School settings are a common trope when dealing with anime series. Because of this, it is not unusual to find an anime which has an overpowered transfer student as a main character. Even decades ago, when anime was just starting, one could find several stories that made use of this idea.
Normally, an overpowered transfer student arrives at school to mess with the status quo and become the strongest member of the student body. To better exemplify this concept, here we will present 10 anime shows that feature a superpowered main character who has just transferred to a new school.
Disclaimer: This list reflects the author’s opinion and will contain spoilers.
Jujutsu Kaizen and 9 other anime series starring an overpowered transfer student
1) The Asterisk War
After Earth succumbed to a catastrophe that destroyed most countries and cities on the planet, the Integrated Empire Foundation had no problems rising to power. They created six schools to control the new generation of beings born with amazing powers - now called Genestellas instead of humans.
In this anime, an overpowered transfer student named Ayato, gained a scholarship to Seidoukan Academy, an institution that has been declining in quality over the years.
Ayato deviates significantly from the other students in the institution. While most of them want to become famous by participating in exhibition duels called Festas, Ayato just wants to learn what happened to his older sister. However, he is a powerful warrior who soon begins winning battles without too much effort.
2) Trinity Seven
The main character of this world, Arata, used to live a normal life with his cousin Hijiri in a small town they used to call home, until the day of the Black Sun, when their town and its residents were all destroyed Only Arata survived, thanks to Hijiri’s spell book.
For a while, Arata lived inside a fictional world where nothing happened courtesy of the book Hijiri gave him.
A mage called Asami is tasked with dealing with this powerful spell. He saves Arata from the fake world and tells him that his cousin is still alive. To save Hijiri, Arata must become a mage and to that end, joins the Royal Biblia Academy, thereby turning into an overpowered transfer student.
3) The Irregular at Magic High School
What would happen to the world if magic was real since the beginning of humanity? This is the premise against which Tatsuya's story is set.
In this alternate version of Earth, magic is a reality and humans have been using it alongside technology to create amazing inventions. Sadly, it has also been used to fabricate weapons that dwindle the population of the planet exponentially. In order to use magic in this universe, one need to have the right genetic composition to become a mage.
Tatsuya’s sister, Miyuki, is a powerful magic user and gets drafted into a first course at a magic school. Meanwhile, Tatsuya is enrolled in the second course along with other lesser magic users.
However, his physical prowess, combined with his unique techniques of magic, make him so powerful that he surpasses his class by a wide margin. This is why he can be labelled as an overpowered transfer student.
4) Charlotte
In this anime, a select number of teenagers all over the world are able to manifest super-human abilities thanks to a comet named Charlotte that passes near the Earth’s orbit every 75 years. The overpowered transfer student for the series, Yuu, has the ability to possess other people for five seconds.
He uses this power to cheat in exams and other school assignments, until Nao, a member of Hoshinoumi Academy, forces him to transfer to her school.
After enrolling, he learns that this institution has the objective of protecting ability users like himself from organizations that want to abuse their powers. Along the way, he also realizes that his power is severely stronger than he first imagined.
5) Jujutsu Kaisen
Yuji is forced to become a student at Jujutsu High after he eats a cursed finger in order to save his friends, and in the process becomes possessed by an evil spirit called Sukuna. Owing to the powerful curse, Yuji needs to be exorcized by sorcerers, which tantamounts to a death sentence.
However, upon seeing how he can keep himself under control, despite being possessed, he is taken to Jujutsu High to train as a sorcerer - a powerful individual who fights against spirits like Sukuna, otherwise known as Curses.
In order for him to be allowed to live, Yuji needs to achieve two things: His first objective is to become a powerful fighter, something relatively easy since Sukuna’s power transforms him into an overpowered transfer student. The second, more difficult objective is to eat all of Sukuna’s fingers and end the Curse.
6) Full Metal Panic!
After being a member of an elite anti-terrorist private organization for a long time, Sousuke receives his most difficult mission yet when he is sent as an overpowered transfer student to Jindai High School in order to protect Kaname, a girl who is being targeted by many evil organizations.
Since he has been a fighter his whole life, Sousuke has no idea how to act like a normal teenager. This in turn makes all his classmates perceive him as a weird military enthusiast, except for Kaname, who is thankful to him for keeping her safe.
7) The Misfit of Demon King Academy
Anos was once a powerful and feared Demon King who ruled over everyone else thanks to his incredible magical abilities. Exhausted by the numerous wars, he then decides to reincarnate himself into one of his descendants in the future.
He successfully ends up inside the body of a teenage boy in an era of peace, where magic users must go to school to learn about their powers.
Given that he is able to retain all of his memories and powers, Anos immediately becomes an overpowered transfer student in the anime and excels in every single class the academy has to offer. However, he soon perceives something is wrong with the world and decides to follow his instincts and investigate what is happening.
8) Chivalry of a Failed Knight
This is the story of an Earth where some humans, called Blazers, have magical powers that allow them to conjure weapons called Devices. To keep them in check, Japan created seven schools where Blazers reside and learn more about their powers, hoping to become knights one day.
One of these schools, Hagun Academy, enrolls an A-rank Blazer named Stella to help rake up their rankings at the annual Seven Star Sword Art Festival held by the seven academies. Stella is the princess of the country of Vermillion, and is an overpowered transfer student.
On her first day as a student, Stella's new roommate Ikki ends up seeing her half-dressed. She then challenges him to a duel, which she loses, meaning she has to obey him for life. Ikki, however, only wishes for them to continue being roommates.
9) World Trigger
While most neighbors are somewhat annoying to deal with, the ones inside this universe are terrifying monsters named 'Neighbors' that destroy cities and kidnap humans. The rampage continues until an organization called Border starts repelling the creatures and protecting innocent citizens from them.
Osamu is one of the agents of Border who is tasked with acting like a normal student and keep peace at his school. One day, he meets the series’ overpowered transfer student, a boy named Yuma who is in fact a humanoid Neighbor. Osamu becomes Yuma's guide around the city. Together, the two fight to keep people safe and prevent anyone from learning their secrets.
10) Hundred
When weird entities known as Savages arrived on Earth and started spreading destruction and death, humans began using special weapons called Hundreds to fight them. Hundreds were weapons that could turn into a multitude of different forms to counter Savages.
However, not everyone is able to wield the Hundreds, given that you need to be compatible with them before using them.
The overpowered transfer student and protagonist of this series is Hayato, who has the highest percentage of compatibility with the Hundreds. Because of this, he is invited to become a student at Little Garden, an academy where he will train with his new classmates on how to become the best fighter he can be.