How did isekai became so big

Gem like star ocean the second story isekai is hard to find.

Good isekai need world building, sense of exploration and wonder, mc having indiana jones curiosity and interesting female partner/ harem. Then again, harem is hard to write, after the count goes up from 2 women.

BUT, the most important thing is, have ardyn/kaftka or delita level antagonist cunning and plot and reasonable mc power level.

I have a big doubt if there will be any isekai author out there able to flesh up interesting villain or even mc that have a shred of sense new world of exploration. Jp author is out.

 

A harem is a symptom of not having engaging secondary male characters. Same issue with Femslash pairings where characters are not even gay in fanfics

 

tbh at the end of the day, translators are also readers and they too, read what the masses want

i can tell you that almost every novel that is being translated has been in the top 100 list of their site at least once so again, you have to blame the market for wanting what they want.

just look at the popular novels on WN right now and you can see what is popular and being paid for cus we already know that WN will drop whatever is not generating income

 

Fun fact is that people don't read the stories that don't cater to templates. I translate both, regular isekai stories such as Nidome no Jinsei wo Isekai de, irregular isekai stories like Hakai no Miko and pure fantasy stories such as Mismarca. Now take a guess what most people read. ;-)

I might not speak for all translators out there, but I think the majority of us wants people to read the things we TL, cause otherwise there's no point in us putting the effort into it. Fan translation is already hard enough as it is, especially considering that many TLers do it as hobby besides their jobs, school and other RL commitments. So spending time on something that no one, or hardly anyone, wants to read is just frustrating.
Thus, I think it's kind of understandable that many pick the novels that are or seem to have potential to become popular. And the easiest way to choose is going by the rankings (it's also the first choice you'd take to read something if you are on a site with thousands of different stories I'd think). ^^

Cheers,
Shasu

 

Kenja no Mago isn't especially exciting, but it's unexpectedly wholesome. It also rather solidly written and makes a lot of sense. I think a lot of people like to read that for a change.

 

Nothing wrong with vanilla but does that excuse a complete lack of creativity? Kenja No Mago is like a loaf of bread. Sure if you eat it, your hunger will be satiated but you hardly feel satisfied in the truest sense and will probably plan something better to eat if you can. It avoids the more unwholesome elements of the isekai genre for being as plain as plain itself, so much so a grade schooler would have no problems writing something like it. I was really tryna get into it as a heard its as wishful fulfillment as it gets but when there is no conflict or barriers of any kind it felt too flat for me. I guess it was tryna be a slice of life story but it just didnt grab me cause even the romance was very dull.

 

Does Trash of the Count's Family count as Isekai? It is,isnt it? Unlike other isekai (which mostly sells relationship with female no brains but big boobs) I enjoy it the moment I first read it,I thought the MC will be the same as other transmigrated MC-be a hero or someone famous

 

Yeah thanks to this thinking....
Ive also read somewhere thanks to this Isekai/transmigrated/reincarnated/whatchamacallit trend... some people in China killed themselves in hope they will be reborn and thats why some Chinese drama adapted from Transmigrated novel like PoisonGeniusConsort(drama: legend of yunxi) erased a part where the MC comes from modern world. (Said govrn. ban it so similar things wont happen)

 

As good chance as any other. This world sure isn't going to become a better place any time soon.

 

It's really simple: people DON'T like originality.

In other genres there are legal issues and whatnot, but in the genre of generic-webnovel-ripoff-of-a-manga-ripped-off-a-game-ripped-off-anovel-that-ripped-off-tolkien-who-ripped-off-folklore-and-mythology, the problem doesn't really stand


Also with manga/anime/games, there's a sort of competition at whose can make the hottest still-generic tavern MILF or quirkiest but still generic cutesy guild girl or whatever....

It's like a cover song competition

 

JRPGs which copied from D&D tabletop games.

I mean who else imagines modern day cleanliness in a medieval setting?

 

Pretty much everybody?
Most people don't bother imagining dirt. We kind of think in platonic ideals. And we prefer to imagine only things that we like.

On the good part, a lot of modern pollution doesn't exist in medieval settings - no plastic bags and bottles (there is awful amount of these littering the landscape where I live), no chemical and nuclear plants spilling death, very limited amount of forest-cutting and burning...
They say people back then lived so badly they couldn't even get bad teeth, because they didn't have sweets for that.

