ISEKAI Shows a Problem with REALITY

[00:00] What if I told you that Reborn as a

[00:01] venting machine reveals an objective

[00:03] truth about Japanese society? All right,

[00:05] maybe not this one, but have you ever

[00:07] wondered why in the world isai even is a

[00:09] thing? Or better yet, why it's so

[00:11] popular? I mean, the fact that isekai

[00:13] became its own genre and ended up being

[00:14] one of the most consumed ones in the

[00:16] anime community can't be just because.

[00:18] Sure, is sells and that's the main

[00:20] reason so many mega keep making them.

[00:23] Why does it sell so much? Really, have

[00:25] you ever thought about that? It's true

[00:26] that some people just want a simple I'm

[00:29] going to catch them all her type is

[00:31] myself included. But I genuinely believe

[00:34] there is something deeper behind this

[00:35] trend of frustration with how our world

[00:37] works. In this video I want to show you

[00:39] what the isakai trend says about the

[00:41] state of humanity and what we can do to

[00:43] fix it. All that with a bit of comedy of

[00:46] course. Although isekai is everywhere

[00:47] these days it actually had a humble

[00:49] beginning just like everything else. Let

[00:51] me introduce you to Urashimataro. One of

[00:53] the first Japanese stories about

[00:54] traveling to another world recorded in

[00:56] history dating back to around the 8th

[00:58] century. The story follows a

[01:00] good-hearted fisherman by the name of

[01:01] Urashima. Doesn't look like Kyito

[01:03] though. Isn't this supposed to be an

[01:05] isekai? Anyways, our guy is out fishing

[01:07] as usual until he accidentally catches a

[01:10] turtle. He lets it go since turtles are

[01:12] supposed to live a longass time and he

[01:13] didn't want to mess with its life

[01:15] expectancy just for a meal. But to our

[01:17] surprise, a turtle turns out to be one

[01:19] of the first Japanese waifuss ever

[01:20] recorded in history. Who would have

[01:22] guessed? The waifu is actually the sea

[01:24] god's daughter, and the whole thing was

[01:26] a test to see if Hurashima was worthy of

[01:28] becoming her husband. He sees this as an

[01:30] absolute win. Who wouldn't? And the two

[01:32] of them sail to the palace of the dragon

[01:34] god at the bottom of the sea. Everything

[01:36] there is different. Even time passes

[01:38] differently. So, it's basically another

[01:39] world. The ending of this story

[01:41] absolutely sucks, though. When he goes

[01:42] back home to visit his family, he

[01:44] realizes a 100red years have passed.

[01:46] Everybody's dust at this point, and he

[01:48] has no idea how to go back to his

[01:50] aquatic waifu. He opens a box she told

[01:52] him not to open and becomes dust too. So

[01:55] what can we learn from this? Never

[01:56] disobey your turtle waifu to go back to

[01:58] your family. Having shitty endings has

[02:00] been a trend for Japanese authors for

[02:02] quite a while for what I can tell. And

[02:04] somehow we went from Japanese folklore

[02:06] about a fisherman and a god's daughter

[02:07] to generic easy to draw Kyito wannabe

[02:10] who has a herm and a smartphone in

[02:12] another world. With all that being said,

[02:14] I believe that beneath all these cliches

[02:16] and self-inserted stories lies an

[02:19] objective truth about how millions of

[02:21] people feel and a calling to change

[02:23] reality. Let's take a look at some

[02:25] cliché for a moment. Death March about a

[02:27] guy who basically lives at work, dies,

[02:30] gets transported into the world of the

[02:32] game he was developing, reincarnated as

[02:34] a slime. About a guy who lived a normal

[02:36] life in the business world, then gets

[02:37] stabbed and is taken to another world.

