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> The isekai genre is definitely overused at this point Yet somehow we can't get enough of it! I mean, I know I'm a sucker for isekai. Some of it is poorly a

> The isekai genre is definitely overused at this point Yet somehow we can't get enough of it! I mean, I know I'm a sucker for isekai. Some of it is poorly animated with terrible stereotypes (for anime) and far too much fan service but it's not isekai that's cliche it's the story that's being told inside of it that could be. I'd argue that isekai is one of the best and truest forms of sci-fi: Instead of just "drama, in space!" or "drama, in the future!" isekais are (normally) answering the question, "what if?" Like, what if you were reincarnated in another world but you weren't human? What if you were a monster? Or a machine? Or immortal? Overpowered because of nature or overpowered because of nurture (i.e. the ability to carry forward knowledge from this world)? The possibilities are endless! There's so many great isekai anime that explore these and other questions. Some get quite detailed and realistic (in terms of emotions or the sorts of problems one might run into) while others are more about comedy or relationships (again, "drama, in <another world>!"). Some of the more interesting aspects/concepts of isekai anime that I've watched: - Main character is not the only one that was brought to another world *but the others who also came are from completely different alternate universes* (Shield Hero). - An *entire group of people* get sent to another world (Arifureta, So I'm A Spider, So What?, Grimgar) - The other world is *super early* feudal-ish (so primitive they don't know how to make paper or even crochet... yet) and the main character remembers all the arts & crafts stuff her mother and grandmother taught her (Ascendance of a Bookworm). Hehe: How well do *you* understand the process of making paper (think you could figure it out in that situation? =) - What if your mom came to the other world with you? (this one is actually so over the top and ridiculous but the question itself is kind of interesting: Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?) Some of those aren't the point of the anime but they're interesting questions/situations nonetheless.

lhorie 6y ago
I'll admit that I do like the premises of various isekais - kumo desuga nanika (I'm a spider so what) and honzuki no gekokujo (ascendance of a bookworm) that you mentioned are in fact two of my favorites - but it's worth remembering that these are light novel adaptations. Personally I think there's a bit of loss of "magic" directly attributable to bringing the story out of the text-based medium, particularly in the case of honzuki no gekokujo. I thought there was something very special about how Myne was sickly and could not physically go see how Parue was harvested, and how her family's description of the process was as bewildering to her (as an other-worlder) as it would be to any of us. It's a really clever storytelling device that masterfully helps convey the protagonist's situation. Another example: the orc arc of moonlight sculptor was an absolutely epic read in text format; I don't think the cartoon format can really do it justice.
m4rtink 6y ago
The Isekai genre goes deep, very very deep. Anime adaptations only really cover the often good and/or mainstream series. If you start digging into Isekai manga, there at least one order of magnitude more works to choose from. Then if you look into light novels, there is even more stuff, again with just a fraction getting manga adaptations. But the real breath of Isekai are web novels - that's where most of the current hit novels started, on websites like "I'll become a novelist" (https://syosetu.com/ https://syosetu.com/) where people just type away their fantasies with minimal friction, one chapter at a time and often with lots of direct feedback from the community. That can result in even more original/crazy ideas being explored, such as: - What if you were transported to a fantasy world with your solar powered camping vehicle ? (Himekishi to Camping Car) - What if you became your game character in a fantasy world that has a different gender (female) and is a total glass cannon ? (Alice Tale) - Whats more fun than raiding dungeons ? Running them! (Lazy Dungeon Master) - What if there is stable gateway between the other and the modern world and you can go back and forth ? (quite a few series actually, even some mainstream ones like Gate or Isekai Shokudo) - Fantasy is nice but steampunk and heavy industry is even better! There are quite a few rather non-mainstream series that introduce robots and guns into an Isekai setting. Yet there are others that set out to industrialize the whole thing as including building stuff like railroads. - What if magic was just a foreign language or alphabet the locals aren't good at but you are, as it's your native language ? - What if you are the only one who can see the GUI in an Isekai world ? Nothing better than meeting a famous aristocrat with "class: vampire" blinking above his head telling you about mysterious kidnapping cases in the vicinity. Or "goblin shaman [invisible]" floating in the air of dark cave. (Skill Takers World Domination") - What if due to some mistake no one person gets reincarnated as a son of poor aristocrat but 3 - a high school student, a salaryman and Nobunaga ? - What if you actually got reincarnated to the buggy mess of an MMO you helped to develop (Death March) ? - What if a modern Aegis cruiser or even the full Japanese archipelago (including some disputed islands, no less ;-) ) gets transported to an Isekai ? Really the possibilities are endless. There is definitely a lot of repetition and series that frankly are not any good (especially between web novels, thanks to the same zero entry barriers that enable so much creativity in the first place) but there are many gems to be found if you search a bit. :)
- livueta 6y ago
monus21 6y ago
Yeah, I know what you mean. I've read far too many isekai manga/manhwa than I should have (not super into anime). Shield Hero was good but FFF-Class Trashero probably tops the lot for me. Really good storytelling and incredible character development.
- ChoGGi 6y ago
  If you like FFF, you may enjoy Master of Gu.

