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Anime is Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu!
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this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2023
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I never did get why authors couldn't do a straight fantasy story instead of making isekais; Stories like chronicles of Narnia and John Carter being isekais makes sense because they have to go back (or want to go back) to their worlds eventually, the regular isekai story however has no reason to be isekai (except in the few cases where normal world knowledge plays a part in the story).
"Normal world" knowledge often does play a part, but more than that I think part of the draw of isekai stories is that the audience can more easily empathize with a character originally from our world trying to make sense of the fantasy they find themselves in than characters who are from the fantasy world and thus don't find the setting particularly special.
It's not like straight fantasy stories have died out, though. In the current anime season alone you have Sousou no Frieren, Goblin Slayer, S-Rank Musume, and Mahoutsukai no Yome—and no doubt several more—where the protagonists are native to their respective fantasy settings. That's not even counting ones set in fantasy VRMMOs, which aren't exactly isekai either.
Isekai is also built more on escapism from current capitalist hell, this especially makes sense with many modern Isekai from Japan being centered on young men leaving behind a shitty life (salaryman lifestyle) that has no value (i.e. none of them are very concerned with returning home to their parents or other loved ones). This is distinct from female styled Isekais which arose in the 90s in which the protagonists would eventually return to their original world after having gone through a period of growth and development. This also kind of illustrates a very evident line between fantasy wish fulfillment for male anime consumers versus the very strict focus on female protags fulfilling their goals and returning as "responsible" contributers to society (i.e. Japanese traditionalist perspective on gender roles).
It's one of the differences between the Isekai and the Portal Fantasy. Sure sometimes the protagonist ends up staying, but the portal is in principle always there. Think Outlander where at this point they're popping back to the present for toilet breaks.
Heck sometimes in the more Isekai-like variants they start up a roaring cross-universe trade.
But ultimately that adds a sense of responsibility that Isekai lacks, because you never know when the FBI is gonna start wondering where all the gold and jewels are coming from your "technically not a smuggling operation because you technically don't cross a designated border."
At this point, it's just authors chasing the most successful current genre.