Why Japan is Obsessed with Isekai

[00:00] no matter where you look izakai is

[00:03] everywhere whether you love it or hate

[00:05] it sometimes I wish a truck eated me

[00:08] from existence just so I don't have to

[00:10] be exposed to yet another third level

[00:13] gimmick turned into the laziest excuse

[00:15] for a plot possible yes I am no means

[00:19] the greatest fan of isekai but I am

[00:22] aware there are some decent isakai shows

[00:25] out there maybe but honestly it just

[00:28] makes me wonder why these cheap cash

[00:30] grab series keep getting anime

[00:32] adaptations nah but seriously I bet

[00:36] you're curious too how we even got to

[00:38] this point so let's travel back in time

[00:40] to discover how Japan became obsessed

[00:44] beyond belief with this sub-genre that

[00:46] infiltrated every last web novel light

[00:49] novel anime and manga and why isakai may

[00:54] be a threat to civilization as a whole

[00:57] highly credited anime historians 8 AKA

[01:00] losers like me often cites the 8th

[01:03] Century folk tale urashima tarot as the

[01:06] precursor for all izakai a fisherman

[01:09] named Taro saved a turtle from some

[01:11] little [ __ ] then the deranged Turtle

[01:13] adopted protagon saying oh we won't be

[01:17] too long taking him to the Dragon Palace

[01:19] where Taro met his own waifu legit they

[01:23] got married except unlike isakai

[01:26] protagonist today he was like nah screw

[01:29] this I'm out of here but upon Return To

[01:31] His World 300 years have passed and he

[01:33] had turned into an old man the end who

[01:37] in the right mind thinks this inspired

[01:39] modern-day isakai people actually

[01:41] believe wannabe web novelists in their

[01:43] parents basement read this old ass story

[01:45] and thoughts I know how about I let you

[01:48] stay in the world and get a harem of

[01:51] cute girls instead and give them a [ __ ]