[02:39] Jobless reincarnation. a guy with a

[02:41] miserable life and very questionable

[02:43] character who gets reincarnated. And

[02:45] last but not least, wise man's

[02:47] grandchild. The MC works like crazy,

[02:50] barely has a life until he's run over

[02:52] and reincarnated. Beyond what's

[02:54] considered a generic plot nowadays,

[02:56] there is something deeper happening in

[02:58] each one of these stories. A frustration

[03:00] with reality and a desire to be truly

[03:02] free. In the short documentary published

[03:04] by Nes, we see a Japanese man describing

[03:06] how he feels every day when he goes to

[03:09] work. With his simple words, he says,

[03:11] "It's almost midnight. When I walk into

[03:13] the office, little by little, my body

[03:15] goes bad. I feel pain in my heart.

[03:18] Little by little, I cannot breathe. But

[03:21] employees are so busy. They can't take

[03:23] care of me. Everybody's running the same

[03:25] way. They can barely see the outside.

[03:28] Working is existing. No one is waiting

[03:30] for me. The room is dark, just sleeping

[03:33] and continuing day after day. a reality

[03:35] where many don't have a life outside of

[03:37] work, where working and meeting

[03:39] society's expectations has become the

[03:41] norm. Now, let me ask you once again,

[03:43] what deeper reason is there for so many

[03:45] of us to want to go to another [music]

[03:46] world? I'll give you the answer. To

[03:48] escape, run away from the pain. The pain

[03:50] of dealing with difficult people every

[03:52] day. The pain of studying things we're

[03:54] not interested in. The pain of

[03:55] dedicating ourselves to a dream which

[03:57] isn't even ours to begin with. The pain

[03:59] of constantly living, doing, and study

[04:01] things that have nothing to do with who

[04:03] we are. These are the things that make

[04:05] another reality so appealing to so many

[04:07] of us. Many isekai stories are created

[04:09] just for the sake of money and nothing

[04:11] else. But this desire to consume isekai

[04:14] after isekai to insert ourselves in

[04:16] another world often comes from a

[04:18] frustration with reality itself with how

[04:21] things work in this world. This is why I

[04:23] believe there is value to understanding

[04:24] why so many people love generic isekai

[04:27] and why you might be interested in the

[04:28] idea of living another world to begin

[04:30] with. If you take a closer look at the

[04:32] hundreds of inventions that humanity has

[04:34] created throughout history, it's almost

[04:36] unbelievable. I mean, if I were sent

[04:39] back to the past to explain how

[04:40] electricity works, I'd probably say, "No

[04:42] idea, bro. I just use it." Think for a

[04:45] moment about how many technologies you

[04:47] use every single day without really

[04:49] understanding how they work. But when

[04:51] you look even closer to what humans have

[04:53] created, you realize that there is one

[04:55] specific thing that's very unique to

[04:57] [music] our species. We are masters at

[04:59] creating weapons of mass destruction. In

[05:01] this short video published by Daily Mayo

[05:03] news, a Ukrainian and a Russian soldier

[05:06] engage in a brutal fight. One of them

[05:08] ends up severely wounded, lying on the

[05:10] ground. As he's about to pass away, he

[05:13] says, "That's it, Mom. Bye. Let me pass

[05:16] away in peace. It hurts a lot. Let me go

[05:19] quietly. You were the best fighter.

[05:21] Please let me die by myself." All that

[05:24] suffering because of old men who hate

[05:26] each other, who then send men who don't

[05:28] hate each other to kill one another. An

[05:30] endless cycle of hate. And even when a

[05:32] war does end, it's just a matter of time

[05:34] until another begins. Where beauty

[05:36] thrives [music]

[05:36] human greed hurries to defile it. This

[05:39] is something deeply rooted in human

[05:41] nature, and it makes me profoundly

[05:43] disappointed with reality. No wonder so

[05:45] many people wish to live in a far away

[05:47] place. Let me ask you something. Are you

[05:49] satisfied with the way you live? Do you

[05:51] study what you actually want to study?

