It certainly feels like isekai anime have become a constant presence in recent years, with multiple titles being adapted every season—sometimes even more than five in a single season. This trend has a few key reasons behind it.
What is Isekai?
Isekai comes from the combination of the words “I” (異) meaning “different” or “other,” and “Sekai” (世界) meaning “world.” Typically, stories in the isekai genre begin with the main character experiencing an unexpected event that transports them to another world. While the genre often plays with the trope of getting hit by a truck or walking into a convenience store, there are certainly more plausible ways for characters to find themselves in a different world.
Once in this new world, the protagonist usually builds a new life, often influenced by MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) as a basis. However, they don’t start from scratch. They’re often given a “starter pack” of sorts—this might include unlimited power, a super rare sword that can only be obtained by defeating the demon king, or a goddess who always accompanies them on their journey.
This setup allows the story to dive into the fantasy elements right away, with the protagonist quickly becoming overpowered or having access to resources that give them an edge in their new world. The familiarity of these elements, along with the appeal of adventure and escapism, contributes to the genre’s enduring popularity.
Isekai Anime Easy to Produce
The massive surge in demand for anime, both domestically and internationally, compels anime studios to keep producing new content every season, regardless of the circumstances. As a result, it’s not surprising to see a proliferation of “production-line” anime filling the market.
This high demand can lead studios to prioritize quantity over quality, resulting in some series that may seem rushed or less polished. Studios might focus on adapting popular light novels, manga, or isekai stories that are known to have built-in audiences, sometimes at the expense of originality or depth. The pressure to meet deadlines and produce content quickly can also contribute to this phenomenon, as studios aim to capitalize on current trends and maintain a steady stream of new releases.
Anime studios prefer to play it safe by producing anime that is easy to produce with a limited budget, but can still attract a lot of viewers. The isekai genre is the most suitable for that. So, what is the reason?
First, the production team does not need to spend excessive effort to build a dream world full of reality in it, with all the little things in it, such as residence permits or immigration from Earth. “This is isekai broh, a free world.”
Second, the isekai setting tends to be the same in every series. A king in a large kingdom being disturbed by a demon army, not to mention the medieval setting. Those two reasons are enough to make animators or background illustrators not have to bother creating a world design from scratch. Using existing illustrations and changing them a little bit is a common practice in some isekai anime.
Author Has Freedom in Isekai
Isekai genre writers flock to create endless revolutionary stories. Starting from hikikomori who get god-like powers, to isekai programs with mothers. Everything can be done in this world that we can create as we please. This is what causes the number of isekai literature to continue to grow to this day.
Isekai is likened to a blank canvas that gives its writers the freedom to design a dream world that the writer desires. Therefore, the resources of an isekai story are unlimited. No matter how strange it is, it can still be tolerated, because this is isekai.
This certainly has a good impact on anime studios, spoiled with the many story variants that exist.
Isekai, Heaven of Fanservice
It is no secret that isekai anime is identical to the harem genre, and we know that the potential of the harem genre is none other than the fairly high level of fanservice, although we cannot generalize all isekai anime like that.
The industry views fanservice as a new marketing area for anime. The increasingly fierce competition between industries encourages this, and that is the real purpose of fanservice. If you can’t attract their interest, then attract their lust. Not only lust, other fanservice in the form of ASMR from seiyuu, for example, makes it even more unhealthy. Studios prefer to spend money to hire expensive seiyuu rather than improve the quality of the story or animation.
Some isekai titles still provide fanservice in reasonable amounts, but some seem too excessive. Like flying with a goddess whose clothes come off because of the wind speed. In addition to being excessive, sometimes the fanservice doesn’t make sense, and is inserted at inappropriate moments.
Isekai as a Form of Escape
Life in East Asia, especially Japan, is not as beautiful as people imagine. The increasing number of suicides is not without reason. A professor who seemed happy with his work, despite working 12 hours a day, was found hanging in his office. In Japan, this kind of scene is commonplace.
Generally, we see the main character of an unemployed hikikomori or NEET who is suffering from severe depression. This feeling arises because of his inability in this world. The heavy demands of the super-regulated culture of society can make those who are unable to get away. Then, suddenly, he is thrown into another world, the world they have always dreamed of.
Those who were originally NEETs appear proudly in this new world with the power given by “god” to become rulers. They can do whatever they want, free from everything that restrains them. Is there anything more fun than that?
Then the choice of isekai settings that tend to be westernized is not without reason. Japan’s obsession with Western culture has existed since the Meiji Restoration. During this time, Japan began to open up to foreign influences. Starting from the permission to celebrate Christmas in Japan, to Western-style industrialization that made Japan rise in the early 1900s. Although during the Showa period Japan became a fascist country, that obsession has not disappeared until now. Japan considers Western culture to be the best, from offerings of cola at temples to Western-style toilets in all public toilets in Japan.
Isekai Boom: Good or Bad?
Is the exploitation of isekai anime by anime studios still reasonable?
It could be yes, it could be no. Isekai itself is a revolutionary genre that can develop the author’s imagination in unexpected directions. We can design our own world, what creatures inhabit it, to the government system that we can make as crazy as possible, without ignoring Japanese culture through the main characters we have.
However, isekai currently tends to be used as a money machine for studios, without caring about the quality of the animation, Studios prioritize fanservice or seiyuu for the sake of company profit. This method will generate profits faster, but it does not last long. At this time, the studio will choose another title and produce it in the same way, creating a vicious cycle in isekai anime production.
