Summary
In isekai manga and anime, it’s pretty common for the protagonist to bump into royalty at some point in the story. Whether they’re summoned into this new world by the actual royalty themselves or travel to serve said royalty after being reborn in their isekai world, it doesn’t matter.
However, there aren’t a ton of isekai series that actually have the guts to show their protagonists navigating complicated political intrigue, even if that would be the most realistic thing to have them do. Thankfully there are a good handful of series that do, and those ones tend to do it well. So, let’s take a look at some of the best isekai manga or anime out there with great political plotlines.
Anime or Manga?
Taiki Kawakami
8bit
Starting things off with one of the most popular series on this list,That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. In this series, it might not seem like Rimuru has to deal with all too many political issues at first, butthat’s only at the start of his adventure.
As Tempest keeps growing from a settlement to a city and then eventually becoming its own country (thanks, in part,to Veldora the ancient Dragon), Rimuru has to start taking on more and more political work and political meetings. Even just at the start of Season 3 of the anime, Rimuru is already having to deal with navigatingthe rules of the Octogram Demon Lords.
Sirotaka
Studio Bind
Next up isMushoku Tensei, better known asJobless Reincarnation. Now, the political intrigue in this series (at least in the anime and manga) is relatively small so far. However, it’s still there and is still worth mentioning. In particular, most of the political intrigue revolves around the Greyrat family, as they as a powerful family of nobles but Rudeus' branch is not all that beloved.
So, Rudueus has to sort of turn up his charm and manners to the maximum to make sure everything goes smoothly when he’s tutoring Eris. Outside of that, there’s also all the political intrigue surrounding Princess Ariel and her dispute with her brother, which Rudues eventually becomes a part of once he fully commits to Sylphie.
Mashiro Hiragi
Madhouse
To be fair, this next series is more about ‘gaming the political system’ than it is directly navigating it, but that should still count. InNo Game No Life, everything is dictated by games. Any dispute of any level is not determined by violencebut rather by beating the other in a ‘fair’ game.
Once Sora and Shiro appear in this world, they absolutely use this to their advantage. Once this sibling pair has a proper understanding of the rules of this world and its various races (and governmental systems) they absolutely abuse it and very quickly ascend themselves to the dual Ruler of all Imanity (AKA the ‘humans’ of this world).
Neko Hinotsuki
N/A
Next upis quite the adorable series calledThe Ideal Sponger’s Life. This one is much more directly involved in political intrigue as the protagonist of the manga Zenjiro Yamai, directly marries into the royal line of another world, in particular the Capua Family.
Initially, he’s told that he will basically just be a puppet king with no power (which is actually exactly what he wants), but as time goes on Zenjiro does get saddled with more and more political responsibility. From learning the etiquette of this world to the language to even the magic, Zenjiro does it all if it’s for the sake of his lazy life and his beloved wife (and Queen) Aura Capua.
Kyu Aiya
Kinema Citrus
Now, compared to a lot of the other political intrigue series on this list, the political issues inThe Rising of the Shield Herofeel a lot more petty. In fact, there’s a point in the story where the King and first Princess are on the chopping block and the ‘hero’ of the story lets them off easy with the punishment of permanently changing their names to ‘bitch’ and ‘trash’.
But, to get to the point where he was able to make that demand, Naofumi had to learn and navigate a lot of different situations. Compared to a lot of the other protagonists on here it’s absolutely a lot less, but the other stuffNaofumi has gone through is a lot rougher, so it sort of balances itself out.
Kouta Hirano
Hoods Entertainment
Driftersis another one that a lot of people probably weren’t expecting to be on here. But, if Oda Nobunaga is the one running all of your infrastructure and planning, there’s going to be at least a bit of political intrigue.
Plus, almost all of the key figures in Drifters were geniuses, renowned soldiers, or some other savant from when they were alive, which means the ‘game’ of politics is even more dangerous. Granted, Drifters is another one where the overall political impact of the writing is pretty low, but it’s still absolutely there.
Fuyuyuki
J.C. Staff
Now this next one is absolutely all about political intrigue. Or, more accurately, it’s about political power and how one uses said power. InHow a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, Souma is quite literally given the power of the entire country almost as soon as he arrives.
From there, he has to dig said the Elfreiden Kingdom out of the gigantic hole it’s already dug for itself while also making sure to play things right with the other nations nearby. Keep in mind that this kid is only 19 years old when all this is thrust upon him, so the fact that he accepts it and manages to do an incredible job is even more praiseworthy.
Illustrator
Studio
Reincarnated Into a Game as the Hero’s Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes
Ranpei Ashio
Last up is a mangathat not enough people have read, and it’s calledReincarnated Into a Game as the Hero’s Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes. Other than falling into the isekai trope of having an incredibly long title, this series also falls into the trope of the main character being ‘reincarnated’ into the world of a video game he knows as a side character.
And, as someone who knows all of the events of the game and where things are going, Verna (the protagonist) has to do all he can to ensure the hero of the game is protected and that the events don’t go as badly as they did in the game. To achieve that goal, Verna pretty much does it all from learning etiquette to practicing spearmanship or even military tactics. Truly he is a workhouse that takes on an absurd amount of work and responsibility so that the hero can do what he’s ‘supposed to do’.
