Reincarnated As Something Random In Magic World: Are Isekais Going Too Far?

Summary:

• The isekai genre got more and more desperate over the years.
• We are now seeing a deluge of ridiculous reincarnation stories.
• Genre’s only hope is light novel readers preferring less inane premises.

We thought we’ve seen everything the isekai genre has to offer. We’ve already seen isekai about being transported to a world of a video game with Sword Art Online and Log Horizon. Then came monster isekais in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime), So I’m a Spider, so What? (Kumo Desu ga Nani Ka?) and Overlord. We’ve even reached the bottom of the barrel with such timeless gems as In Another World With My Smartphone (Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni) and Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? (Tsuujou Kougeki ga Zentai Kougeki de Ni-kai Kougeki no Okaasan wa Suki desu ka?).

Except, it feels like isekai did not stop once it reached said bottom of the barrel. It took a big trusty shovel, and started digging.

These isekai ideas are getting ridiculous

One of the new titles of this Fall anime season is Butareba -The Story of a Man Who Turned into a Pig- (Buta no Liver wa Kanetsu Shiro). That is, a story about a man who was reincarnated as a literal barn animal. Not a magical one either — a regular quadrupedal pig without the ability to talk, and could only be understood by a wearer of an enchanted slave collar. And it’s not even the weirdest isekai we’ve already seen.

There are already inanimate object isekais. Reincarnated as a Sword (Tensei shitara Ken deshita) is an anime about a breathing, living human being reincarnated as a literal (magic) sword that can only communicate via telepathy — and it will get its second season soon as well! And in Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon (Jidou Hanbaiki ni Umarekawatta Ore wa Meikyuu wo Samayou), the main character is reincarnated as a, you’ve guessed it, a completely inanimate vending machine in a fantasy world, incapable of conversing with others, and magically restocking the items he is selling. It looks like it’s only a matter of time before the dreaded light novel about being reincarnated as a hot spring (Isekai Onsen ni Tensei shita Ore no Kounou ga Tondemosugiru) is also adapted, doesn’t it?

Okay, but why though?

A modern isekai is rarely independently written. Rather, most of them are adaptations of light novels — and use their popularity rankings as guidelines for what is popular enough to be animated.

This means that the entire genre is at a whim of light novel sales, and as they get more and more ridiculous in order to attract attention in a market already oversaturated with ridiculousness, these anime get more ridiculous as well. Perhaps, once the trend of weird premises passes, we’ll see more grounded works coming back to our screens — but until then, we can only continue to roll our eyes in perpetuity.