Kara Dennison
December 28, 2024 
We’ve seen some pretty wild new lives in the world of anime, manga, and light novels. Some heroes reincarnate as swords; others become vending machines. Some are so overpowered they threaten the gods; others have one skill they learn to manipulate. But next season’s new crop of anime reincarnations is weird because of where our heroes started!
Join us as we look ahead to some of next season’s offerings—isekai and otherwise—and get to know a trio of reborn protagonists.
From Bureaucrat to Villainess
As anime reincarnations go, “villainess” is actually becoming pretty common. Usually the isekai heroes in question are otome game fans, either aware of their fate or totally into said fate. But what if the villainess’s past life was that of a middle-aged guy?
From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad’s Been Reincarnated follows not a young gamer, but 52-year-old Kenzaboro Tondabayashi. Now reborn as Grace Auvergne in a world akin to his daughter’s favorite game, he must learn to navigate life as a blonde-ringleted villainess. Follow his adventures when the series premieres January 9 on HIDIVE.
From Knight to “Kitten”
As anime reincarnations go, an S-ranked behemoth is pretty rad. Especially when anything you consume adds to your powers. But as it happens, behemoths start life very… kitten-like. And kitten or behemoth, waking up in such a form would be a major shock if you’d lived your life thus far as a noble, chivalrous knight. Thus begins the new life of Tama, the feline protagonist of Beheneko: The Elf-Girl’s Cat is Secretly an S-Ranked Monster!
Rescued by elf girl Aria, Tama now has a cushy life… but only if he doesn’t reveal his true nature as a baby behemoth. As they build a party together, he battles between protecting his new master and preserving his way of life. (He also battles between being chivalrous and sneaking peeks at his scantily-clad party-mates, but that’s something else entirely.) Beheneko premieres January 4, also on HIDIVE.
From Red Ranger to… wait…
The last of our anime reincarnations isn’t strange because of what’s changed, but rather because of what’s stayed the same. The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World mashes up isekai and Super Sentai, transporting the superhero Kizuna Red to a world of sword and sorcery. But just because things work differently in this world doesn’t mean he does!
As Kizuna Red, protagonist Togo Asagaki can still do all his Power Rangers stuff, like transforming and summoning a robot. None of these things fit into his new world’s magic system, which baffles his new acquaintances. How will things go for our new hero? Find out when the series premieres January 12 on Crunchyroll!
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