is a Japanese

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

—both

portal fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama. ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

are included. It includes

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

and

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

that revolve around a person or people who are transported to and have to survive in another world, such as a

fantasy world A fantasy world is a world created for/from fictional media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds involve magic or magical abilities, nonexistent technology and, sometimes, either a historical or futuristic theme. Some wor ...

virtual world A virtual world (also called a virtual space) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activities ...

, or parallel universe. Isekai is one of the most popular genres of anime, and Isekai stories share many common tropes – for example, a powerful protagonist who is able to beat most people in the other world by fighting. This

plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any narrative technique, technique in a narrative used to move the Plot (narrative), plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing ...

typically allows the audience to learn about the new world at the same pace as the protagonist over the course of their

quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ever ...

or lifetime. If the main characters are transported to a game-like world, the genre can overlap with

LitRPG LitRPG, short for literary role playing game, is a literary genre combining the conventions of computer RPGs with science-fiction and fantasy novels. The term was introduced in 2013. In LitRPG, games or game-like challenges form an essential part ...

. The concept of ''isekai'' started in Japanese folk tales, such as

Urashima Tarō is the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale (''otogi banashi''), who in a typical modern version is a fisherman rewarded for rescuing a turtle, and carried on its back to the Dragon Palace (Ryūgū-jō) beneath the sea. There he is entertained ...

. However, the first modern ''isekai'' works were

Haruka Takachiho (born November 7, 1951 as in Nagoya, Japan) is a Japanese science fiction author and founder of Studio Nue. Takachiho is best known as the creator of ''Crusher Joe'', ''Dirty Pair'' and ''Dirty Pair Flash''. Helen McCarthy in ''500 Essential Anim ...

's novel ''Warrior from Another World'' and

Yoshiyuki Tomino is a Japanese mecha anime creator, animator, director, screenwriter, songwriter and novelist best known for creating the ''Gundam'' anime franchise. He was born in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and studied at Nihon University's College of Art. ...

's television series ''

Aura Battler Dunbine is an anime television series created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and produced by Sotsu and Sunrise. ''Dunbine'' is set in Byston Well, a parallel world that resembles the countryside of medieval Europe with kingdoms ruled by monarchs in castles, ...

''.

Characteristics

The genre can be divided into two types and . In "transition into another world" stories, the protagonist gets transported to another world (E.g by traveling into it, or being summoned into it). In "reincarnation into another world" stories, the protagonist is sent into another world after dying in the real world. A common method of death is being run over by a truck and dying, spawning the meme of "

Truck-kun Truck-kun is an Internet meme that refers to a common trope used in the ''isekai'' genre of anime and manga, in which characters are transported to other worlds. Typically, the protagonists of the ''isekai'' anime or manga are sent to these wo ...

", a truck which appears in many isekai series that kills the protagonist and the protagonist reincarnates into a different world. In many examples, the main character is an ordinary person who thrives in their new environment thanks to modern things in the real world being seen as "extraordinary" in the other world. This can be physical characteristics, such as hair or eye color, or normal everyday skills they learned in their previous life such as cooking, engineering, basic education, or medicine, which are far more advanced in the modern, real world than in the world they are sent to. In ''

Sorcerous Stabber Orphen is a Japanese light novel series written by Yoshinobu Akita. It was adapted into manga, five anime television series (''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen'', ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen 2: Revenge'', ''Sorcerous Stabber Orphen'' (2020), ...

'', an entire population of humans appeared in the magically created world, transported from Earth, and were partially mixed with local dragonlike Heavenly Beings. While the protagonist of a classic isekai work is usually a "chosen hero", there have been a number of alternative takes on the concept. One trend is the protagonist reincarnating into the body of an unimportant side character, or even a villain (as in '' My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!''). There are even instances of protagonists becoming inhuman creatures, such as in ''

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime , also known as ''Regarding Reincarnated to Slime'' and short name , is a Japanese fantasy light novel series written by , and illustrated by Mitz Vah. The story is about a salaryman who is murdered and reincarnates in a sword and ...

'', where the protagonist reincarnates as a slime with special abilities rather than a human, or even inanimate objects, like a magical

onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...

