Poll of the Day > i love isekai manga and anime

(+) Yeah! (+)

there's nothing like dying as a 32 year old neet and being reborn with op powers am i right fellas

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You should check out The Devil is a Part-Timer!

It's kind of a reverse Isekai

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I hate how that's what isekai has basically become on the generic level.

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Have you read Isekai Transporter? About the people that drive Truck-kun.
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Entity13 posted...

I hate how that's what isekai has basically become on the generic level.

Pretty much. What happened to the good ol' days when it was kids being sucked into video games? Or magic board games? Or walking through old furniture?

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Entity13 posted...

I hate how that's what isekai has basically become on the generic level.

I don't even think Isekai as a modern anime genre is really the same thing as traditional "other world" stories. I've seen a lot of people argue that SAO isn't an Isekai in the traditional sense, despite being the inspiration for the surge in modern Isekai anime/manga. Something like Danmachi, despite not being an Isekai at all, feels like a very close cousin (one might say a non-blood-related step sister) to Isekai.

Kind of like how "technically all comics and cartoons are manga and anime", but that's not what the term actually means in common discourse.

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Blightzkrieg posted...

I don't even think Isekai as a modern anime genre is really the same thing as traditional "other world" stories. I've seen a lot of people argue that SAO isn't an Isekai in the traditional sense, despite being the inspiration for the surge in modern Isekai anime/manga. Something like Danmachi, despite not being an Isekai at all, feels like a very close cousin (one might say a non-blood-related step sister) to Isekai.

Kind of like how "technically all comics and cartoons are manga and anime", but that's not what the term actually means in common discourse.

Except .hack// did it too at the same time, and wasn't anywhere as horribly written for that matter. Log Horizon did it afterward, and then the whole thing snowballed. They're like early stage isekai in the way that Mannheim School was early stage Classical music.

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Metalsonic66 posted...

You should check out The Devil is a Part-Timer!

watched it as it aired, and yeah, it's fantastic. rewatched for the third time recently

Entity13 posted...

I hate how that's what isekai has basically become on the generic level.

there's still plenty with extremely unique premises, but yeah, a lot have tried to chase after what like mushoku tensei started verbatim, without understanding that a unique premise is exactly what makes isekai so enjoyable

this season has three of my favorites either starting or continuing though in anime form (mushoku tensei, kumo desu ga nani ka, and slime), so it's a good season overall. the healer one is just revenge porn but at least it's kind of entertaining

Entity13 posted...

Except .hack// did it too at the same time, and wasn't anywhere as horribly written for that matter.

reki was also some random fuckin dude on the internet writing the story he wanted to read, whereas .hack was a GIGANTIC multi-media effort (the game and the anime went hand in hand). i still like .hack more, but i really respect what reki accomplished with what he had eventually

i blame fans more than reki himself. they ate that shit up as he kept on writing in more waifus

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BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense!

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Entity13 posted...

Except .hack// did it too at the same time, and wasn't anywhere as horribly written for that matter. Log Horizon did it afterward, and then the whole thing snowballed. They're like early stage isekai in the way that Mannheim School was early stage Classical music.

I understand that, but here's the thing

Nobody watched those

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Metalsonic66 posted...

BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense!

i uhh... may have even played the niche jp only mobile game for this too..................

but mmorpg isekai is almost entirely separate from modern isekai these days, there's actually zero conflict in bofuri except "whos gonna win this pvp that maple barely cares about anyways". SAO at least kind of felt like an isekai because there was the threat of death

i dunno how to explain it but some things just feel more isekai than others. like, goblin slayer absolutely isn't an isekai, but it absolutely feels more like an isekai than bofuri does (because the mc feels like a DnD powergamer)

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agesboy posted...

but mmorpg isekai is almost entirely separate from modern isekai these days, there's actually zero conflict in bofuri except "whos gonna win this pvp that maple barely cares about anyways". SAO at least kind of felt like an isekai because there was the threat of death

Oh I totally agree but I still wanted to mention it because I liked it a lot.

