Isekai

Isekai(Japanese:Dị thế giớitransl. 'different world', 'another world', or 'other world') is asubgenreofportal fantasy.It includesnovels,light novels,films,manga,anime,andvideo gamesthat revolve around adisplacedperson or people who are transported to and have to survive in another world, such as afantasy world,game world,orparallel universewithout the possibility of returning to their original world. Isekai is one of the most popular genres of anime, and isekai stories share many common tropes – for example, a powerful protagonist who is able to beat most people in the other world by fighting. Thisplot devicetypically allows the audience to learn about the new world at the same pace as the protagonist over the course of theirquestor lifetime.If the main characters are transported to a game-like world, the genre can overlap withLitRPG.

The concept of isekai started inJapanese folktales,such asUrashima Tarō.However, the first modern isekai works wereHaruka Takachiho's novelWarrior from Another WorldandYoshiyuki Tomino's television seriesAura Battler Dunbine.

Characteristics

The genre can be divided into two types: "transition into another world"(Dị thế giới 転 di,isekai ten'i)and "reincarnation into another world"(Dị thế giới 転 sinh,isekai tensei).In "transition into another world" stories, the protagonist gets transported to another world (e.g. by traveling into it, or being magically summoned into it).In "reincarnation into another world" stories, the protagonist is sent into another world after dying in the real world. A common method of death is being run over by a truck and dying, spawning the meme of "Truck-kun",a truck which appears in many isekai series that kills the protagonist and the protagonist reincarnates into a different world.

In many examples, the main character is an ordinary person who thrives in their new environment thanks to modern things in the real world being seen as "extraordinary" in the other world. This can be physical characteristics, such as hair or eye color, or normal everyday skills they learned in their previous life such as cooking, engineering, basic education, or medicine, which are far more advanced in the modern, real world than in the world they are sent to.InSorcerous Stabber Orphen,an entire population of humans appear in the magically created world, transported from Earth, and are partially mixed with local dragonlike Heavenly Beings.

While the protagonist of a classic isekai work is usually a "chosen hero", there have been a number of alternative takes on the concept. One trend is the protagonist reincarnating into the body of an unimportant side character, or even a villain (as inMy Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!,The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen,andVillainess Level 99). Another is being transported to another world without dying (such as inHow a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom,Chillin' in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers,I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too,Battle Girls: Time Paradox,andKuma Kuma Kuma Bear) or while close to death (as inSaving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement). In some works, the protagonist is an adult reincarnated in a new world as a child with special powers (such as inChronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World,Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs,As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I'll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World,The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat,andFluffy Paradise), or is reborn in a new world with special powers, but no changes to their appearance (such as inIn Another World with My SmartphoneandFarming Life in Another World). There are even instances of protagonists becoming inhuman creatures with special abilities, such as inThat Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime,where the protagonist reincarnates as a slime monster;I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level,where the protagonist reincarnates as an immortal witch;So I'm a Spider, So What?,where the protagonist reincarnates as a spider monster; or even sentient objects, such asa swordora vending machine.

Others, known as "reverse isekai", follow beings from a fantasy universe who have been transported to or reincarnated into modern-day Earth, including the animeRe:Creators.

An offshoot of the isekai genre is the "second chance" or "reincarnation" genre in which the protagonist, upon dying, is transported not to a different world or 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.Another offshoot of the genre includes the "slow life" approach, where the protagonist was overworked in their previous life, so decides to take it easy in the next.Another offshoot is where the protagonist uses the new world to explore an interest, hobby, or goal they had in the previous world but were unable to achieve, such as studying or opening a business, like inRestaurant to Another World.

In many works, isekai overlaps with theharemandLitRPGgenres, where the protagonist gains the affection of several potential love interests, who may or may not be human. One example of this isHarem in the Labyrinth of Another World.

Writing for theJournal of Anime and Manga Studies,Paul Price in his article "A Survey of the Story Elements of Isekai Manga" argues for the existence of four kinds of isekai, based onFarah Mendlesohn's framework of organizing fantasy: "portal-quest", where the protagonist enters the isekai via some kind of portal (Price citesDeath March to the Parallel World Rhapsodyas an example); "immersive", where no such portal exists and all the action takes place in the other world (Slayers); "intrusion", which are akin to reverse isekai in which the fantastic enters the real world (The Devil Is a Part-Timer!); and "liminal", where the portal becomes a liminal space where the real world and the isekai mix (Restaurant to Another World).

