[0:00] What if I told you that Reborn as a
[0:01] venting machine reveals an objective
[0:03] truth about Japanese society? All right,
[0:05] maybe not this one, but have you ever
[0:07] wondered why in the world isai even is a
[0:09] thing? Or better yet, why it's so
[0:11] popular? I mean, the fact that isekai
[0:13] became its own genre and ended up being
[0:14] one of the most consumed ones in the
[0:16] anime community can't be just because.
[0:18] Sure, is sells and that's the main
[0:20] reason so many mega keep making them.
[0:23] Why does it sell so much? Really, have
[0:25] you ever thought about that? It's true
[0:26] that some people just want a simple I'm
[0:29] going to catch them all her type is
[0:31] myself included. But I genuinely believe
[0:34] there is something deeper behind this
[0:35] trend of frustration with how our world
[0:37] works. In this video I want to show you
[0:39] what the isakai trend says about the
[0:41] state of humanity and what we can do to
[0:43] fix it. All that with a bit of comedy of
[0:46] course. Although isekai is everywhere
[0:47] these days it actually had a humble
[0:49] beginning just like everything else. Let
[0:51] me introduce you to Urashimataro. One of
[0:53] the first Japanese stories about
[0:54] traveling to another world recorded in
[0:56] history dating back to around the 8th
[0:58] century. The story follows a
[1:00] good-hearted fisherman by the name of
[1:01] Urashima. Doesn't look like Kyito
[1:03] though. Isn't this supposed to be an
[1:05] isekai? Anyways, our guy is out fishing
[1:07] as usual until he accidentally catches a
[1:10] turtle. He lets it go since turtles are
[1:12] supposed to live a longass time and he
[1:13] didn't want to mess with its life
[1:15] expectancy just for a meal. But to our
[1:17] surprise, a turtle turns out to be one
[1:19] of the first Japanese waifuss ever
[1:20] recorded in history. Who would have
[1:22] guessed? The waifu is actually the sea
[1:24] god's daughter, and the whole thing was
[1:26] a test to see if Hurashima was worthy of
[1:28] becoming her husband. He sees this as an
[1:30] absolute win. Who wouldn't? And the two
[1:32] of them sail to the palace of the dragon
[1:34] god at the bottom of the sea. Everything
[1:36] there is different. Even time passes
[1:38] differently. So, it's basically another
[1:39] world. The ending of this story
[1:41] absolutely sucks, though. When he goes
[1:42] back home to visit his family, he
[1:44] realizes a 100red years have passed.
[1:46] Everybody's dust at this point, and he
[1:48] has no idea how to go back to his
[1:50] aquatic waifu. He opens a box she told
[1:52] him not to open and becomes dust too. So
[1:55] what can we learn from this? Never
[1:56] disobey your turtle waifu to go back to
[1:58] your family. Having shitty endings has
[2:00] been a trend for Japanese authors for
[2:02] quite a while for what I can tell. And
[2:04] somehow we went from Japanese folklore
[2:06] about a fisherman and a god's daughter
[2:07] to generic easy to draw Kyito wannabe
[2:10] who has a herm and a smartphone in
[2:12] another world. With all that being said,
[2:14] I believe that beneath all these cliches
[2:16] and self-inserted stories lies an
[2:19] objective truth about how millions of
[2:21] people feel and a calling to change
[2:23] reality. Let's take a look at some
[2:25] cliché for a moment. Death March about a
[2:27] guy who basically lives at work, dies,
[2:30] gets transported into the world of the
[2:32] game he was developing, reincarnated as
[2:34] a slime. About a guy who lived a normal
[2:36] life in the business world, then gets
[2:37] stabbed and is taken to another world.
