While it's not really isekai (unless you count the future as another world) there are stories where the MC, while still powerful by their time's standard, hits a wall of sorts and dies dissatisfied at never reaching the heights of true geniuses. Then they get reincarnated into the future, only to discover that the study of magic has somehow degraded so badly that their original power is considered godlike. In the case of Shikkakumon no Saikyou Kenja, it's revealed to be due to deliberate sabotage over the course of generations by Demons trying to weaken humanity.
In this case it's more like they were bigger than average Fish in a Pond that shrank around them over time.
Bringing up the VR thing I mentioned earlier...while most VR based isekai stuff is garbage, I do appreciate how some of them bring up Reality Ensues to justify why most people are weaker than the OP M Cs who are usually transferred with all of the power of their OP game characters.
A common point is that in the fantasy world, death has actual lasting consequences, making power-leveling a much riskier affair than it is in a game. How Not to Summon a Demon Lord for example has this as the reason Chemical Mages like Diablo are looked down despite the fact that the potential power of a Chemical Mage surpasses that of the more popular Summoning Magic. Being a Summoner is much safer than putting yourself out in the open the way a Chemical Mage does. And when it's an actual matter of life and death instead of a videogame, the safer option is the more practical one.
Moto Sekai Ichi’i no Sub-chara Ikusei Nikki stands out because the MC pointedly does not become his original OP character (since said character's was deleted by a hacker). Instead, he has to start from scratch with the extra character he made for the game. A big part of his quest to become the strongest in this world is Reality Ensues.
Edited by M84 on Oct 20th 2019 at 11:59:23 PM
Disgusted, but not surprisedWhat was that one series where the player/character decided to try getting one specific skill (something along the lines of Arrow Deflection or something) that required a particular set of conditions in the game world, like surviving taking 75% of health damage from arrows or something... and then realizing that in the "game" world, that actually means barely surviving arrows in the lungs or something?
It's been fun.>@Slimcoder > Kanna no Kanna has funny protagonist who also double as Lemony Narrator. He is shameless combat pragmatist and pro at trolling his enemies. All that without being actually OP.
Sort of like heroic version of Kazuma.
Edited by Tenzen12 on Oct 20th 2019 at 8:23:13 PM
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IIRC the one mentioned by the post right above had something like that, at least in the protagonist specializes in special bow skills, though I think the conditions for learning one skill were saving badly-injured people, not being injured himself. (But since he later trains someone else in these archer techniques, he probably had to do that too.)
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In that case he found out the hard way that the requirement of losing half his hit points or something means actual severe injuries, as opposed to there being Critical Existence Failure.
Still, doesn't make any of them good, as this Reality Ensues is rarely touched upon and instead all focus goes to "Power Fantasy" stuff. Also, the whole thing of being transferred to another world via VR game and in a body of your max level character instead of your own brings up a lot of questions. I read some VR game Isekai Light Novels and i noticed that all of them share at least a few common steps and cliches, like rarely if ever the MC is not some kind of loser and nerd (commonly salary worker).
Which is why Moto Sekai Ichi’i no Sub-chara Ikusei Nikki stands out since the MC pointedly does not start out with his OP main character from the game. While his extra character does have some things going for him (such as being noted to be extremely good-looking), the thing he brings with him is near encyclopedic knowledge of how to gain Skills. Which is a mixed blessing in that world since Reality Ensues in another way: many powerful Skills are jealously guarded secrets by those in power, so he has to be a bit careful about revealing that he has forbidden secret knowledge.
I actually kind of hope that a future antagonist turns out to be his original OP main character or something.
Edited by M84 on Oct 22nd 2019 at 3:27:34 AM
Disgusted, but not surprisedI enjoy Feng Qi Cang Lan on that note. Girl gets isekai'd as the alter ego to her totally overpowered player character in a game she plays with a mask that will supposedly let her turn into him, only she can't use it. Later she finds out that the alter ego character is an entirely distinct person that is even more overpowered than she was in the game. He ends up as something of her mentor figure when the tone's tone shifts to something more serious than the early whacky shenanigans.
So the game character is overpowered, but it's not her and while she is talented, she doesn't amount to much yet and is also largely following his agenda with her own personal goals merely being a kind of stop along the way.
Edited by Arha on Oct 21st 2019 at 2:59:19 PM
^^ Is that the one I hear earlier in the thread about also the fact that has more realistic application of game mechanic to RL, like how going to to ~50% hp because of the Castle...somethings skill nearly makes the MC go unconscious due to sheer pain?
Also, question: is there more multidimensional jumping/hijinks/politics LN/manga more akin to Pratchett/Baxter's The Long Earth or Stross' The Merchant Princes Series (other than probably Gate or Outbreak Company)?
Edited by onyhow on Oct 22nd 2019 at 12:58:41 PM
Give me cute or give me...something?There's some weird culture clash going on whenever I try to read Chinese stuff. I often find the protagonists to be really obnoxious and cringey. Tales of Demons and Gods is one such example - the MC is constantly showing up the adults and making a show of showing up the adults and he comes off as an obnoxious know-it-all to me somehow.
"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."I think it mainly due to Chinese and Western Asia strict social hierarchy, younger people are expected to respect and listen to their elder. So things like show off to your elders as a sign of rebellion. I never a fan of those kind of character and situations due to them never have any middle roads.
E.T technically is a Isekai movieYeah, I assumed it was some kind of "oh, isn't he soooo cooooool for speaking back / standing up to and publicly embarrassing his elder(s)" thing, but it comes off as smug, self-important, self-aggrandising and downright pompous at times. I dunno, I sometimes feel like Chinese storytelling is somewhat behind when it comes to nuanced characterisation.
"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."I read some Chinese Wuxia literature and a lots of them when the heroes show off to the elder characters, it usually come off as the character either don't know that they are showing off or was told to show off by their mentor to show off the other guy their super awesome disciple. It make the MC more likeable that way.
E.T technically is a Isekai movie
The thing is, he still felt weak because he was born with a magical Mark that signified that his body was not suitable for magic combat. He became the strongest in the world through pure effort alone, but he felt distressed because the Mark meant he would always be handicapped. He reincarnated solely so he could be reborn with a more powerful Mark.

Yeah, no, that trope doesn't really apply to Hataraku Maou-sama.
It's been fun.