Too often the language barrier is just forgotten because of magic.
Some fans don’t like isekai anime. There are many reasons for that, and sometimes, it’s just how implausible they are. A common complaint is how often the main character knows the language of the other world — here are some series that subvert that trope.
In The Rising of the Shield Hero (Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari), the trope is only partially subverted — but in a very interesting way. Naofumi (and other heroes) seem to understand the local language, which would make sense, considering there’s a special ritual to summon the heroes.
That said, this understanding only covers spoken language. We still see Naofumi learning how to read the local script, which doesn’t look similar to anything from the real world. Fun fact: in the anime, the script is just English (sometimes they use multiple scripts), but with every letter replaced with a made-up symbol. So yes, it is fully decipherable.
Uncle from Another World
In Uncle from Another World (Isekai Ojisan), language barrier is actually a plot point. In Uncle’s flashbacks, we can see that he was mistaken for an orc — and almost executed — when he was summoned.
Fortunately, all summoned people got a wish, and his wish was to communicate with the inhabitants of the other world.
The Executioner and Her Way of Life
In the world of The Executioner and Her Way of Life (Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road), people coming from Japan are a norm. In fact, there were so many of them that Japanese culture found its way into the world — including the language!
This creates perhaps the most unique subversion of this trope in all of anime: the Japanese people who find themselves in that world know the language of it because it’s just their own language. In some way, this is certainly a genius idea.
GATE
GATE (Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri) is a mix of isekai and reverse isekai — and deserves a mention because the language barrier there has been brought up multiple times.
At first, people from Japan can’t communicate with those from “beyond the gate” — from the other world — at all. Lelei la Lalena (the names in the anime are pretty wild) is a sage from another world who learned Japanese and had to act as a translator at first.
The Familiar of Zero (Zero no Tsukaima) is an anime from years prior to the isekai boom. In the very first episode, Saito, who is suddenly summoned to another world, can’t understand its language at all.
That is until Louise, the female lead, gets so tired of him speaking Japanese (which, to her, is also gibberish) that she casts a silence spell on him. That backfires and makes Saito fluent in the local language. Ironically enough, this isn’t lazy writing: it is one of the first hints towards the true nature of Louise’s magic.
Too often the language barrier is just forgotten because of magic.
Some fans don’t like isekai anime. There are many reasons for that, and sometimes, it’s just how implausible they are. A common complaint is how often the main character knows the language of the other world — here are some series that subvert that trope.
In The Rising of the Shield Hero (Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari), the trope is only partially subverted — but in a very interesting way. Naofumi (and other heroes) seem to understand the local language, which would make sense, considering there’s a special ritual to summon the heroes.
That said, this understanding only covers spoken language. We still see Naofumi learning how to read the local script, which doesn’t look similar to anything from the real world. Fun fact: in the anime, the script is just English (sometimes they use multiple scripts), but with every letter replaced with a made-up symbol. So yes, it is fully decipherable.
Uncle from Another World
In Uncle from Another World (Isekai Ojisan), language barrier is actually a plot point. In Uncle’s flashbacks, we can see that he was mistaken for an orc — and almost executed — when he was summoned.
Fortunately, all summoned people got a wish, and his wish was to communicate with the inhabitants of the other world.
The Executioner and Her Way of Life
In the world of The Executioner and Her Way of Life (Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road), people coming from Japan are a norm. In fact, there were so many of them that Japanese culture found its way into the world — including the language!
This creates perhaps the most unique subversion of this trope in all of anime: the Japanese people who find themselves in that world know the language of it because it’s just their own language. In some way, this is certainly a genius idea.
GATE
GATE (Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri) is a mix of isekai and reverse isekai — and deserves a mention because the language barrier there has been brought up multiple times.
At first, people from Japan can’t communicate with those from “beyond the gate” — from the other world — at all. Lelei la Lalena (the names in the anime are pretty wild) is a sage from another world who learned Japanese and had to act as a translator at first.
The Familiar of Zero (Zero no Tsukaima) is an anime from years prior to the isekai boom. In the very first episode, Saito, who is suddenly summoned to another world, can’t understand its language at all.
That is until Louise, the female lead, gets so tired of him speaking Japanese (which, to her, is also gibberish) that she casts a silence spell on him. That backfires and makes Saito fluent in the local language. Ironically enough, this isn’t lazy writing: it is one of the first hints towards the true nature of Louise’s magic.
