[0:00] no matter where you look izakai is
[0:03] everywhere whether you love it or hate
[0:05] it sometimes I wish a truck eated me
[0:08] from existence just so I don't have to
[0:10] be exposed to yet another third level
[0:13] gimmick turned into the laziest excuse
[0:15] for a plot possible yes I am no means
[0:19] the greatest fan of isekai but I am
[0:22] aware there are some decent isakai shows
[0:25] out there maybe but honestly it just
[0:28] makes me wonder why these cheap cash
[0:30] grab series keep getting anime
[0:32] adaptations nah but seriously I bet
[0:36] you're curious too how we even got to
[0:38] this point so let's travel back in time
[0:40] to discover how Japan became obsessed
[0:44] beyond belief with this sub-genre that
[0:46] infiltrated every last web novel light
[0:49] novel anime and manga and why isakai may
[0:54] be a threat to civilization as a whole
[0:57] highly credited anime historians 8 AKA
[1:00] losers like me often cites the 8th
[1:03] Century folk tale urashima tarot as the
[1:06] precursor for all izakai a fisherman
[1:09] named Taro saved a turtle from some
[1:11] little [ __ ] then the deranged Turtle
[1:13] adopted protagon saying oh we won't be
[1:17] too long taking him to the Dragon Palace
[1:19] where Taro met his own waifu legit they
[1:23] got married except unlike isakai
[1:26] protagonist today he was like nah screw
[1:29] this I'm out of here but upon Return To
[1:31] His World 300 years have passed and he
[1:33] had turned into an old man the end who
[1:37] in the right mind thinks this inspired
[1:39] modern-day isakai people actually
[1:41] believe wannabe web novelists in their
[1:43] parents basement read this old ass story
[1:45] and thoughts I know how about I let you
[1:48] stay in the world and get a harem of
[1:51] cute girls instead and give them a [ __ ]
[1:53] ton of Obi abilities for no reason what
[1:56] a brilliant idea this is exactly The
[1:59] Escapist fantasy Japan needs nah but
[2:02] legit Japan isn't the only country out
[2:05] there that has produced stories which
[2:07] involve traveling to A Whole New World
[2:09] simply because for most people real life
[2:12] is kinda underwhelming and that's
[2:15] putting it lightly listen I'm not a
[2:17] Doomer but it's undeniable life is tough
[2:20] as hell for a vast majority of people
[2:22] especially throwing history into the mix
[2:25] with war famine poverty and diseases out
[2:29] there who wouldn't want to wish for a
[2:30] new world surrounded by anime titties
[2:33] that's why fictional stories have
[2:35] mattered to people since the of time
[2:37] irrespective if they are classed as
[2:40] izakai or not imagining a fantasy star
[2:43] story promoting themes of heroism or
[2:46] some Noble quality which everyone can
[2:48] enjoy Act Ed as a form of escapism what
[2:52] if you add the secret formula or the
[2:54] concept of the average Joe in town
[2:56] journeying to a fancy land of Wonder
[2:59] they act as the audience personified
[3:01] experiencing the new world in the story
[3:04] themselves or in other words a
[3:06] self-insert if you think about it even
[3:08] the concept of Heaven in world religions
[3:11] could be classed as an isakai I know
[3:13] that sounds kind of stupid but let me
[3:15] cook for the average medieval peasant
[3:17] who lived a pretty terrible life of hard
[3:19] manual labor and no opportunities in
[3:22] life they found solace from the stained
[3:24] glass windows of the local church
[3:26] believing through their faith and
[3:28] eternal life of happiness and peace
[3:30] awaited them after death and maybe an
[3:33] anime girl Harem if they were lucky why
[3:35] do you think so many izakai protagonists
[3:37] die in real life facts the truck corn in
[3:39] order to be reincarnated into the new
[3:41] world it's their author's idea of Heaven
[3:44] okay this conspiracy theory isn't
[3:46] foolproof as there are plenty of
[3:47] izakayas out there with messed up worlds
