6 Controversial Isekai Anime You Can Never Unsee

There is no denying the power of isekai. In the last decade, the genre has become on the biggest in anime, and isekai is not slowing down in the least. From Digimon to Sword Art Online, the isekai genre has churned out plenty of hits, but some of them have caught more heat than others. In fact, a number of isekai series have been labeled as too controversial for their own good, and we’re ready to break down the biggest offenders.

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The Rising of the Shield Hero: 

These days, The Rising of the Shield Hero is one of the top isekai picks in the fandom, but its early days were marred by controversy. The drama was centered around the show’s basic plot, and well – it is easy to see why the show stirred debate. The Rising of the Shield Hero earned pushback in episode one after fans discovered its plot line involving sexual assault. To be clear, the isekai only accuses its main character Naofumi of sexual assault as a ploy to isolate him. The false accusation is made by his former party member, but even still, the accusation caused all sorts of controversy when The Rising of the Shield Hero debuted. 

Harem In The Labyrinth Of Another World:

 If the title of this anime doesn’t give away its controversy, well – what will? This series made its debut in 2022, and it quickly earned pushback for its take on slavery. The show tells the story of Michio, a human who finds himself transported into a trashy fantasy game. He quickly gathers a harem of slaves who work with him on adventures. The inherent power imbalance between Michio and his slave harem is uncomfy to say the very least. And yes, the anime itself is filled with enough fan service to squick out anyone. 

Young Again in Another World: 

It isn’t often you see an isekai series get steamrolled by controversy, but this series did it with ease. Young Again in Another World came to life under MINE a few years back, and it was even gifted an anime that was swiftly cancelled when racist posts from the series creator were found. The anime’s main cast and director all resigned from the anime adaptation before it could get underway. As for the content MINE posted, fans across Asia were stunned to learn the main character of Young Again in Another World took part in the Second Sino-Japanese War. Before they were reincarnated, the protagonist was said to have slaughter 3,000 people in the war that saw Japan fight China. The real-world backstory left Chinese fans enraged, and netizens went on to discover tweets from MINE disparaging both China and South Korea. 

Isekai Cheat Magician: 

Sometimes, the only thing controversial about an anime is how boring it is. The isekai genre is massive, and plenty of its additions bring new elements to the table. However, that cannot be said for Isekai Cheat Magician. Despite its popular light novel, the anime adaptation of Isekai Cheat Magician was lambasted universally for its rote story. So if you don’t mind unimaginative fantasies, this lackluster anime might be the thing you’re looking for. 

MILF Isekai:

Again, this show’s controversy is all but predicated by its title. MILF Isekai is a very real show, and it is very much focused on ecchi fan service. To be honest, the plot itself is thing enough as our protagonist stumbles into a video game filled with seductive mothers. From there, the most generic plot follows, and the only thing that keeps MILF Isekai in conversation with fans is its gratuitous (and we do mean gratuitous) fan service. 

Conception: 

If we are being honest, Conception was always going to be a rather controversial series. The show adapts a NSFW video game, so netizens knew what they were getting into with Conception. It seems fans were mostly upset Conception didn’t go the whole way with its risqué plot and stopped just shy of a XXX rating. After all, Conception tells the story Mahiru, a boy who finds himself transported into a fantasy world with his knocked-up lover. It is there Mahiru learns he’s destined to conceive children with this world’s Stars Maiden, and only their lovemaking will be able to save the land from a dangerous impurity on the horizon. So honestly, Conception never had to chance to crawl off this list. 

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What do you think about this list of anime controversies? Have any isekai series made you double take? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!