The isekai genre is ripe with overused tropes and cliches, so it’s surprising how few genuine parodies have emerged. The king of isekai parody is undoubtedly Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o! (Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World), and particularly the wonderful manga adaptation of the light novels.
Konosuba riffs on isekai plots from the very start, by having our useless main character die from a heart attack while trying to save a girl from a slow-moving tractor (he thought it was a truck). After that, his adventures begin in a messed-up world where he frequently dies (and is revived), finds treasure he can’t equip (because his stats are too low), and gets dragged into saving the world (against enemies that are often just as useless and perverted as he is).
Konosuba manages to parody the general concept of isekai without resorting to deliberate call-outs, and in doing so, crafts a genuinely engaging and utterly hilarious series. If you’ve grown tired of the “standard isekai” or just want a few laughs, you’ll undoubtedly find something to love in Konosuba!
