Anime where MC is an OP transfer student

Transfer Students. Those guys who leave you wondering whether they actually transferred from the realms of Krypton or some land out of a comic book, to save the school and kick some butt. Yes, those guys that suddenly appear, steal the whole show, get the girl, and make us all feel like side characters, as they turn super OP! Perhaps it is the way they appear initially weak or vulnerable (we want to protect them) or struggle to fit in and then get the 'glow up' of a lifetime and discover their true power, that makes them so satisfying to watch, especially for those who love to root for the 'little guy' and who never tire of a superhero story (us). Before we go off on a Marvel tangent, here are lots of anime shows where MC is OP transfer student!

Top Anime Where The Main Character Is An Overpowered Transfer Student

16. Code: Breaker

A cool mystery crime anime where we follow a high school girl named Sakura Sakurakōji who is trained in martial arts and a male transfer student with mysterious powers named Rei Ōgami. Riding the bus one day, Sakura Sakurakōji looks out the window to see people being burned alive with a blue fire as a boy her age remains unharmed and stands over the people. When she goes back to the site the next day, there are no corpses or evidence of any kind of murder, just a small fire. When Sakura goes to class, she discovers the new transfer student is the same boy she saw the day before. Sakura soon learns that he is Rei Ōgami, the sixth "Code: Breaker," a special type of assassin with a strange ability and a member of a secret organization that serves the government. Who really is Rei Oogami, the mysterious transfer student that seems all powerful? And what secrets is he hiding behind his face of lies?

15. Noblesse

If you like a good vampire transfer student anime setting, this may be perfect for you! This anime is just like Tower of God and God of High School where it’s actually based on a Korean Webtoon. Not gonna lie tho, people who write Webtoons come up with cool titles. Not like some others that basically tell the entire plot. Like, here this one out, “World End: What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us?” Okay, that’s too many questions! Well, moving on, Noblesse is all about Rai, also known as the “Noblesse”, Cadis Etrama di Raizel. After a really loooong sleep, Rai tries his best to blend in with the students of Ye Ran High and avoid the Union, a mysterious organization. Rai now has to protect himself and his newfound friends from this dangerous group. With his trusty friend, Frankenstein, who is the school principal, by the way, they will do their best to uncover the questions lurking in this modern world.

14. The Asterisk War

In the previous century, an unprecedented disaster known as the Invertia drastically reformed the world. The powers of existing nations declined significantly, paving the way for a conglomerate called the Integrated Empire Foundation to assume control. But more importantly, the Invertia led to the emergence of a new species of humans who are born with phenomenal physical capabilities—the Genestella. Its elite are hand-picked across the globe to attend the top six schools, and they duel amongst themselves in entertainment battles called Festas. Ayato Amagiri is a scholarship transfer student at the prestigious Seidoukan Academy, which has recently been suffering from declining performances. Through a series of events, he accidentally sees the popular Witch of Resplendent Flames, Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld, half-dressed! Enraged, Julis challenges him to a duel for intruding on her privacy. After said duel is voided by the student council president, Ayato reveals that he has no interest in Festas. Instead, he has enrolled in the academy to investigate the whereabouts of his missing elder sister. But when a more devious plot unravels, Ayato sets out to achieve victory, while being surrounded by some of the most talented Genestella on the planet.

13. Myriad Colors Phantom World

Phantoms: supernatural entities such as ghosts or youkai that, until recently, were thought to be superstition. However, when a virus that infects the brain spreads throughout society, people's perception of the world changes as the mythical beings are revealed to have been living alongside humanity the entire time. This virus has also affected those of the next generation significantly, allowing them to develop special abilities that they can use to fight against dangerous phantoms. Haruhiko Ichijou and Mai Kawakami are two of those that were granted such power as Haruhiko wields the ability to summon and seal phantoms through drawings while Mai imbues the power of the elements into martial arts. Together, along with the friendly phantom Ruru, they form Team E of Hosea Academy which is dedicated to dealing with these often mischievous beings. In a world where the real and surreal intertwine, Musaigen no Phantom World follows the adventures of a group of friends as they handle the everyday troubles caused by phantoms.

