What's your favorite sort of anime to watch? Maybe you love anime about games, such as Yu-Gi-Oh! or Hikaru no Go!, or you're into sports anime or even horror anime shows. And of course, many fans are into Shonen action series like Dragon Ball Z or Naruto. Shojo and romance, such as Fruits Basket, help round out anime as a whole.
But there's another biggie: isekai. This genre is based on: what if you found yourself in a new fantasy world, probably with no way back? This is a popular genre for anime, manga, and light novels (LN), and Sword Art Online is one of the biggest names in the genre, along with the newcomer The Rising of the Shield Hero. There are many reasons to enjoy this genre and its themes, but some aspects of isekai have become really cliche. Occasionally, they show their age and are pretty routine, or even annoying. Let's review what makes isekai great, and also think about how isekai needs to be revitalized.
10 Trope that rocks: overthrow the tyrant
One fascinating aspect of isekai is that even when you're in an alternate fantasy world, many real-life problems and crises will exist. Often in isekai, there is a corrupt or downright evil king or queen, tyrant, demon overlord, or cruel god. The people of this world tremble in fear and suffer total oppression.
Isekai has many positive messages to send, and the heroes often stand up to these cruel tyrants and rally the people in a mission to topple them. The lesson is to never stand idly by and allow injustice and evil to prevail. Stand up and fight!
9 Lame trope: animal people
Okay, this isn't that big a deal, and many negative aspects of the isekai genre are simply cliches that need fresh air breathed into them. It could be argued that this genre is starting to coast on its popularity, and it's recycling some material quite often. This includes the townsfolk we meet.
How do you make it clear that the hero is truly in another world? Quick! Give those medieval villagers and townsfolk some cute cat or fox ears, and a tail and little fangs for good measure! That's all it takes, right? Not really. It's pretty lazy by now, and surely manga artists could try another approach. Fortunately, some isekai stories do just that, but not all of them. Seriously, we've had enough cat people for now!
8 Trope that rocks: diversity is human strength
And now for a positive message that is communicated not only in isekai, and not just anime, but most optimistic works of fiction around the globe. You're not alone out there, and your tribe/city/kingdom is not the only one. Why not meet your neighbors, and appreciate them for who they are?
Isekai often sends this message, and the hero may help heal strained relations between kingdoms and humanoid races. Tolerance and unity are key here, and this is especially true in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. With all those fantasy races populating the world, it's nice to see the hero and their friends build some bridges.
7 Lame trope: R-rated comic relief
Anime in general does this, but isekai seems to really like it: perving on girls! Seriously, what's up with that? Not even Megumin, from Konosuba, is exempt. Often, the male lead thinks it's just hysterical to peek up skirts or spy through the bamboo wall dividing the men's and women's baths.
We came all the way to another world, and that's how we're going to act? Surely the hero, who comes from a more advanced civilization, can set a better example than that.
6 Trope that rocks: Hope springs eternal
This is a broad but excellent trope in isekai fiction: the hero inspires hope and courage! Many of isekai's best qualities stem from this, so it ought to be mentioned. When you're rallying the cat-people villagers and recruiting mages, you're also cultivating hope that you will overthrow the king, make peace with the orcs or whatever, and more.
An isekai alternate world is nearly always changed for the better when the hero arrives, and that's because the hero has true grit and always sees the best in things. Even Naofumi, the embittered loner hero of The Rising of the Shield Hero, is a bringer of hope for a better future. And don't even get us started on Rimuru Tempest! That slime has a heart of gold, and then some.
5 Lame trope: haven't we been here before?
Okay, not all isekai series suffer from this issue, but it is quite common. Most often, an isekai series' fantasy setting is a generic medieval European world, and the people's clothing, magic and weapons, buildings, names, and more will reflect this.
So, once you've seen enough isekai anime, the settings might start to run together and blend in your mind, and that's not a good sign. Look at Subaru here walking through a town in ReZero. He could just as easily be in The Rising of the Shield Hero, Sword Art Online, or In Another World with My Smartphone, and we wouldn't know the difference. Let's try a more exotic setting and mix things up.
4 Trope that rocks: go on an adventure!
There is a good reason why we have a genre of fiction named action and adventure. Most often, when the isekai hero steps into a new world, they are not bound by the limitations of wherever they came from. The lead can explore a city, ride a horse-drawn carriage and visit the next nation, explore deep caverns, and even visit a floating city or cross the very ocean.
This may be the most prominent reason why people like isekai: the sheer open nature of it. It's not unlike a "sandbox" video game, where the whole world is yours to roam. While In Another World With My Smartphone is hardly genre-defining, and only 12 episodes long, the hero visits a manor, explores a Japanese-themed battlefield, and even a mysterious, high-tech floating garden tended by an android girl! Now that's worth a few postcards for sure.
3 Lame trope: I have all the power!
Let's talk about In Another World With My Smartphone again. Why the heck does our teenaged lead have a cell phone with him? God himself allowed it, and that phone is heavily enchanted. With it, our young lead can use any spell with utter ease, even obscure magic, and he can teleport whole groups of people without effort.
In a way, this is related to the whole "let's go exploring without limits!" idea, but it can get out of hand. Such an overpowered hero is fine for a one-short or for a parody, but if your entire series is based on "I can do anything, ever", then things get a little dull. Stories aren't just about adventure, they're also about conflict and personal growth through overcoming challenges. That's true for any genre of fiction.
2 Trope that rocks: it's all good fun
Okay, there are some isekai series, such as The Rising of the Shield Hero, that take themselves pretty seriously. That's fine. But many others lean towards humor, even if they aren't a parody like Konosuba is. If we're leaving the old world behind, why not have a party?
Much of the humor comes from the otherwordly hero boldly introducing ideas that are familiar to us, but totally novel for the townsfolk they meet. That, or they practice magic in really unexpected ways! Such an alien hero is going to really clash with the world they're in, but that can be funny instead of tragic. The game-centric No Game No Life is pretty fun, too, as the brother/sister team Blank topple all the opposition and make a name for themselves. Those two are hysterical, even when they don't realize it.
1 Lame trope: just one minor twist
This is a problem with isekai that ties into both the good and bad of the genre. Suppose you have a typical setup: a Japanese teenager or young adult who ended up in a magical medieval Europe setting with cat people and magic and an evil king.
The series needs a big twist and hook to set it apart, and not all isekai series will make a 100% effort. Some, such as That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime, really do set themselves apart. But the only twist for High School Prodigies Have it Easy Even in Another World is: there are seven high schooler heroes in another world who are very smart. As for In Another World With My Smartphone, the title says it all. That magical smartphone really is the only significant twist. Honestly, don't be afraid to experiment with the genre some more, guys! This isekai wheel may need a little more reinventing sometimes.