Will isekai become the best genre?

[pikokola]

what is best genre?
a decade with nothing but isekai? don't be ridiculous, we will always have precure every season.
when was last time we got no isekai? when was last time we got no gundam? ain't nobody call mecha the best genre. or idol, cgdct, harem, yuri, sports, there are a hell lots of genre which always have representation every season for decades.

finally seeing an isekai done well

you must be new if you think japan wouldn't deliberately not animate the good thing.

isekai genre to compare and measure quality

isekai? measuring quality? what are you talking about? what is a genre have to do with quality?
nobody on 00s compare yuri anime to shounen just because shounen.

as the community holds them in such high regards?

which community hold isekai with such high regards?

Is it impossible? Are we already there?

what is the reason that isekai wouldn't be just your usual common trope? like cgdct? late 00s to early 10s it was cgdct everywhere (blame k-on), nowadays not that much. once vn adapted tear jerker are rampant too (blame key, but to be honest these also brings harem to another level of exposure), then idol. Heck, culture-reference gag parody was once have it's time too in mid 00s (lucky star, sayonara zetsubou sensei, hayate no gotoku)
just because they're currently in hype doesn't means it's special. it's just that the industry found an untapped material (read: amateur novel) in hype. when those are run dry and the good things are rare again, it'll shift over to other like usual.

 

[Ashenhawk]

I mean it's just a change in trends. The space/robot craze died down...then adventure fell off (not sure if I should put shonen craze via one vs one battles like dbz, yuyu hakusho, and the like before adventure or not lol)...followed by the slice of life hype...now it's isekai (I'm generalizing hard, but you get the point). Granted, varying degrees of each remain, but like all things, they follow the ebb and flow of popularity. Isekai too will be replaced by the next big thing. If you think about it, you could say the slice of life with 2-4 girls hype hasn't died down quite yet either.

The biggest reason it's getting a lil stale for me is isekai didn't always follow such a limiting trend before. Now, they are sticking more to the "die and get an op power immediately without building it up in another world and/or harem" as @deerafl said in the 3 ways of having a second life. I can look past that a lil bit out of interest for what the world is like, but sometimes this can be hard.

I stuck with Inuyasha for example, since I'm a youkai nut and really enjoy seeing them...drama love triangles aside lol.

Anyway, I feel like it certainly won't become the best genre/pedestal to look up to, but it will stick around for a bit for sure like all the rest.

 

[BzzBzz]

> Will isekai become the best genre?

Define "best".

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

You know the genre is having problems when Parallel Paradise is one of the Isekais with one of the better plots relatively.

 

[May_Lily]

How so? There are a ton of stories in each genre, Isekai included, and most are mediocre. It's quite like with seasons of television. Most of what you see are going to be average with only a few good ones that show up. For this reason what we are seeing within Isekai sub genre is something that is typical problem with media in general, and that is a focus on quantity over quality.

Also, I have seen Isekai stories with better plots then the one you mention. In fact one of the anime adaptations I am watching this season is an Isekai with a plot I can get behind

 

[josmaker2mk]

@dandan_the_dandan well .... glad for you. i cant put up with harem, so it is not a priority of mine.
@may_lily i read that one. it was good.

I have read some isekais since i discovered that i could read manga online, actually. The biggest part are pure rubbish, and you need to look for carefully to find something really worth-reading. But sometimes you just find it (i just happen to be a bit picky, i know. I dont like harems, or free boobs everywhere, and prefer a nice story in which the mc is not an overpowered imbecil)

But actually, i dont care at all about the boobs. just hate harems, i think XD

 

[May_Lily]

I plan to read Ascendance of a Bookworm perhaps later in the year. It's such a promising series.

 

[Tamerlane]

I can put up with harem if it follows the rules of the universe and if everyone consents to it. Honestly, if that many girls fall for you, it's probably best to break the news to them then to start unnecessary conflict and just be like "either I'm going to have to go with everyone because the rest of you will kill me or I have to choose none of you because the rest of you will kill me. Anyone who wants to leave now can go." @josmaker2mk

 

[DANDAN_THE_DANDAN]

Anyways now that I got some time...

The topic people seem to point out is that the isekai boom is just a fad. But isn't that the same as my definition of "isekai getting accelerated development"? A fad is basically a lot of isekai coming out frequently and my observation that leads me to this accelerated thing is basically that. And yes, all fads will die out, but will isekai become a better genre by the end of that fad?

Two new points, one I forgot to put in the original and another someone else pointed out.