History

The concept of isekai has antecedents in ancientJapanese literature,particularly the story of a fishermanUrashima Tarō,who saves a turtle and is brought to a wondrous undersea kingdom. After spending what he believed to be four to five days there, Urashima returns to his home village only to find himself 300 years in the future. Other precursors to isekai includeportal fantasystories fromEnglish literature,notably the novelsAlice's Adventures in Wonderland(1865),A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court(1889),The Wonderful Wizard of Oz(1900),Peter Pan(1904), andThe Chronicles of Narnia(1950).

Modern media

See also:List of isekai works

The earliest modern Japanese isekai stories includeHaruka Takachiho's novelWarrior from Another World(1981),Tatsunoko ProductionCBNcollaborativeChristiananimeSuperbook(1981), andYoshiyuki Tomino's animeAura Battler Dunbine(1983).The earliest isekai anime to involve the protagonist being trapped in thevirtual worldof a video game was the filmSuper Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!(1986), based on the hit video gameSuper Mario Bros.(1985); the anime film adaptation involvesMarioplaying a video game that comes to life, making it an ancestor of the "trapped in a video game" subgenre of isekai.

Other early anime and manga titles that could be classified as isekai includeMashin Hero Wataru(1988 debut),NG Knight Ramune & 40(1990 debut),Fushigi Yûgi(1992 debut),El-Hazard(1995 debut), andThe Vision of Escaflowne(1996 debut), in which the protagonists stayed similar to their original appearance upon entering a different world.Other 1990s titles identified as isekai include the novel and anime seriesThe Twelve Kingdoms(1992 debut),the manga/anime/game franchiseMagic Knight Rayearth(1993 debut),thevisual noveladventure gameYU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World(1996),the manga and anime seriesInuyasha(1996 debut), and the anime seriesNow and Then, Here and ThereandDigimon Adventure(both 1999 debut).Spirited Away(2001) was one of the first isekai anime films known worldwide, although the term "isekai" was not commonly used at the time.

Therole-playingadventure gameMoon: Remix RPG Adventure(1997),and theDigimon Adventure(1999 debut) and.hack(2002 debut) franchises, were some of the first works to present the concept of isekai as a virtual world, withSword Art Online(2002web noveldebut) following in their footsteps,though this categorization has been disputed,including by theseries' creator.Another isekai anime series from the 2000s isMagical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi(2002).

A popular isekai light novel and anime series in the 2000s wasThe Familiar of Zero(2004 debut), where the male lead Saito is from modern Japan and is summoned to a fantasy world by the female lead Louise.The Familiar of Zeropopularized the isekai genre inweb novelandlight novelmedia, along with the websiteShōsetsuka ni Narō( "Let's Become Novelists" ), known as Narō for short.The Familiar of Zerofan fictionbecame popular on Narō during the late 2000s, eventually spawning a genre of isekai novels on the site, which became known as Narō novels.The Familiar of Zerofan fiction writers eventually began writing original isekai novels, such asTappei Nagatsukiwho went on to createRe:Zero(2012 debut). The 2012 anime adaptation ofSword Art Onlinepopularized the isekai genre in anime, which led to more isekai web novels being published on Narō and a number of Narō novels being adapted into anime. It was around this time that the term "isekai" was coined.

Later titles such asKnight's & MagicandThe Saga of Tanya the Evil(both 2010 debut) involved their protagonists dying and beingreincarnatedin a different world.The most influential isekai novel in that regard wasMushoku Tensei(2012 debut), which began as a Narō novel and popularized the reincarnation sub-genre of isekai while establishing a number of common isekai tropes.Mushoku Tenseiwas the most popular Narō novel for a number of years, and thus served as a point of reference for numerous isekai writers that followed.

The isekai genre became so popular during the early- and mid-2010s that it started to generate backlash, both in Japan and overseas, from those who felt that it was overcrowding the greater manga and anime market. In 2016, a Japanese short story contest organized by Bungaku Free Market and Shōsetsuka ni Narō placed a blanket ban on any entries involving isekai.The publisherKadokawabanned isekai stories as well in their own anime/manga-style novel contest in 2017.In May 2021, Kadokawa announced they would open an "Isekai Museum" in July of the same year.In 2024, the wordisekaiwas added to theOxford English Dictionary.

See also

• Accidental travel
• Chuanyue
• Dream world
• LitRPG
• Magic realism
• Xianxianovel

External links

• The History of Isekai Fantasy Novels—Book OffOnline(in Japanese)