old_geezer said: In an earlier thread "Definition of Isekai" I asked about what anime were considered to be isekai and why. There were several responses that SAO should not be considered an isekai (because a "true" isekai must involve more the just the transfer of minds. This directly contradicts many sources (e.g. Wikipedia) which consider SAO to be an isekai, or in some cases (e.g. Joseph Bizinger you tuber and self proclaimed "Anime Man") to be a major source for all modern isekai. Personally I think that the term "Isekai Genre" can only really be defined by usage (this does not mean I like how it is defined) and that usage would suggest a definition for which SAO is an isekai. Don't worry that much about labels. I consider SAO an isekai, and its a damn good one. |
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| Eh, I don’t consider it an isekai because there is no other world. Nobody is being transported or reincarnated into a different world from their own, they are still in their own world albeit stuck in virtual reality. |
| How am I supposed to decide what to write, I can't choose an anime to watch to save my life, you think I can pick a signature? |
| Main Character goes into another world = Isekai There is no need of any discussions on that |
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| IMO, getting trapped in a virtual world counts as being isekai'd to that world. Also, SAO's influence on the isekai trend is pretty unmistakeable. |
| Avatar character is Gabriel from Gabriel DropOut. |
| You need to be confirm DEAD, to get the title of ISEKAI. |
| to be fair, when kusanagi motoko is surfing the net we don't consider that to be isekai but we see her avatar doing action in that "world". same as sao, there is a virtual world and the images are projected directly into the user's brain but the same can be said about okaa-san online. I consider every different world isekai, digimon world is an isekai, inuyasha, el hazard, orguss etc sai world is a different world albeit a virtual one. Imo I think its main genre is SF and isekai is just the setting |
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| SAO is the least isekai anime ever! SAO is literally the story of a guy who couldn't get out of his bed. |
| eh i consider it an isekai hes going to another world and staying there |
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| it essentially is but my brother lives to lie and say it isnt |
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Lizsaki said: You’re saying something like Re:zero or Cautious Hero isn’t an isekai, not every isekai protagonist dies and get reincarnated, some get transported to a fantasy world.You need to be confirm DEAD, to get the title of ISEKAI. |
| How am I supposed to decide what to write, I can't choose an anime to watch to save my life, you think I can pick a signature? |
| The whole dying or teleportation to another world is just two methods of isekai. All it means is 'other world'. People also are using english to define world as planet which wouldnt be accurate People have developed this belief it only is an isekai when you die or are transported to an alternate earth or planet but the definition is not nearly that specific. Either way it doesnt matter but definition wise SAO is an Isekai anime. It would fall into the 'isekai ten' form of isekai. 'Isekai tensei' is the form with reincarnation. If people want to be super picky and overly specific thats their problem. Many isekai anime have had a character return to their own planet or reality, SAO is no different. Teleportation or transported was more common in older manga etc, rebirth. reincarnation or taking over someone elses body is more common in modern isekai anime. I think the first isekai I read about was a fisherman taken into an underwater kingdom never leaving our planet but time is dialated and when he comes back hes centuries in the future. He never left earth and I believe it is seen as the grandfather of all isekai is was made into a movie like a century ago. Also to the OP the transfer of minds is really no different in SAO than other anime where a protagonist takes over someone else body in another world like in Ascendance of a Bookworm. Where the world is and what it is is irrelevant it is still another world. So yah I agree totally an isekai by definition some people will always say it isnt but what ever just enjoy anime |
-Ecliptix-Feb 15, 2021 12:25 AM
V1D1T said: Main Character goes into another world = Isekai There is no need of any discussions on that Well the discussion is that he doesn't actually go to another world. He's still in the same world. Just because I put on a VR headset doesn't mean I'm in another world. -Ecliptix- said: The whole dying or teleportation to another world is just two methods of isekai. All it means is 'other world'. People also are using english to define world as planet which wouldnt be accurate People have developed this belief it only is an isekai when you die or are transported to an alternate earth or planet but the definition is not nearly that specific. Either way it doesnt matter but definition wise SAO is an Isekai anime. It would fall into the 'isekai ten' form of isekai. 'Isekai tensei' is the form with reincarnation. If people want to be super picky and overly specific thats their problem. Many isekai anime have had a character return to their own planet or reality, SAO is no different. Teleportation or transported was more common in older manga etc, rebirth. reincarnation or taking over someone elses body is more common in modern isekai anime. I think the first isekai I read about was a fisherman taken into an underwater kingdom never leaving our planet but time is dialated and when he comes back hes centuries in the future. He never left earth and I believe it is seen as the grandfather of all isekai is was made into a movie like a century ago. Well "another world" must still mean another world. Me going to an unknown village in Africa doesn't mean I've been isekaid. Cause I'm still in the same world. GATE for instance has the characters freely go between another world and their world, and it's a isekai. SAO however is basically just him immersing himself in a game, but he's still very much in his own world. Otherwise we might as well start classifying stuff like The King's Avatar or Accel World as isekai. When it's clearly not. |
| Subarashii |
