General Isekai Thread

I am all for examining individual works in every possible way as long as you (not you in particular of course) don't start make sweeping generalizations.

But in most cases there is only this much that can be found and that too is something that need to be a knowledged

Edited by Tenzen12 on Mar 12th 2019 at 1:26:30 PM

i really wish Re:Zero was the dark isekai that took off instead of Shield Hero, it would be interesting to see how different the isekai landscape would be

I don't think that would work. Re-zero is very hard to replicate so it wouldn't bring such flux of amateur writing.

Hmm maybe it would popularize isekai genre in lesser digree, but higher quality. Yes, that could happen imho.Though I do think it would probably just delay inevitable.

Edited by Tenzen12 on Mar 12th 2019 at 1:35:32 PM

Another reason i think why Re: Zero isn't very success is that it not very wish fulfilment. Unless your wish is stuck Dark Soul and being insignificant in the world which surprisingly is the theme of Dark Soul.

Edited by BattleRaizer on Mar 12th 2019 at 7:53:06 PM

Re-zero is very popular though.

IIRC, it was pretty far from being the most popular isekai on the Let' Become a Novelist site, i think it was around the top 20s

I thought it was very well-regarded.

It is very well regarded, but the anime is over so everyone has moved on to the next big thing to talk about.

It's memes will live forever though.

The most you can find out about most isekai authors by analyzing their work is that they lack original ideas and like to jump on bandwagons.

Also, I'm pretty sure that Shield Hero is just a flavor of the season series that'll get forgotten in half a year.

Edited by Shlugo_the_great on Mar 12th 2019 at 3:34:41 PM

Does Trinity Wonder technically count as some form of reverse isekai?

I mean, I don't think it does since its essentially "Someone from wuxia martial art fantasy world and someone from regular sword & sorcery fantasy world ending up in cyberpunk world", but decided to ask anyway

Edited by SpookyMask on Mar 12th 2019 at 6:34:09 PM

That sound like reverse isekai to me.

I though to be count as a Isekai the main character must be from our world then if it a reversal then the main character should come to our world.

I'd say that going from one genre world to another genre world would count just fine though. Like, a Star Trek officer landing in Lord of the Rings? Sure, isekai, why not. The conflict between the character's old expectations and the new world is the driving appeal after all, I wouldn't say that 'being from our world' is a complete necessity.

Edited by GoldenKaos on Mar 12th 2019 at 5:43:41 PM

I don't think that's the true appeal of isekai for the intended audience but rather that a relatable character is dropped into another world. You don't really relate to Jean-Luc Picard. So no, I wouldn't consider that isekai.

How are we defining relatable in this context?

In that regard, I'm not able to relate to the majority of isekai protagonists, so they wouldn't count as isekai?

It just means you're not the target audience of those isekai works.

And given what a lot of isekai is like, that's probably for the best.

Edited by M84 on Mar 13th 2019 at 2:35:58 AM

In general the isekai protagonist is someone from the real present day world without any inherent extraordinary characteristics except possibly relating to his or her personality. Then, anything to do with their age and background is tailored to who the target audience is. For example, the 'isekai villainess' stories are often josei works, so the protagonist was often someone like an accountant or office worker in her mid to late 20s. For the fantasy isekai, it's often a teenaged male with no girlfriend and only one or two close friends at most, but no notable darkness in their backstory like child abuse or anything. If it's for the seinen demographic they're probably a year or two older with a less happy background.

You can relate to characters in Star Trek but I don't think you can self insert into them like you can with the above, so you don't really escape into the world like you're supposed to with isekai. I think the fundamental point of isekai is 'You the reader in a different setting where you are more popular and skilled than you are in reality.' Captain Kirk being shoved into the world of SAO or whatever would be a totally different kind of story.

Edit: You don't have to relate to the protagonist of isekai to enjoy the story. There're other appealing points, but I think that's the basic idea when writing them. Normal dude goes to another world, becomes more popular and overpowered than they were in real life, everything is great forever yayyyy.

Edit 2: Incidentally I just tried reading through 'I think the prince has given up on me' and it's just so shoujo that I can't stand it anymore. Off to A Wild Last Boss Appeared.

Edited by Arha on Mar 12th 2019 at 1:40:18 PM

It's a problem I'm finding with more and more manga these days. Loser NEET protagonists with next to no redeeming qualities don't make sense as the focus of a harem and don't particularly resonate with me.

There have been a few that are stepping away from that these days that I have hope for. The spate of smart protagonists is a fresh new take that I'm enjoying. If only we could have some of that in isekai.

Unless it's said otherwise any sci-fi world is our in future. So fantasy -> sci-fi is reverse isekai. Quite lot of isekai stories feature advanced VR for example and no one questioning it. If sci-fi world isn't our it's "just" isekai because it's transition from one world to other. Some would even consider time-slip stories as sub-genre of isekai.

As for having blank protagonist, just because many have it doesn't mean it's defining trait in same way shonen mangas aren't defined by having hot-blooded protagonist.

Edited by Tenzen12 on Mar 12th 2019 at 8:04:10 PM

In case of what I referred to, I mean straight up cyberbunk with cyborgs, mechs and mega corporation death squads

So fifty years from now? Well maybe just twenty.

I'm not seeing commercial cybernetics becoming a thing within 20 years, and that's like one of the lynchpins of any good cyberpunk setting.

So I've been reading this one for a while, but one isekai that's at least passable is Exterminator. Basically, some guy from pest control gets sent to another world, and he uses the know-how from his job to complete quests and such.

Plot is okay, haven't notice much in the way of harem stuff, and the MC is okay. He's not a jobless NEET for one.