Ieskai

[Dalisclock]

Would anyone happen to know the old (OLD) video game Another World? Would that one qualify as Isekai, too? It just seems rather different from what is generally referred to with that term.


My pleasure. Giving a shout-out to the channel was part of my motivation.

I never considered Another World an Iskei but I think it may count now that i think about it.

 

[BrawlMan]

Hmm, I don't really remember any of that. I'm gonna have to rewatch Inuyasha sometime.

You'll know when. It's the twist where Kikyo finds out that Naraku is only a half demon. It's why he needs the Shikon jewel; to become a full demon. On the night of a full moon, he's physically falling apart in human form, and has all of the demons surrounding him that he made a pact with. The pact he made when he was Onigumo. The scene happens at night.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Would anyone happen to know the old (OLD) video game Another World? Would that one qualify as Isekai, too? It just seems rather different from what is generally referred to with that term.


My pleasure. Giving a shout-out to the channel was part of my motivation.

Yes, I believe that would count as an isekai. That would also make 'Heart of Darkness' and isekai too. The sci-fi variety is very rare though.

 

[MrCalavera]

Helpful chart:

As for video games:
Simon the Sorcerer, an old point n' click adventure game from the 90s.
Simon is litteraly some dude that finds magical wizard robes and ends up in a fantasy world.
(It also got a remaster recently, but it sucks)

 

[MrCalavera]

Snip

Harems were a thing in anime waaay before isekais

Also, "sex slave" implies the Main Guy will ever have sex, which... Lol lmao

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

(I'm pretty sure the MC from Konosuba has zero powers or special abilities)

True but Konosuba is 'what if Isekai but everyone is a fucking idiot?' comedy aimed at screwing with the isekai tropes.

 

[Dalisclock]

Helpful chart:

As for video games:
Simon the Sorcerer, an old point n' click adventure game from the 90s.
Simon is litteraly some dude that finds magical wizard robes and ends up in a fantasy world.
(It also got a remaster recently, but it sucks)

I just realized that the Narnia books are technically Iskeis. Hell, the 4 kids in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe even have a damn prophecy about them even before they showed up. CS Lewis wrote Christian Iskeis. Holy shit.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Helpful chart:

As for video games:
Simon the Sorcerer, an old point n' click adventure game from the 90s.
Simon is litteraly some dude that finds magical wizard robes and ends up in a fantasy world.
(It also got a remaster recently, but it sucks)

Heeeeeyyyy! Patema Inverted in middle bottom! Good movie. I wouldn't call it an isekai though, it's not about going to a place but about a clash of two groups of people, one normal and the other with reversed gravity.

 

[BrawlMan]

I just realized that the Narnia books are technically Iskeis. Hell, the 4 kids in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe even have a damn prophecy about them even before they showed up. CS Lewis wrote Christian Iskeis. Holy shit.

The idea of going to another world, another realm, alternate time period, etc. is old as literature itself. The only reason it seems "new" to certain people is they are either not pop culture savvy, or only stick to modern/new anime.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

I just realized that the Narnia books are technically Iskeis. Hell, the 4 kids in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe even have a damn prophecy about them even before they showed up. CS Lewis wrote Christian Iskeis. Holy shit.

 

[wings012]

I don't think I inherently hate isekai, but the current trend of how it's done in anime is pretty lazy. The main things I don't like:

1. Shitty Videogame Worldbuilding. I mean if the character is trapped in a videogame, fine I guess. But even in what would be regular fantasy worlds that the character either dimensionally shifted or reincarnated into - a lot of these worlds still run off videogame mechanics. They can 'learn skills' and pull up 'stat pages' and have special gamey 'abilities'. I'm not expecting Lord of the Rings here, but at least have the world function more believably.