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i think if you count non-serious isekai-adjacent stuff, bofuri would probably be up there for me too

something kind of refreshing about knowing that this fuckin noob is gonna luck into a win no matter what she tries to accomplish

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Blightzkrieg posted...

Nobody watched those

Incorrect.

Metalsonic66 posted...

Oh I totally agree but I still wanted to mention it because I liked it a lot.

I, on the other hand, wanted to like it and the first girl we're introduced to, but ended up loathing and despising SAO so much I roll my eyes hard whenever later seasons are mentioned after the whole fairy arc where I decided I had had more than enough.

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Entity13 posted...

I, on the other hand, wanted to like it and the first girl we're introduced to, but ended up loathing and despising SAO so much I roll my eyes hard whenever later seasons are mentioned after the whole fairy arc where I decided I had had more than enough.

I was talking about BOFURI not SAO

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thought we were talking about bofuri in that one but yeah uhh arc 2 of sao is kind of really bad

it's definitely the least liked; the next arc (GGO) is a bit polarizing but it's liked more than fairy dance; Mother's Rosario is generally considered amazing to the point of being uncharacteristic of reki; ordinal limit was aight; and alicization is pretty good

SAO's downfall is that reki feels like he has to characterize his villains by being kind of rapey, which is... bleh. Mother's Rosario was the only time he truly escaped from that, because it was a nontraditional conflict at play

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Blightzkrieg posted...

Entity13 posted...

I understand that, but here's the thing

Nobody watched those

tbh, the best-known isekai is still probably Digimon >_>

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I liked Monster Rancher a lot when I was 13 and the second-coolest roller blader on my street

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Zeus posted...

tbh, the best-known isekai is still probably Digimon >_>

probably inuyasha imo

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Metalsonic66 posted...

I liked Monster Rancher a lot when I was 13 and the second-coolest roller blader on my street

It had a theme song that was much better than the show. >_> The art and character designs were decent enough, but they make the thing too damn kiddy.

agesboy posted...

probably inuyasha imo

It never had the broad mainstream appeal that Digimon did, although Digimon also benefited from the non-isekai parts of its franchise.

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Metalsonic66 posted...

I was talking about BOFURI not SAO

Oh that one. I gave that one a try, thought it was sort of cute, but decided it wasn't for me.

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I'm unfamiliar with isekai as a term, but it seems to be the 'fish out of water' story... but if that were the case I don't see how Monster Rancher and InuYasha would be that, except for their first seasons.

I mean, is Futurama an isekai?

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Lokarin posted...

I mean, is Futurama an isekai?

Yes

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Metalsonic66 posted...

Yes

Is it literally just fish out of water, like Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and such?

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Rick and Morty is an isekai

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Lokarin posted...

Is it literally just fish out of water, like Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and such?

Basically.

Blightzkrieg posted...

Rick and Morty is an isekai

Some episodes for sure

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That one SSBM stage where you can get nailed by a truck is an isekai

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Lokarin posted...

I'm unfamiliar with isekai as a term, but it seems to be the 'fish out of water' story... but if that were the case I don't see how Monster Rancher and InuYasha would be that, except for their first seasons.

It's stories about a protagonist from our world being transported to a far away land, to a world where... oh, right. But basically just people from our world winding up in a completely different world.

I'm not sure why you wouldn't think Monster Rancher would apply, considering the show was set in the other world and involved a boy transported to a far away.. oh right, just did that. And then IY mostly takes place in the fantasy feudal world.

Lokarin posted...

I mean, is Futurama an isekai?

Kinda? The future isn't like based on anything real. The only sticking point is that it's a Western property whereas the term usually refers to Eastern properties. Kind of like how all animation isn't technically anime but, at the same time, anime was basically just a word for animation so it kinda is.