[2:39] Jobless reincarnation. a guy with a
[2:41] miserable life and very questionable
[2:43] character who gets reincarnated. And
[2:45] last but not least, wise man's
[2:47] grandchild. The MC works like crazy,
[2:50] barely has a life until he's run over
[2:52] and reincarnated. Beyond what's
[2:54] considered a generic plot nowadays,
[2:56] there is something deeper happening in
[2:58] each one of these stories. A frustration
[3:00] with reality and a desire to be truly
[3:02] free. In the short documentary published
[3:04] by Nes, we see a Japanese man describing
[3:06] how he feels every day when he goes to
[3:09] work. With his simple words, he says,
[3:11] "It's almost midnight. When I walk into
[3:13] the office, little by little, my body
[3:15] goes bad. I feel pain in my heart.
[3:18] Little by little, I cannot breathe. But
[3:21] employees are so busy. They can't take
[3:23] care of me. Everybody's running the same
[3:25] way. They can barely see the outside.
[3:28] Working is existing. No one is waiting
[3:30] for me. The room is dark, just sleeping
[3:33] and continuing day after day. a reality
[3:35] where many don't have a life outside of
[3:37] work, where working and meeting
[3:39] society's expectations has become the
[3:41] norm. Now, let me ask you once again,
[3:43] what deeper reason is there for so many
[3:45] of us to want to go to another [music]
[3:46] world? I'll give you the answer. To
[3:48] escape, run away from the pain. The pain
[3:50] of dealing with difficult people every
[3:52] day. The pain of studying things we're
[3:54] not interested in. The pain of
[3:55] dedicating ourselves to a dream which
[3:57] isn't even ours to begin with. The pain
[3:59] of constantly living, doing, and study
[4:01] things that have nothing to do with who
[4:03] we are. These are the things that make
[4:05] another reality so appealing to so many
[4:07] of us. Many isekai stories are created
[4:09] just for the sake of money and nothing
[4:11] else. But this desire to consume isekai
[4:14] after isekai to insert ourselves in
[4:16] another world often comes from a
[4:18] frustration with reality itself with how
[4:21] things work in this world. This is why I
[4:23] believe there is value to understanding
[4:24] why so many people love generic isekai
[4:27] and why you might be interested in the
[4:28] idea of living another world to begin
[4:30] with. If you take a closer look at the
[4:32] hundreds of inventions that humanity has
[4:34] created throughout history, it's almost
[4:36] unbelievable. I mean, if I were sent
[4:39] back to the past to explain how
[4:40] electricity works, I'd probably say, "No
[4:42] idea, bro. I just use it." Think for a
[4:45] moment about how many technologies you
[4:47] use every single day without really
[4:49] understanding how they work. But when
[4:51] you look even closer to what humans have
[4:53] created, you realize that there is one
[4:55] specific thing that's very unique to
[4:57] [music] our species. We are masters at
[4:59] creating weapons of mass destruction. In
[5:01] this short video published by Daily Mayo
[5:03] news, a Ukrainian and a Russian soldier
[5:06] engage in a brutal fight. One of them
[5:08] ends up severely wounded, lying on the
[5:10] ground. As he's about to pass away, he
[5:13] says, "That's it, Mom. Bye. Let me pass
[5:16] away in peace. It hurts a lot. Let me go
[5:19] quietly. You were the best fighter.
[5:21] Please let me die by myself." All that
[5:24] suffering because of old men who hate
[5:26] each other, who then send men who don't
[5:28] hate each other to kill one another. An
[5:30] endless cycle of hate. And even when a
[5:32] war does end, it's just a matter of time
[5:34] until another begins. Where beauty
[5:36] thrives [music]
[5:36] human greed hurries to defile it. This
[5:39] is something deeply rooted in human
[5:41] nature, and it makes me profoundly
[5:43] disappointed with reality. No wonder so
[5:45] many people wish to live in a far away
[5:47] place. Let me ask you something. Are you
[5:49] satisfied with the way you live? Do you
[5:51] study what you actually want to study?