2. The "isekai" part doesn't matter. A lot of these are just wish fulfilment, and honestly it might as well not have the whole schtick of the main character come from our world. I feel like if you're going to do an isekai, then something should matter. Either the protagonist brings with him knowledge and skills, which makes their journey atypical from your usual fantasy adventure. Which is basically what the Connecticut Yankee does. Nobunaga no Chef is a manga I really like where the main character's modern cooking skills come into play. Or maybe there should be a plot point regarding returning back to their original world. Which I think was nice when Log Horizon does it. But it usually just looks like the main character's isekai backstory is of very little relevance than to provide an easier wish fulfilment fantasy. They usually just acclimate to their world and might as well have been a local all along as the plot progresses. There's some work that put effort in this. El Hazard concerned itself with dimensional travel and whatnot, and maybe trying to get back. Log Horizon did a videogame plot, but the characters were constantly trying to figure out the mechanics of the world, trying to get back was maybe a future goal and they thought about the implications of the various videogame mechanics such as respawning and whether it would have any effect on themselves and whatnot which was cool.


But yeah, if an isekai is going to please me - it needs better worldbuilding and the whole 'isekai-ing' part mattering more beyond easier self inserting.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

I don't think I inherently hate isekai, but the current trend of how it's done in anime is pretty lazy. The main things I don't like:

1. Shitty Videogame Worldbuilding. I mean if the character is trapped in a videogame, fine I guess. But even in what would be regular fantasy worlds that the character either dimensionally shifted or reincarnated into - a lot of these worlds still run off videogame mechanics. They can 'learn skills' and pull up 'stat pages' and have special gamey 'abilities'. I'm not expecting Lord of the Rings here, but at least have the world function more believably.

2. The "isekai" part doesn't matter. A lot of these are just wish fulfilment, and honestly it might as well not have the whole schtick of the main character come from our world. I feel like if you're going to do an isekai, then something should matter. Either the protagonist brings with him knowledge and skills, which makes their journey atypical from your usual fantasy adventure. Which is basically what the Connecticut Yankee does. Or maybe there should be a plot point regarding returning back to their original world. Which I think was nice when Log Horizon does it. But it usually just looks like the main character's isekai backstory is of very little relevance than to provide an easier wish fulfilment fantasy. They usually just acclimate to their world and might as well have been a local all along as the plot progresses. There's some work that put effort in this. El Hazard concerned itself with dimensional travel and whatnot, and maybe trying to get back. Log Horizon did a videogame plot, but the characters were constantly trying to figure out the mechanics of the world, trying to get back was maybe a future goal and they thought about the implications of the various videogame mechanics such as respawning and whether it would have any effect on themselves and whatnot which was cool.


But yeah, if an isekai is going to please me - it needs better worldbuilding and the whole 'isekai-ing' part mattering more beyond easier self inserting.

Hhm... In 'So I'm a Spider So What' it was clear after a point that the video-game aspect was because of an artificial aspect to the way the world worked in the story (Not that I know the details as I abandoned the series before they could finally get to revealing wtf was going on after hinting at it 7 volumes ago!) For isekai where the isekai matters, 'Ascendance of a Bookworm' and 'How a Realistic Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom' the isekai element is relevant, in the former, the MC introduces a lot of modern technology in her pursuit of books and in the latter the MC was a government employee working in city finances and maintenance which is why he chose to make changes to infrastructure rather than run off and fight a demon lord when he knew nothing of fighting.

As for why most protagonists don't try to get back to our world, "Truck-kun". In a lot of these isekai stories the protagonist ends up in another world after dying, in some cases it's years and years before they could even begin to think of trying to find a way to return to our world so what would even be the point by then? Not that them not feeling any attachment isn't just so the author doesn't have to deal with messy connections, but excuse at least makes sense. 'Ascendance of a Bookworm' actually impressed me by dodging this pitfall by having its MC have a moment where she gets to talk with a memory of her mother and apologize for being such a burden for her.

 

[thestor]

I never considered Another World an Iskei but I think it may count now that i think about it.

Does one bald guy count as a harem if he is sufficiently burly and large?

