Every season of anime seems to provide us with a new take on the “I stumbled into a parallel universe please help” genre, otherwise known as isekai. These are the kinds of stories where the main character exists in our world only to end up in a fantasy realm, a video game, or any kind of universe that makes them go, “HUH?!”
Sometimes, the protagonist knows exactly how the other world works because they’re well-versed in level grinding and dungeon crawling. Sometimes, the protagonist is seen as a god because they have something called a cellular phone. And sometimes it’s all a complete mess, leading to maximum hijinks where the protagonist doesn’t realize that slapping someone is, somehow, a marriage proposal – I see you Kyo Kara Maoh! and your “picking up a knife starts a duel” customs.
That being said, I’ve always told myself that it wasn’t a genre I was into. There are a couple of exceptions, of course, and I am forever amused when we get a series with a longwinded title that tells you exactly what the plot is, but “I Was Trying to Clean the Ball Pit at McDonald’s and Tripped Into a New World” isn’t what immediately grabs my attention.
At least.
That’s what I thought.
Until I realized, wow, this style of storytelling has been in my life for decades – and I’ve LOVED it.
When I look at some of the media I enjoyed while I was growing up I can’t help but notice that a lot of it has the same beats as the isekai genre. I thought it’d be fun to list a couple of examples and give them an overdramatic name in true isekai fashion.
- Movie: The Wizard of Oz
Isekai Title: I Accidentally Killed a Witch When My House Was Caught in a Tornado, Now I Have to Follow a Yellow Brick Road?!
Type of Isekai: Natural disaster transports the protagonist to a new world and they really just wanna go home.
- Movie: A Kid in King Arthur’s Court
Isekai Title: King Arthur Thinks I’m a Savior, but I’m Just a Kid Who Wants to Play Baseball!
Type of Isekai: Cowardly protagonist is an accidental wizard because of having advanced technology.
- Movie: Alice in Wonderland
Isekai Title: This Tardy Rabbit Is a Lot More Interesting Than My Sister’s History Lesson.
Type of Isekai: Bored protagonist sees a most peculiar sight and follows after it.
- Movie: Cool World
Isekai Title: What?! The Comic Series I Drew While Locked in Prison Is Actually Real?!
Type of Isekai: The protagonist has been creating a world that’s been real the whole time and discovers the truth when his illustration drags him in.
- Movie: Neverending Story
Isekai Title: Help! These Bullies Chased Me Into a Bookstore and Now the Fate of an Entire World Depends on Me?!
Type of Isekai: The protagonist finds out the book he’s reading is real and he’s the hero of the story.
- Movie: Labyrinth
Isekai Title: My Baby Brother Was Being Annoying So I Wished for Him to Be Taken Away by Goblins, and the Goblins Actually Listened?!
Type of Isekai: Frustrated protagonist doesn’t realize the power of a wish and has to deal with the consequences of her actions.
- Movie: Rock-a-Doodle
Isekai Title: Meow! The Family Rooster Has Become an Elvis Impersonator and I’m a Kitten!
Type of Isekai: The effects of the fairytale have been affecting the real world and a young boy sets off to make things right – after being turned into a cat, because sure, why not!
- Series: Captain N: The Game Master
Isekai Title: Who Knew That Playing Nintendo Could Pull You Into a Parallel Universe!
Type of Isekai: Gamer gets sucked into the game world.
- Movie: Pagemaster
Isekai Title: I Was Trying to Take Shelter During a Thunderstorm but Became a Cartoon After Going Unconscious in a Library!
Type of Isekai: Young protagonist in need of adventure gets it through the storybooks he knows and loves.
- Movie: Space Jam
Isekai Title: After Retiring From Basketball Bugs Bunny Asked Me to Come and Slam!
Type of Isekai: The animated world the protagonist knows and loves is real and the characters need help – twice (though the protagonist also needs help the second time around)
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What are some of your favorite forms of media where the protagonist gets whisked away into another world—whether they mean to or not?
(Image: Warner Bros./MGM)
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