lhorie 6y ago

I'll admit that I do like the premises of various isekais - kumo desuga nanika (I'm a spider so what) and honzuki no gekokujo (ascendance of a bookworm) that you mentioned are in fact two of my favorites - but it's worth remembering that these are light novel adaptations. Personally I think there's a bit of loss of "magic" directly attributable to bringing the story out of the text-based medium, particularly in the case of honzuki no gekokujo. I thought there was something very special about how Myne was sickly and could not physically go see how Parue was harvested, and how her family's description of the process was as bewildering to her (as an other-worlder) as it would be to any of us. It's a really clever storytelling device that masterfully helps convey the protagonist's situation. Another example: the orc arc of moonlight sculptor was an absolutely epic read in text format; I don't think the cartoon format can really do it justice.

m4rtink 6y ago

The Isekai genre goes deep, very very deep. Anime adaptations only really cover the often good and/or mainstream series. If you start digging into Isekai manga, there at least one order of magnitude more works to choose from. Then if you look into light novels, there is even more stuff, again with just a fraction getting manga adaptations. But the real breath of Isekai are web novels - that's where most of the current hit novels started, on websites like "I'll become a novelist" (https://syosetu.com/ https://syosetu.com/) where people just type away their fantasies with minimal friction, one chapter at a time and often with lots of direct feedback from the community. That can result in even more original/crazy ideas being explored, such as: - What if you were transported to a fantasy world with your solar powered camping vehicle ? (Himekishi to Camping Car) - What if you became your game character in a fantasy world that has a different gender (female) and is a total glass cannon ? (Alice Tale) - Whats more fun than raiding dungeons ? Running them! (Lazy Dungeon Master) - What if there is stable gateway between the other and the modern world and you can go back and forth ? (quite a few series actually, even some mainstream ones like Gate or Isekai Shokudo) - Fantasy is nice but steampunk and heavy industry is even better! There are quite a few rather non-mainstream series that introduce robots and guns into an Isekai setting. Yet there are others that set out to industrialize the whole thing as including building stuff like railroads. - What if magic was just a foreign language or alphabet the locals aren't good at but you are, as it's your native language ? - What if you are the only one who can see the GUI in an Isekai world ? Nothing better than meeting a famous aristocrat with "class: vampire" blinking above his head telling you about mysterious kidnapping cases in the vicinity. Or "goblin shaman [invisible]" floating in the air of dark cave. (Skill Takers World Domination") - What if due to some mistake no one person gets reincarnated as a son of poor aristocrat but 3 - a high school student, a salaryman and Nobunaga ? - What if you actually got reincarnated to the buggy mess of an MMO you helped to develop (Death March) ? - What if a modern Aegis cruiser or even the full Japanese archipelago (including some disputed islands, no less ;-) ) gets transported to an Isekai ? Really the possibilities are endless. There is definitely a lot of repetition and series that frankly are not any good (especially between web novels, thanks to the same zero entry barriers that enable so much creativity in the first place) but there are many gems to be found if you search a bit. :)

livueta 6y ago

monus21 6y ago

Yeah, I know what you mean. I've read far too many isekai manga/manhwa than I should have (not super into anime). Shield Hero was good but FFF-Class Trashero probably tops the lot for me. Really good storytelling and incredible character development.

ChoGGi 6y ago
If you like FFF, you may enjoy Master of Gu.