As isekai continues to proliferate the anime, manga and light novel worlds, it only makes sense that creators would be inspired to deconstruct it. This means not just having particularly morbid takes on the genre, butalso stories set in it that are outright murderous in nature.
One new example of this is Tenseisha Koroshi - Cheat Slayer (The Killer of the Reincarnated - Cheat Slayer), from Kakeguri's Homura Kawamoto. Featuring a protagonist dead set on killing off those who reincarnate into her world, the upcoming manga seems to have the same devious streak as the creator's other work.
Homura Kawamoto's Cheat Slayer Has a Killer Premise
Cheat Slayer will debut this summer in the manga magazine Monthly Dragon Age, with Kawamoto writing and the art being supplied by Aki Yamaguchi. The premise given so far is somewhat sparse, though it's certainly a break from typical isekai. Described as a story dripping in "hate and desire," the tale will center around someone who kills anyone and everyone who reincarnates into their world.
This protagonist appears to be the witch-looking woman seen on the one-page preview cover, who's maliciously hugging an unwelcoming young man as the latter cries in terror. This potential victim is likely one of the first reincarnations that the book follows, with his execution at the protagonist's hands being the possible conclusion of a first arc. Its revenge story premise could also invert the "male power fantasy" dynamics of the genre, showing the ramifications of people being reborn into a world and regularly becoming powerful heroes.
The Death of Isekai
The premise and its potential sound somewhat similar to The Executioner and Her Way of Life, wherein the reincarnations of people into another world is so disastrous for the natural order that it requires the intervention of a heroine to deal with... violently. The fact that they both feature female protagonists is another interesting parallel between the two series, especially given the aforementioned dominance of male heroes in the genre.
Cheat Slayer also suggests a deviousness seen in Kawamoto's previous work, Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler. That manga, which became an anime from studio MAPPA, also had a strong and deceptive female main character who was addicted to gambling and winning at all odds against others. It seems that, just as isekai has developed subgenres based around the most ridiculous or unfortunate reincarnations, the same will happen with stories that literally try to end characters' second lives.
