Anime/Manga - Discuss Japanese cartoons and comics here; NO CULTURE WAR DOOMPOSTING!

[God of Nothing]

The Japanese are demoralized as a nation and the idea of dying and being reborn into any world besides their own is best form of commercial escapism.

Isekais use to be more wacky, akin to the most commonly referred to Western influence of the genre, Alice in Wonderland. Digimon and Those who Hunt Elves captured an almost distrust of their fantasy worlds. Modern isekai are idealistic to their worlds.

That's a really good point. Power fantasy/other worlds shows always existed, but with modern isekai you feel the cope of an entire generation living in the post bubble economy with the dawning realization that they are expected to live actual wage slaving lives to some gay corpo with no chance of rising up, while squandering away their youth either by being a loner or just some average guy.

no family, no friends, no lovers, and no future
the noose and the idea of something after it becomes tempting when the stress becomes too much to bear

 

[Waifu Days]

the noose and the idea of something after it becomes tempting when the stress becomes too much to bear

Don't get me wrong, I like Chainsaw Man but it is brutally simplistic and I think it taps into the drudgery ethos that most modern isekais stem from. Whether your a salaryman or a slave to the gig economy, this world is not that great. At least in the next world your can intoduce pudding snack and reconstruct that world economy. Some isekai I like, even modern but at this point it's more about how to subvert the cliches than really doing something fresh and new.

 

[God of Nothing]

Don't get me wrong, I like Chainsaw Man but it is brutally simplistic and I think it taps into the drudgery ethos that most modern isekais stem from. Whether your a salaryman or a slave to the gig economy, this world is not that great. At least in the next world your can intoduce pudding snack and reconstruct that world economy. Some isekai I like, even modern but at this point it's more about how to subvert the cliches than really doing something fresh and new.

Chainsaw Man has this strange realism to its escapism. I mean, Denji's main goals are basic shit that, if you really think about it, are things we had but now lack in the modern age: sex, friends, and family. He works so well because of it. And that's fucking depressing.

 

[Waifu Days]

I will say that One Piece is probably super popular because it openly fights against the nilihistic attitudes of the modern world. A lot of kids I talk to (both Japanese and American) are terrified of the idea of having an adventre or two. I loved reading books like Huckleberry Finn and manga like Bleach because it was about facing a bold and new world, full of dangers and delights. I still prefer media like that but it is falling out of vague. Many people today are comfortable not having surprises but opening hate the lot they've been giving. "Apathy is Death"

edit: I am a softy and kids today kinda make me want to cry.

 

[God of Nothing]

I will say that One Piece is probably super popular because it openly fights against the nilihistic attitudes of the modern world. A lot of kids I talk to (both Japanese and American) are terrified of the idea of having an adventre or two. I loved reading books like Huckleberry Finn and manga like Bleach because it was about facing a bold and new world, full of dangers and delights. I still prefer media like that but it is falling out of vague. Many people today are comfortable not having surprises but opening hate the lot they've been giving. "Apathy is Death"

edit: I am a softy and kids today kinda make me want to cry.

you dream of what could be as a child
when you grow up, you realize what you are and what the world is
kids are figuring out sooner rather than later

 

[Kari Kamiya]

I will say that One Piece is probably super popular because it openly fights against the nilihistic attitudes of the modern world. A lot of kids I talk to (both Japanese and American) are terrified of the idea of having an adventre or two.

I've mentioned it before, but Mom inadvertently quoting Dr. Hiruluk about going on an adventure got me to go on a plane for the first time, which eventually paid off a couple years afterward when I entered a long-distance relationship. Something as simple as flying across the country can count as an adventure if you put your mind to it. Kids just have overactive imaginations and psych themselves out of stuff like that, thereby forgoing those experiences, which in turn can potentially fuck them up later.