[5:52] Do you have a job? Are you satisfied
[5:54] with it? Do you speak the way you want
[5:55] to? Or you think following your heart
[5:57] would be too naive, too immature, or
[6:00] childish? Well, life is tough for most
[6:04] of us. Sometimes we have to do things we
[6:06] don't want to do, and that sucks. But a
[6:08] lot of times we underestimate just how
[6:09] much freedom we actually have. Many of
[6:11] us have built such a strong narrative in
[6:14] our minds that we don't even try
[6:15] anymore. We don't take risks. We don't
[6:18] believe. You see, I believe that life is
[6:20] objectively speaking meaningless. I
[6:22] think that from a universal point of
[6:25] view, there is no absolute value in
[6:27] anything we do. For me, the meaning of
[6:29] all things is what they mean to you and
[6:32] me and nothing else. I respect the
[6:34] different faiths, but I myself have no
[6:36] spiritual faith whatsoever. I don't
[6:37] believe there is a second chance,
[6:39] another life. Maybe you do, and that's
[6:41] completely fine. Maybe there is one. I
[6:43] hope it's a good one. But let's play a
[6:45] little game for a moment. Imagine this.
[6:46] Even if just for a second, life is
[6:48] meaningless and there is no afterlife.
[6:50] Once you die, everything stops for you.
[6:52] You no longer take part in anything and
[6:54] all you did becomes just one of the
[6:56] countless things that have happened in
[6:58] this universe. In such a reality, would
[7:00] it make any sense to live in a way you
[7:02] don't want? Cuz if life is meaningless,
[7:04] then there is no right or wrong way to
[7:06] live objectively speaking because in the
[7:08] end, none of it really matters. Of
[7:10] course, maybe you believe life has an
[7:12] objective meaning. Maybe you're even
[7:14] religious and that's fine. What I mean
[7:16] is, if you're always living in a way you
[7:18] don't want to and you've already given
[7:20] up on trying to reach your ideal
[7:22] reality, then why are you living? If
[7:24] your life has no meaning to you, why are
[7:27] you here? And this is why I used to love
[7:28] isekai so much because I was frustrated
[7:30] with my life. And I'm not going to lie,
[7:32] from time to time, I still wish I could
[7:34] live in a better reality where pain and
[7:36] social pressure is no longer a thing.
[7:38] But the more I risk and do what I want
[7:40] to do, the happier I feel about my life.
[7:42] I no longer feel like I always need to
[7:44] be watching or reading a story where I
[7:46] can imagine myself going to another
[7:48] world because I'm already trying to
[7:49] build the world I want to live in. So if
[7:51] you think the life you want is childish
[7:53] or immature, I ask you this. According
[7:56] to who? Your own mind, your family. This
[7:59] may sound a little cliche, but
[8:00] seriously, believe in your dreams.
[8:02] Sacrifice things. Try even if just a
[8:04] little. But for no means should you give
[8:06] up because the happier a person is with
[8:08] their life, the less they'll wish to be
[8:11] a guide. What are you running away from?
[8:12] If you're running from something, of
[8:14] course, why do you feel the need to
[8:15] escape and what can you do about it? No
[8:17] matter how childish or unrealistic it
[8:20] may sound, do it. I realize that when I
[8:22] am unhappy with my life, is feels like a
[8:25] refuge. But when I start fixing my life,
[8:27] is becomes secondary because even while
[8:30] struggling, I know that back in the real
[8:32] world, I'm living the way I want to.
[8:34] Listen, I love a good old generic
[8:35] isekai. I know most of them are trash,
[8:37] but boy, I love my trash. And boobs and
[8:39] overpowered de aside, I believe we can
[8:42] learn something essential about our own
[8:44] existence from these trash isekai. In
[8:46] the end, we all want to be free. And
[8:48] what can you do today that could
[8:50] eventually set you free? Do you know it?
[8:52] Then do it. Even if just a little. And
[8:54] if you don't know what it is yet, you
[8:56] can start by searching.