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Isekai is a genre of anime that refers to stories where the main character is transported into another world. They offer the chance for viewers to feel a sense of escapism as an ordinary character travels to a more fantastical setting, but whether it’s the genericness of that character or the world they’re about to inhabit, anime and non-anime fans alike have come to incorrectly assume too much about the genre.
Much like how not all shonen anime need to be about a young boy gaining new powers and fighting hordes of enemies, not all isekai contain the tropes that many think they do.
10 The Past Life Of The Hero Has No Impact On The Story
At its heart, an isekai is about a troubled character getting the chance to start afresh and forget their woes. It’s an escapist fantasy that many fans in real life would love to experience, but, while it is a trope of the genre, it doesn’t always apply. Anime like Re: Zero or Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation prove that the protagonists’ previous lives have a deeper meaning and affect their personalities and actions going forward.
9 The Hero Will Always Be In The Same Form As Their Past Life
One of the ultimate elements of escapism of an isekai story is the idea that the relatable protagonist can start life anew in an unknown world while retaining their current form, gaining new powers to boot. Not all isekai characters are so lucky, however. Tanya Von Degurechaff from The Saga of Tanya the Evil and Rudeus Greyrat from Mushoku Tensei begin their new lives as infants. Rimruru Tempest from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and Kumoko from So I’m a Spider, So What? both get reincarnated as monsters.
8 Harems And Fanservice Are Common To All Isekai
Many fans get the impression that isekai and harem stories are often interlinked. These are stories where many female characters are all head over heels for the protagonist for ill-defined reasons, and the anime doesn’t hesitate to use copious amounts of fan service.
While examples of isekai in this vein certainly exist, they don’t make up the whole genre. Classic isekai anime like Digimon and Inuyasha buck the trend, and more contemporary examples like Log Horizon and The Saga of Tanya the Evil do the same.
7 All Isekai Are Set In Video Game Worlds
Ever since Sword Art Online, the isekai genre saw a huge boost in popularity, and many stories happened to include the element of being transported directly into the world of a video game. Examples like Sword Art Online and Log Horizon do fall into this category, but there are more that do not. The aforementioned Tanya Von Degurechaff is transported to a pseudo World War 2 setting, while many other isekai like Mushoku Tensei take place in traditional fantasy settings.
6 The Protagonist Will Always Be A Paragon Of Virtue
An isekai hero typically gains wonderous powers, so it’s easy to assume they would become a hero of justice. But, not all isekai protagonists are so pure of heart. Kinji Ninomiya from The Dungeon of Black Company aims to exploit every worker he can to gain riches. Tanya may be fighting for survival, but she also has no trouble with how many soldiers she has killed on the battlefield, and Ainz Ooal Gown from Overlord offers no mercy to his foes while he seeks to control the territories within his reach.
5 Truck-Kun Will Send Heroes To Their New World
Even if an anime viewer isn’t as familiar with the isekai genre, they will have likely heard of Truck-kun. The trope dictates that an anonymous truck driver will kill the protagonist with said vehicle and set the stage for them to be reborn in a new world.
It’s a clichéd but fun trope, but not all isekai use it. Natsuki Subaru vanished under mysterious circumstances, Sato Kazuma from KonoSuba died of shock, and Tanya was pushed in front of a moving train.
4 An Isekai Hero Will Always Be Overpowered
Overpowered protagonists are rampant in modern anime, and a lot of anime watchers assume that the bulk of them come from the isekai genre. While the genre has its fair share of powerful heroes, there is an equal amount of anime with plots about the not-so-strong people. Myne is a sickly young girl in Ascendance of a Bookworm, and Re: Zero spares no expense in reminding the audience of how powerless Subaru is against the supernatural forces of his world.
3 The Protagonists Are Always Generic And Similar To Each Other
Being able to relate to an isekai protagonist is a core part of the genre’s appeal. It explains why a lot of isekai heroes are young, black-haired Japanese men. Yet for every average isekai lead character, there are wildly more unique examples. Shiroe from Log Horizon is a fiercely intelligent tactician, Rimuru Tempest is a literal slime in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Ainz Ooal Gown is a towering Skeleton, and Kumoko is a spider in So I’m a Spider, So What?.
2 All Isekai Anime Are Based On Light Novels
Modern isekai stories tend to have longer, more descriptive names, and that’s because many are based on light novels. The greater emphasis on written dialogue and the cheaper-to-produce medium is likely why many light novel isekai stories are adapted into anime, but they don’t account for the entire genre.
Classic stories like Inuyasha and The Vision of Escaflowne were adapted from manga originally, and while that might be rarer to see nowadays, it proves that isekai do not have to be adapted from light novels.
1 The Demon Lord Will Be The Final Goal Of The Story
At the mere mention of the word isekai, an anime fan might imagine a fantasy town filled with knights, mages, magic, and the threat of a demon lord looming over it all. But the demon lord isn’t the end-all-be-all goal for isekai anime. Genzo Shibata only wants to run his pet shop in Kemono Michi, and in I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, the demon lord even becomes an ally to Azusa Aizawa.
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