai, but to its very extreme credit, it resisted having a harem unlike so many others.
Wise Man’s Grandchild follows an isekai’d main character that was raised in a forest by a magician. His upbringing saw him become wildly powerful in magic, but lacking in common sense.
This pretty average premise could have easily set its protagonist up with a wealth of marketable ladies. He’s overpowered, average looking, and has the personality of every self-insert isekai protagonist – none. And yet, he settles himself down with one girl, even going to far as to date her officially.
In essence, Wise Man’s Grandchild is the standard isekai for people that like the generic protagonist and story, but hate the harems.
Handyman Saito in Another World
Handyman Saito in Another World doesn’t advertise itself as a romance isekai, because romance is only part of the plot. There is a story unfolding, and only part of that story is falling in love.
The series, like so many isekai anime do, sums up the plot in the title. It follows a handyman, taken advantage of and worn down in our world, who was summoned to a fantasy world. There, he joins a group of decidedly average adventurers and finally has his skills feel valued even if he sometimes doubts his own usefulness.
While Handyman Saito in Another World is often more of a comedy isekai, the relationship is actually rather touching even as it sits nestled between a pair of surprisingly dark jokes.
However, as you explore the romance between the main character and the lady knight in his party as only really a side story, you do see more relationship progression than some other romance isekai can boast.
Reincarnated Into Demon King Evelogia’s World
Unlike lesbian isekai anime, gay isekai anime tends to be… romance-driven, in a way. However, it is so much more often driven by horniness. Reincarnated Into Demon King Evelogia’s World is probably the least horny of the two on this list, but, well, it is still pretty sexual.
In Reincarnated Into Demon King Evelogia’s World, a thuggish guy has his life catch up with him when he is killed by yakuza. However, he wakes up in his favorite game. He is dismayed to discover that he is actually the character that is fated to killed the Demon Lord Evelogia, his all-time favorite character.
Determined to save the Demon Lord’s life, he forms an alliance with him, allowing him to get closer to Evelogia than anyone ever has.
The Titan’s Bride
Again, like Reincarnated Into Demon King Evelogia’s World, The Titan’s Bride is a gay romance isekai where horniness rules the day. Yet, a romance is a romance, and this is dedicated to it.
In The Titan’s Bride, an guy gets summoned to the land of giants. There, he meets with the the titan king who summoned him, claiming to have been summoning a bride.
Undeterred by the difference in size, species, and being the same gender, the king carries out their romantic relationship.
Sword Art Online
While Sword Art Online has a harem, there was never not a time where Asuna wasn’t considered the “main girl.” Even when she is not in the story and Kirito is entertaining other girls, she still very much feels like a main girl.
Sword Art Online, at first, details a series of VRMMO gamers getting stuck in a MMO where if they die in the game, they die for real. In beating the game, they can escape, and while on his quest to do so, the lone wolf main character grows close with a member of a strong guild that he learns to trust, work with, and ultimately starts a relationship with.
While that initial arc is where the bulk of the romance blossoms, Kirito’s relationship with Asuna continues to play a part even as Sword Art Online grows far above and beyond its beginning premise.
Do you have more romance isekai anime that fans should enjoy? Let them know in the comments section below.
