Should we be worried?
Summary:
- A lot of anime provide their protagonists with an escape from their old lives.
- The message such series are trying to send is quite worrisome.
- A number of anime give the protagonists a second chance and make them feel special.
A lot of isekai anime follow the same path: the main protagonist leads a miserable life, then they are magically transported into a fantasy world, and they see a way to find their life purpose and happiness. On top of that, they often die and get reincarnated in another world, and then the story follows the aforementioned scenario.
We’ve already touched upon this topic when we were talking about workaholism in anime, but it doesn’t end with that.
The message is depressing
Anime fans find it depressing that so many stories follow the same route: they show characters that lose their will to live and they all need a break in a fantasy world, where there will be supernatural powers, magical creatures and just a lot of wholesome moments.
That’s why we have so many comedy isekai anime, like this season’s Fluffy Paradise or Sasaki and Peeps. It’s like Japan is trying to tell us something very serious about the way things in the country are.
Wish for second chances
Western audiences have noticed the tendency of anime characters desiring second chances in their lives. Like the aforementioned Sasaki and Peeps, where Sasaki used to be a regular office worker with no one to keep him company. But the ability to travel to another world makes his life much more meaningful and interesting.
Or, for example, Mushoku Tensei, where the main protagonist has been bullied and oppressed his entire life, but dies at the age of 34 and gets reincarnated in a fantasy world where everyone wants him and his life takes a different turn.
Anime protagonists also seem to be so tired of working hard for everything they have, and achieving nothing that they come to these fantasy worlds with a particular power that allows them to be special there right from the start.
Fans see it as an allusion to Japanese society where hard work is not even rewarded much, and think that the Japanese just want to feel special and escape their real lives in fantasy worlds.
There are also a lot of anime with teenage protagonists, and while this fact can be explained by the target audience of shounen series, which is the most popular anime genre, there’s also another idea.
Adults have little joy in their lives, and it’s all work and domestic things, so they want to come back to easier and more exciting times when there was more fun and less responsibility.