[3:49] what maybe they went to hell
[3:51] nevertheless as a general concept I
[3:53] think it works now let's fast forward
[3:55] two world wars to Modern Japan where the
[3:58] country had been devastated by a
[4:00] horrendous conflict of earth-shattering
[4:03] proportions hope emerged out of the
[4:05] ashes in the form of popular anime and
[4:08] manga which took Japan and later the
[4:11] entire Globe by storm the first known
[4:14] modern izakai stories to emerge out of
[4:17] Japan according to this highly credible
[4:19] Source oh it is wrong Wikipedia why do
[4:22] you lie to me according to my extensive
[4:25] and back-breaking research in the form
[4:27] of a three second Google search the
[4:29] first modern isekai anime was Paul in
[4:32] Fantasyland in 1976 which sounds like a
[4:36] bootleg genderbent version of Alice in
[4:38] Wonderland wait are you telling me
[4:41] mushroku tensei isn't the grandfather of
[4:43] all isekai I'm gonna cry
[4:46] there was also 1981 Superbook which is a
[4:49] Christian anime no seriously it is I'm
[4:52] not joking video games also became
[4:55] mainstream in the 80s and thus the
[4:57] ingenious idea to combine this new
[5:00] medium with anime was spawned admittedly
[5:03] while it is easy for us humans from the
[5:06] future to look back in retrospect to
[5:09] uncover the mind-blowing origins of
[5:11] izakai in Japan the reality is that
[5:14] there weren't really enough series that
[5:16] followed the same tropes or formula
[5:18] which had that same Mass Appeal we see
[5:21] in recent years they were stories that
[5:24] just so happened to have the main
[5:25] character or multiple characters from
[5:27] one world travel to another different
[5:30] from their own it had not yet become an
[5:32] oversaturated sub-genre or even
[5:35] recognized as a sub-genre for that
[5:37] matter even in the early 21st century
[5:39] there were only a few if any shows which
[5:43] could be classed as izakai often adapted
[5:45] from light novels or Manga zero no
[5:48] sukima in 2004 being being one example
[5:51] by the way if you would like to see me
[5:53] make a video about why the hell Idol
[5:55] anime became so popular in the first
[5:57] place then subscribe to the channel so
[5:59] you don't miss out now let's talk about
[6:01] what we can describe as the izakai boom
[6:04] anime subgenres have existed for a long
[6:07] time with sunlight battles Shonen and
[6:09] etchy harems still surviving to this day
[6:12] and during this time light level
[6:14] adaptations started trending which
[6:16] featured isakai or reverse izakai
[6:19] Stories the latter being where a
[6:21] character from a fantasy setting gets
[6:23] sent to a world not too dissimilar from
[6:25] her own we went from having a few shows
[6:28] per year which could arguably be classed
[6:30] as izakai under our 2023 lens to now
[6:34] more than 20 isakai a year and God knows
[6:37] how many web novels that haven't even
[6:39] been adapted into anime yet what I
[6:42] believe truly launched a disease known
[6:44] as izakai into multiplying faster than
[6:46] the Bubonic plague was the internet
[6:49] itself thanks to the digital world any
[6:51] idiot could go online and write their
[6:54] own web novel fan fiction meaning if you
[6:57] were an aspiring Japanese novelist you
[7:00] no longer needed the traditional route
[7:02] of applying to Publishers or entering
[7:04] novel writing competitions to gain
[7:06] recognition and attract a loyal fan base
[7:09] and due to some of these web novels
[7:11] becoming so goddamn popular it wasn't
[7:14] long before they were approached by
[7:16] Publishers giving them their big break
[7:18] and later adapted into anime re-zero
[7:22] mushoku tensei tensora and many many
[7:25] more all followed this route into the
[7:27] mainstream with lots of new undiscovered
[7:30] talents writing izakai stories online
[7:33] and later getting snapped up and selling
[7:35] thousands if not millions of novels what