12. Tenjou

For some people, high school represents the opportunity for a fresh start. You can take new classes and make new friends. For Souichiro Nagi and Bob Makihara, though, high school means something different: the chance to become the top fighters in the entire student body! Too bad Toudou Academy is the hardest possible place to realize their dreams. Their new high school is no ordinary academic institution. Rather than concentrating on classic subjects like math and science, Toudou Academy was created for the sole purpose of reviving the martial arts in Japan! Possibly as cool as Hogwarts, you get to learn how to be a kickass ninja machine! Weak at the start of the anime, the upperclassmen of the school easily crush the dream of the duo, Souichiro Nagi and Bob Makihara. But this doesn’t stop them but instead makes them ever more competitive and more enthusiastic about fulfilling their dream, and amongst plenty of character transformation and development, the catalyst for our OP MCs to emerge from.

11. Unbreakable Machine Doll

Another fight to the top anime is this gripping show following our MC Raishin Akabane and his puppet Yaya as they try to get into The Walpurgis Royal Academy after failing the academy entrance exam. As the armies in the world have started to incorporate Machinart – (living dolls) in their army skilled puppeteers are being trained to control the automations. Getting in to the school for our MC means first defeating one of the top 100 students and entering EveningParty, where puppeteers fight for supremacy and the last one standing is given the title Wiseman and gains access to powerful forbidden arts. They are so powerful that Puppeteers are even recruited into the military. It’s basically Sasori from Naruto mixed with Gundam. But what are Raisihin’s true intentions? And is he hiding his true powers?

10. Misfit Of The Demon King Academy

The Misfit of Demon King Academy has the most overpowered transfer student in the history of anime transfer students, our MC Anos Voldigoad. Also harbouring a mention in our Strongest Anime Characters Ranked list, naturally, there is one occasion where he literally killed someone using his heartbeat! OP doesn't do this guy justice. Not your ordinary transfer student, he is the reincarnation of the Demon King. But as he returns he finds he has been forgotten and must start from the bottom and work his way back up. Light work considering that he is so overpowered that he went to school just one month after being born!

9. Trinity Seven

There isn’t only one OP character in this show but seven of them! Well, only one of them is a transfer student. Meet Arata Kasuga, who's world is destroyed around him, due to what is called the "Breakdown Phenomenon" when the bright red sun ceases to exist, resulting in the destruction of the town and the disappearance of the people inhabiting it. All, however, is not yet lost; by utilizing the magical grimoire given to him by his childhood friend and cousin Hijiri Kasuga, Arata's world gets artificially reconstructed. Investigating the phenomenon, Lilith Asami appears before Arata and he is given two choices: hand over the book, or die. However, Arata opts for a third choice, enrolling in the top-secret magic school Royal Biblia Academy, where six other magical users await him. All together they then form the Trinity Seven, the elite of the school who each bolster their own power and skill. With his ultimate aim to save Hijiri, Arata will stop at nothing to prevent his beloved hometown being destroyed and will not rest until he can bring his best friend back.

8. Tokyo Majin

An anime that is kind of like Tokyo Revengers had a baby with My Hero Academia, Tokyo Manji presents our mysterious transfer student, Tatsuma Hiyuuu, who is a talented martial artist, who recently started at the Magami Academy in Shinjuku. Just as he is settling in and making friends, something deadly is stirring deep in the city. Our OP, along with the awakened students of Magami Academy, must work fast to save their city using their newfound powers. His powers awakening, Tatsuma is not only granted enhanced strength, agility, reflexes, intuition, and energy projection, but his prior talent in martial arts becomes supernaturally amped, giving him the ability to perform once-impossible acrobatic maneuvers, being able to jump superhuman heights, and dodge with impressive speed. His strength is especially recognized with his signature super punch that comes with massive repercussions. He is seen to project massive energy from his fists in a fit of rage and grief. As the Vessel of the Golden Dragon, we see his already impressive powers grow and grow. Will he have the potential to tap in the full power of the Dragon Vein?

7. The Fruit Of Grisaia

Imagine a school with only the principal and five other students. Weird, right? What’s weirder is that all of the students are girls! This isn’t one of those types of anime, trust me because everything changes when Yuuji Kazami, our MC enters the picture. Yuuji enrolls in Miham Academy as a transfer student, hoping to live a simple high school life but he didn’t even know he’s the only guy there. While spending his days in the academy, he gets to learn about the past of each student and why they are called the “fruit”. Will Yuuji be able to save the girls from their past while saving himself?

