To be fair, the main appeal of isekai is a person from our world having to adjust to suddenly living in a fantasy world, and applying their knowledge from our world to the fantasy world in some way, which is completely lost if you just make it a straight fantasy. I do agree that there are way too many isekais, most of them copy/pastes of each other, and there are other ways of setting up a similar scenario that don't just use the default isekai setting. Kekkai Sensen for example is a good example of the 2 worlds merging trope which often allows for a lot of the same sort of story beats as isekai but going both ways and with a lot more flexibility.

[–] IdleSheep@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

In my experience this only lasts for the initial arc at best and then the protagonist becomes fully integrated in the world and is no different than someone already living there, with all subsequent arcs receiving no benefit from having someone from another world. The vast majority of isekai make no effort to integrate the protagonist's experience from another world into the plot and instead rush to sweep it under the rug.

There are of course exceptions to the rule but the vast majority of isekai I come across is as I described above.

[–] Laticauda@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah 99% of isekais suck and don't use the genre to it's full potential in that regard, but that's what the general appeal of the genre is supposed to be to most people and why they might choose it over a standard fantasy. Most popular/highly rated isekais do usually utilize this aspect to a reasonable degree afaik.

[–] Khotetsu@lib.lgbt 1 points 1 year ago

This is something I have a real love/hate relationship with in Overlord. In the books, we get to see a lot more of what's going on in Momonga's head and how his experience as an average salary worker affects his decisions in his new role as an all powerful lich and the dichotomy of how he perceives himself vs how the people of the world perceive him, which is really cool and fleshes out him as a character and the world a lot more. But then people in the new world will casually throw video game terms into their speech like "putting levels into x class," and it really throws me out of the world.

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[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

My favorite isekai is a live action, American sci-fi show called Farscape.

[–] Malgas 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You should check out the isekai light novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 year ago

I was going to mention a concussion is traditional.

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[–] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Honestly isekai really only covers the first chapter or so. After that it's just another {progression} fantasy. It's a way to shortcut the Campbellian structure of these types of stories. You skip past the call to adventure, the initial rejection of the call and the hero leaving their old life and go straight to the new, unfamiliar and dangerous world.

[–] Granixo@feddit.cl 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Damn, bro got exiled to the Shadow Realm.

[–] alternative_factor@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 year ago

I used to hate isekai until I learned about slice of life Isekai which is peak fiction such as: "Uncle from another world" "Isekai Izakaya (Japanse pub)" "reincarnated as a vending machine" "Restaurant to Another World" "Ascendance of a bookworm" etc, etc, and on into infinity. If you have something you like as a slice of life series, there is probably a pretty okay isekai version of it.

[–] Ashelyn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 year ago

I'd watch an isekai about someone getting tossed into Shaper's Realm

[–] Vyllenor@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 year ago

The funniest was when bullies gave MC swirlies and he got sucked in

[–] koko@ani.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

someone needs to make an isekai where mc is alone and constantly under threat, oh wait that's real life lol

[–] KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

that would be nice: An isekai where someone is pulled from a fantasy world into our crapsack reality.

[–] ichmagrum@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago

That kinda exists though. e.g. Devil is a part timer, Jahy-sama won't be discouraged. Though they don't entirely transform into regular nonmagical people; but I bet that also exists somewhere - there's an incredible amount of mangas and light novels.