Forum - View topicThis Week in Anime - Are This Season's Isekai Anime Any Good?
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b-dragon
Posts: 500 |
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"Editor's Note: No" made me laugh far more than it probably should have. I blame my own sleep deprivation.
Also, and sorry for being pedantic, but "complexation" should probably be "complexion". Unless I'm missing the joke- which is very possible (see the aforementioned sleep deprivation.) |
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Terraziel
Posts: 79 |
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I think I've run out of the energy needed to be bothered by the low imagination isekai dross that comes out each season. Actually legitimately "Good" isekai was always rare, but even the "Alright" ones used to have at least some sense of identity. By the Grace of the Gods is about a old man turned child opening a chain of launderettes and it still has more going for it than the stuff of late.
Is it simply that they have run through all the isekai with even the barest minimum of charm? |
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Eilavel
Posts: 136 |
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Re:Monster is exploitative garbage, but at least it knows that. Really, the best you can say for most of these is they aren't pretending to be anything other than basic wish fulfillment fantasies. At least none of them are going to generate reams of text suggesting the unpleasant MC is actually a deep character study.
Really, I think the question is what isekai shows actually took advantage of the format? Which shows benefit from being isekai as opposed to just fantasy (or just not made...)? Escaflowne keeps the lead firmly an outsider the whole time, and this seems the logical way to go. Log Horizon doesn't really go anywhere with it, but it at least tries to take seriously what "transformed to the game world" would mean on a social level. On the other end of the scale, theres stuff like Slime or Faraway Paladin where the isekai element is so irrelevant you could essentially forget it for episodes at a time. Although these are also better than when they refer to it constantly just to make clear how very special they are. Not that theres anything wrong with light entertainment- I'm not saying I've never watched any Isekai- but is the set up so interesting we need 9 shows in it this season, none of which will hold a candle to the straightforward fantasies of Frieren and Dungeon Meshi? |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24249 |
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Out of the 20 newly premiered shows I'm currently following, only three are isekai-themed.
KonoSuba 3 is an isekai, but one that is intended to parody the isekai genre so not sure if that counts. It's good. A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics is a reverse isekai in that it's about characters from another world who come to ours. Assuming it counts, it's decent. New Gate starts off as a "trapped in a VR game" fantasy setting but then seems to morph into an isekai. I am far from wowed but willing to give it an episode or two more. Personally, I think it's a bit early to be doing a feature on whether or not this season's isekai are good or not. Eh, maybe wait for three episodes or so? Otherwise this basically becomes an isekai preview guide. |
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Andrew Cunningham
 Posts: 527 Location: Seattle |
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I'd argue 7th Prince is a parody of OP protagonist shows, but I didn't actually work that out until the second episode because serious OP protagonist shows are so unflinchingly ridiculous it didn't actually succeed in being substantially sillier. Then he made an extra mouth in his hand so he could cast twice as hard.
It's also not isekai at all (he's reincarnated in the same world), and easily the best narou-kei show since...well, Mushoku Tensei. A protagonist with an actual personality! Both girls have been a ton of fun! The second one doughtnuted an orc with her face, what more do you want in life? And the third girl you object to here is just a blatant copy of Arakiya from Re: Zero. |
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Saeryen
 Posts: 1010 |
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Yeah, I’m not watching any isekai this season. No shoujo stuff and not even an iyashikei sort of thing like By the Grace of the Gods.
I might take the opportunity to watch last season’s 7th Time Loop, but I would want to finish my Yumeiro Patissiere rewatch first. Also, Himitsu no AiPri (which isn’t licensed, boo) is sort of isekai? She goes to another world to do idol singing, but she does come back every time, so I don’t know? I am of course watching that one, and on that note since Idol Time PriPara is on CR there could hopefully be talk of if that one counts as isekai, similar concept to AiPri and that one even has a struggle for the other world’s future. |
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
Posts: 1037 |
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7th Prince is fun. Protagonist is deeply unhinged but in a cute and funny way and not a "let's enslave these cute catgirls" kind of way.
One detail in regards to his death that the anime left out is that he deliberately provoked a noble specifically so he could feel the rush of being executed by magical means. Actual psychopath behavior and I love it |
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Dr. Wily
Posts: 385 |
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This may be the hardest I've laughed at one of these columns, or indeed, this whole site, so bravo, guys. And if I had to describe the style on that 7th Prince character style I would say "Made In Abyss but with the "generic" dial turned up a few notches". Does definitely make me feel like I'd be on a list for downloading a pic, sorry Lucas. But yeah, this year's crop feels pretty disappointing. Usually I can enjoy a few isekai like I do popcorn with extra butter (I like it even if I know it's bad for me ultimately) but nothing really stands out. Maybe later in the season, one of these will get a ton of praise and I'll revisit it but for now, I definitely won't be checking any isekai out. ...Well, except for my beloved Konosuba but that's a returning show and a totally different breed than anything else here. Last edited by Dr. Wily on Thu Apr 18, 2024 11:28 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Jabootu
Posts: 283 |
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I realize that objectively it's not up there with Mushoku Tensei, Slime or Konasuba, and also that it's a continuation from last season. However, I feel obliged to at least mention Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy is still playing. It's solidly in the second tier of Isekais and a show that greatly entertains me every week. Amazing what fun, likable characters and a bit of sharp writing can do.
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Minos_Kurumada
Posts: 1194 |
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I always found hilarious how the best isekai are the ones that either parody the genera or reject every trope an isekai should have.
I mean, HeroAca its distilled action shounen to its purest core and its awesome, Skip and Loafer is slice of life distilled and its awesome, Blue Lock its sports distilled ... you get the idea. But, in order to get the good isekai you need to go to the ones that either make fun of the genera like Konosuba or reject everything the genera its about like Re:0. Anyway, I am of the opinion that iseka its on its last legs and its going to be replaced with the "spelled from the hero's party" genera. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 24249 |
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You are using the word genera wrong. When describing a single type of show, such as isekai, you do not use a plural. Genre is correct.
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Blanchimont
 Posts: 3588 Location: Finland |
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I've said it before in the preview thread, but Chillin' isn't a harem. |
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2487 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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“I am once again asking light novel authors to have a life experience more profound than playing a lengthy JRPG.”
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2585 |
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This somehow had me imagining that poor pig frantically crawling around in a stack of isekai, desperately looking for the next big reincarnated thing.. 
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Hal14
 Posts: 728 Location: Heart of africa |
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Even the "kicked out of the hero's party" stories are usually confused with isekai*. How often in the announcement articles for these are the second or third posts explaining that "this is not an isekai". Even here it's happening. Currently the fantasy anime genre could be divided into: isekai vs. non-isekai, and even the non-isekai get confused for isekai. This stuff isn't going away anytime soon. *Several actual isekai like Shield hero, Arifureta, Wordsmith, even Wrong way to use Healing magic, all have elements of "kicked out of the hero's party". |
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