[7:38] could possibly go wrong everyone now as
[7:41] Cloud chasing for a piece of the new
[7:43] isakai pie drastically increasing the
[7:47] number of izakai authors but as original
[7:50] ideas are increasingly scarce in modern
[7:53] light novels and Anime and due to this
[7:55] sub-genre becoming competitive as hell
[7:57] it became easy to pull a ridiculous
[8:00] gimmick out your ass and give it an
[8:03] isakai layer of paint original writing
[8:06] unless getting reincarnated as a hot
[8:09] spring or a vending machine showcases
[8:11] The Genius of modern Japanese writers
[8:14] although it can be argued that writing
[8:16] something wholly original is now
[8:19] impossible therefore it's natural to
[8:21] take inspiration from other works well
[8:23] come on who the hell is asking for these
[8:26] generic izakai that's either Rippy
[8:28] Trevor off or revolve around a stupid
[8:30] gimmick because
[8:32] isn't it quirky that our main
[8:33] protagonist is a sex worker now
[8:38] what is that
[8:40] what the [ __ ] is that therefore the
[8:43] markets has now become so oversaturated
[8:45] that is now a relief when non-issakai
[8:48] get attention honestly it makes you
[8:50] wonder how these series keep getting the
[8:52] green light and before you get outraged
[8:54] in the comments about how the MILF
[8:55] incest izakai is the magnum opus of 21st
[8:58] century literature I'm just perplexed by
[9:01] how easy it is to seemingly write a
[9:04] moderately successful izakai nowadays
[9:06] with little thoughts or efforts put into
[9:09] the story characters and worlds simply
[9:12] because these series are on a
[9:14] never-ending conveyor belt from online
[9:16] web novels then the consumers will read
[9:18] them as they are addicted to the formula
[9:21] and are attracted to outlandish and
[9:23] absurd titles because ha funny therefore
[9:26] it's a no-brainer for the anime Studios
[9:28] to mass produce isakai to earn easy
[9:32] money irrespective of the quality of the
[9:35] original stories but how did the
[9:37] consumers even get hooked to izakai so
[9:40] much to begin with well anime as a whole
[9:43] is simply another form of media which
[9:46] people can enjoy to escape their
[9:48] mediocre lives just like video games
[9:50] movies or whatever as I mentioned
[9:52] earlier this has always existed but now
[9:55] due to way more shows and forms of media
[9:58] being produced and becoming more popular
[10:00] than ever it's more relevant than it
[10:02] ever has been like it or not we are all
[10:05] susceptible to this unless you just hate
[10:07] fun I guess trust me I waste more time
[10:10] on Smash than I like to admit but why do
[10:12] you think so many is a guy protagonists
[10:14] are nice or hikikomoris I thought girls
[10:17] hate jobless guys neats wish their lives
[10:19] were much more exciting and like the
[10:21] responsibilities which come with
[10:23] adulthood therefore escaping to another
[10:26] world just like the main character of an
[10:28] isakai is their ideal fantasy I just
[10:30] pray to God they don't take the death in
[10:33] the original World bit to heart as Japan
[10:35] has already a pretty concerning suicide
[10:37] rate even putting shut-ins and Hermits
[10:39] aside well looking life in Japan thus
[10:42] often have a bad reputation mainly in
[10:45] the big cities I imagine as apparently
[10:47] is surprisingly common for employees
[10:49] being coerced to work overtime
[10:51] constantly and incentivized not to take
[10:53] holidays therefore anime especially
[10:56] izakai is a convenient way for them to
[10:59] imagine a more engaging reality maybe
[11:01] Sato from Welcome to the NHK was right
[11:04] in saying that TV companies air
[11:06] addictive anime to turn more people into
[11:08] shut-ins as part of a Sinister
[11:10] conspiracy I mean I wouldn't go far as
[11:13] to say izakai is the root of all evil or
[11:16] would I nah but seriously if you enjoy
