Isekai

Isekai (Japanese: 異世界, transl. "different world" or "otherworld") is a genre of light novels, manga, anime and video games that revolve around a normal person from Earth being displaced, transported to, reborn or otherwise trapped in a parallel universe, fantasy world, or virtual world, where they must adapt and/or assimilate into this new world, along with its new rules, cultures and philosophies. Taking a person from the "real world" and somehow transporting them into the fantasy world allows the audience to learn about the new world at the same pace as the protagonist, which makes the concept appealing for manga and light novel authors. Isekai can include fantasy or science fiction elements, and the term typically refers to Japanese fictional works. It has similarities to accidental travel and portal fantasy stories in young adult literature, prior to Japanese writers eventually coining a single word "Isekai" to sum up these types of stories.

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Often, the protagonist is depicted as already being familiar with the parallel world, as it is a pre-existing fictional universe in their world. It is also common for the parallel world to be unknown to them, as is the case with 'Reverse Isekai' stories such as Sonic X and Isekai Quartet. The new universe can be an entirely different alien world where only the protagonist retains knowledge and has any memory of their former life, as in Saga of Tanya the Evil and Ascendance of a Bookworm. How the protagonist gets there can vary greatly: in some media, they are reincarnated into that world after dying; in others, they are summoned or teleported to that world by accidental or intended reasons, as in the case of Isekai Cheat Magician; or they may unknowingly have walked through a portal connecting two worlds, as in the case of Spirited Away and Inuyasha. In Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, an entire population of humans appeared in the magically created world was transported from Earth and got partially mixed with local dragonlike Heavenly Beings.[1] Isekai may also take place in the virtual world of a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, such as .hack and Digimon, and it may also be one where a formerly virtual world turns into a real one, such as in Log Horizon and Overlord.

Characteristics

The subgenre can be divided into two types "transition into another world" (異世界転移, isekai ten’i) and "reincarnation into another world" (異世界転生, isekai tensei).[2] The former, where the protagonist gets transported to another world (e.g. by traveling into it, or being summoned into it),[2] was more common in earlier works. Whereas the latter, where the protagonist dies in their original world and is then reborn in another world, or inhabits the body of a person already existing in the other world (sometimes swapping places with them), became more common in newer works. The common usage of "truck-kuns" as plot devices in the deaths (and thus reincarnation) of the main protagonist led to a popular internet meme,[3] as well as being parodied in KonoSuba when the main protagonist believed he was killed because he saved someone else from a truck (later revealed to be a slow-moving tractor), and died of shock-induced cardiac arrest instead.

The new world could be a literal new world, such as an alternate planet or fantasy reality; a new-to-the-protagonist world, such as a historical, real-world setting; or a fictional new world, such as the protagonist waking up in a book, film, or video game.

In some works the person being transported is a NEET, shut-in, gamer (as in No Game No Life), or overworked salaryman/woman, who in the new fantasy world, are now are able to succeed through use of their comparatively unimportant-in-real-life genre knowledge or skills, or they may have special skills or equipment, such as a game interface only they can access.[4][5] Their power can range from tremendous magical abilities surpassing anyone else, as in In Another World with My Smartphone,[4] to relatively weak, as in Re:Zero, where the protagonist does not gain any special power beyond the ability to survive death in a type of temporal loop.[6] These common isekai cliches and tropes are often parodied in such works as KonoSuba, where the protagonist Kazuma Satou receives no powers, and is forced to develop as a character in the typical fantasy setting "from the ground up".

While the protagonist of a classic isekai work is usually a "chosen hero", there have been a large number of alternative takes on the concept. One trend is the protagonist inhabiting the body of an unimportant side character, or villain. In Drifters, the people entering the fantasy world are historical generals and other warriors who are more brutal than the inhabitants of the world themselves,[7] and in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, where the protagonist starts as a slime with special abilities rather than a human.[8] Some stories involve people being reincarnated as unusual inanimate objects, like a magical onsen.[9] Others, known as "reverse isekai", follow beings from a fantasy universe who have been transported to or reincarnated on modern-day Earth, including the anime Laidbackers and Re:Creators.[10] There are also some works, referred to as "two-way isekai", in which beings from both modern-day Earth and a fantasy universe interact inside each other's worlds such as GATE and Fushigi Yûgi.

