Isekai was a thing before the word was popularized and normalized in the west to describe the subgenre of fantasy. I'd argue The Neverending Story is clearly an isekai, for example. And there's been great conventional anime isekais in the past, such as Vision of Escaflowne.

What I'm sick of is the "oh this is like a video game and the NPCs can be manipulated because they're just programs susceptible to cheat codes" gimmick. It's gross and I find it intolerable to follow any "hero" that dehumanizes other characters under any excuse to build a virtual capitalist empire with an infinite harem. It's :epstein: tier :brainworms: to me.

I don't want to automatically reject something I hear about because I hear it's an "isekai" but all too often it means "another video game world with NPCs to exploit!" :capitalist-laugh:

What an empty sort of metagamey victory to fantasize about. How alienating and sad for such "heroes," even if they still deserve :gulag: in general.

    • UlyssesT [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Oh, I thought you meant how every third fucking anime and manga now has UI like it’s SAO as a vehicle for the “cheat ability system” or whatever. Such a lame way to have a character interact with the world unless you actually make an effort to make it interesting (which almost never happens).

      That also sucks. The last time I saw that work well was Vanellope in Wreck-It Ralph and her "glitching" ability.

      It would actually be a little interesting to try to really explore the consequences of living in a world where most “other people” have a very narrow number of scripted responses, so long as it wasn’t just used for hentai shit (that’s all it would be used for). Living in a world of lw-complexity automatons that happen to have human anatomy would drive someone insane from the effective social isolation.

      Reboot played with this, especially in the episode where Enzo wished to be twice as smart and that caused everyone to halve their bits of processing (and turned down their graphical resolution too!).

      I'd also like a setting where the real protagonist is fighting off a creepy otaku fuck that is trying to exploit the fantasy world.

        • UlyssesT [he/him]
          ·
          1 year ago

          I have not. I don't know anything about it but a cursory glance on a browser search has me... concerned. :hentai-free:

          I can be hard to please when it comes to anime/manga. I've been burned one too many times from "this is great after that :awooga: :libertarian-alert: part" recommendations for stuff. In those cases, no, it wasn't a single hurdle, more like a pedophilic minefield.

            • UlyssesT [he/him]
              ·
              1 year ago

              Noted. I may check it out. If it's like :homelander: but with less :awooga: :libertarian-alert: :hypersus: P R E S T I G E T V gimmicks, might be worth it.

                • UlyssesT [he/him]
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  as there’s a yandere, dandere, a second yandere, etc. and the deuteragonist is absurdly top-heavy

                  They could choose not to fill out the cliche checklist, where the main difference between the characters in it and another product is a face and hair color swap, but no. :joker-shopping:

                  Hence my saying in so many words “even if you overall say meh, you’ll still probably find episode 1 amusing”

                  I might try it. :dead-dove-2:

                    • UlyssesT [he/him]
                      ·
                      1 year ago

                      Thank you for the clarification and further information. I appreciate the effort put into it. When I have time I may take a look.

                      :dead-dove-2:

          • Cromalin [she/her]
            ·
            1 year ago

            i would definitely recommend the first episode which had me hooting and hollering because of isekai burnout similar to what you describe. talentless nana was very similar

          • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
            ·
            1 year ago

            idk why this person is even talking about ecchi or whatever, it's literally what you want to watch re: isekai and you'll see why in the first episode. If you want I can just spoil it for you and tell you exactly how it handles the isekai genre

              • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
                ·
                1 year ago
                This really spoils the first episode, which is like a build up to what is meant to be a VERY surprising twist, like, the first episode is meant to shock you so this will absolutely spoil that

                it's a world where people (iirc just the Japanese? idk I watched half of it) who get isekai'd come with phenomenal and in many cases uncontrollable power that can cause a lot of devastation, so, as a principle they are executed on sight. Which is why the english title is "The Executioner and Her Way of LIfe." The first episode has a kid sent over from Japan who is at first extremely excited until it turns out he has no magic or ability or money and is starving and shit. Then he meets the main character, who after ascertaining his highly destructive ability, summarily executes him. That's the basic premise for the world

                and

                other, separate spoilers that also spoil episode 2

                from there it goes off into yuri adventure after she meets an isekai'd girl whose power prevents her from being killed! so, she kind of has to Figure That One Out

                • UlyssesT [he/him]
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  That is an interesting premise. It may not be my genre, but doesn't sound that bad.