A recent post on a
comment forum in Japan has sparked intense debate among anime and video game
fans. The hot topic at hand is the overexploitation of the “ isekai ” and “virtual
worlds” genres , which have flooded the entertainment industry in
recent years.
- « We must stop talking
about “isekai” and “virtual worlds”. In the past, when you said “it's an
anime like [x]”, it would automatically be dismissed as a copy without
even watching it, you know that? That's why there were so many original
video games and stories in the past. I know they will probably call me old
for saying this, but I think the settings and plots are too simple
nowadays .
The author of the
post begins by reflecting on how, in the past, mentioning that one anime was
similar to another automatically disqualified it as a simple imitation, without
even giving it a chance. This attitude, according to the author, led to a greater
diversity of video games and original stories in the past.
The post has
generated a wide range of responses from forum users, some supporting the
author's opinion and others defending the popularity of the “isekai” and
“virtual worlds” genres. The debate over originality and quality in
anime and video game storytelling continues to be a hot topic in the Japanese
fan community.
- « I regularly see topics
like isekai and reincarnations abounding out there, but many believe that
if you deny something that is popular it is because you are a moron who
feels unique .»
- « I think this is already
a format. As if the protagonist is a footballer, the field is the stage. I
rate it based on whether what develops in it is interesting or not .
- « A fucking idiot who only
wants to believe that his favorite works from his youth were original. He
produces an enormous amount of works in a fashionable style, and then
geniuses of that genre emerge, and based on that, he becomes fashionable
again. There is always something on which to base a work, even if it seems
original to you .
- « Garbage is garbage.
Another World's Reincarnation is garbage from the moment the genre is
defined, and even then, if there are enough people, there will be a
certain number of outliers, but in the end, the genre itself is garbage no
matter how you look at it. You look, and it has no significance .
- « I am quite impressed by
the originality of the “isekai” approach, yes. From royal adventures to
exile reversals, rise to power, managing fiefdoms/states, slow living,
making things, etc., you can do it as much as you want . »
- « That's like saying to a
mystery play: “Stop telling stories in which people die and find out who
did it.” It is a game of daring to accept the limits of the genre and
where to differentiate ».
- « History says that it can
be imitated. If it is a bizarre setting, you have no ideas to develop .
- « And the period of mass
production of fighting manga after Kinnikuman? Simply a trend of the time .
- « I'm seeing things like
how much they can twist a similar setting, and how the quality of the
author and the comicalization can make a total difference. Although I
think there are many cumulative series apart from the isekai .
- « Well, I understand that
clients who have been left without a market want to speak out. But I do
not agree that they should be destroyed .
- « Well, buy and support a
dense idealist work, old man. I am seeing many dense works that must have
been planned and approved with the best efforts of the industry itself and
young people being canceled due to lack of good initial sales. Most only
buy by the name of the author or the fashionable genre .
- « Generally, only people
who say that “the old days were better” do not realize how limited their
knowledge and field of observation used to be. They don't realize that
they have changed .
Source: Yaraon!
