It still baffles me that there is still so much isekai, the ones i have glanced at are so unimaginative i thought people would get bored of it but somehow there is still more being made
They are terrible, but the absurd new subgenres are funny. Like now the trend is for Stardew Valley shows where the premise is that you get to enjoy the unalienated products of your labor and actually have friends.
I mean Isekai in itself isn't the worst thing, but how utterly generic 99% of it is.
While I might be a bit biased towards old anime, back in the 80s and 90s (and probably 2000-2010 - I have not enough knowledge of that era) at least they didn't shoehorn UIs, stats, special abilities into it just as if the MC was in a game, and not just its setting.
It's the same reason there are so many super hero movies in the west: it's what studios know is popular, so they approve more isekai instead of taking risks that might lose money.
My theory is that modern isekai is the next level of escapism. It's not just "some guy" fighting demons and getting the girl(s), it's "literally me!", a socially awkward loser, probably still in high school, who one day wakes up in magic fun land with super special magic powers (or a smartphone). The protagonist is a blank slate for the audience to project themselves onto. Meanwhile, the side cast is mostly just tropes, which means it's easy to switch between shows and not miss much. In particular, the women/girls in the show often fall into extremely played out tropes, so the audience can just pick their favorite, and because there's only very rarely progression in a romance subplot, any coupling is canon.
Also worth noting that "Isekai"/Portal Fantasy has been popular as a genre for quite a while (I want to say over a century), so this is less something new and more just optimizing the genre towards the type of viewers who are going to spend $30k on bodypillows.
Also Magic Knight Rayearth (1994/1995) and .hack//SIGN (2002) are good.
The first is fairly generic at first, but once it stops taking itself seriously in S2 it gets actually quite good, in addition to having a good ending.
.hack//SIGN otoh is a video game isekai, but actually done well. No power fantasies, a solid mystery plot and best of all things, it doesn't forget it's a video game and not an alternate reality with a UI.
What pises me about isekai is that the protagonists come from earth they have presumably a highschool education. Even if they dont remember much they should be aware of methodological stuf like the sientific method. Thats a huge exploit.
If they used their earth knoledge say some nerd gets isekaied with the litle red book or with one of those several thousand pages highschool and college elemental phisics books. Or with a book of tables. It could get really interesting.
But the protagonist usually gets a magic cheat. If they are going to rely on magic why not make them a native from the begining?
Even the stupid harry poter book handeled the concept better on its first half.
You might be interested in Ascendance of a Bookworm, it's about a girl using modern knowledge to try to make books in ye olde medieval times. It's also the opposite of a power fantasy: she reincarnates in the body of a frail and sickly peasant girl.
fair enough, but i figured they were complaining about character having magic so they should probably be assured it doesn't turn to shit in season 2 or whatever
I enjoyed it, though it can get a little dark (they're peasants in a highly stratified medieval society after all). There are 3 seasons and unfortunately it seems unlikely to get more, though the source light novel goes way longer.
they really starts to run together. i have to assume there's a large audience of people who are just consuming every single one that comes out regardless of quality because they broke the pleasure center in their brain and that's the only way they can produce dopamine anymore.
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It still baffles me that there is still so much isekai, the ones i have glanced at are so unimaginative i thought people would get bored of it but somehow there is still more being made
They are terrible, but the absurd new subgenres are funny. Like now the trend is for Stardew Valley shows where the premise is that you get to enjoy the unalienated products of your labor and actually have friends.
And a harem, like last season's mid-as-hell farmer Isekai.
Ofc there's always a harem except in some of the Yuri ones
But don't you WANT an agricultural polycule?
I mean Isekai in itself isn't the worst thing, but how utterly generic 99% of it is.
While I might be a bit biased towards old anime, back in the 80s and 90s (and probably 2000-2010 - I have not enough knowledge of that era) at least they didn't shoehorn UIs, stats, special abilities into it just as if the MC was in a game, and not just its setting.
It's the same reason there are so many super hero movies in the west: it's what studios know is popular, so they approve more isekai instead of taking risks that might lose money.
Of course but then why is production of isekai profitable? How are people not bored of generic isekai #87377
My theory is that modern isekai is the next level of escapism. It's not just "some guy" fighting demons and getting the girl(s), it's "literally me!", a socially awkward loser, probably still in high school, who one day wakes up in magic fun land with super special magic powers (or a smartphone). The protagonist is a blank slate for the audience to project themselves onto. Meanwhile, the side cast is mostly just tropes, which means it's easy to switch between shows and not miss much. In particular, the women/girls in the show often fall into extremely played out tropes, so the audience can just pick their favorite, and because there's only very rarely progression in a romance subplot, any coupling is canon.
Also worth noting that "Isekai"/Portal Fantasy has been popular as a genre for quite a while (I want to say over a century), so this is less something new and more just optimizing the genre towards the type of viewers who are going to spend $30k on bodypillows.
There's an actually good Isekai from 1999 you might like. Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku (Now and Then, Here and There).
It's similar to Grave of the Fireflies or Lord of the Flies. It's really depressing too.
It doesn't do the thing where it's a fantasy RPG world. It's like a post-apocalypse where a bunch of kids have to figure out how to find water.
Also Magic Knight Rayearth (1994/1995) and .hack//SIGN (2002) are good.
The first is fairly generic at first, but once it stops taking itself seriously in S2 it gets actually quite good, in addition to having a good ending.
.hack//SIGN otoh is a video game isekai, but actually done well. No power fantasies, a solid mystery plot and best of all things, it doesn't forget it's a video game and not an alternate reality with a UI.
aura battler dunbine is an isekai from the 80s by yoshiyuki tomino of gundam fame. i'm going to start it soon, but i've heard nothing but good things
It's the isekai, actually. The first anime with the concept of getting transported to another world for whatever reason.
Also SUNRISE shoehorned mecha into it, from what I heard.
yeah but i forgive them since the mechs look cool
Bug knights! Bug knights!
all I know is the OP rocks
Complete off topic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YjcwxvRgZM
Obscure Gundam clone which only has bad subtitles in English, but the Opening is a banger
ooooh love that bit at 30 seconds where the music syncs with the dude moving some lever
this is beautiful!
What pises me about isekai is that the protagonists come from earth they have presumably a highschool education. Even if they dont remember much they should be aware of methodological stuf like the sientific method. Thats a huge exploit.
If they used their earth knoledge say some nerd gets isekaied with the litle red book or with one of those several thousand pages highschool and college elemental phisics books. Or with a book of tables. It could get really interesting.
But the protagonist usually gets a magic cheat. If they are going to rely on magic why not make them a native from the begining?
Even the stupid harry poter book handeled the concept better on its first half.
You might be interested in Ascendance of a Bookworm, it's about a girl using modern knowledge to try to make books in ye olde medieval times. It's also the opposite of a power fantasy: she reincarnates in the body of a frail and sickly peasant girl.
she does get magic, but it's very much not something she uses to start fighting everyone and winning
I was trying to avoid spoiling it, lol, I've finished the show.
fair enough, but i figured they were complaining about character having magic so they should probably be assured it doesn't turn to shit in season 2 or whatever
Fair
That sounds decent.
I enjoyed it, though it can get a little dark (they're peasants in a highly stratified medieval society after all). There are 3 seasons and unfortunately it seems unlikely to get more, though the source light novel goes way longer.
I will give it a shot thanks for the recomendation
they really starts to run together. i have to assume there's a large audience of people who are just consuming every single one that comes out regardless of quality because they broke the pleasure center in their brain and that's the only way they can produce dopamine anymore.