Asekai vs Isekai
TL;DR is that this proposal was far muckier than what I thought. It was a good discussion as it helped flesh out the specifics of why I even created this thing in the first place, which boils down to:
"I'm craving and want to make it easier to find isekais that diverge or put a different spin on the pre-existing fantasy from Tolkien, D&D, and Dragon Quest ."
For now, I will leave this page up in case it inspires someone else to come up with a better distinction or at least understand where I am coming from and give me new isekai recommendations.
-Deo
同世界 <-> 異世界
We all love Mcdies, but McDonald's is not the same as eating something exotic like durians. The same distinction needs to happen to isekais where we should separate the ones that we crave because of familiarity with conceivably extra seasoning (同) from the ones that we desire because it's unique and lean into the unknown (異)
For instance, we would consider Isekai Cheat Magician to be quite bland for an isekai. However, for an asekai, it fulfills its duty of being a familiar fantasy that anyone can mindlessly enjoy. Some people eat the same thing every day so this type of Anime would be right up their alley on familiarity alone; like a comfy warm blanket that never makes you uncomfortable.
On the other extreme is the wanderlust amongst us who can't sit still and things get boring quickly. Sure, there's nothing "truly" new unless you go full in experimental which can become nonsensical, but if you have enough new angles on something, it becomes unique in our opinion. Being unique does not necessarily mean better either, but for people who just want to see something new, sometimes that factor alone is entertaining enough.
These two are extreme examples, but we believe help set the spectrum where most people live within. Some will fluctuate on the spectrum as well, like watching back-to-back asekais will likely make you crave for an isekai to spice it up or the other way around too. With that said, what we're trying to achieve here is a better classification system, as right now “Isekai” has become such a broad term that it's cracking under its own weight and generating a bad rep, not necessarily because of bad content, but improper classification.
What makes it an asekai?
Having three or more similar characteristics portrayed from this list is a stronger indication that the series is asekai. That is unless the series does bring new angles to given characteristics. From parodying it to blatantly making it mundane to shift focus to more important characteristics, there are many ways to “isekai“ it. With that said, if the series puts all of its eggs in one basket, that might not be enough to warrant calling it an isekai.
This example is from a non-isekai series, but it perfectly summarizes what a fresh angle is: Goblin Slayer’s portrayal of goblins and the world impact they cause makes it unique, despite the series races, magic, economy, setting, and world being heavily lifted from the commonly know mythology.
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Truck-kun? Did a star polygon or something akin to it appear underneath the MC(s), and they were whisked away?
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Is the MC(s) always shying away from some action? Not because they are celibate, but rather they just seem overly shy that never seem to progress anywhere?
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As the name says, does the MC(s) start weaker than everyone else, and grow to be overpowered than pretty much anyone else?
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Adventurer guild exists and offer the same usual quests you would find in a video game? Does the guild look like a medieval inn?
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Does the MC automatically understand the language of the new world? Is there any world lore to explain how the MC learns the language?
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Star Polygons or something akin to that behind, below, or in the palm of the caster? Do they scream the spells? Do they use blue magic potions to restore mana? Is magic something only a select few know? Often something you can only tangibly use after going to a specialized school?
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Are monarchies the only thing around? Is the MC(s) summoned by monarchy magicians or the closely tied church to be used at the summoning monarchy will? Usually to defeat a great evil?
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Does it include elves, dwarves, and halflings and they are all "Good"? Does the same apply to dark elves, orcs, goblins, demons, vampires, etc and are they "bad"? Are there lizard-people and are they neutral to everyone?
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Does the religion of the world resembles Christianity?
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Is the world set in a medieval-like, low-tech setting? Does the MC(s) start in a town where things are more peaceful, like the starter town of an MMORPG?
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Is the MC(s) collecting characters to follow him around? Does it turn into some sort of Harem?
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Did the MC(s) were brought in to defeat a demon or conquer something evil? Will the MC become a hero? Is the church closely associated with the whole thing?
Recommended Asekais
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Arifureta
First episode was legit isekai material. The rest not so much. Like holding a filled-to-brim seven-layer taco, but as soon as you take the first bite, everything crumbles. But if you’re like us, you’d still eat the crumbles even though it’s now just a mess.
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Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku
THE DEFINITION OF ASEKAI! It was our first one too! without realizing it! And so we have dear memories of it. Like buying fried chicken from your hometown grocery store or bread from the corner bakery near your home, you can feel a warm blanket over you, making you feel cozy and protected when you take a chomp of its freshly made goodness. We don't recommend eating that all day though.
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Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria
Some interesting Norse mythology sprinkled in, otherwise it’s a brother of the smartphone asekai. We give it a mid to low asekai tier.