1. The standards for isekai has been raised. This will essentially weed out generic/badly written or adapted isekais (in an ideal world where the anime gods would give season 2 to NGNL rather than handing the same studio that ruined Arifureta its second season; but hey, at least theoretically it works). This will bring out more unique isekais, granted, uniqueness ≠ greatness but most great isekais are unique, most. And even if this is not the case (i.e. Slime Tensei),

2. Authors will be able to learn how to better use tropes by observing other's failures (ideally, but hey it works in theory).

On a sidenote,

Spoiler

can we please force Japanese LN authors to make more reverse-isekais? That's like my favourite subgenre aside from scifi-fantasy. I may be biased here, but the only two that makes somewhat of an impact for the subgenre, and that I recognize, are Re: Creators and Devil is a Part-Timer. I know there's that Problem Children are Coming from Another World but idk if that's good or not cause I haven't watched it - and those three are the only reverse-isekais that I know...

P.s. @BzzBzz

> Will isekai become the best genre?

Define "best".

Being well-written and charming enough that you will remember positively about the title. That's it. With respect to the genre, I'm talking about more and more isekais becoming "good" that at every season you can count more good isekais than bad.

Talking about that, this season we're having five isekais and only one of them is trash meanwhile the remaining four are relatively spectacular by their own rights...

Spoiler

Best way to predict this, honestly, is just to see if the next season's lineup of isekai are good or not.

Spoiler

Out of curiosity, I'm checking out livechart.me early and oh hey 5Toubun is getting a season 2. Wonder if they're gonna get to that scene with Nino or not... Ooh and Isekai Quartet s2! Oh and Nekopara TV adaptation wow, and another addition to Railgun huh. Oh yeah and Madoka Magica spinoff I'm definitely watching that. And looks like Yuru Camp sequel cool. There are also plenty of series I've heard good things of like the Toilet Shota Ghost and Plunderer, also moe MMO with shield hero blob of cuteness. Anyways,

Oh my gosh. Guys...

There are no isekais next season.

I'm gonna check the season after that.


Yeah... There's that otome isekai I was talking about in the first post right there near the top. Looks like we're only getting a single season free from isekai.

 

[Spica]

@DANDAN_THE_DANDAN

Being well-written and charming enough that you will remember positively about the title. That's it. With respect to the genre, I'm talking about more and more isekais becoming "good" that at every season you can count more good isekais than bad.

So, it's best in reader point of view. In my opinion, average isekai story is flawed as they always came to a world which was worse than their world. Modern technology answers past problem, and these people came back to old civilizations just to slapped them in the face and told them, "Hey, there's this easy solutions." Technology always develops alongside the needs and capabilities of its people. If there's freeze magic or sustain magic, it's impossible for them not to have freezer or such with same purpose.

I really like Overlord, and in the beginning the MC said that there's no need for the technology to advance as they had magic to compensate things (on LN), and the writer had chosen the technology to be kept in the medieval era. Another example is from Nazi Loli Youjo Senki as they researched a way to enhanced their magic using technology.

The other common Isekai story is the OP MC. By Deus Ex Machina, all these people got skill(s) when they died and become the demiurge of the otherworld. Beings that were to destroy or to create ex nihilo using their power(s) because the gods there are lazy or stupid yes, Aqua. It's you, which was okay but lackluster as usually it took MC's ability to struggle.

Lastly, the most common Shoujo Isekai type is the Antagonist MC type as MC as they struggle to overturn the "fate" the supposedly had. Usually they didn't have any OP powers and need to struggle and gives the "zero to hero" vibes. In my opinion, this was the most okay isekai story though it's prone to fall into "bringing modern technology to medieval era using magic" which was flawed as I had stated above.

This doesn't mean I hate Isekai story. I read tons of them, sometimes watch, and I think overall it's not depends on Isekai tag. There's other shitty story from other tags without isekai, and I think it's fair. If we want to see it from Anime perspective (as this post was made in Anime section), yes, it gonna be better as right now the market is overflowed, and (hopefully) they would choose best of the best Isekai story. I'm positive it would get better from now on.

TL;DR Isekai story are flawed. Good story are not define by its genre, but rather the depth of background, the consistency of stories and logic behind them, and character buildings thorough the story. Without any of these, at most it can only be a gag manga or trashy one. Anime wise, I'm hoping they choose good Isekai story rather than the shitty one, as there's more shitty one than the good one.

P.S. Sorry for bad grammar.

