Magic, adventures, guilds, and beautiful girls make for a fun combination in most shows. We know that Konosuba has that setting and is one of the funniest shows in the last few years. However, Goblin Slayer is not that kind of show. The story starts with a group of young novice adventurers taking up a job to hunt goblins that have been raiding the livestock and kidnapping young women from nearby villages. The “easy job” goes tragically wrong when the unprepared party is overwhelmed in a goblin den. The only way any of them survive is the arrival of a stoic adventurer, who is big, powerfully strong, and despite the way he speaks is smart. He comes up with tactics that make eradication of goblins easier. He is simply referred to as Goblin Slayer.

The main similarities Goblin Slayer has with Arifureta: From Common Place to World’s Strongest lay in the first episodes. The first connection is an unprepared party precipitating the plot of the rest of the story. We have Hajime and his classmates becoming overwhelmed in a dungeon and causing him to end up alone at the bottom of an abyss. The leading lady of Goblin Slayer, priestess Onna Shinkan, meets Goblin Slayer when he rescues her from the goblin den. We also find both stories, at least at the beginning, are a bit gruesome. We witness the dismemberment and rape of several of the novice party members in Goblin Slayer, which aligns with the constant pain, suffering, and terror that Hajime is put through in the beginning of his story. The two stories are also in a fantasy setting with magic and magical creatures. If you are looking for a good solid story directed at an older audience, check out both the anime and light novels.

Satoru Mikami is a single 37-year-old office worker who is at peace with his unhurried life in Tokyo. He takes his job seriously and seems to enjoy training his kohai. A trip to meet his junior’s girlfriend ends in his tragic death. A voice in his head asks him questions as he slowly bleeds out, questions he answers as his consciousness fades. The answers he gives literally shape him in the next life. Satoru Mikami is reincarnated as a slime, a small gelatinous creature that slides across the floor of a cave dissolving things for nutrients. The slime formerly known as Satoru is a special slime, capable of conscious thought and the ability to absorb anything and mimic its abilities. He spends an undetermined amount of time in the cave eating, learning, and becoming stronger and emerges as a truly unique slime with a new name: Rimuru Tempest. He also has the intelligence and magical power to change the course of events on a continental scale.

Hajime and Rimuru’s journeys have a few similarities we’d like to point out. The first similarity is that both characters come into the new world at the bottom of the power scale. Hajime is granted the powers of a glorified blacksmith and Rimuru is a slime, often considered one of the weakest monsters. The two characters can grow stronger by eating monsters, a task easier for Rimuru because he doesn’t have taste buds and the meat isn’t poison to him. Hajime, on the other hand, has to force down every disgusting bite and put up with the pain that comes from the toxicity of the monster meat. The characters are both reborn in the underground and emerge from the caves or labyrinth physically changed and having unrivaled power. We also find, even though Rimuru is a slime, they both end up surrounded by a collection of powerful female characters. If you are looking for a more light-hearted but equally interesting adventure after watching Arifureta: From Common Place to World’s Strongest you should make time for That Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime.

A young man named Bell enters a bustling city after growing up in the countryside with dreams of adventure. He instead finds loneliness and disappointment as he is rejected by each of the families that send adventurers into the great Orario dungeon. The goddess Hestia had come to earth like other gods in the hopes of living closer to the mortals that worshiped her. With her powers sealed, she finds herself abandoned by her followers and impoverished. A chance meeting between the impoverished goddess and the lonely Bell leads the formation of her own familia. With her blessing bestowed on Bell he could now journey into the dungeon and slay demons and harvest their valuable crystals. The small family will have to constantly risk everything if they are to make a comfortable life for themselves. Bell, however, is special. He has a unique ability that lets his skill grow at an amazing rate. The special skill combined with his and Hestia’s unsinkable optimism that they will grow and achieve their dreams add up to everything an uplifting adventure should be.

We will admit that Arifureta is a bit darker than Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? but that doesn’t mean they are too dissimilar to be compared. The heroes Bell Cranel and Hajime Nagumo both enter their worlds as underpowered novices. Bell may be a native to his world but in terms of the dungeon he is a stranger in a strange land. We first meet Bell when he’s nearly killed in the upper levels of the Orario dungeon. The main characters both want to get stronger because they want to be equal to the people around them. The example for Bell is he wants to be as good as Ais Wallenstein, the sword princess of Loki Familia. Hajime first wants to become better to equal his classmates. After getting trapped in the labyrinth he wants to grow stronger to survive. The two characters also have quite the harem by the end of the first series with each girl having unique powers and an extreme affection for the hero. You should give this popular series a chance if you need more classic adventure in your life.

