Tag: Isekai

Does Life Before the Isekai Matter?

Does Life Before the Isekai Matter?

What Matters Most in an Isekai Anime?

Today’s discussion was sparked by Toma in the DoubleSama Discord server saying that he wanted to learn more about Rudy’s past life in Mushoku Tensei. That comment isn’t something I agree with and so I decided I’d write an article explaining why I feel this way.

To start this discussion, I think it’s important to consider what you think matters most in an isekai anime. For me, the thing that matters most is either going to be world-building or the characters, depending on the type of series.

If it’s more of an adventure series, like Mushoku Tensei, world-building is key. And if it’s a comedy, like KonoSuba, world-building is less important and characters are key. But in either case, world-building is going to play a major role.

Rudeus "Rudy" Greyrat from the anime series Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
Rudeus “Rudy” Greyrat

I know a lot of people may say that isekai anime are all about power fantasies. However, I don’t think that’s true. I think they’re far more about escapism. The reason I enjoy watching isekai isn’t so I can self-insert as some overpowered protagonist. It’s so I can explore a vibrant fantasy world.

If a fantasy world is built well, great. And if it also features a lot of good supporting characters, like Mushoku and KonoSuba both do, even better. But the protagonist generally doesn’t matter all that much to me. I want them to be funny in a comedy. Aside from that, I don’t really care.

So, this is what brings me to the main question of the discussion. Does the prior life of an isekai anime protagonist actually matter? Should knowing about their past play a major role in the story of the series?

Does a Protagonist’s Prior Life Matter?

The prior life of an isekai protagonist could give us a glimpse into why they think and act the way they do. That’s certainly the case at the start of Mushoku Tensei. Rudy is afraid of the world beyond his family’s property line because of the abuse he experienced from his peers in his past life.

That’s a fair point. However, has that actually mattered at all since the start of the series? We’ve gotten more of Rudy’s backstory as the anime progressed. But I wouldn’t say it’s had much of an immediate impact on his new life. He just knows he wants his current life to play out differently.

However, that could be said about 90% of isekai protagonists. One thing the majority of them have in common is that they were either NEETs or loners in their prior lives. And now, in their new worlds, they have friends and go on fun adventures.

Kazuma holding a saw from the anime series KonoSuba
Kazuma holding a saw

Kazuma in KonoSuba: NEET. Subaru in Re:ZERO: NEET. Rimuru in TenSura: Average salaryman. Momonga in Overlord: NEET. Sora and Shiro in No Game No Life: NEETs. Hajime in Arifureta: Loner loser. I mean, the subtitle of Arifureta even refers to Hajime as “commonplace.”

So, what’s my point here? That none of these characters are anyone special or interesting before they ended up in another world. They all lead extremely boring lives. That’s what makes them being transported or reincarnated in a fantasy world so good. It’s a chance for them to start over and live entirely different lives.

Also, consider how often the prior lives of these protagonists come up and how they reflect on them. In most cases, their prior lives are hardly mentioned, and when they are, it’s in a negative light. For example, Kazuma never mentions his prior life and Rudy only does to reflect on how much worse it was.

Why Prior Lives Aren’t as Important

There’s one reason I can think of for prior lives being important in isekai anime, and that’s for the mystery factor. Sometimes, why the protagonist appeared in the fantasy world is a big mystery. And, theoretically, if we knew more about their past, we might get some clues.

Obviously, this isn’t always the case, though. We know Kazuma died of shock when he thought he was hit by a truck (he was actually not hit by a tractor). And we know Rimuru from TenSura was stabbed and given the opportunity to have a new life by a god of some sort.

However, there are also those like Re:ZERO, in which the mystery surrounding Subaru’s teleportation to the fantasy world is a major part of the series. So, naturally, you’d expect that Subaru’s past is important, right?

Subaru Natsuki from the anime series Re:ZERO
Subaru Natsuki

Well, that’s where you’re wrong — at least for now. Unless some new twist occurs, we already know that Subaru’s previous life was unremarkable and has nothing to do with his teleportation. Instead, it seems likely that he was the victim of someone using magic in the fantasy world.

You see, even in the isekai where the teleportation or reincarnation of the protagonist is a mystery, their prior lives really don’t matter. So, rather than focusing on these prior lives, I’d much rather focus on how the protagonist develops within the new world.

Who they were before they arrived in the fantasy world is trivial. We know who they are immediately after their teleportation or reincarnation, and that’s what matters. From there, they grow and develop.

This is also true of any other protagonist in anime. We’re rarely with the protagonist from birth until death. We’re always joining them somewhere in the middle of their life. So why should it be any different with an isekai?

Conclusion

What’s your opinion on the importance of isekai protagonist backgrounds? Do you find yourself wanting to know more about them before they arrived in the new world? Or do you agree with me that who they were before doesn’t matter? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

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Will There Ever be a Great Isekai Anime Again?