 

[pikokola]

1. The standards for isekai has been raised.

by whom?
I still prefer 12 kingdoms than every isekai come out in the past decade. it's saying something that the current era of mass produced stuff can't top what come out almost 2 decade ago and that thing is even plagued with bad start and incomplete story, yet somehow it's story is still unforgettable in a good way... Imagine if rimuru start as annoying edgy emo slime (like benimaru before named) then end it where milim about to fight caldibis... that series won't survive.
standards for isekai has been raised? I'll take the first season dog days and zero no tsukaima everyday compared to the likes of genius highschooler, kenja no mago, or isekai cheat magician, those two could be said as the pioneer of current OP MC trope and come before OP MC isekai booming post SAO.
It's not that the standard has been raised, the standard for current wave of isekai is shit that even anything borderline decent series like average abilities looks almost like a masterpiece.

2. Authors will be able to learn how to better use tropes by observing other's failures (ideally, but hey it works in theory).

what stopping authors from simply switch to another fad tropes when the fad ends?
Also, let's just be honest, current isekai fad is fueled by web novels from amateur novelist. All of these are mostly escapism using easier way out. It's not particularly lazy, it's just easier to attribute everything to "it's knowledge from unknown (another world in this case)" than creating in depth background.
expecting that the amateur world would suddenly getting better is wishful thinking.

I mean, just look at isekai which comes out this year, now name more than 3 which inherently need isekai trope for the story to works.
most current decade isekai are playing with premise of somebody with advanced knowledge using those knowledge to have an edge on undeveloped world.
other than that it's cheat ability bonus from god.
It's relatively easy to take out those knowledge from another world part and replace them with sage's knowledge or other source of knowledge, heck even simple clairvoyance ability would do for those reincarnated to otoge stuff, it's lazy but not worse than giving cheatsheet to the future just because MC is reincarnated.
RPG-like setting is just another form of power level race. "I'm lvl 9999 so I'm strongest", I wonder if there are no other way to describe somebody as strong except from having high level, surely not, right?
Also, attributing the power from cheat bonus to another source other than god blessing isn't a rocket science, most marvel's character did that, they even have variation.

so, if the trope could be is easily dismissed when the fad over, what stopping anybody to move on?

 

[walczyk]

Lol, this thread

 

[Sahkuh]

I wonder how many more themes of isekai are going to be created. Already we see, handyman/farmer in another world, I got a smartphone in another world, I got amazon in another world etc etc. Hell, there is even I'm a prostitute and AV star in another world.

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

Isekai sadly is the current dumping ground for Talentless HacksAmateur Writers to mass produce their Garbagenovel works in.
The genre doesn't have any internal problems that would require it to be bad, as there are certainly very great stories, but due to it being a popular, more than 90% of it is an insult to the trees the paper it was printed on.
We'll just have to wait until the genre changes to the next big thing, so the remaining Isekai stories can be done because of the author actually liking them.

Isekai atm is the equivalent of the bargain bin supermarket romance novels

 

[Sahkuh]

Isekai sadly is the current dumping ground for Talentless HacksAmateur Writers to mass produce their Garbagenovel works in.
The genre doesn't have any internal problems that would require it to be bad, as there are certainly very great stories, but due to it being a popular, more than 90% of it is an insult to the trees the paper it was printed on.
We'll just have to wait until the genre changes to the next big thing, so the remaining Isekai stories can be done because of the author actually liking them.

Isekai atm is the equivalent of the bargain bin supermarket romance novels

Yeah, it's certainly the equivalent of soul/junk food

 

[Dwarfy2k]

Isekai sadly is the current dumping ground for Talentless HacksAmateur Writers to mass produce their Garbagenovel works in.
The genre doesn't have any internal problems that would require it to be bad, as there are certainly very great stories, but due to it being a popular, more than 90% of it is an insult to the trees the paper it was printed on.
We'll just have to wait until the genre changes to the next big thing, so the remaining Isekai stories can be done because of the author actually liking them.

Isekai atm is the equivalent of the bargain bin supermarket romance novels

Basically this, for every ok isekai series theres like 30 that are garbage tier and good isekai is exceptionally rare. Theres a reason newer series end after 3volumes and the only long term ones are the older ones from like 2016 cause it was still "fresher" as a genre then.

 

[Nico_Robin1]

I really don't think so, a few years ago it seemed very promising but nowadays all the isekai have become super repetitive. They only change a couple of things but they are practically all the same.

 

[mrfruitsalad]

No. And never will be in a million years.

 

[mrfruitsalad]

Transmigration or Regression or Possession under the right care and braincells put into it will outclass most isekai genre anime, and I hate all of them mention above.

 

[TestAddress]

Isekai will be wiped out of the trope because it is actually fantasy pure and simple. More like a dead man's fantasy after death.

It is equally analogous to cartoons being anime. Slowly everything is becoming anime because it sells.