[11:19] the Casual izakai every now and then
[11:21] while still having a real life wishing
[11:23] you were a piece of slime or having an
[11:25] instant kill ability which invalidates
[11:27] everyone else more power to you the
[11:29] problem is being addicted to them can be
[11:31] hella unhealthy not only because you're
[11:34] throwing money to the run of the mill
[11:35] izakai every single season or book
[11:38] release you will probably lose torch
[11:40] with real but aeon Subaru isn't a
[11:43] self-insert because he saw is a
[11:45] gorillion amount of times okay sure but
[11:48] why do you like re-zero let me guess is
[11:51] the characters on the world right
[11:52] escapism doesn't necessarily mean the
[11:55] main character has to be relatable or
[11:57] the one you imagine as yourself just as
[12:00] long as the world is exciting and
[12:02] interesting enough that it makes you
[12:03] want to watch it rather than looking at
[12:05] paint dry in your house it's that simple
[12:07] or alternatively you have the isakai
[12:10] dudes who get all the chicks have all
[12:12] EOP abilities and dunk on any enemy that
[12:15] opposes them God I wish that was me this
[12:18] causes the problem of people being
[12:20] unsatisfied with themselves in the real
[12:23] world therefore the idea of a power
[12:25] Fantasy character is far more appealing
[12:28] welcome to the NHK also has a brief
[12:31] video game izakai Arc where the main
[12:33] character Sato gets addicted to a game
[12:35] which is totally not World of Warcraft
[12:37] as is way more exciting to be a mage
[12:40] with a cute cat e-girl who turns out to
[12:43] be a dude in a virtual world rather than
[12:45] on a neck bearded loser with no job in
[12:48] reality and this anime was made before
[12:50] the big isakai boom while it does focus
[12:53] on video games I think the message is
[12:55] trying to suggest also applies to the
[12:57] mass consumption of izakai as they share
[13:00] similar aspects and video game izakai
[13:02] are very popular neglecting your own
[13:04] reality for the sake of something which
[13:06] doesn't and cannot exist is a terrible
[13:08] approach to life while Sato does escape
[13:11] the virtual world with the help of his
[13:13] friends there is another character in
[13:15] NHK who does not leave his room and is
[13:17] permanently etched to his scream playing
[13:20] the hell out of the game non-stop who
[13:22] Sato does try to help as he was in a
[13:25] very similar situation himself I'm not
[13:27] saying that everyone who watches Izakaya
[13:29] is like this but Duty more and more
[13:31] izakai being produced and its formula
[13:33] for Success it makes you wonder how many
[13:35] people are taking it this far sadly
[13:38] izakai is a sub-genre that seems to be
[13:40] going nowhere and more shows which use
[13:42] the same premise with a weird added
[13:44] gimmick will likely increase in number I
[13:47] don't think this is a good thing for the
[13:48] industry or consumers despite anime
[13:51] being more popular now than it's ever
[13:53] been I think it's because the audience
[13:56] probably prefer to watch simple plots
[13:58] with a concept that is already familiar
[14:00] to them so they can just enjoy a silly
[14:03] anime without having to overthink I'm
[14:05] not saying every show needs to be
[14:07] intellectually stimulating all I want is
[14:09] moderation and thankfully there are
[14:11] still shows out there which aren't
[14:13] isakai for now but as my tinfoil hat
[14:16] Theory suggests izakai will eventually
[14:18] take over the entire industry
[14:21] indoctrinate our brains and enslave us
[14:23] to the worlds beyond our own let me know
[14:26] if you think isakai has gone too far
[14:28] down below if you want to see more
[14:29] conspiracy theory related anime videos
[14:32] with a touch of History like this then
[14:34] click on the videos on screen right now
[14:36] and subscribe so you don't miss a future
[14:38] video