An offshoot of the isekai genre is the "second chance" or "reincarnation" genre, where a protagonist who, upon dying, finds themselves transported, not to a different world and new body, but into their own younger self. With their new knowledge and older intellect, they are able to relive their life avoiding their previous pitfalls.

In many works, isekai overlaps with the harem genre, where the protagonist gains the affections of several potential love interests, who may or may not be human.

History

The concept has origins in ancient Japanese literature, particularly the story of Urashima Tarō, a widely known folk tale in Japan that isekai writers grew up with. It is about the fisherman Urashima Tarō, who saves a turtle and is brought to a wondrous undersea kingdom, but the story has a twist: after spending what he believed to be four to five days there, he returns to his home village only to find himself 300 years in the future.[11] The folk tale was adapted into one of the earliest anime films, Seitaro Kitayama's Urashima Tarō, in 1918.[12] Other precursors to isekai include portal fantasy stories from English literature, notably the novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), Peter Pan (1902), and The Chronicles of Narnia (1950).[11]

Modern Japanese media

Early anime and manga titles that could be classified as isekai include Aura Battler Dunbine (1983 debut),[13] Mashin Hero Wataru (1988 debut) NG Knight Ramune & 40 (1990 debut) Fushigi Yûgi (1992 debut) and El-Hazard (1995 debut), in which the protagonists stayed similar to their original appearance upon entering a different world.[4][14] Other 1990s titles identified as isekai include the novel and anime series The Twelve Kingdoms (1992 debut),[15] the manga/anime/game franchise Magic Knight Rayearth (1993 debut),[15][14] the visual novel adventure game YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World (1996),[16] the manga and anime series InuYasha (1996 debut),[14] and the anime series Now and Then, Here and There (1999 debut).[14] The anime film Spirited Away (2001) was one of the first worldwide known isekai anime films, although the term "isekai" was not commonly used at the time.

The role-playing adventure game Moon: Remix RPG Adventure (1997),[17] and the Digimon Adventure (1999 debut)[14] and .hack (2002 debut) franchises, were some of the first works to present the concept of isekai as a virtual world, with Sword Art Online (2002 debut) following in their footsteps.[18] A popular isekai light novel and anime series in the 2000s was Zero no Tsukaima (2004 debut), where the male lead Saito is from modern Japan and is summoned to a fantasy world by the female lead Louise.[19][14] Another isekai anime series from the 2000s is Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (2002).[14]

Later titles such as Knight's & Magic (2010 debut) and The Saga of Tanya the Evil (2013 debut) involved their protagonists dying and being reincarnated in a different world.[4][20]

The genre eventually became so popular that in 2016, a Japanese short story contest organized by Bungaku Free Market and Shōsetsuka ni Narō banned any isekai entries.[21] The publisher Kadokawa banned isekai stories as well in their own anime/manga-style novel contest in 2017.[22]

Other countries

Isegye (Korean: 이세계; Hanja: 異世界; RR: Isegye), as the genre is known in South Korea, has also grown in popularity with many web novels, webtoons and manhwa being released featuring the same themes. Many of these titles have also been translated and released overseas and have seen levels of popularity similar to Japanese isekai manga and anime.[23] Fusion Fantasy (Korean: 퓨전 판타지; RR: Pyujeon pantaji) is a genre created by fusion of fantasy and wuxia or oriental world, and this is a South Korean term for the Isekai. This was popular in the 2000s.[24]

While the term isekai typically refers to Japanese fictional works, the term has also been applied to modern fictional works from other countries that contain isekai elements. Examples include the Chinese–American film Forbidden Kingdom (2008) starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and the American novel Ready Player One (2011) which was later adapted into a 2018 Hollywood film by Steven Spielberg,[25] Other examples of films with Isekai elements include Tron (1982), Army of Darkness (1992), Super Mario Bros. (1993), Jumanji (1995), Space Jam (1996) and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003).[26] Disney released two critically acclaimed animated television series, Amphibia and The Owl House, that are isekai.[27]

Isekai anime series

In 2017, Goo Ranking conducted a poll in Japan asking people to name their favourite isekai anime of all time. The following were the top fifteen titles.[15]

  1. Spirited Away (2001)
  2. Pop in Q (2016)
  3. Sword Art Online (2012 debut)
  4. Magic Knight Rayearth (1994–1997)
  5. Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World (2016 debut)
  6. The Twelve Kingdoms (2002–2003)
  7. KonoSuba (2016–2017)
  8. World Trigger (2014 debut)
  9. Kyo Kara Maoh! (2004–2009)
  10. Gate (2015–2016)
  11. No Game No Life (2014)
  12. The Boy and the Beast (2015)
  13. Log Horizon (2013 debut)
  14. Restaurant to Another World (2017)
  15. Drifters (2016–2017)