. Others, known as "reverse isekai follow beings from a fantasy universe who have been transported to or reincarnated into modern-day Earth, including the anime ''Laidbackers'' and '' Re:Creators''. An offshoot of the isekai genre is the "second chance" or "reincarnation" genre, where a protagonist who, upon dying, finds themselves transported, not to a different world and new body, but into their own younger self. With their new knowledge and older intellect, they are able to relive their life avoiding their previous pitfalls, such as ''Replay'' and ''

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August ''The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August'' is a novel by Claire North, a pseudonym of British author Catherine Webb, published in April 2014. It won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, was nominated for the Arthur ...

''. Another offshoot of the genre include the "slow life" approach, where the protagonist was overworked in their previous life, so decides to take it easy in the next. Another offshoot is where the protagonist uses the new world to explore an interest, hobby, or goal they had in the previous world but were unable to achieve, such as studying or opening a business, like in ''

Restaurant to Another World is a Japanese light novel series written by Junpei Inuzuka, with illustrations by Katsumi Enami. Shufunotomo have released five volumes of the series since February 2015. An anime television series adaptation produced by Silver Link aired f ...

''. In many works, isekai overlaps with the

harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

and

genres, where the protagonist gains the affection of several potential love interests, who may or may not be human. One example of this is ''

Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World is a Japanese light novel series written by Shachi Sogano and illustrated by Shikidouji. It was serialized online from 2011 to 2019 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Shufunotomo, w ...

''. Writing for the ''Journal of Anime and Manga Studies'', Paul Price in his article "A Survey of the Story Elements of Isekai Manga" argues for the existence of four kinds of isekai, based on

Farah Mendlesohn Farah Jane Mendlesohn (born 27 July 1968) is a British academic historian, writer on speculative fiction, and active member of science fiction fandom. Mendlesohn is best-known for their 2008 book '' Rhetorics of Fantasy'', which classifies fant ...

's framework of organizing fantasy: "portal-quest", where the protagonist enters the isekai via some kind of portal (Price cites ''

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody is a Japanese light novel series written by Hiro Ainana. It began serialization online in 2013 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō until it was acquired by Fujimi Shobo. The first volume of the Light Nove ...

'' as an example); "immersive", where no such portal exists and all the action takes place in the other world (''

Slayers is a Japanese light novel series written by Hajime Kanzaka and illustrated by Rui Araizumi. The novels have been serialized in ''Dragon Magazine'' since 1989, before being published into individual volumes. They follow t ...

''); "intrusion", which are akin to reverse isekai in which the fantastic enters the real world (''

The Devil Is a Part-Timer! is a Japanese light novel series written by Satoshi Wagahara, with illustrations by Oniku (written as 029). ASCII Media Works has published the series in Japan, while Yen Press has published the series in North America. The story is abou ...

''); and "liminal", where the portal becomes a liminal space where the real world and the isekai mix (''Restaurant to Another World'').

History

The concept of ''isekai'' has antecedents in ancient

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japanes ...

, particularly the story of a fisherman

, who saves a turtle and is brought to a wondrous undersea kingdom. After spending what he believed to be four to five days there, Urashima returns to his home village only to find himself 300 years in the future. The folk tale was adapted into one of the earliest

films, Seitaro Kitayama's ''

'', in 1918. Other precursors to ''isekai'' include

stories from

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

, notably the novels ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a ...

'' (1865), ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after s ...

'' (1900), ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...

'' (1904) and ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, telev ...

'' (1950).

Modern media

The earliest modern Japanese ''isekai'' stories include

's novel ''Warrior from Another World'' (1976),

Tatsunoko Production and often shortened to , is a Japanese animation company. The studio's name has a double meaning in Japanese: "Tatsu's child" (Tatsu is a nickname for Tatsuo) and " sea dragon", the inspiration for its seahorse logo. Tatsunoko's headquarters are ...