It certainly fits into the more recent trope where most of the isekai protagonists are LBHs (aka losers back home)

Lokarin posted...

Is it literally just fish out of water, like Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and such?

Not really, since fish out of water stories can just be going from one country to another (Coming to America being an example) or one school to another (Bring It On: The Musical being an example) or one setting to another (Legally Blonde).

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court kinda falls into the same boat as Inuyasha, because it's a fictionalized past world.

Also I should mention how much I love Isekai Quartet which isekais people from another isekai.

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Zeus posted...

I'm not sure why you wouldn't think Monster Rancher would apply

Just cuz I didn't understand the term, I can see Monster Rancher being pretty obviously one now.

I thought there had to be some sort of "real-world" cross over or development, not it just being a background for the protagonist so give an excuse to exposition the world building to an ignorant.

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Hey, in a weird way that means Secret of Evermore might be the best Isekai story

Not only is your character an outsider sucked into a fantastical world who we can identify with and isn't subject to nagging exposition... but (ending spoilers)

his fandom of b-movies being his Evermore dream, he's resonsible for all the recent bad happening and the impetus for in in-world plot

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Isekai literally means other world. It's a character taken from one world and brought to another world. It used to be quite niche and often shoujo with 12 kingdoms and escaflowne being the two best examples I can think of. And technically .hack//sign also has a female protagonist,

The modern genre of isekai was started by SAO. The semantics of what counts as isekai are bit tricky. Like does inuyasha count where kagome goes back to a past version of japan? It's technically the same world, but effectively it's a new one. Also theres another example of a female protag isekai coming out before SAO.

Anyway modern isekai is more about coming into a new world with prior knowledge of the world that lets you game the system. Whereas older isekai used the other world setting as a way to have a fantasy story with a fully grown main character that knows nothing about the world, modern isekai has basically reversed this. Now they come into the world knowing all sorts of rules and tropes about the world that it's own inhabitants don't know and they use this to succeed as a power fantasy. Of course, there are exceptions and subversions as well.

I like generic fantasy quite a lot and most of the time we get that lately in anime, it's isekai but I really feel like most of them don't actually benefit from being an isekai. DanMachi is a great example of how it really makes no difference if the main character is from that world.

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There's one about a guy being reincarnated as Yamcha

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agesboy posted...

there's nothing like dying as a 32 year old neet and being reborn with op powers am i right fellas

A majority of isekai feature a teenage boy who retains his age and appearance when being reborn. This is because the show typically features many teenage girls the protagonist is interested in.

Than there is this.



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I think overall the genre is way... way overplayed. But that being said, I have enjoyed most of the ones that I've checked out. Konosuba, Shield Hero, Re:Zero, and Mushoku Tensei are all cool.

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Fushigi Yuugi was the first anime I ever watched. And the concept has been around a long time, like Yankee in King Arthur's Court (or Kid in King Arthur's Court and Arthur and the Knights of Justice, from my childhood), Alice in Wonderland, etc...
Also loved El-Hazard.

Out of the more recent Isekai boom, I really like Konosuba and Rising of the Shield Hero, both of which subvert the usual formula in interesting or funny ways.

YoukaiSlayer posted...

Anyway modern isekai is more about coming into a new world with prior knowledge of the world that lets you game the system. Whereas older isekai used the other world setting as a way to have a fantasy story with a fully grown main character that knows nothing about the world, modern isekai has basically reversed this. Now they come into the world knowing all sorts of rules and tropes about the world that it's own inhabitants don't know and they use this to succeed as a power fantasy. Of course, there are exceptions and subversions as well.

Which kinda make Monster Rancher an ur-example of the modern trope because Genki was a fan of the franchise before getting sucked into the game. (And, not for nothing, but Genki was VA'd by an actor who also featured into Escaflowne.)

TigerTycoon posted...

Than there is this.

It's what happens when you die as a salaryman, tbh.

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