In 2019, Comic Book Resources published their list of the top ten isekai anime of the decade. The following were their top ten titles.[28]

  1. Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World (2016 debut)
  2. KonoSuba (2016–2019)
  3. The Rising of the Shield Hero (2019 debut)
  4. The Devil Is a Part-Timer! (2013)
  5. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2018 debut)
  6. Overlord (2015–2018)
  7. No Game No Life (2014)
  8. Dog Days (2011–2015)
  9. Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They? (2013)
  10. Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious (2019)

See also

References
  1. 秋田禎信 (1 October 2003). これで終わりと思うなよ!. 富士見書房. ISBN 9784829115619 – via Google Books.
  2. "「異世界転生」「異世界転移」のキーワード設定に関して". Shōsetsuka ni Narou (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2019-06-01. Retrieved 2019-06-02.
  3. "Truck-kun". Know Your Meme. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  4. "Hacking the Isekai: Make Your Parallel World Work for You". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  5. "Here's What Would Really Happen If You Were Sent Into a Fantasy World". Anime. Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  6. "'Re:ZERO – Starting Life In Another World – Death Or Kiss' Official Trailer For Visual Novel Released: Upcoming PS4 And PS Vita Game's Screenshots Revealed". The Inquisitr. 2016-12-28. Archived from the original on 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  7. "FEATURE: Head Space - "Drifters" - An Isekai Gone Wrong". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  8. "'Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken' Anime In 2018 Based On 'That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime' Manga-Novel". The Inquisitr. 2018-03-07. Archived from the original on 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  9. "Japanese novel stars boy reincarnated as hot spring that beautiful women want to get inside of". SoraNews24. 2017-02-06. Archived from the original on 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  10. Chapman, Paul. "Heroes Take it Easy in LAIDBACKERS Original Anime Theatrical Film". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  11. "Why Are There So Many Parallel World Anime?". Anime News Network. January 31, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  12. "Two Nine-Decade-Old Anime Films Discovered (Updated)". Anime News Network. 2008-03-27. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  13. Scott (2019-03-01). "(Mecha March) Aura Battler Dunbine – The First Japanese Isekai Story". Mechanical Anime Reviews. Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  14. Loveridge, Lynzee (August 19, 2017). "The List - 8 Anime That Were Isekai Before It Was Cool". Anime News Network. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  15. Amaam, Baam (18 April 2018). "The 15 Greatest Isekai Anime as Ranked by Japan". GoBoiano. Archived from the original on 20 April 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  16. Dennison, Kara (July 30, 2019). "YU-NO Goes Full Isekai with New PV and Cast Additions". Crunchyroll.
  17. Kim, Matt T.M. (5 September 2019). "Cult Classic PS1 'Anti-RPG' Moon Is Coming to the Nintendo Switch in English". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  18. Kamen, Matt (2017-10-02). "Anime: the 10 must-watch films and TV shows for video game lovers". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  19. "10 Anime Like Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?". MANGA.TOKYO. 12 May 2018.
  20. "Knight's & Magic| MANGA.TOKYO". MANGA.TOKYO. Archived from the original on 2018-09-16. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  21. "Short Story Contest Bans 'Traveling to an Alternate World' Fantasy". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  22. "Anime-style novel contest in Japan bans alternate reality stories and teen protagonists". SoraNews24. 2017-05-22. Archived from the original on 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  23. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/columns-and-blogs/soapbox/article/42871-soapbox-stories-to-go.html
  24. 한국 판타지 소설을 돌아보며: [1] [퇴마록]에서 [달빛조각사]까지(1990-2007) (in Korean). Slownews. 2020-01-06.
  25. Ciotola, Massimiliano (14 February 2020). "Isekai: benvenuti nel vostro nuovo mondo". Movieplayer.it (in Italian). Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  26. Epps, De'Angelo (11 January 2020). "10 Non-Anime Movies You Didn't Realize Were Actually Isekai". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  27. "Amphibia vs the Owl House: Compairing Disney's Isekai cartoons". aminoapps.com. March 27, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  28. "The 10 Best Isekai Anime Of The Decade, Ranked". Comic Book Resources. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
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