Is it time to think of something new?
Summary:
- Isekai series are becoming more and more repetitive.
- Fans are tired of certain tropes.
- There are still some more or less unique isekai series.
Isekai anime are generic. Like this is something new! Why would someone even talk about this in 2024? The reason is pretty simple, though: because nothing is changing.
Fans have been noticing it for years: isekai series keep repeating the same premises, playing the same tricks, and having similar expositions. Even this season’s new anime are no exceptions. There seems to be a number of tropes that keep following the genre.
Reincarnation
A lot of series start with the main protagonist dying by mistake or in an accident, due to old age, etc. And they get reincarnated into a fantasy world where they are given a second chance.
The fresh series, Fluffy Paradise (Isekai de Mofumofu Nadenade suru Tame ni Ganbattemasu), is a wonderful example of this. A woman dies because she’s absolutely exhausted from overwork, and she comes back in another world as a little girl.
Super long titles
This is another thing that fans have noticed about isekai series. It was a hilarious joke at first, but it’s getting less and less funny with time. And the translators seem to have gotten tired of this, too.
The aforementioned Fluffy Paradise was saved by the English translators, but imagine how Japanese otaku discuss the series.
Another fresh anime is called 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy (Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsu suru).
Why would you even call it that if most people would just say “7th Time Loop” anyway? You don’t have to explain the entire plot in the title of a series, we have the synopsis for that.
Villainess isekais
There’s another category that’s starting to annoy the fans, and this is countless villain/villainess series. On top of the aforementioned 7th Time Loop, there’s also the rather fresh I'm in Love with the Villainess (Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou). We can’t have a single anime season without such series, can we?
Not all isekai are like that, of course, some of them are trying to invent something new. Sasaki and Peeps (Sasaki to Pii-chan) has also just started airing, and it has neither tons of tropes nor a title that will take you an hour to utter.
We’ve also got high hopes for the upcoming Suicide Squad Isekai that’s coming this year. At least it’s already ticked the “not a long title” box.