Will There Ever be a Great Isekai Anime Again?

Titans of Isekai

I didn’t know what to write about today, so here we are. It’s time to answer the question, will there ever be a great isekai anime again? Spoiler: Probably not. But to understand why that is, we first need to take a look at the pinnacle of isekai and how far it’s fallen since then.

If you’ve read any of my isekai anime reviews, you may be familiar with the fact that I hold KonoSuba and Re:ZERO above all other isekai. The reasons for this are pretty simple. They both have great characters, are generally well-written, and bring something fresh to the genre.

With KonoSuba, we got a great parody of the isekai genre that ended up being my highest-rated comedy anime. In fact, I’d say that there’s not another that really comes close to it.

Kazuma and Aqua from the anime series KonoSuba
Kazuma and Aqua (KonoSuba)

Re:ZERO is a very different take on isekai than KonoSuba is. With Re:ZERO, we get a darker deconstruction of the genre, much like what Madoka Magica is known for doing with the magical girl genre. Of course, none of these series I’m mentioning were the first to do any of this, but they are the best at what they did.

There have been many comedy isekai both before and after KonoSuba. But, the way KonoSuba used its characters to create the comedy rather than the isekai setting is what really sets it apart. It doesn’t rely on its setting to work.

And the same thing can be said about Re:ZERO. There have been dark isekai before and after it. But Re:ZERO did it differently. The dark aspect was no longer that if you die in the isekai, you die in real life. This time it was much more psychological and less predictable.

The Downward Spiral

The problem with isekai that have come out after KonoSuba and Re:ZERO, which both premiered in 2016, is that they all try too hard to differentiate themselves. Nowadays, every isekai series needs a gimmick or it won’t even be considered by viewers (or anime licensors).

To see this in action, just look at the isekai anime that have come out in the past few years. The gimmick in In Another World With My Smartphone is that the protagonist has a magical smartphone. In Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, the gimmick is that the protagonist wears a bear kigurumi and has bear-shaped abilities.

I could go through basically every isekai anime to come out over the past four years and you’d see a pattern. They all feature surface-level gimmicks that don’t really change the fact that they’re generic isekai series.

Linse, Else, and Yae from the anime series In Another World With My Smartphone
Linse, Else, and Yae (In Another World With My Smartphone)

Of course, that doesn’t mean that all isekai anime from the past four years are bad. Sure, some of them are extremely terrible, but there are also some I would consider fine or even good. However, there aren’t any that I would consider “great.” In fact, it looks like the only isekai I rated above a 6/10 since 2016 is How Not to Summon a Demon Lord.

Now, I understand that most people didn’t think How Not to Summon a Demon Lord was as good as I thought it was. But that kind of plays into my point here anyway. You’re probably not going to find many people, including myself, who say it was great. And yet, that’s my next highest-rated isekai.

I guess I should also point out that I don’t hate older anime or even older isekai specifically. There are many older isekai that I like, such as Now and Then, Here and There from 1999. But even with those older isekai that I like, I wouldn’t put any of them in the “great” category.

In too Deep

Just because there hasn’t been a great isekai anime in recent years doesn’t mean that there will never be one again though, right? Well, technically that’s true. However, if we look at the direction that the isekai anime “industry” has been going in, it seems unlikely.

The gimmicks these series need in order to receive anime adaptations are getting more and more niche. What that means is that they each appeal to fewer people and remain relevant for a shorter amount of time than their predecessors.

Basically, what we’re seeing with isekai anime right now is the same thing that happened to mecha anime. At one point, mecha was the dominant genre of the medium. However, it got to a point at which the mecha genre became over-saturated and they began to specialize in order to differentiate themselves from the competition.

And, what was the result of all that? Mecha as a whole is now viewed as a niche genre that appeals to the die-hard fans and only rarely shows up under the mainstream spotlight.

Hajime and Yue from the anime series Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest
Hajime and Yue (Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest)

Do I think that isekai anime are going to disappear? Obviously not. Isekai is just a sub-genre of fantasy, which is still one of the most popular genres in anime. However, I think we’ll see a shift back towards more traditional fantasy series and fewer isekai series as they become more niche.

In fact, this shift has already begun. Of the 20 seasonal anime I’m watching right now, only one is an isekai while four would be considered more traditional fantasy. Just two years ago, the opposite would have been the case.

Just over a year ago, in the summer of 2019, five of the 26 anime I watched that season, including Arifureta which is pictured above, were isekai. So as you can see, there’s already been a reduction of isekai

Conclusion

While I don’t think the isekai genre is going anywhere, I think it’s become too specialized for a truly great anime to arise from it again. The age of isekai dominance in anime is coming to an end as viewers lose interest in the niche series that have come to fill the genre.

