I watch a decent amount of anime and one of the genres that I generally keep going back to is Isekai. I know that they are a dime-a-dozen now… and honestly several seem to just be there to simply sell the manga… but I enjoy this trope.
Quickly, the definition of Isekai is: “Fantasy subgenre characterized by a character being transported or reincarnated into a fantasy world or parallel universe” (according to a quick DuckDuckGo search). I think the trope of VR game or stuck in video game also probably applies, but generally, I’m enjoying the reincarnation ones more.
Often, this genre is studded with powerful main characters gathering a group of people around them and then saving the world, going on an adventure, or otherwise living out some self-created fantasy. The main characters are generally given special powers by the god/goddess that is reincarnating them… or from the ritual that summoned them. There tends to be a bit of a skew towards “harem” style where the group around the MC are primarily female, and while these are quite fun sometimes, it’s not required for the enjoyment of it.
One example of a non-harem style, was Water Magician… where the young, super powerful MC started traveling around with another male friend. It kinda had some road trip vibes, honestly, and was quite good. I hope that they continue with this one, as it desperately needed a second season.
Another example of a non-harem style was The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash. This was an awesome story about a girl who just wandered around with her pet slime and made random friends and just enjoyed things. Her life was a bit harsher, but she was stronger than she thought and really had a great time. It was a great season on its own, but I do hope for more.
Arifureta was more of a harem style, but pure power fantasy. Had a few seasons, quite fun, doesn’t really need more, but wouldn’t mind seeing more of it. Even with the harem stuff here, he was only in love with one of them which was kind of a different dynamic than most where the MC is completely unaware that all the girls love him.
There is so much variation and I’m not getting tired of them. I’m definitely interested in continuing watching these and I have several on the radar, including the one that I’m currently watching: Shangri-La Frontier. Good times!
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