| Isekai is 異 世界, literally means different world. You don't have to be reincarnated or teleported into a different reality to be considered being in a different world. Virtual reality is just a world within a world, so yes, SAO is an isekai. Kamikakushi, world hopping, virtual reality, reincarnation into a fantasy realm - it doesn't matter. If a character is transferred into a functioning world, they're all called isekai. |
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| I would call it something like a semi-isekai |
I am a useless student of society. Tests are my body and Grades are my blood. I have done over a thousand assignments. Unseen by teachers, nor done properly. Yet, those hands shall never hold an outstanding grade. So, as I pray... Unlimited Homeworks. |
l--_--l said: I would call it something like a semi-isekai ^ This I tend to call animes like SAO or Danmachi psuedo-isekai. Where they have almost all traits that you tend to see in isekai, except for the actual "another world" part (which ironically is the only part that is required to be classified as one). |
| Subarashii |
Avicebrons said: l--_--l said: I would call it something like a semi-isekai ^ This I tend to call animes like SAO or Danmachi psuedo-isekai. Where they have almost all traits that you tend to see in isekai, except for the actual "another world" part (which ironically is the only part that is required to be classified as one). Psuedo is the correct word, it just wasn't coming to my mind |
I am a useless student of society. Tests are my body and Grades are my blood. I have done over a thousand assignments. Unseen by teachers, nor done properly. Yet, those hands shall never hold an outstanding grade. So, as I pray... Unlimited Homeworks. |
Lizsaki said: You need to be confirm DEAD, to get the title of ISEKAI. by that logic Mairimashita! Iruma-kun shouldn't be considered isekai even if the MC is taken to another world because he was alive when that happened. |
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| It's an isekai in the Japanese sense of the word, but western cartesianism has a hard time using it the same way, which kinds of defeats the purpose since most isekais come from Japan. |
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| I wouldn't really consider it as an isekai. Stuck in a vr world (game) while the body pretty much still exist in original world. Btw, the "world" Kirito is stuck in is "created and managed" by people. I consider Overlord an isekai because you don't really know what happen to you body after being transported. |
| It's like saying Mha isn't shounen. |
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| I think it is. Because people are forced to live in that "world" and can't leave it at will. Doesn't matter if this world real or not. I have the other question: If people can visit and leave another world whenever they want (Inuyasha, for example), can it still be considered isekai? |
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Nemo_Niemand said: I have the other question: If people can visit and leave another world whenever they want (Inuyasha, for example), can it still be considered isekai? Yes. GATE is very much a isekai. But they are still able to come and go between the other world and theirs. |
| Subarashii |
| Not sure why people use "another" to describe isekai. It doesn't have to be "another" world. It just have to be "different" than the current world you live in to be considered isekai. 異 means different. If you want a word that means "another", 另 or 別 would be a more suitable word. I'd say if only your consciousness is transported to a different world, it's still an isekai because that's your POV. That's why I disagree with making isekai a genre since it's too vague. A virtual reality is similar to when a person is lucid dreaming but his body is still in the current world, or when a person is kamikakushi'd (spirited away) but her actual body is still lying somewhere outside the shrine, or when someone is hit by a truck and got isekai'd but he is in a coma at the hospital in his current world. It is that vague. Isekai just means a different world. There's no deep meaning or rules behind how to use the word. Sekai itself is a vague word. It could mean just a different environment or an entirely different universe, depending on your perspective. Most fantasy genre anime would have at least some form of isekai, like how in Tenki no Ko the main characters were transported to a different world for 30 seconds lol |
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| Borderline between isekai and not-isekai. |
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| Yes.. I guess so? I mean even if it's just their minds trapped in the game while their body is in reality.. they are still adapting and assimilating into the environment which is not their own. "Different world" is checked there no question. |
| "When I decided to follow my dream, I had already discarded my life.” -Roronoa Zoro |
| Lmfao majority believes it's isekai and I disagree. Here's the reason I just copy-pasted from the internet Isekai = transported to another world (teleportation, summoning, reincarnation, or “falling in” one way or another). The VR game of sword art online is not another world. They never leave their world even if they play some VR games. So no, SAO is NOT Isekai and never will be. It's pretty much on point. MAL users being the usual dumbasses again |
| Definitely not because kirito didn't go to another world |
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| No its not an isekai and I thought I was the only one. No one is ever transported to another world, the only thing needed to make an isekai... If the princess bride were an anime would it also be an isekai? Too many lines are blurred with this genre, half the anime community thinks any fantasy is an isekai. |
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| Yeah. I am considering it to be an isekai. |
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kklao said: Yes.. I guess so? I mean even if it's just their minds trapped in the game while their body is in reality.. they are still adapting and assimilating into the environment which is not their own. "Different world" is checked there no question. So by that logic, wouldn't something like Accel World be considered isekai? Or basically any anime where they immerse themselves in a video game? |
| Subarashii |
| Yes, it's isekai, whether that another world is a virtual reality or fantasy otherworld...it's still another world. |
