The stories tell of four heroes summoned from another world – the sword, spear, bow, and shield heroes who will prevent calamity. With darkness bearing down on them, the Kingdom of Melromarc summons these heroes from modern day Japan. For otaku Naofumi Iwatani, unfortunately he is labeled the shield hero, the weakest of the group. Worse yet, betrayal sees him labeled as a criminal and oucasted. With hatred and vengeance consuming him, he sets forth to grow strong.

We are all accustomed to isekai, but this series started off in a new and interesting way. If you are looking for similar anime recommendations, Khajiit has wares if you have eyes.

For Fans of Dark Isekai

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash

Thrown into a fantasy land with no memories of their previous life, the strong among this new group of people bind together while the weak are left to fend for themselves. Grimgar tells the tale of the struggles of the weak as they pick up combat skills and fight the creatures of the world in order to earn a living.

Both series are about people brought in from another world. While it never outwardly states it, it is heavily suggested that the people brought in are from modern Japan in Grimgar. You also watch them split into more elite groups with one group of leftover losers. Both series follow these “loser” groups as they struggle, both breaking the mold of typical isekai.

Re:Zero

When Subaru Natsuki goes out for a midnight snack run, he suddenly finds himself transported to another world. As a bewildered teen in a land of swords and magic, he wanders around and ends up attacked by thugs. After being saved by a mysterious woman, he agrees to help her get back something that was stolen. Unfortunately, it ends in both their deaths. With his dying breath, he finds that he possesses the power of revival, escaping his death by the repeating the last few hours.

In both series, you watch the protagonists get excited about this new world only to have that expertly dashed by betrayal. You then watch them start from square one, and in doing so, end up gathering quite a following of female characters.

Overlord

As the final hour approaches the life cycle of the MMO Yggdrasil, Momonga, a powerful wizard and leader of the dark guild Ainz Ooal Gown, is there to see it off. However, to his surprise, the servers don’t go down and even stranger is that all the NPC characters have come alive with their own unique personalities.

Overlord differs from The Rising of The Shield Hero as Momonga is quite strong in his new world. However, they are similar due to the way they interact with the world. They are not inherently bad, but these fantasy worlds are darker than your standard isekai stories.

For Fans of Arms Evolution

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

After a run in with a robber, the 37-year-old Satoru is suddenly killed. However, he finds himself able to reincarnate into a fantasy world as a slime named Rimuru Tempest. This allows him a fresh new life of adventure while being surrounded by a number of other unique beings.

While a slime is hardly a shield hero, you watch these protagonists start off heavily misunderstood in their new world. They then carve out their own piece of it. As they do so, you watch their abilities evolve and grow stronger.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

In the fantasy city of Orario, there is a massive labyrinth underneath it. For brave adventurers, glory and fortune can be found within. However, in order to tackle the challenging monsters inside, adventurers join guilds of strong gods and goddesses. However, for newbie adventurer Bell Cranel, no good guild will have him, except for Hestia, a goddess with no followers. Together they team up to grow strong and find glory.

In both anime series, the main character starts off both weak and rather outcasted. The rest of the series that follows is primarily about those characters leveling up. This isn’t done in one short montage, but rather both series go rather in depth with the leveling process.

Soul Eater

Death City is home to a famous technical academy and ran by Lord Death himself. At this academy, meisters train with their human weapons in order to evolve them into Death Scythes to be wielded by the Grim Reaper, Lord Death. Only by consuming 99 evils souls and the soul of one witch will a weapon be able to evolve. This is the story of several students of the academy as they try to grow stronger and protect Death City in the process.

Despite the weapons being humans, Soul Eater is very much about powering up your weapon, like The Rising of the Shield Hero. Furthermore, Naofumi treats his slave girl like a weapon similar to how they do in Soul Eater as well.

For Fans of Teamwork

Tower of Druaga

Every few years when the sky-god Anu extends his protection, the monsters in the Tower of Druaga weaken and adventurers go forth for fame and fortune, trying to reach the top. Like many adventurers, Jil is young and ready to make the push towards the top. While inexperienced in the Tower, his combat skills have the promise for him to go the distance.

Most obviously, these shows are about shield users, but Jil’s shield is ever more so useful as a weapon. What really binds these shows is that both characters are outcasted by their worlds, but they still have things they want to do. As such, they manage to form a party of less desirable adventures to achieve their goals.

Absolute Duo

Individuals who can materialize weapons from their soul are called “Blazers,” and they attend Kouryou Academy High School in order to harness their abilities. However, each student needs a partner. Tooru Kokonoe hopes to attain this power after the death of his sister, but at the opening ceremony, he is forced to duel against the person sitting next to him, with the loser being expelled. As Tooru prepares to give the match his all, it is not a weapon that manifests from his soul, but a shield, an irregularity which catches the attention of a foreign student named Julie Sigtuna.

These shows have very different plots and worlds, but they are bound together by group dynamic. In both series, you have a male that can only use a shield and they need someone else to act as a weapon. It, of course, just happens to be a female sword user. They learn to fight together and you watch as their bond groups more concrete.

Konosuba

On his way back from buying a new game, Kazuma Satou died a pathetic death. However, he awakens before the Goddess Aqua who gives him two choices: go to heaven or reincarnate into an actual fantasy world. Naturally, the gamer picks the fantasy world. Now Kazuma must deal with defeating an evil demon king, useless party members, and paying living expenses.

Both of these series do not start off as typical isekai series. The Rising of the Shield Hero starts off darker while Konosuba starts off more comedic. However, both shows are about them trying to grow strong (and sometimes failing) as well as gathering a party to help them fight.

Did we miss anime more good anime recommendations like The Rising of the Shield Hero? Let fans know in the comments section below.