 

[Incel Death Note]

I will say that One Piece is probably super popular because it openly fights against the nilihistic attitudes of the modern world. A lot of kids I talk to (both Japanese and American) are terrified of the idea of having an adventre or two. I loved reading books like Huckleberry Finn and manga like Bleach because it was about facing a bold and new world, full of dangers and delights. I still prefer media like that but it is falling out of vague. Many people today are comfortable not having surprises but opening hate the lot they've been giving. "Apathy is Death"

edit: I am a softy and kids today kinda make me want to cry.

The stupid sincerity and optimism of One Piece always cheers me up. Whenever you're spinning your wheels or feel like you're not where you want to be in a project or a skill or your life in general you can always think hey, Luffy's 1000+ chapters in and he's still not king of the pirates.

 

[Sinner's Sandwich]

What's the point in isekais when they rarely touch upon the whole "transported to another world" plot point?

The only point is watching girls with the same face but various hair styles & colors, who all are representing an animu trope, throwing themselves at a boring, flawless, uber strong male hero.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

The important thing to note is that isekai is more designed to 30 year olds than 20 year olds. Like with gaming where most games nowadays are made for soy filled grown men, so is anime made for grown men who'd rather experience a power fantasy than change the actual world.

 

[vern]

That reminds me there was some Japanese producer/president form a media company called Dwango who had an interesting take on why isekai series where popular in Japan.
Something like 90% of all modern isekai and iseaki authors come from 2 or 3 different webnovel websites and these websites are almost set like youtube in terms of analytics and how people get paid for it. So some authors will get followings of tens of thousands of readers and publishers will look at the analytics of said readers, offer a contract, and know exactly what to do to market whatever sucker they picked up. There's actually a term japs use to complain about these types of stories we shit on for being isekaishit i.e. overpowered MC with a cheat skill, a harem, etc. they call it a narou series which iirc came from the biggest of these webnovel sites
And if you dive into these sites a lot of these users are poorfags that are only using it cause there free and as such believe in stupid doormer shit like the "parent gacha" where the only way to get ahead is if you where born privileged and the idea that you'll always succeed by working hard is the real wish fulfillment fantasy (which from what I've heard users on these sites absolutely hate most shonen series).

So TLDR if you want to avoid most isekai shit, if it started as web novel or the author started there career making them, its probably gonna be shit.

 

[Atatata]

Yeah, it's not really a secret.
The big isekai (Tanya, Overlord, Shield Hero, Mushoku Tensei, Re:Zero, Konosuba) were mostly hobbyists that wrote for fun on Narou and would hang out in chatrooms together, hence why there's a lot of crossover. Some have their web novels updated still, you can legally read stuff like Mushoku Tensei and Re:Zero more or less for free, not counting editorial changes.

Iirc there's rules attached. If the light novel goes further than the web novel, the web novel gets deleted off the site.

Non isekai wise, a lot of stuff still comes from there. My Happy Marriage, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas, TearMoon Empire, The Apothecary Dairies, etc.

 

[Betonhaus]

It'd be nice if they had more family ones. Spy x Family was cute af.

What i would love is one that's basically like High School DxD but told from the parents point of view - where they secretly have a decent understanding what's happening (and have strengths they passed onto their kid to meke them somehow indestructible or however the MC ends up being) and spend the season colluding with the other parents over having grandchildren and what they would be like.

 

[Hammr2]

The only point is watching girls with the same face but various hair styles & colors, who all are representing an animu trope, throwing themselves at a boring, flawless, uber strong male hero.

The only point you say,..... Well ackchyually

Old school stuffs



Something more recent.....



NSFW

The interesting thing about the one on the left, the shota is top while the hunk is bottom in relationship.
What I list are the ones have anime adaptation. There are more, all you need to do adding a second tag like BL or villainess along with isekai. Or the usual demographic genre with the search.

 

[BananaSplit²]

It says something if I'm having a better reading flow with the original japanese text, compared to the fan-translation that really goes overboard on the old English talk all because Lucy Diamond uses わし (commonly seen in grandma/grandpa characters) as her personal pronoun.