[05:52] Do you have a job? Are you satisfied

[05:54] with it? Do you speak the way you want

[05:55] to? Or you think following your heart

[05:57] would be too naive, too immature, or

[06:00] childish? Well, life is tough for most

[06:04] of us. Sometimes we have to do things we

[06:06] don't want to do, and that sucks. But a

[06:08] lot of times we underestimate just how

[06:09] much freedom we actually have. Many of

[06:11] us have built such a strong narrative in

[06:14] our minds that we don't even try

[06:15] anymore. We don't take risks. We don't

[06:18] believe. You see, I believe that life is

[06:20] objectively speaking meaningless. I

[06:22] think that from a universal point of

[06:25] view, there is no absolute value in

[06:27] anything we do. For me, the meaning of

[06:29] all things is what they mean to you and

[06:32] me and nothing else. I respect the

[06:34] different faiths, but I myself have no

[06:36] spiritual faith whatsoever. I don't

[06:37] believe there is a second chance,

[06:39] another life. Maybe you do, and that's

[06:41] completely fine. Maybe there is one. I

[06:43] hope it's a good one. But let's play a

[06:45] little game for a moment. Imagine this.

[06:46] Even if just for a second, life is

[06:48] meaningless and there is no afterlife.

[06:50] Once you die, everything stops for you.

[06:52] You no longer take part in anything and

[06:54] all you did becomes just one of the

[06:56] countless things that have happened in

[06:58] this universe. In such a reality, would

[07:00] it make any sense to live in a way you

[07:02] don't want? Cuz if life is meaningless,

[07:04] then there is no right or wrong way to

[07:06] live objectively speaking because in the

[07:08] end, none of it really matters. Of

[07:10] course, maybe you believe life has an

[07:12] objective meaning. Maybe you're even

[07:14] religious and that's fine. What I mean

[07:16] is, if you're always living in a way you

[07:18] don't want to and you've already given

[07:20] up on trying to reach your ideal

[07:22] reality, then why are you living? If

[07:24] your life has no meaning to you, why are

[07:27] you here? And this is why I used to love

[07:28] isekai so much because I was frustrated

[07:30] with my life. And I'm not going to lie,

[07:32] from time to time, I still wish I could

[07:34] live in a better reality where pain and

[07:36] social pressure is no longer a thing.

[07:38] But the more I risk and do what I want

[07:40] to do, the happier I feel about my life.

[07:42] I no longer feel like I always need to

[07:44] be watching or reading a story where I

[07:46] can imagine myself going to another

[07:48] world because I'm already trying to

[07:49] build the world I want to live in. So if

[07:51] you think the life you want is childish

[07:53] or immature, I ask you this. According

[07:56] to who? Your own mind, your family. This

[07:59] may sound a little cliche, but

[08:00] seriously, believe in your dreams.

[08:02] Sacrifice things. Try even if just a

[08:04] little. But for no means should you give

[08:06] up because the happier a person is with

[08:08] their life, the less they'll wish to be

[08:11] a guide. What are you running away from?

[08:12] If you're running from something, of

[08:14] course, why do you feel the need to

[08:15] escape and what can you do about it? No

[08:17] matter how childish or unrealistic it

[08:20] may sound, do it. I realize that when I

[08:22] am unhappy with my life, is feels like a

[08:25] refuge. But when I start fixing my life,

[08:27] is becomes secondary because even while

[08:30] struggling, I know that back in the real

[08:32] world, I'm living the way I want to.

[08:34] Listen, I love a good old generic

[08:35] isekai. I know most of them are trash,

[08:37] but boy, I love my trash. And boobs and

[08:39] overpowered de aside, I believe we can

[08:42] learn something essential about our own

[08:44] existence from these trash isekai. In

[08:46] the end, we all want to be free. And

[08:48] what can you do today that could

[08:50] eventually set you free? Do you know it?

[08:52] Then do it. Even if just a little. And

[08:54] if you don't know what it is yet, you

[08:56] can start by searching.