 

[Gyrobot]

I don't think I inherently hate isekai, but the current trend of how it's done in anime is pretty lazy. The main things I don't like:

1. Shitty Videogame Worldbuilding. I mean if the character is trapped in a videogame, fine I guess. But even in what would be regular fantasy worlds that the character either dimensionally shifted or reincarnated into - a lot of these worlds still run off videogame mechanics. They can 'learn skills' and pull up 'stat pages' and have special gamey 'abilities'. I'm not expecting Lord of the Rings here, but at least have the world function more believably.

2. The "isekai" part doesn't matter. A lot of these are just wish fulfilment, and honestly it might as well not have the whole schtick of the main character come from our world. I feel like if you're going to do an isekai, then something should matter. Either the protagonist brings with him knowledge and skills, which makes their journey atypical from your usual fantasy adventure. Which is basically what the Connecticut Yankee does. Nobunaga no Chef is a manga I really like where the main character's modern cooking skills come into play. Or maybe there should be a plot point regarding returning back to their original world. Which I think was nice when Log Horizon does it. But it usually just looks like the main character's isekai backstory is of very little relevance than to provide an easier wish fulfilment fantasy. They usually just acclimate to their world and might as well have been a local all along as the plot progresses. There's some work that put effort in this. El Hazard concerned itself with dimensional travel and whatnot, and maybe trying to get back. Log Horizon did a videogame plot, but the characters were constantly trying to figure out the mechanics of the world, trying to get back was maybe a future goal and they thought about the implications of the various videogame mechanics such as respawning and whether it would have any effect on themselves and whatnot which was cool.


But yeah, if an isekai is going to please me - it needs better worldbuilding and the whole 'isekai-ing' part mattering more beyond easier self inserting.

Maybe better idea is to have WOTC take a stab at the genre and give it the critical role treatment and excise the problematic issues associated with Isekai

And better yet can a mod please move the topoc

 

[BrawlMan]

Square's Forspoken & Stranger's Paradise are both Isekai. Old books such as John Carter of Mars & Carson of Venus are the same genre, except they're on different planets.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Squares Forspoken in Stranger's Paradise are both Isekai. Old books such as John Carter of Mars & Carson of Venus are the same genre, except they're on different planets.

I feel like there needs to be some king of line for this. If just being in a place with people of a different culture is all it takes then Dances With Wolves is an isekai. Further, stories about someone moving to a new town would also be an isekai.

 

[BrawlMan]

I feel like there needs to be some king of line for this. If just being in a place with people of a different culture is all it takes then Dances With Wolves is an isekai. Further, stories about someone moving to a new town would also be an isekai.

That's the thing though: all four of those stories I mentioned, they're on completely different worlds. Therefore it counts. Two of those games have a character that's from "our world" and goes into a fantasy world. That's straight up Isekai right there. The same applies to John Carter and Carson. Both are from planet Earth. One gets transported to Mars and the other gets transported to Venus. John Carter is a former Confederate soldier from Virginia. For further irony, while John only has one love interest he cares about, there are girls that follow him, because of his strength, kindness, and warrior spirit. He even predates the shounen protagonist in that they're unaware of how much other women love them. Oblivious to other women's love and all that. He does at least let them down gently and lets the ladies know he's already in love with somebody else. The books are also known for having badass women. Ironic, because John Carter the character himself, is almost a blank slate, yet all the female characters have more characterization than him (male power fantasy and all that). The good thing about the later books is that it's less focused on him and more focused on other protagonists. He'll show up every now and then, but he's not the main focal point of the later stories. Really, only the first three books involve John at all.

I find it funny that the John Carter books have more going on than most going on in another world stories from different anime, manga, or light novels. Another irony, is that without John Carter and Flash Gordon, there would be no Star Wars.

 

[BrawlMan]

Dances with Wolves definitely does not count, as it takes place on the same, planet, land mass, country, and state.

 

[Dalisclock]

Does one bald guy count as a harem if he is sufficiently burly and large?

Depends on how much you read into his Alien buddy being his "buddy". No judgements. Your headcannon is your own.

<<Yo Buddy, Still alive?>>

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Side note. This is exactly the kind of thread we've been missing for a while, no politics or big ideas or analyzing the human condition, just nerds debating pointless nerd shit!

(Edit: Freaking auto correct)