Source is Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru in case anyone is interested. The story of an humble sword teacher in his forties leaving peacefully in the countryside until he was recommended, by one of his former pupils, as a special instructor for a knightly order in the capital city.

Between the Dengeki publisher sale from last month (where every first volume was priced at 11 yen) and the Prime Day summer sale, I'm sure collecting a large digital stash of manga/novel books.

 

[Space Police]

We've got lots of exciting anime news today. First, Miyazaki's latest movie (now officially known as The Boy and The Heron in English) came out today in Japan. GKIDS is going to release the movie in theatres later this year. I've been avoiding reviews for spoilers, so I don't know what it's like, but I have high expectations since it's Miyazaki.

https://deadline.com/2023/07/hayao-miyazaki-the-boy-and-the-heron-how-do-you-live-gkids-north-america-distribution-rights-japan-box-office-opening-1235437993/

Also, a new Brave series manga, Brave Universe Sworgrader, is going to begin serialization at the end of July for the 25th anniversary of GaoGaiGar! It's going to be a new mech, new story, new child sidekicks -- I'm officially hyped! An animated intro for the manga is going to be released. If they use 2D animation for the mecha, I'll be super happy, but I'm not going to get my hopes up too high. Hopefully this manga does well enough for a full anime to be made!

https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2023/7/14/gaogaigar-anime-celebrates-25th-anniversary-with-launch-of-new-brave-series-web-manga-sworgrader

https://twitter.com/gaogaigar25th/status/1679669541981556736

 

[Betonhaus]

Finally got around to watching Zom 100 - this is a refreshing take on the escape fantasies, as a burnt out exploited worker discovers the zombie apocalypse started and he is now free of the chains of society. So he is making a list of 100 things he wants to do before he ends up as a zombie too.

Also zombie blood is multicolored and splashy for some reason

 

[Trombonista]

Also zombie blood is multicolored and splashy for some reason

Broadcast censorship, perhaps? Who knows if it will be colored differently on the home release?

 

[Betonhaus]

Broadcast censorship, perhaps? Who knows if it will be colored differently on the home release?

It might be an artistic choice. It worked really well for the show though. The first half of the episode is how exploitative his job is (his first day there was crunch time and he didn't get home for two days, unpaid overtime is normal) and it was all dim and grey, and when he realized Tokyo had turned to zombies everything was bright and vibrant. He gave his zombie boss a formal resignation before pushing him out a window, and professed his love to his coworker zombie before running away.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

It might be an artistic choice. It worked really well for the show though. The first half of the episode is how exploitative his job is (his first day there was crunch time and he didn't get home for two days, unpaid overtime is normal) and it was all dim and grey, and when he realized Tokyo had turned to zombies everything was bright and vibrant. He gave his zombie boss a formal resignation before pushing him out a window, and professed his love to his coworker zombie before running away.

Zom 100 is off to a great start. I agree the vibrant and saturated colors are definitely an artistic choice meant to juxtapose boring corporate life vs free, apocalyptic life. The animations are really fluid and I hope the studio keeps that up for the duration of the season. It feels like Itaden Dieties with such saturated colors and thick outlines. Good twist on the zombie genre, will continue to watch.

 

[Betonhaus]

Zom 100 is off to a great start. I agree the vibrant and saturated colors are definitely an artistic choice meant to juxtapose boring corporate life vs free, apocalyptic life. The animations are really fluid and I hope the studio keeps that up for the duration of the season. It feels like Itaden Dieties with such saturated colors and thick outlines. Good twist on the zombie genre, will continue to watch.

It looks like it's going to be a beautiful tragedy with humor. He knows the world has ended and he has created he will end up as a Zombie too, but he has embraced the sheer freedom he has and is going to do all the things he wanted to do before he's turned into a zombie.