Naofumi Iwatani and three other young men are summoned, against their will, to the kingdom of Melromarc in anticipation of the nation being saved by these assumed heroes. Of the four heroes' weapons, Naofumi becomes the shield hero, which is seen as a dud of a draw since it is not much like a weapon. After being robbed and betrayed by those supposed to be in his party, Naofumi decides to go it alone. After starting with just a slave of a fox girl that he could afford to buy and train, Naofumi finds himself accompanied by some silly and cute girls who all take a strong liking for him. Adventure and hilarity ensue.

The Rising of the Shield Hero is an excellent choice for the I'm standing on a million lives. lover for lots of reasons! Both productions are of the video game-isekai genre and have main characters who received the worst possible role they could. Just as Yuusuke gets "farmer" as his profession, Naofumi is paired with the one item that nobody understands, and everybody disrespects. More than having an uphill battle with the abilities granted to them, both main characters find themselves the only strong fighter of their party when they begin their journey. Similar to how Naofumi starts with a small fox girl as his only companion, Yuusuke realizes the boundaries of the game and plays to them as strengths.

Arifureta takes the idea of a video game isekai in another direction entirely. After being summoned with his classmates into another world, Hajime Nagumo does not receive any offensive or defensive skills as his classmates do. His "transmuting" skill does not serve him and his classmates well in the dungeons they are now asked to enter. When a classmate betrays him, Hajime gets knocked off his footing and tumbles to the dungeon's deepest and most advanced layers.

Arifureta makes this list for its strong themes of survival and misfortune in the main character's path. Both Yuusuke and Haijime are forced into situations where they had bad luck in getting granted character traits, and later some experiences of true suffering that would lead to them gaining strength later. Arifureta additionally is similar in that the protagonist tends to be a little calculating and dislikable. For another harem with a main character who starts from the bottom and works their way up, watch Arifureta!

In the year 2043, Reiji Mukudori is two years late to buying and playing the first VRMMO that incorporates all five senses: Infinite Dendrogram. Reiji gets a unique selection on his character's class and a game-randomized aide, and begins to complete quests and gather some comrades. If a player dies in Infinite Dendrogram, they have a "time out" penalty where the game progresses without their being online. Interestingly enough, Infinite Dendrogram has NPC characters that are loved by players, but they do not come back if they are ever killed. With some significant questioning on how fake this game is, Reiji, his partner Embyro, and their comrades look to find answers and enjoy some gameplay.

Like I'm standing on a million lives., NPC characters who die do no resurrect. Both worlds have real-life issues between characters and causes some pause to wonder if the game is truly as fake as they believe it is. Where this show differs, though, is especially in the main character. Though larger philosophical questions loom in the background, the main character is not an unwilling participant. The personality of Reiji is much more caring than Yuusuke. For a fun dip into a video game world with mystery, world exploration, and some larger questions than the sweet main character can answer just yet, add Infinite Dendrogram to your watchlist!

Subaru Natsuki leaves the convenience store when he finds himself facing not the road outside the convenience store, but another world entirely. In this new world, Subaru meets someone he wants to help. Unfortunately, he and his new friend both die.

In reminiscence of Groundhog Day, Subaru comes to at a specific point in time, and only he is aware that anything unusual has happened at all. Confused, he goes about the day again. And dies once more. After starting in the same place several times, our hero realizes that only he is having this experience and that nobody he meets has met him once he travels back in time after a death. Because the hero believes that his death is less permanent than some of his comrades' deaths, Subaru puts his life on the line- and even commits suicide once- to restart and make things work out better next time.

Much like the main character of I'm standing on a million lives., the hero of Re:Zero finds himself recoiling at the memory and prospect of dying the violent deaths most only die from once. The main characters in both series' seem to believe that their death is less important than other deaths because of their ability to resurrect. Unlike I'm standing on a million lives., the main character experiences every ounce of his violent and frequent deaths. Give Re:Zero a shot if you're in the mood for some "demonically inspired" fight scenes, a harem that won't quit, and another big question as to who is calling the shots in this world.

No Game No Life follows the story of two siblings, Sora and Shiro, when the video game-obsessed siblings leave their world for a new one entirely. Aching to get away from the boredom of the lame game that is life, in this new world they enter, they encounter the God of Games and learn that in this world, people finish their fights with the results of a game. Because of this, cheating is rampant, and only those who either cheat the best or spot cheaters the best will win the battles they fight.

This anime features a main character who does not care for those who are not part of their party. Like Yuusuke, Shiro makes it known in episode one that because spotting cheating is a skill, he isn't about to volunteer that skill for nothing. Shiro and Sora play through a series of games to accomplish their goals, instead of the quests that Game Master gives in I'm standing on a million lives. If you want some beautifully vibrant anime that features a sibling gamemaster duo, try No Game, No Life.

This adorable, slice of life comedy centers around Maple and several friends as they play together in a new VRMMO. Like many games, players have a finite quantity of experience to decide to use with different attributes. A player can choose to invest them in their strength, speed, defense, or other similar areas. Rather than take the usual path, Maple decides to place all her experience into defense. Maple experiences a loophole in the game that is later shut for other players by developers when she discovers that she cannot take damage! What follows are the adventures of Maple and her guild, the Maple Tree.

BOFURI is easily the most different from I'm standing on a million lives. on this list, sheerly for the fact of its levity, but we think they have some very enjoyable similarities. Maple thinks about the video game more abstractly, as does Yuusuke in I'm standing on a million lives. When faced with a monster underwater, Maple realizes that rather than fight the beast, she has the ability to poison its ecosystem! Maple and Saburu both share a lack of regard or mercy with their opponents. Of course, the other things that BOFURI brings with it are all those cute girls!