CBN CBN, or cbn, may refer to: Broadcasting organizations * Radio stations in St. John's, Newfoundland: ** CBN (AM), CBC Radio One ** CBN-FM, CBC Music * Chronicle Broadcasting Network, the predecessor of ABS-CBN * CBN (Australian TV station), a TV s ...

collaborative

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

anime ''

Superbook , also known as , is a Christian anime television series from the early 1980s, initially produced at Tatsunoko Productions and TV Tokyo in Japan in conjunction with the Christian Broadcasting Network in the United States, and rebooted in 2 ...

'' (1981), and

's anime ''

'' (1983). The earliest ''isekai'' anime to involve the protagonist being trapped in the

of a video game was the film '' Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!'' (1986), based on the hit video game ''Super Mario Bros.'' (1985); the anime film adaptation involves

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

playing a video game that comes to life, making it an ancestor of the "trapped in a video game" subgenre of ''isekai''. Other early anime and manga titles that could be classified as ''isekai'' include ''

Mashin Hero Wataru is a mecha multimedia franchise originally created by Sunrise and Red Entertainment. The first series aired on April 15, 1988, replacing the 17:00–17:30 timeslot used for '' Transformers: The Headmasters''. Sunrise credited "Hajime Y ...

'' (1988 debut), ''

NG Knight Ramune & 40 is a Japanese anime television series of 1990. It was one of the Lamune group of television shows and OVAs, and the "NG" in the title stands for "new generation". In all there were 3 OVA series (NG Knight Lamune & 40 EX, NG Knight Lamune ...

'' (1990 debut), ''

Fushigi Yûgi , also known as ''Fushigi Yûgi: The Mysterious Play'' or ''Curious Play'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. It tells the story of two teenaged girls, Miaka and Yui, who are pulled into ''The Universe of th ...

'' (1992 debut), '' El-Hazard'' (1995 debut), and ''

The Vision of Escaflowne is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series created by Shōji Kawamori and Sunrise Studios and directed by Kazuki Akane. It premiered in Japan on April 2, 1996 on TV Tokyo, and the final episode aired on September 24, 1996. Sony's a ...

'' (1996 debut), in which the protagonists stayed similar to their original appearance upon entering a different world. Other 1990s titles identified as ''isekai'' include the novel and anime series ''

The Twelve Kingdoms is a Japanese series of fantasy novels written by Fuyumi Ono and illustrated by Akihiro Yamada. The first entry in the series called ''The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow'' was published by Kodansha in Japan in 1992; the last Kodansha volume w ...

'' (1992 debut), the manga/anime/game franchise ''

Magic Knight Rayearth is a Japanese manga series created by Clamp. Appearing as a serial in the manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from the November 1993 issue to the February 1995 issue, the chapters of ''Magic Knight Rayearth'' were collected into three bound volum ...

'' (1993 debut), the

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...

'' YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World'' (1996), the manga and anime series ''

Inuyasha is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from November 1996 to June 2008, with its chapters collected in fifty-six '' ...

'' (1996 debut), and the anime series ''

Now and Then, Here and There is a Japanese anime television series conceived and directed by Akitaro Daichi, with a screenplay by Hideyuki Kurata. It premiered in Japan on the WOWOW television station on October 14, 1999 and ran until January 20, 2000. It was licensed ...

'' and ''

Digimon Adventure , known as ''Digimon: Digital Monsters'' in English-speaking territories, is a 1999 Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation in cooperation with WiZ, Bandai and Fuji Television. It is the first anime series in the ''D ...

'' (both 1999 debut). ''

Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Tohokushinsha Film, and Mitsubishi and distribut ...

'' (2001) was one of the first ''isekai'' anime films known worldwide, although the term "''isekai''" was not commonly used at the time. The

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...

adventure game '' Moon: Remix RPG Adventure'' (1997), and the ''

'' (1999 debut) and ''

.hack ''.hack'' (pronounced "Dot Hack") is a Japanese multimedia franchise that encompasses two projects: Project .hack and .hack Conglomerate. They were primarily created and developed by CyberConnect2, and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. ...

'' (2002 debut) franchises, were some of the first works to present the concept of ''isekai'' as a virtual world, with ''

Sword Art Online is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. The series takes place in the then-near future and focuses on protagonists Kirito (Sword Art Online), Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna (Sword Art On ...

