General Isekai Thread

Another thing about Overlord that I do like, is that the New World doesn't run on game-mechanics just because like in other titles of Isekai.

We get the explanation that the game setting was superimposed over the New World which adapted to it at the time Momonga shows up. Meaning that there is a justification for why video game logic works in the story rather than "Just because" and left at that.

I like that.

And this superimposition of game mechanics on to the New World also had serious and long lasting consequences. It's the only reason humanity still has a fighting chance in the New World. And it's also why the Dragons are no longer the uncontested rulers of the New World — imposing Yggdrasil Tier Magic on to the New World mostly displaced the native Wild Magic the Dragons used.

The New World also has elements that weren't in the game such as Martial Arts. Class combinations that weren't possible in the original game are also possible in the New World. The main character also suspects that the natives don't have a level cap like he and other beings from the game do. Ainz and the strongest Nazarick npcs are still overwhelmingly more powerful than the New World due to their much higher levels, but they are limited in that they only have the powers that come from the Yggdrasil game.

The lower levels of the New Worlders is also justified. Raising one's level in the New World is not nearly as straightforward and risk-free as raising the level in a videogame for obvious reasons. Hence why a New Worlder whose effective level is about 30 is considered a living legend. It also doesn't help that there's no actual in-universe way for a New Worlder to check their own level.

Edited by M84 on Mar 21st 2024 at 11:10:28 PM

so that means in theory there could be potentially be someone that could eventually topple Nazarick?

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Apr 18th 2024 at 5:17:43 AM

In theory.

In practice, the time and effort and risk involved in raising one's level equivalent to 100 is beyond pretty much any New Worlder. Not to mention acquiring equipment on par or better than the top level gear Nazarick's strongest have.

Again, the author has suggested that Overlord is like the prequel to a more typical fantasy story that will very likely never be written. Personally I kind of want to see, uh, Ulbert? and Touch Me? both isekai in and be appalled at what he's doing.

Mushoku Tensei is the same, but for a longer more epic Lord of the Rings style story to MT's Hobbit that actually is going to be written someday.

In the meantime, Mushoku Tensei's author has a another story that basically rips into "Rapist Orc Societies" you see in a lot of Japanese Ecchi and Adult H-anime that has illustrations done by Asanagi AKA "fatalpulse", so that will take while to get to until that story is done.

Was it about the orc trying to find a wife?

Yep, Orc Eroica.

But since that's not an isekai, this isn't the thread to discuss that particular story further.

So that's a third in the list of isekai and isekai-adjacents based around savaging recent malignant tropes (after Goblin Slayer and His Soul is Marching On to Another World)

The only way to relate it is the idea of some theorizing that it takes place on one of the 6 sides of Mushoku Tensei's 6 sided world, but thats it, really.

Btw how is Slime isekai so far?

What do you mean by savaging? Or did you mean salvaging which would frankly not fit since the tropes page immediately makes mention of women being used as Breeding Slaves?

As for Slime, you gotta be a bit more specific. Do you mean the LN, the manga and its various spinoffs, the anime, or the series as a whole?

the anime. Decided to watch it while waiting for Train to the end of the World eps.

As for your other question. I mean that they were made to give those conventions the bird. Goblin Slayer being a reaction to Re:monster, HSIMO is a isekai webnovel starring a notable historical abolitionist and We already mentioned the orc one (though I'm not sure if Orc Eroica was the name of the story that inspired the rebuttal or the rebuttal itself)

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Apr 19th 2024 at 7:41:02 AM

Anime is fine and well. As for the other part, they don't. Except for maybe the John Brown isekai, but yeah the other two do NOT seem to veer from the standard AT ALL.

Its funny because Goblin Slayer is like 1000% more trash than Re:Monster is so the author did a piss poor job trying to make a story as a rebuttal.

Edited by Silentedge89 on Apr 19th 2024 at 10:24:30 AM

I have to ask. Why do you think an Isekai has to be be a rebuttal of the "standard" isekai to be good?

Edited by Demongodofchaos2 on Apr 19th 2024 at 11:32:17 AM

???

What are you talking about? In either case, rebuttal or not, they all suck for reasons that have been done to death, but I'll link the discussion.

Discussion starts with fruitpork's post all the way at the bottom and gets further clarified in the discussion for the next six or so pages.

The story was never a rebuttal. It's literally based on a Dn D campaign he played. Do you really think the resemblances to Archer and Guts from Fate and Berserk respectively, Witch and Archer from Dragon's Crown were incidental?

Edited by doomrider7 on Apr 19th 2024 at 8:51:21 AM

Not at all. It was more a statement of "If it was they did a bad job of it."

Don't get me wrong, I'm fairly ambivalent on Re:Monster but, like, people going into it with some kind of highbrow expectation deserve to get roasted. Same way I feel about that one ANN reviewer who always bangs on about how Rimuru crossed some sort of moral event horizon for what he did to the invading army in Reincarnated as a Slime. Like people genuinely want to try and apply some sort of moral high ground to these stories like they need to be high art or something.

Its why, if you're around the forums enough, you'll often see me make a comment about a series I've read warning people about anything in it that some people might not exactly enjoy.

I remember that Tensei Slime one. I don't particularly hold it against Rimuru given that the invading army was very much set on genociding and enslaving his people. There was also a huge lack of understanding of the appeal of Shangri-la Frontier and referring to certain episode as filler as well as a near certainty that there was a hidden isekai aspect(people pulled into the game for real, alternate dimensions, etc.) and not the game just being a well made VRMMO.

Yeah Goblin Slayer's not a very good example of a genre buster. On top of not actually being an Isekai, it kind of betrays its own premise like almost immediately by going from brutal Goblin slaying action to sexy, harem fun times.

I never heard the explanation of Overlord as like a prequel to an unwritten story but...that's not a very good way to sell it is it? Kinda makes me want to see how the next hero is going to wipe out Ainz and his army of OP bodyguards.

The internal logic of the series is also wildly inconsistent and makes no sense whatsoever.

x5

To my knowledge, Goblin Slayer isn't based on the authour's D&D sessions. It was basically originally sparked by imageboard discussions where he came up with the general concepts, and used existing characters as design inspiration (which is why many characters look like colour-swapped expies). The authour does seem to be into tabletop games though.

,

How much "sexy harem fun times" even are there though? To my recollection, there are only two characters presented as being romantically interested in Goblin Slayer.

Edited by Tsuzurao on Apr 20th 2024 at 6:49:02 AM

More get introduced where it's not all that sublte. Basically, the whole plausible deniability thing is at play where they really only "ADMIRE" Goblin Slayer.

I remember reading somewhere that if the events in Goblin Slayer were actual TRPG sessions, it would actually be really terrible and unfun.

I haven't read too much of Goblin Slayer save for a couple chapters of the manga adaptation, but I will say that if I was in a tabletop RPG campaign like that, the gamemaster is not welcome anywhere near me anymore.