Today we will be looking at anime where the mc rebuilds a kingdom, granted there are not many anime like these, so I have made a diverse list of anime that have the main character as a leader of the people, he leads them to build a strong nation together. And most anime featured on this list are isekai anime.
So I welcome you to my list of kingdom-building anime, a list of anime where our protagonist uses his leadership skills and knowledge to bring advancement to some people.
Note: The anime in this post are not ranked according to their number on the list, all of them are awesome in their own unique way!
1. How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom belongs to a very special kind of anime, where it’s not just the story about the main character—it’s about a group or a whole kingdom led by the main character. The kind of nation-building anime in which we see the Hero of the story build something from the ground up by using advanced methods—well, they are modern for that world’s population at least. The hero is not simply OP because of his powers, but also because of his brains!
2. Dr. Stone
One day all of humanity is turned to stone. Thousands of years pass and all the man-made infrastructure vanishes beneath nature. Everything humans have ever built is now gone, the planet is restored to its original form, in a time before humans.
After a millennium a super-smart high school boy is suddenly turned back to his original state from his petrified stone state. He looks around to find that the world is back in the Stone Age. Now, it’s up to him to use his knowledge of science and technology to make tools for survival and bring the modern age once again. While he also investigates the mystery, of how and why was the entire humanity turned to stone.
3. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Satoru Mikami is a mundane salaryman who wakes up in an RPG-like fantasy realm full of magic and monsters after his death. In a funny twist, he’s reincarnated as Rimuru Tempest, a harmless blue slime (don’t worry he gets pretty op). The anime defies genre expectations with its superb worldbuilding, lively action, and high production value. It isn’t your standard isekai anime, and fans appreciated it.
If you are an Isekai fan you should have heard about this one, and if you haven’t then go watch it. This anime is one of the greats in the genre of Nation Building Isekai Anime. Don’t sleep on it because seeing a slime as the main character is weird.
4. Log Horizon
It is one of the top three Isekai anime of all time—at least the first season.
Log Horizon starts off like Sword Art Online, although it’s much better than it. Basically, all the gamers of the RPG game Elder Tales have been stuck in its world. Although if you die in the game you DO NOT die in real life, instead you just respawn however many times you want, since this would make things boring the anime introduces a major cost of coming back to life (it’s a spoiler if I mention it).
Our main character Shiro is a super-smart strategist who knows all the ins and out of the game. He was actually pretty famous when Elder Tales was just an ordinary game. Anyway, Shiro works to organize every player in the Akihabara city to solve the collective problems faced by them. He uses smarts to create law and order to bring stability and equality, basically like a democratic leader.
5. High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!
Seven of the most talented high school kids are whisked away to another dimension!
A nuclear physicist, a journalist, a cancer-curing physician, a samurai, a magician, and an economist all attended the same Japanese middle school. As a result, they decide to meet up again someday, but their jet miraculously crashes.
When they awaken, they find themselves in Freyjagard, a fantastical medieval world. In this world, there are dragons, elves, and cat-eared and tailed people but no modern conveniences. Seeing this, they start introducing modernity to the world right away, with Ringo constructing a nuclear power plant and Masato Sanada soon assuming command of the local government.
6. Moon Lit Fantasy
Makoto, an ordinary high school student, is teleported to a classic isekai fantasy world to fulfill a contract made by his mom and dad with the goddess of isekai world when they traveled to the human world.
He is supposed to be a hero, but the goddess decides he’s too ugly to be her champion and casts him out into the wasteland, where he finds allies and harem members among the demi-humans. After struggling for a while, our mc starts to build his own nation with demi-humans.
7. Overlord
If you like anime with op mc, who also has to run a kingdom of sorts, and you still haven’t seen Overlord, then what the hell are you even doing!
Go watch it! Overlord is one of the best gems in this genre.
Our protagonist is actually a dark lord of sorts, he is the master of an extremely powerful non-human character’s guild.
He gets stuck in the world after refusing to leave even though the game gets shut down permanently. But luckily for him, he is now permanently transferred to this gaming world, and NPC characters there start acting more human.
8. Ranking of Kings
Before you say it, I know that ranking of the King’s animations might be off-putting for some anime fans as it feels pretty cartoonish.
But please, leave all of it aside and just watch the show, it is simply amazing.
The bad guys in Ranking of Kings seem pretty human, but not only that the anime also complicates its protagonists, going out of its way to show what has compelled various characters to take drastic, even violent measures. Side characters will first show up as a joke, then return with full backstories a few episodes later.
9. The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar
It’s more like your typical isekai harem anime with many ecchi elements, this can be a good or a bad thing depending on how you like your anime.
When our MC joins his close friend in testing out an urban legend, he gets more than he bargained for. When he taps his phone to snap a selfie with the magical mirror at the town altar, he is transported away into another world, one soaked in Norse mythology. He has the chance to lead the Wolf Clan, the people who cared for him, to prominence by using his knowledge and his solar-powered smartphone, all while gaining the devotion of a clan of magic-wielding warrior ladies known as the Einherjar.
10. The Twelve Kingdoms
This one is pretty different from a typical isekai, because this anime was made when isekai wasn’t even a thing.
Yoko is an unhappy high school student, who is confronted one day by a strange guy who vows loyalty to her. After a struggle with demon-like animals, he transports Yoko and two of her classmates to another world. Her look has transformed, and she understands the language, despite her classmates’ inability. However, because of their position as “Kaikyaku” (people from Earth), they are pursued as fugitives, and they roam the 12 kingdoms, merely attempting to live and discover why they were brought here.
11. The Genius Prince’s Guide To Raising a Nation Out of Debt
If you read the title of this anime again, The Genius Prince’s Guide To Raising a Nation Out of Debt, you will know what the anime is all about. The title is pretty self–explanatory but is the story any good? To that my answer is a big YES!
The legendary genius, Prince Wein, is at the heart of the storyline, and his accession to the throne of the Kingdom of Natra commences the anime. While Prince Wein would prefer to stay away from the impoverished country, he soon shows to be far too brilliant for his own good, and achieves success after success, making the kingdom richer.
12. Amagi Brilliant Park
How could I not include a hilarious comedy anime on the list?
I know that most shows on the list have their fair share of lighthearted comedy. But Amagi Brilliant Park is one of those anime that will make you laugh out loud!
The show is about a high school student named Seiya. He is smart, but he is very narcissistic about it. One day a very beautiful girl literally puts a gun on his head and asks him to go out with her. Obviously, he can’t refuse so they go to an amusement park called the Amagi Brilliant Park.
While on the date, Seiya notices that it’s pretty run down. Turns out, it’s not a date at all, she just wanted to recruit him to be the manager of this park because of his intellectual talents. They want Seiya to make this place popular again and he has only three months to do so. Since the park has to meet its quota of 500,000 visitors, or else it would be taken over by a greedy real estate company.
Also, this is not just some ordinary amusement park. Its employees are Maple Landers—whimsical fantasy characters that look like mascots. These magical people are sustained by the energy produced when people get happy.