'' (2002

web novel Web fiction is written works of literature available primarily or solely on the Internet. A common type of web fiction is the web serial. The term comes from old serial stories that were once published regularly in newspapers and magazines. Unlike ...

debut) following in their footsteps. Another ''isekai'' anime series from the 2000s is ''

Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi is a Japanese anime television series created by Gainax, with animation produced by Gainax and Madhouse, and directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga. It was broadcast for thirteen episodes on Kids Station from April to June 2002. The series was licensed ...

'' (2002). A popular ''isekai'' light novel and anime series in the 2000s was ''

The Familiar of Zero is a Japanese fantasy light novel series written by Noboru Yamaguchi, with illustrations by Eiji Usatsuka. Media Factory published 20 volumes between June 2004 and February 2011. The series was left unfinished due to the author ...

'' (2004 debut), where the male lead Saito is from modern Japan and is summoned to a fantasy world by the female lead Louise. ''The Familiar of Zero'' popularized the ''isekai'' genre in

and

media, along with the website

Shōsetsuka ni Narō is a Japanese novel self-publishing website created by . It was launched on April 2, 2004. Users can upload their novels free of charge and the novels are also free to read. As of December 2022, the site hosts close to 1,000,000 novels, has ove ...

("Let's Become Novelists"), known as Narō for short. ''The Familiar of Zero''

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, settin ...

became popular on Narō during the late 2000s, eventually spawning a genre of ''isekai'' novels on the site, which became known as Narō novels. ''The Familiar of Zero'' fan fiction writers eventually began writing original ''isekai'' novels, such as

Tappei Nagatsuki is the Japanese author of the light novel and manga series '' Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-''. The series has been adapted into anime. Nagatsuki initially serialized the series as web novel (writing under the username ) on the user- ...

who went on to create '' Re:Zero'' (2012 debut). The 2012 anime adaptation of ''Sword Art Online'' popularized the isekai genre in anime, which led to more ''isekai'' web novels being published on Narō and a number of Narō novels being adapted into anime. It was around this time that the term "''isekai''" was coined. Later titles such as ''

Knight's & Magic is a Japanese light novel series written by Hisago Amazake-no and illustrated by Kurogin. The series tells the story of a young Japanese man who dies in a car accident and reincarnates as a child in an alternate world where magic and gian ...

'' and ''

The Saga of Tanya the Evil ''The Saga of Tanya the Evil'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese light novel series written by Carlo Zen and illustrated by Shinobu Shinotsuki. It began serialization online in 2010, on the user-generated novel publishing website Arcadia. ...

'' (both 2010 debut) involved their protagonists dying and being reincarnated in a different world. The most influential ''isekai'' novel in that regard was ''

Mushoku Tensei is a Japanese light novel series by and illustrated by Shirotaka. The series is about a jobless and hopeless man who dies after having a sad and withdrawn life and reincarnates in a fantasy world while keeping his memories, determin ...

'' (2012 debut), which began as a Narō novel and popularized the reincarnation sub-genre of ''isekai'' while establishing a number of common ''isekai'' tropes. ''Mushoku Tensei'' was the most popular Narō novel for a number of years, and thus served as a point of reference for numerous ''isekai'' writers that followed. The ''isekai'' genre became so popular during the early- and mid-2010s that it started to generate backlash, both in Japan and overseas, from those who felt that it was overcrowding the greater manga & anime market. In 2016, a Japanese short story contest organized by Bungaku Free Market and Shōsetsuka ni Narō placed a blanket ban on any entries involving ''isekai''. The publisher

Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to: *Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publis ...

banned ''isekai'' stories as well in their own anime/manga-style novel contest in 2017. In May 2021, Kadokawa announced they would open an "Isekai Museum" in July of the same year.

References

External links

The History of Isekai Fantasy Novels
-

Book Off () is Japan's largest chain of used bookstores. Founded in August 1991, the company has had explosive success, expanding to 866 stores throughout Japan and eight overseas locations (as of August 2006). In addition to books, its chains also sel ...

Online {{Film genres Anime and manga about parallel universes Anime and manga genres Anime and manga terminology Fantasy genres Parallel universes in fiction Science fiction genres

Characteristics

History

Modern media

See also

References

External links