But what do you think? Has there been a great isekai since KonoSuba and Re:ZERO? If so, what is it? And do you think there will be another great isekai in the future? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this discussion, remember to click the like button ❤️ down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Isekai Anime

Isekai Anime

Introduction

The isekai (another world) genre of anime is one of the most abundant due to a constant supply of source material in the form of light novels. This genre involves one or more characters being transported from one world to another with a different set of rules governing it.

There are five main types of isekai: video game, vanilla, suffering, spoof, and reverse. Besides these five main categories, one could argue for a sixth category which I’ll call isekai to isekai.

This sixth category involves characters from one world which is not our own, going to another world which is also not our own. Due to our world as we know it not being involved, I’ve chosen to leave this type off the list, but an example of it would be Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 3rei!!

In general, isekai genre anime tend to send characters from our own world to another world which isn’t really so bad, but as you’ll see there are exceptions to that rule.

Video Game Isekai

Video game isekai are currently the most popular type in the genre. Sword Art Online was one of the first in the sub-genre to become extremely popular even though it’s not actually very good. This popularity can most likely be attributed to the basic plot of the sub-genre.

In video game isekai, as the name suggests, the characters are transported into a video game world, typically based off whatever video game they were playing. The concept of being put into a video game world is one which appeals to a wide-ranging audience which is why it’s so popular.

However, while this may seem like a good thing, keep in mind that the characters tend to be trapped inside these video game worlds for one reason or another. Luckily for the protagonist, this isn’t generally a real issue since they’re completely overpowered compared to anyone and anything else.

Each entry in this genre generally has a slightly different spin on it. In Sword Art Online we were introduced to the concept of, “if you die in the game, you die in real life.” Log Horizon, however, tackled the issue of dying in the game slightly differently by taking your memories as payment for respawning.

Still, there are others such as Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody and Overlord which have not yet explored the cost of dying in their respective worlds.

Speaking of Overlord, while in most isekai the protagonist is a hero who must save the new world they’ve been put into, in Overlord the protagonist is actually a villain who wishes to take over the world. This is just another way to put a spin on the genre.

Finally, because it works well as a transition to the next type of isekai, I’ll mention No Game No Life. This one isn’t exactly a “video game” isekai, but more of a “game” isekai and so doesn’t fully fit in this category. That said, it does involve video games so I didn’t want to put it in the Vanilla category.

Asuna Yuuki from the anime Sword Art Online
Asuna Yuuki (Sword Art Online)

Vanilla Isekai

Vanilla isekai is the type of isekai that’s considered the standard type. While video game isekai are more popular, vanilla isekai are the ones which are true isekai. There’s no virtual game world, simply another world which is typically fantasy (much like the video game ones).

An example of this type is my least favorite isekai, In Another World With My Smartphone. Basically this sub-genre is the same general idea as the video game one, but as I mentioned, doesn’t take place in a video game.

I don’t really think there’s much more to say about this one.

Suffering Isekai

Now we’re getting into what I consider to be the better types of isekai. The suffering isekai sub-genre involves, well, suffering. It’s the type of isekai that isn’t all fun and games.

Normally being transported to another world where there’s magic and mythical creatures would be cool and exciting, but this genre looks at the cruel reality of the other world. Re:ZERO is the best example of this type of isekai and can generally be viewed as the Madoka Magica of isekai.

As Madoka Magica did with the magical girl genre, Re:ZERO deconstructed the isekai genre and looked at how truly horrible it would be in one of these worlds.

Subaru Natsuki from the anime Re:ZERO
Subaru Natsuki (Re:ZERO)

Spoof Isekai

At the opposite end of the spectrum from suffering isekai are spoof isekai. While the suffering sub-genre tends to be more dark and serious, the spoof sub-genre pokes fun at many of the tropes of isekai as a whole.

KonoSuba is the anime I think of when talking about this genre. While typically the protagonist is overpowered in some way in isekai anime, Kazuma and his group in KonoSuba are the most useless adventurers you’ll ever meet.

While I’m sure this series in particular holds up even for those who haven’t really watched isekai before, I would assume the jokes are even better for those who are familiar with the tropes of the isekai genre.

Reverse Isekai

The final type of isekai is the reverse isekai. As you might infer from the name, this sub-genre involves characters from another world coming to our world.

While one of the main examples of this sub-genre I can think of is Re:Creators, I haven’t actually seen that anime so I’ll use Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid instead. In this series, dragons from another world come to our world and live with Miss Kobayashi and her friends.

Although this may not be as enjoyable as the suffering or spoof sub-genres, the reverse isekai is still different enough from the video game and vanilla types to be entertaining.

Conclusion

Currently there is only one isekai I’m watching this season, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online. However, it doesn’t appear to have the whole, “if you die in the game, you die in real life” thing going on.

While I generally don’t find video game or vanilla isekai to be too entertaining, it does seem like I always end up watching them when they come out. What are your thoughts on the isekai genre?