Introduction

Isekai.

A genre of novels (web and physical), manga, anime and games most commonly found in Japanese literature that focuses on characters being taken from one world, most commonly modern day Earth, and being transported to another world, usually a fantasy world, through different methods. These range from death, going to sleep, walking out of a convenience store at night, finding a portal to another world in your grandfather’s house, a wardrobe, or even because a God made a mistake and killed you before you were meant to die (a strangely common Deterministic approach that often exists in these types of stories).

I am a fan of the Isekai genre and enjoy writing stories in it (The Children of Eris) and am always keen to find the next great series that utilises the strengths of this genre to tell a great story with wonderful characters and themes, and then pray that those stories will one day get an anime adaptation. Some of my favourites in this genre include:

- Mushoku Tensei

- Fake Saint of the Year

- Any Highly Advanced Medicine Is Indistinguishable From Magic

- I was Caught Up in a Heroes Summoning, but That World was at Peace

- Demon Noble Girl: Story of a Careless Demon

- The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

- The Eminence in Shadow

- Observation Record of a Self-proclaimed Villainess’ Fiancé

- Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!

- The Onee-sama and the Giant

- The Female Soldier Has Been Told to Infiltrate the Imperial Magic Academy

- With One Day Left I'll Break All the Destruction Flags: "Serves You Right!" RTA 24 Hour Record

- Beware the Villainess

- Who Made Me a Princess?

- The Tanaka Family Reincarnates

- Roxana (why must you be on hiatus?)

- So I’m a Spider, So What?

For some, I am sure that these titles are bizarre or series that you might not have ever heard of, but for those of us with knowledge regarding this genre you know that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

To just scrape the surface, let’s see…there’s the Isekai where a man’s reborn as a vending machine (because he loved vending machines - this is not a joke), another where a boy is reborn as a hot spring (again, this is a real, published story that has a manga adaptation); there’s also ‘Reverse-Isekai’ like the one where an Elf is reborn in modern Japan and becomes an otaku.

As a genre, Isekai is like any other - it’s as vast and deep as an ocean, but it has a reputation in the wider anime community as being shallow and having as much impact as a puddle in a small crack on the road. You might’ve heard the term ‘Isekai Trash’ thrown around a lot, used quite often famously by Gigguk in many of his videos, but this isn’t always used as a derogative. Some, however, do group all stories in the genre under the trash umbrella without giving the genre a real chance.

Why? Because there are a lot of stories that get anime adaptations without much lasting impact or without any memorable characters or storylines.

Isekai Cheat Magician, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, I Got a Cheat Ability in a Different World and Become Extraordinary Even in the Real World, The Master of Ragnarok and Blesser of Einherjar are often cited as terrible Isekai anime.

And it’s well deserved.

I have watched all of these, and I cannot stand them, but I persisted solely for the sake of this essay.

Now, I shan’t lie - I will be putting my own personal opinions and biases into this essay as it’s near impossible not to, but I’ll also try to look at things a little more objectively or factually as possible.

So then, why did those 4 get anime while others that you’ve listed as some of your favourites never received adaptations?

The answer can be easily defined like this: Passion or Profit.

It’s no secret that That Time I Got Reincarnated into a Slime was financed by producers who loved the original story and wanted to see it brought to life; on the other end of the spectrum, we have Overlord adapted by studio Madhouse which appears to be a more for-profit anime adaptation, given the varying quality of animation and pacing. Most infamously the finale of the 9th light novel volume, the climax of Season 3, is often regarded as one of the worst sequences of the anime - even though it’s one of the best parts of the novels and my personal favourite sequence from the series.

I mean, when it happened, I was so upset that I wished it never got the additional seasons.

I still remember getting a Facebook message the day the episode dropped just saying “My condolences” and I knew instantly what he was talking about.

Regardless of my feelings, Madhouse continued to produce new Overlord anime simply because of how much money the IP makes. No matter what you or I might think about the anime, it sells; its merch, its anime blu-rays, its books, its manga, and it even had a gacha game (though I think that’s now been taken offline if I’m not mistaken). Oh, and don’t forget the best part of the adaptation - the chibi-spin off about the maids of Nazzarick.

That’s great stuff.

Don’t get me wrong - I do think there is some passion for the anime production, and I did really enjoy the first season (even after realising just how much had been cut, skipped or reduced) and parts of the next few seasons, but it still feels more like a for profit adaptation than say Studio Bind’s adaptation of Mushoku Tensei, though that’s not entirely a fair comparison given how Bind was literally founded to make the Mushoku Tensei anime.

This introduction has gone on for far too long now and a little off track, so I’ll wrap this up.

Isekai, as a genre, has a lot of problems in the same way that even highly popular and liked shonen manga, such as Kaiju No.8 or My Hero Academia, struggle to break free of the genre conventions and problems of their genre.

In this essay, I shall break down, point by point, the main reasons I personally think the Isekai genre has issues, and why these issues, common cliches, troupes and pitfalls exist, and how they can hurt this genre and its stories.

My hope is that this essay might offer you, its reader, a new perspective on the genre whether you are a fan of it or not, or even for those of you who might simply refer to the whole genre as Isekai Trash.

Or, failing that, I hope you at least enjoy reading this essay.

I hope for at least that…