Isekai Introductions
Isekai anime has changed a lot since it first appeared in the early 80's. Those being series like Aura Battler Dunbine and Super Dimension Century Orguss which were combined with mecha. So people from another world, even those in Orguss where Kei can already pilot a mecha, are fighting these huge wars of freedom and independence in another world where the real world wouldn't matter. Except those are two series where one has affected another by having armies of flying ships and robots attack the real world (Dunbine) or Orguss where Kei setting off a dimensional bomb caused the very world he appears in. This is where isekai anime started off and it was a really interesting launching off point for this post.
The Summoning of a Hero
What is the major difference between a modern isekai and an older isekai? It's how the hero gets to the fantasy land. Older isekai series usually have their main characters summoned to different fantasy worlds. These are completely ordinary people, mostly likely high school students, living out their normal lives until they end up in a fantasy world by either force or by complete ignorance. Then there is the doubt. Can this strange human being in weird clothes really protect the kingdom from the threat? Some series have their fantasy heroes prophesied as only coming from another world. The main thread of the story is the hero overcoming so much to become the hero of destiny.
A lot of newer isekai series involved characters either dying from overwork, truck-kun having a special role, or something else to appear in their fantasy world in the form of a baby. I say a lot because there are isekai series where a character can show up to the fantasy world completely normal with their cell phone. Others even more recently can go back and forth from the fantasy world and their normal world by gaining something by that crossover between the two. So there are those series and factors in play, but the cliche itself is the reincarnation aspect of it. Not the perfect thing to think about considering how lame online discourse is. For this post, I will contrast based on the cliche. Leave your comments with more nuance down below.
Why Different Summoning Methods Matter
I want to say this right out of the way, being summoned and being hit by truck-kun are both wish fulfillment fantasies. That is a lot of fiction in general and I don't see why isekai anime wouldn't be joining the fray among mecha series, magical girl series, and shonen battle series. A summoned character is still going to try to face the trials and grow stronger as a warrior and a person following the path that they have been summoned for. A reincarnated character is living their best life in a world that is away from the possible hell they wanted to escape from. They also may have some innate abilities or powerful growth curve that allows these main characters to become the one who rules the world or at least cause a massive change in that world.
Why the method of summoning each character matters is that it gives characters a larger motivation and some interesting background elements too. A main character summoned to a fantasy world is always going to have that lingering "I want to go home" sense on them. That might be let go, but this is most of the time to go back. Also, a hero of a different world can return home from facing so much trauma and overcoming it that they will return home changed as a person. What really changes here is that no one else around them cares about their journey unless they disappear from the real world and time continues to move onward in both places. So there are actual characters missing them because they didn't die in the real world.
For more modern cliche isekai series, I see a lot of people online complaining about why didn't these shows just become a fantasy series. I don't think that is completely fair because being reincarnated does provide some advantages compared to characters that would just become fictional heroes. In some ways, it explains why a kid from a young age would know so much or would be able to think too. At the same, there is something missing in this brand of isekai series and that is the inherent drama of the situation. The whole going home thing is out of the way because they are dead and do not have to return home ever. This fictional land is their new home and they don't have to suffer from the system, but become the system themselves.
My Quick Conclusion
My own feelings towards this lead to enjoying the older storytelling style of isekai anime series because I think that penchant of drama and the "well they make it home" drama is very me sort of heavy material that I think means something more. That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy watching some newer isekai series from time to time, but those series have to do something else than seeing a hero change the world just by living in it.
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