More importantly, most fantasy settings aren't medieval. They are just cosplaying it.

 

I got into the Isekai, the reformed villainess stories (for there are many different troupes in Isekai)s, a bit before it boomed. I really like it. It's refreshing for anti hero lovers.
Dude, if u hate it, then avoid reading the stupid ones. Yes, my favourites may have very similar over arching plots, start in the same way and end in the same way, but I like seeing the journey.
"I am a spider, so what?"
"The Wolf Lord's Lady"
Both are Isekai. Both are fun reads, with the latter being very interesting philosophically-wise.
I can reccomend a bunch of other stuff if u want (the titles are Japanese so I don't remember off top of my head).
I like it because they're a fresh start. Because they're light hearted. I like the idea of a game system. Where I could level up and gain skills. Where I could begin anew with a fresh identify. I reckon the same reason why people play role playing video games. Because in rl everything feels limitless and as a result anything I do pointless. It feels nice to be able to see your progress in levels and numbers. It feels more tangible that way. There's adventure, romance, slice of life and other more heavy psychological stuff in Isekai and etc. It's so diverse. What you're describing is only a small facet of his gem of a beauty of a genre.
I don't mind similarities because I am looking for similar novels like them. When I read my first reformed villainess from otome game, I was wishing more like it were out there. My wish has come true though I moan the few chapters in existence due to the newness of things. I like the subtle different approaches the different author's take.
Some are braindead light, other's psychologically woah, some which deliciously counteract tired tropes of heroine / hero.
So I just think it's what you're looking for that matters. There's enough gems in Isekai that it ain't boring. It's harder to find fresh ideas in old troupe romance manga / novels.
Of course any novel, Isekai or not, can have plot holes and stupid logic. That's inherent to any genre. There are some specific ones you find more in Isekai, but if they're really that major, I just don't read it, and if minor, I ignore because I like the characters and the plot.
I just don't appreciate you hating on my favourite genre. If u don't like tea but like coffee, then instead of trash talking tea, extol the virtues of coffee.

 

Good post! Isekai is probably my favorite genre by far but we can definitely agree that it has been high jacked by folks who are trying to ride the hype train. When I see stuff like Isekai smartphone, kenja no mago and the lot which have such weak writing I can't help but get pissed. Its such a perfect genre that gives reader and author unlimited potential that a fanboy like me can't help but turn semi-elitist cause of the mediocrity. I even nodded in approval when I heard writing contests ban the genre cause of dross like that...

 

I think animes like Overlord, Sword Art Online has a big role to play

 

tsfl

 

I believe isekai was a very convenient tool to introduce the readers into the world and make the character more relatable. The character came without knowledge of the world (same as the readers) and have modern ideologies and experiences. Building conflicts is also easier since the character has different values.

It was just another troupe that is very convenient. The problem was those trash cookie-cutter novels used too many tropes like these without fleshing out the world and story. Mostly just for how popular or how convenient they were.

With game system, it was super easy to explain how someone gains some power or ability and give excuses to why some young nobody who barely ever trained can overwhelm a knight with decades of training and experiences. Adventurer guild helped with how to bring MC to form party and go adventuring. There are many troupes like these and those are somehow popular.

 

You see that's the problem, its nothing wrong with isekai. The genre generally has a lot of ingenuity and variation. The problem is, so many people say "hey that novel's doing pretty great lemme copy that". And since many people haven't seen the original or where it came from, they read it instead of the original until people like us get to see the vast number of actual originals and then their "inspired knock-offs." If economics wasn't a problem, which it always will be, isekai and a LOT of other things would have an insane amount of creativity, differences and variations.
Secondly, you are the one that has to find them. Looking on the same website will find the same things. Idk if you went to other websites (non-light novel) but there are a lot of novels out there that are isekai but just don't classify themselves as isekai. So much so that if you removed the Japanese requirement for isekai, i'm sure the genre may double or triple. Also, as far as I know, isekai is purely japanese and there are some much better american versions you can read if you need more creativity. The american ones are almost never nearly as long as the biggest asian side (again as far as I have seen), but are usually more original or atleast make a basic effort not to have a copy-pasta synopsis.

 

What are these better american versions? The only ones I can think of that might be what you are talking about are Savage Divinity and Chrysalis on royal road.