[01:53] ton of Obi abilities for no reason what

[01:56] a brilliant idea this is exactly The

[01:59] Escapist fantasy Japan needs nah but

[02:02] legit Japan isn't the only country out

[02:05] there that has produced stories which

[02:07] involve traveling to A Whole New World

[02:09] simply because for most people real life

[02:12] is kinda underwhelming and that's

[02:15] putting it lightly listen I'm not a

[02:17] Doomer but it's undeniable life is tough

[02:20] as hell for a vast majority of people

[02:22] especially throwing history into the mix

[02:25] with war famine poverty and diseases out

[02:29] there who wouldn't want to wish for a

[02:30] new world surrounded by anime titties

[02:33] that's why fictional stories have

[02:35] mattered to people since the of time

[02:37] irrespective if they are classed as

[02:40] izakai or not imagining a fantasy star

[02:43] story promoting themes of heroism or

[02:46] some Noble quality which everyone can

[02:48] enjoy Act Ed as a form of escapism what

[02:52] if you add the secret formula or the

[02:54] concept of the average Joe in town

[02:56] journeying to a fancy land of Wonder

[02:59] they act as the audience personified

[03:01] experiencing the new world in the story

[03:04] themselves or in other words a

[03:06] self-insert if you think about it even

[03:08] the concept of Heaven in world religions

[03:11] could be classed as an isakai I know

[03:13] that sounds kind of stupid but let me

[03:15] cook for the average medieval peasant

[03:17] who lived a pretty terrible life of hard

[03:19] manual labor and no opportunities in

[03:22] life they found solace from the stained

[03:24] glass windows of the local church

[03:26] believing through their faith and

[03:28] eternal life of happiness and peace

[03:30] awaited them after death and maybe an

[03:33] anime girl Harem if they were lucky why

[03:35] do you think so many izakai protagonists

[03:37] die in real life facts the truck corn in

[03:39] order to be reincarnated into the new

[03:41] world it's their author's idea of Heaven

[03:44] okay this conspiracy theory isn't

[03:46] foolproof as there are plenty of

[03:47] izakayas out there with messed up worlds

[03:49] what maybe they went to hell

[03:51] nevertheless as a general concept I

[03:53] think it works now let's fast forward

[03:55] two world wars to Modern Japan where the

[03:58] country had been devastated by a

[04:00] horrendous conflict of earth-shattering

[04:03] proportions hope emerged out of the

[04:05] ashes in the form of popular anime and

[04:08] manga which took Japan and later the

[04:11] entire Globe by storm the first known

[04:14] modern izakai stories to emerge out of

[04:17] Japan according to this highly credible

[04:19] Source oh it is wrong Wikipedia why do

[04:22] you lie to me according to my extensive

[04:25] and back-breaking research in the form

[04:27] of a three second Google search the

[04:29] first modern isekai anime was Paul in

[04:32] Fantasyland in 1976 which sounds like a

[04:36] bootleg genderbent version of Alice in

[04:38] Wonderland wait are you telling me

[04:41] mushroku tensei isn't the grandfather of

[04:43] all isekai I'm gonna cry

[04:46] there was also 1981 Superbook which is a

[04:49] Christian anime no seriously it is I'm

[04:52] not joking video games also became

[04:55] mainstream in the 80s and thus the

[04:57] ingenious idea to combine this new

[05:00] medium with anime was spawned admittedly

[05:03] while it is easy for us humans from the

[05:06] future to look back in retrospect to

[05:09] uncover the mind-blowing origins of

[05:11] izakai in Japan the reality is that

[05:14] there weren't really enough series that

[05:16] followed the same tropes or formula

[05:18] which had that same Mass Appeal we see

[05:21] in recent years they were stories that

[05:24] just so happened to have the main

[05:25] character or multiple characters from

[05:27] one world travel to another different

[05:30] from their own it had not yet become an

[05:32] oversaturated sub-genre or even

[05:35] recognized as a sub-genre for that

[05:37] matter even in the early 21st century

[05:39] there were only a few if any shows which

[05:43] could be classed as izakai often adapted

[05:45] from light novels or Manga zero no

[05:48] sukima in 2004 being being one example

[05:51] by the way if you would like to see me

[05:53] make a video about why the hell Idol

[05:55] anime became so popular in the first

[05:57] place then subscribe to the channel so

[05:59] you don't miss out now let's talk about

[06:01] what we can describe as the izakai boom

[06:04] anime subgenres have existed for a long

[06:07] time with sunlight battles Shonen and

[06:09] etchy harems still surviving to this day

[06:12] and during this time light level

[06:14] adaptations started trending which

[06:16] featured isakai or reverse izakai

[06:19] Stories the latter being where a

[06:21] character from a fantasy setting gets

[06:23] sent to a world not too dissimilar from

[06:25] her own we went from having a few shows

[06:28] per year which could arguably be classed

[06:30] as izakai under our 2023 lens to now

[06:34] more than 20 isakai a year and God knows

[06:37] how many web novels that haven't even

[06:39] been adapted into anime yet what I

[06:42] believe truly launched a disease known

[06:44] as izakai into multiplying faster than

[06:46] the Bubonic plague was the internet

[06:49] itself thanks to the digital world any

[06:51] idiot could go online and write their

[06:54] own web novel fan fiction meaning if you

[06:57] were an aspiring Japanese novelist you

[07:00] no longer needed the traditional route

[07:02] of applying to Publishers or entering

[07:04] novel writing competitions to gain

[07:06] recognition and attract a loyal fan base

[07:09] and due to some of these web novels

[07:11] becoming so goddamn popular it wasn't

[07:14] long before they were approached by

[07:16] Publishers giving them their big break

[07:18] and later adapted into anime re-zero

[07:22] mushoku tensei tensora and many many

[07:25] more all followed this route into the

[07:27] mainstream with lots of new undiscovered

[07:30] talents writing izakai stories online

[07:33] and later getting snapped up and selling

[07:35] thousands if not millions of novels what

[07:38] could possibly go wrong everyone now as

[07:41] Cloud chasing for a piece of the new

[07:43] isakai pie drastically increasing the

[07:47] number of izakai authors but as original

[07:50] ideas are increasingly scarce in modern

[07:53] light novels and Anime and due to this

[07:55] sub-genre becoming competitive as hell

[07:57] it became easy to pull a ridiculous

[08:00] gimmick out your ass and give it an

[08:03] isakai layer of paint original writing

[08:06] unless getting reincarnated as a hot

[08:09] spring or a vending machine showcases

[08:11] The Genius of modern Japanese writers

[08:14] although it can be argued that writing

[08:16] something wholly original is now

[08:19] impossible therefore it's natural to

[08:21] take inspiration from other works well

[08:23] come on who the hell is asking for these

[08:26] generic izakai that's either Rippy

[08:28] Trevor off or revolve around a stupid

[08:30] gimmick because

[08:32] isn't it quirky that our main

[08:33] protagonist is a sex worker now

[08:38] what is that

[08:40] what the [ __ ] is that therefore the

[08:43] markets has now become so oversaturated

[08:45] that is now a relief when non-issakai

[08:48] get attention honestly it makes you

[08:50] wonder how these series keep getting the

[08:52] green light and before you get outraged

[08:54] in the comments about how the MILF

[08:55] incest izakai is the magnum opus of 21st

[08:58] century literature I'm just perplexed by

[09:01] how easy it is to seemingly write a

[09:04] moderately successful izakai nowadays

[09:06] with little thoughts or efforts put into

[09:09] the story characters and worlds simply

[09:12] because these series are on a

[09:14] never-ending conveyor belt from online

[09:16] web novels then the consumers will read

[09:18] them as they are addicted to the formula

[09:21] and are attracted to outlandish and

[09:23] absurd titles because ha funny therefore

[09:26] it's a no-brainer for the anime Studios

[09:28] to mass produce isakai to earn easy

[09:32] money irrespective of the quality of the

[09:35] original stories but how did the

[09:37] consumers even get hooked to izakai so

[09:40] much to begin with well anime as a whole

[09:43] is simply another form of media which

[09:46] people can enjoy to escape their

[09:48] mediocre lives just like video games

[09:50] movies or whatever as I mentioned

[09:52] earlier this has always existed but now

[09:55] due to way more shows and forms of media

[09:58] 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