 (っ◔◡◔)っ 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓪 𝔀𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓭𝓪𝔂 ♥ |
Avicebrons said: kklao said: Yes.. I guess so? I mean even if it's just their minds trapped in the game while their body is in reality.. they are still adapting and assimilating into the environment which is not their own. "Different world" is checked there no question. So by that logic, wouldn't something like Accel World be considered isekai? Or basically any anime where they immerse themselves in a video game? For me yes? Some in the thread term it Pseudo-Isekai? or as I read for Accel world Self-insert isekai? I just call it Isekai so it's easier to remember lol. The way I consider it is that there is a (1) clear separation of worlds, (2a) there's immersive, adaptation, assimilation in depth of the environment (2b) Escapism vibe. So Accel World checks but something like Recovery of an MMO Junkie for example don't since even if the game environment is shown it lacks the needed immersion to complete the experience of living in another world or "escaping" in another world feel. If that makes sense? |
| "When I decided to follow my dream, I had already discarded my life.” -Roronoa Zoro |
Ciezul said: I don't know what you mean by mentioning Log Horizon.GlennMagusHarvey said: IMO, getting trapped in a virtual world counts as being isekai'd to that world. Also, SAO's influence on the isekai trend is pretty unmistakeable. No, Log Horizon classified Isekai than SAO. SAO isn't take you to otherworld like InuYasha did. It just take your mind. And so, no matter how you present SAO isn't an Isekai. Anyhow, SAO 1 takes Kirito's consciousness out of the real world and into another world. And he's stuck there. Considering that his "real" body is not much different from a lifeless husk at this point, that counts. |
| Avatar character is Gabriel from Gabriel DropOut. |
kklao said: Avicebrons said: So by that logic, wouldn't something like Accel World be considered isekai? Or basically any anime where they immerse themselves in a video game? For me yes? Some in the thread term it Pseudo-Isekai? or as I read for Accel world Self-insert isekai? I just call it Isekai so it's easier to remember lol. The way I consider it is that there is a (1) clear separation of worlds, (2a) there's immersive, adaptation, assimilation in depth of the environment (2b) Escapism vibe. So Accel World checks but something like Recovery of an MMO Junkie for example don't since even if the game environment is shown it lacks the needed immersion to complete the experience of living in another world or "escaping" in another world feel. If that makes sense? Alright. (Also I was the one who said pseudo-isekai). But with this kind of definition we're treading into a territory where you could call someone having a vivid dream "isekai". Or you could even stretch it and say something like Chuunibyou or InoBato is isekai due to the amount of immersion into "another world". |
| Subarashii |
| Yes. It's about going to different virtual worlds and living/doing things in them. Not a SoL/drama where it's half of the time spending time in the real world and doing things there. |
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Avicebrons said: kklao said: For me yes? Some in the thread term it Pseudo-Isekai? or as I read for Accel world Self-insert isekai? I just call it Isekai so it's easier to remember lol. The way I consider it is that there is a (1) clear separation of worlds, (2a) there's immersive, adaptation, assimilation in depth of the environment (2b) Escapism vibe. So Accel World checks but something like Recovery of an MMO Junkie for example don't since even if the game environment is shown it lacks the needed immersion to complete the experience of living in another world or "escaping" in another world feel. If that makes sense? Alright. (Also I was the one who said pseudo-isekai). But with this kind of definition we're treading into a territory where you could call someone having a vivid dream "isekai". Or you could even stretch it and say something like Chuunibyou or InoBato is isekai due to the amount of immersion into "another world". Oh lol. I didn't back read to check the name haha. Err I haven't seen or read the two you mentioned so I can't tell if my logic fits. For the vivid dream as isekai part though, Alice in Wonderland is the only example I could think of atm. Honestly Isekai is such a vague term since it literally just means another world so like anything that has another world should be Isekai, shows like Tsubasa Chronicle (a lot of travelling in different worlds) or Yu Yu Hakusho (Living in the Spirit world) for example but it's not. Where does one draw the line? And where does the line come from? The debate about Isekais has been ongoing since who knows when X) I found this thread about the MMO Isekai settings https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1744475 no conclusion though. |
| "When I decided to follow my dream, I had already discarded my life.” -Roronoa Zoro |
| Yes, I count it as an isekai. They go to a different world, get trapped, have to survive with new world rules and magic, etc. |
| It might not what most people would think of first when they hear the word "isekai" but yea, I would consider it to fiit the criteria. |
 ManWild |
| VR is technically considered as "another world" so yes. It is an isekai. Any show that gets the mc transported to another world is considered an isekai. Even if it's not a fantasy or perhaps the MC manages to go back to where he/she came from, as long as it fits the criteria, it is considered as one. Youjo senki is isekai, peter pan is isekai, hell even pixar's coco is isekai. |
| I strongly suppose that what belongs to Isekai genre is a thing talking about a character who can't face the reality, but immerse themselves into something unreal like other worlds, or VR games, or even dreams nevertheless. Which solves patently nothing anywhere else other than anime and the fictional stories. |
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| Isn't Digimon Adventure a comparable situation? That's considered isekai, so I don't understand how SAO wouldn't be considered another world just because it's a virtual one. |
それはまもなく、浪に流されて暗やみのなかを遠くへ消えていったのです。 |
GlennMagusHarvey said: yes sao is to anime what covid19 is t the real worldSAO's influence on the isekai trend is pretty unmistakeable. |
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