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Isekai Cheat Magician
If you haven’t watched much anime, then this one is a good way to get caught up with the latest trends. It’s like eating a gas station egg sandwich. As in it’s a gamble whether you will enjoy it, but it would be a badge of honor telling other people you powered through it.
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Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu
Tickled our monkey brain. Recommended. We’re still looking for a Rem Galleu figure (with her original outfit, not the wedding dress version.)
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Isekai Ojisan
Honest fun seeing this shift in MC perspective and storytelling perspective, but doesn’t really push any boundaries on the mythology. We would watch Season 2 no problem.
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Isekai Shokudou
Want to get hungry? This is how you get hungry. All of its eggs are in one basket and soon will become delicious-looking fried eggs. I would bet the illustrators on this show gained a few pounds after spending so much time drawing food. At least we would.
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Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni
You can guess where this goes, but if you want to get lost in a power fantasy surrounded by eye-candy girls then this will tickle your monkey brain. If you are on the male spectrum, then nut before watching the show so that your mind isn't filled with any ecchi desires, otherwise it will impact your enjoyment.
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Kenja no Mago
Isekai Cheat Magician with a different coat of paint. If you liked watching that, you will like this one too.
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Maou-sama, Retry!
They should retry making this huehuehuehue (laughs in Brazilian.) Jokes aside, it’s a mid asekai, or bottom tier isekai.
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Outbreak Company
Like a cousin of GATE. It had great potential to become an isekai but lost enough steam with each new episode that it turned asekai. Although we still have fond memories of it so we put it at top-tier asekai.
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Shinchou Yuusha: Kono Yuusha ga Ore Tueee Kuse ni Shinchou Sugiru
Dollar Store version of Konosuba. Still a fun, decent watch on a rainy day when you want to make some popcorn and turn off your brain for some mindless entertainment.
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Slime Taoshite 300-nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level Max ni Nattemashita
Cozy anime to watch on a snowy day, or if you’re stressed doing all the things and need to get away to a “happy place“ where nothing really happens. Eat a Big Mac or your favorite comfort food while watching this and it will be as relaxing as jumping in a hot tub.
Recommended Isekais
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A Husband Out Of This World
We believe we are an isekai given the amount of effort we placed on all fronts to create something unique, but other people should corroborate it otherwise it would just appear like we're trying to peddle the series rather than start a conversation on asekai vs isekai.
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GATE
Some say that it is only an isekai when the MC is traped on another world, but we refuse that notion. We believe it’s about the 異. If it excels at doing something different while exploring a new world, then it should be considered an isekai.
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Hai to Gensou no Grimgar
This one deserves a second chance. It fumbled and lost people’s attention and patience, but we still call it an isekai on the grounds for giving an honest try.
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Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi
Isekai Revenge Porn. Whatever you think of it, you can’t call it asekai. Also, there’s a murky divide between Ecchi and Hentai. We personally love the edgy feeling of taking ecchi as far as possible without going into Hentai, but we do give them props for not giving a shit to what people think and going all in! You have our respect!
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Konosuba
The way Konosuba pokes fun at isekai mythology is truly an EXPLOSION of goodness.
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Log Horizon
They go full bet on exploring the mechanics of a new world dictated by MMORPG game design, and by golly, they did. I still remember and treasure the plot surrounding food in the world.
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Mushoku Tensei
Does share some of that isekai mythology, but despite that, the plot/MC and some other world elements are so strong it raised this series to our top isekai!
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No Game No Life
Early isekai, yet still just as memorable. No Game No Life Zero did hit it right in the feels.
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Overlord
Not much to be said because you likely have watched this one already. So damm good.
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ReZero
We still have questions as to what determines a milestone and breaks the loop, but aside from that, truly an awesome series.
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Sword Art Online
Season 1 is an isekai in our humble opinion, and an outstanding one at that.
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Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari
We’re been struggling to decide if this s top tier asekai, or if the plot/MC details rise it to really good isekai. As of writing this we haven’t watched Season 2 & 3 yet, so that remains to be decided.
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Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken
We haven’t watched everything yet, but safe to say Rimuru takes the collection type of plot to a whole new level by building his own kingdom. We’ve seen similar world gaming mechanics before, but we think they are used by the MC to drive a plot that is unique enough to stand out.
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Youjo Senki
Not sure how famous this is in the western crowd, but we love Tanya and the grittiness of the world.
Feedback?
We mainly want this to be a conversation starter, and to help bring awareness to this growing subdivide within the overall isekai theme we’ve noticed.
If you want to further discuss this, we suggest going to our discord, or opening a Reddit thread and tagging @Deovandski