LogFAQs > #971971586

Lokarin posted...

I'm saying that if you remove Episode 1... isekei are basic power fantasies

but because of Episode 1, people just want to die

Giving you the absolute maximum (and last) benefit of the doubt, I think that may just be what YOU see in isekai. Aka maybe that's YOUR fantasy.

First not all (I don't even think most) start with the main character in their normal life. Many start with the MC in the fantasy world.

Isekai could be a stand in for death, but it is much more directly a stand in for CHANGE. And change could mean any number of things.

Isekai's popularity is exactly the same as "chosen one" fantasy, where the draw is telling the audience

Hey I know you think you've been told you're like everyone else but actually you're super duper special, you just need to wait and sooner or later someone is going to show you how special you are, or take you someplace where they realize how special you are.

People are not happy with their lives, this is true, but isekai gives the fantasy of change, not specially death.