Subaru was making a run to a convenience store when he suddenly found himself in another world. He isn’t there long before he is murdered. He revives at the same place where he entered the world and attempts to shrug off the experience. He meets a beautiful girl by the name of Emilia and rescues something very valuable of hers from a thief. Subaru, unfortunately, had to die more than once to do it, though, each time reviving at the moment he revived the previous time he was killed. She then offers him a place to stay and a job in her household. The mystery of his life only deepens as he attempts to understand his power of resurrection and dedicates his life to serving Emilia. He is also joined by a couple of cute maids, a weird benefactor, and a cute male cat-sith in a dress.

The similarities between the two stories of Re: Zero - Starting Life in Another World and Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest rest in the suffering of the protagonists. Subaru dies violently multiple times, mainly from stabbing, and Hajime at many times was in so much pain and filled with so much despair he wished he could die. The main characters are also at the center of a harem. Yes, we know Subaru isn’t the object of everyone’s affection, but he is constantly surrounded by young beauties. The two heroes also are fighting against an unknown enemy that works from the shadows. For Subaru it’s a witch pulling the strings of his fate; for Hajime, it’s the gods.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” Arthur C. Clarke (Author, Inventor, and Futurist)

The 21st century has found itself at the intersection of technology and magic. We have taken the mystic arts often confined to the world of fairytales and broken down its components into a magical code of 1s and 0s. Japan, as well as much of the world, has embraced this new technology and created schools to feed the magic industry. First High School is one of those special schools and is divided between those who have an affinity for magic and those who will work on and maintain magical technology. We find high school, even in the future where magic exists, is still high school. A dividing line between the haves and have-nots – in terms of magical power -- eventually grows to a chasm of discrimination. The haves are called blooms, the have-nots are weeds. The story follows Tatsuya and Miyuki Shiba, a brother and sister enrolled in the same year of First High. Miyuki is overflowing with magical power and is considered one of the great beauties of the blooms. Tatsuya has a very low aptitude for magic but that doesn’t stop him from being very formidable. The tall, cool, and handsome Tatsuya is a gifted engineer and secretly so much more. He’s a genius with physical combat capabilities and the ability to quickly read the code of cast magic and disassemble it. We watch the Shiba siblings attempt to live a normal life as they get drawn into terrorist attacks, organized crime rings, and proxy wars between nations.

The Irregular at Magic High School is the only one on this list that isn’t set in a traditional fantasy setting. We have magic treated as a technology, not as a mystical art, but that doesn’t negate its commonalities with Arifureta: From Common Place to World’s Strongest. The first similarity is a protagonist that is greatly underestimated. Hajime is considered a weakling for only having a crafting ability and Tatsuya is considered weak because he doesn’t have a lot of magical power. The second is they both overcome their weakness. Hajime becomes stronger after being pushed to survive in the labyrinth and Tatsuya enhances his physical skills and hones what little magical output he has to perfection, making him one of the most lethal magicians in the world. The main characters in both stories are revealed to be greatly overpowered. We even have a harem element in both stories as beautiful and amazing women are attracted to each protagonist. The beautiful girls closest to them only has eyes for them and are extremely ladylike, Miyuki for Tatsuya and Yue for Hajime. You are led to believe the main character, as well as the leading lady, would let the world burn to protect the one they hold most dear. It may not be a world filled with elves and dwarves, but it is a great series and like Arifueta has a strong series of light novels behind it.

It happens like clockwork; waves of chaos erupt bringing catastrophe and otherworldly armies down on the kingdom of Melromarc and the world. The key to saving the world lies in summoning the Four Cardinal Heroes to combat the danger. The heroes are none other than four ordinary men from versions of modern-day Japan. A magical weapon is bestowed on each of the summoned: a sword, spear, bow, and shield, elevating these average men to hero status. Naofumi Iwatani is ridiculed and slandered because of the stigma of becoming the Shield Hero. The Shield Hero is said to be cursed because of its lack of offensive power. A combination of backroom dealing, involving the crown and the church, led to Naofumi being accused of crimes and becoming ostracized from the court. The other heroes do nothing to intervene either due to apathy or having their heads so far up their own @**es they couldn’t see that he was being railroaded. Naofumi decides to adopt the persona given to him, that of the rogue. He goes so far as to buy a slave, a tanuki girl named Raphtalia, to serve as his sword since the magic of the shield won’t let him hold a weapon. The story covers Naofumi’s daily struggles to level up his party and rise above his persecution to combat the waves of catastrophe.

There are a lot of similarities between The Rising Shield Hero and Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest. The first is the main characters are both otaku, though we don’t hear much about Naofumi’s otaku-dom in the anime. The second similarity is that they both involve groups of people all brought to a magical realm to save the world from a perceived threat. The third is both of the main characters are underpowered at the beginning of the story and become subjects of derision. The fourth is that they are both considered harem, but Hajime’s harem is a true harem of girls that want to sleep with him as opposed to Naofumi’s that is only one girl who is “of age” and even that is up for debate. We think one of the best elements of these anime is the no-holds-barred attitude that the main characters take to get back at those who have wronged them.