6. World Trigger

The story follows our MC transfer student in the anime, Yuma Kuga, a really short boy, who transfers to Third Mikado City Middle School, where he there meets another boy who is a Border Agent. This anime stars creatures known as Neighbors, who are literal monsters that come from another world. To counter this threat, the Border Defense Agency formed and “Triggers” were employed to fight them. Can Yuma, short in stature, keep up with fellow student Osamu Mikumo and show any talent or ability as a Trigger?

5. Full Metal Panic

This series follows a member of the Mithril organization, Sousuke Sagara. He has been assigned with the task of protecting a high school girl, Chidori Kaname, from terrorists and other bad people. To do this, he has to transfer to her high school and try to blend in. The twist is that Sousuke is extremely socially awkward and says the wrong thing and ends up using his military knowledge in everyday life which causes all kinds of problems and hilarious situations. Sousuke was raised on the battlefield, so now having to adapt to his new high school life, can Sousuke find his confidence in order to protect Kanama? This is such a great anime series to watch, where the MC is an OP transfer student!

4. Food Wars

This anime revolves around a very different kind of warfare, as you might expect by the name! It's a really different premise to other OP MC anime shows on this list and features our MC Soma Yukihira as he enrolls in an elite culinary school with the aim to become a full-time chef and surpass his father's culinary skills. At first he finds himself as the little guy, in popular anime style, being ridiculed by everyone for his simple and unique style of cooking, especially by the God Tongue, Erina Nakiri. Has Souma got a trick up his sleeve to prove them all wrong? Can he manage to climb to the top of the 'food chain'? After all, overpoweredness doesn’t necessarily have to equate to raw physical strength. It just means that someone is the best of the best in what they do, to revolutionise the perceptions of those around them!

3. Chivalry Of A Failed Knight

In an alternate Earth, humans called "Blazers" have supernatural abilities. These Blazers can materialize weapons known as a "Device" which are made through a person's soul. Chivalry of a Failed Knight follows the story of Ikki Kurogane an F ranked blazer who meets Stella Vermillion, an A-ranked Blazer. Although Ikki doesn't possess magic talent, he has the ability to learn as he fights and is willing to practise day and night to climb the ranks and become the best in the academy. On Stella's first day at Hagun Academy, she is arranged to share a room with Ikki as a transfer student of the academy, even though he has many lust filled girls chasing him. When Ikki inadvertently discovers Stella half-dressed, he is challenged to duel where the loser has to be obedient to the winner for life. She ends up losing the duel, but they agree to become roommates as Ikki's one and only merciful desire. It is a harem type show due to elements of erotiscism, romance and ecchi in the story - along with the characters!

2. Wise Man's Grandchild

In the kingdom of Earlshide, Shin, an orphan, had an everyday and peaceful life in the forest. There he lived with his grandfather, Merlin, and trained in the mystic arts of magic and also swordsmanship. But on his 15th birthday, he had to leave his grandfather and join a school to get formally educated. His social awkwardness made him stand out alright, but the thing that made him well known was his skills. He was on par, if not better than his grandfather, in every aspect of magic. And to the people Earlshide, there was no greater magician than Merlin. The only thing I have to ask here is where is King Arthur? There’s no Merlin without some kind of King Arthur. But do you know what made Shin overpowered? It was because he’s actually a Japanese Salaryman that got reincarnated into this world. He uses his modern knowledge and mixes it with Merlin’s teachings to become the greatest magician in this realm!

1. Classroom Of The Elite

The story follows the perspective of Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, a quiet and unassuming boy who is not good at making friends and would rather keep his distance, but possesses unrivaled intelligence. He ends up as a student of Class-D, which is where the school dumps its inferior students. The perfect example of the 'little guy' anime trope, the greater the fall often means the bigger the rise, which is what makes anime series like this so satisfying to watch! Can Kiyo turn this elite government-sponsored high school around and challenge the biased, merit based education system? Watch this to find out what it really means to be an overpowered transfer student!

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