The Isekai genre is falling away and here is its replacement

Key insights

• Shonen anime remain popular, but shojo anime have been making a comeback in recent years.
• The success of shojo anime adaptations like Dress Up Darling and Horimiya has caused a stir on the internet.
• The decline in isekai popularity may be due to oversaturation and a shift toward more relatable slices of life.

Shonen will always be at the top of the charts, but seasonal shonen anime tend to share the spotlight with a “trending” genre that follows close behind. Dozens, if not hundreds, of the seasonal anime were anime with insanely long titles and cookie-cutter harem stereotypes where the protagonist is explicitly OP and conveniently never loses. Of course, there are exceptions to the Isekai rule that are actually well done or offer a new take on the genre; Subject: Zero, KonosubaAnd This time I was reborn through a slime are some of the more notable examples of Isekai.

But times are changing. The only successful isekai of late are sequels to already successful franchises; New isekai tend to be rarer, more widely spaced, and not as highly valued. While Shonen has always been at the forefront of gaming and isn't going away any time soon, this year there's a new contender to rival the popular Shonen… and the exact opposite is true.

Shojou anime finally shines again

Romance, slice-of-life and other shojou subgenres populate the charts

While shojo manga and anime had their heyday in the early 2000s, the genre has lagged behind for over a decade, leaving the wellspring of shoujo anime relatively dry and barren, with a few exceptions. In recent years, however, there has been an explosion in shojo manga. This of course leads to shojo manga adaptations. Some of the flashbang hits of the last few years are Get dressed, darling, Horimiyaand the currently broadcast program Yakuza fiance Social media takeover. Some other recent hits Kaguya-sama: Love is warThe Fruit basket start anew, Komi cannot communicateand other.

Some of them, including those mentioned above Love is war And Fruit basket temporarily exceeded Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and were the highest rated anime on the infamous anime tracking website MyAnimeList, causing enough of a stir to attract online attention.

In the note from Fruit basketMany of the popular shojo anime of the 90s and early 2000s are now being rebooted; Ranma 1/2 to be among them. Even Crunchyroll covered what they call the “Shojo Renaissance” in an article this year, mentioning the anime Kimi ni Todoke is finally getting a third season after a 13-year hiatus that looks like a popular manga Sign of affection And Honey lemon soda are finally getting adaptations after fans' years of waiting. Shojo anime is actually making a comeback and influencing how other genres handle their romance.

Why was Isekai so big?

Why has Isekai become so popular anyway?

As a genre, Isekai is typically about being trapped in a fantasy world, typically an MMORPG or other type of video game, but almost always there is some type of fantasy world. This provided a certain amount of escapism from anime fans around the world. The immense and intense popularity of Sword art online certainly contributed to Isekai's overall success; Most anime studios wanted to recreate the phenomenon Sword art online became. Another factor that contributed to Isekai's success was the escape into the ultimate power fantasy of an average gamer who becomes the protagonist of his favorite game.

In Isekai anime, it was often a normal player who was reincarnated or transported into a fantasy game they were already playing. And these days, most MMORPG players are also anime fans, as most modern MMORPGs are based on anime, so there is a lot of overlap between the two niches. So these hybrid gamer and anime fans would logically be drawn to an anime that shows someone they identify with immediately traveling through an immersive video game world similar to the games they already play, right?

Why is Isekai no longer as popular?

What has changed in the world of Isekai?

There are a few theories that could contribute to Isekai's decline in popularity. The most obvious problem is oversaturation. When a genre takes center stage as a trendy and popular genre, fans of an entertainment medium are likely to get burned by it. This is especially true for anyone who has tried to keep up with seasonal anime over the last decade and has seen the Isekai genre slowly take the place of a wider variety of genres.

“The Isekai genre doesn’t need to die, but it does need to be reborn in a less caricatured form. This is already starting to happen, but the process needs to be accelerated. Anime studios in particular should also be much more selective about the number. “Isekai” they are willing to adapt in a season, and writers who want to write “Isekai” would do well to rely on trying something different. “

Another theory pointing to Isekai's demise is that we as a whole don't need to escape as often as we did a few years ago. Depending on the country you are in, there have been on-and-off lockdowns due to COVID-19 for a few years, affecting contact with the outside world for a significant period of time. Many otaku spent the time during lockdown watching anime and playing video games, making isekai more relatable. Now that the world is out and experiencing the world again, characters in more realistic, grounded situations like those seen in shoujo anime are relatable. Most people spent years with limited contacts, the closure of social events and school online instead of in person. As people experience these again in real life, they want to see the same experiences and events replicated on their screen.

The Isekai genre itself is beginning to reflect this, with dozens of slice-of-life Isekai coming out along with the typical action-fantasy-adventure variety. Although isekai is definitely not unpopular, ratings for shojou anime have continued to rise, occasionally even surpassing those of isekai. The genre's dominance won't last much longer unless they find a new way to innovate.