# Is Isekai only Japanese? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [September 9, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852 "2023-09-09T21:39:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/1 "2023-09-09T21:39:06Z")
I’ve read _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court_ by Mark Twain, _Lest Darkness Fall_ by L. Sprague de Camp, the _Axis of Time_ series by John Birmingham, the _Conrad Stargard_ series by Leo Frankowski, the _Destroyermen_ series by Taylor Anderson, _Household Gods_ by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove, the _Lost Regiment_ series by William R. Forstchen, the _Nantucket_ trilogy by S.M. Stirling, _The Practice Effect_ by David Brin, the _1632_ series by Eric Flint, and the _Videssos_ series by Harry Turtledove. These are all works in which a person or group of people are unexpectedly sent back back in time or into a fantasy world, stranded there, and forced to adapt to their new circumstances. Generally while adapting their new circumstances in return. Anyway, I’ve never really had a good term for describing this genre. It’s not exactly time travel or alternate history or fantasy although it sometimes overlaps into those genres. But today I learned the term [Isekai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isekai), a Japanese term which means “different world”, which seems to apply. However all of the examples given of isekai works are Japanese. So does the term strictly apply only to Japanese works? Or is it okay to say, for example, that _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court_ is an early isekai novel? ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/2 "2023-09-09T21:46:37Z")
Me and my friend were joking that _Alice in Wonderland_ was isekai. If Alice is isekai, so is Connecticut Yankee. Of course a true anime fan (nerd) might disagree. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/3 "2023-09-09T22:01:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > However all of the examples given of isekai works are Japanese. Disagree. While the term itself is Japanese, it’s used by other, non-Japanese societies to describe similar scenarios - the same genre is popular in Korean and Chinese pop culture as well, and they all borrow pretty freely from each other in an effort to copy the next big thing. And there’s plenty of overlaps with other, related sub-genres, the whole “stuck in a VR game that you can’t log out of” morphs into “the online game I was playing became real in a fantasy world” and so on and so forth. Use it, anyone who knows the term will get it, but some may be overcome with nerd-rage. It’s still a useful term. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/4 "2023-09-09T22:03:04Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Me and my friend were joking that _Alice in Wonderland_ was isekai. As is _The Wizard of Oz_. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/5 "2023-09-09T22:32:14Z")
An English term is “portal fantasy”: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy#Portal\_fantasy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy#Portal_fantasy) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/6 "2023-09-09T22:34:12Z")
BTW, the reason you ran across “isekai” is probably because there is a _massive_ fad for it in Japan right now, both “played straight” and as parody of the genre. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/7 "2023-09-09T22:47:36Z")
This. The Tvtropes page gives tons of examples: > **[Trapped in Another World - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TrappedInAnotherWorld?from=Main.PortalFantasy)** > > A standard plot/Myth Arc for Speculative Fiction: The Ordinary High-School Student, frequently their friends, and sometimes their enemies are all transported (often summoned) to another world distant planet, a Magical Land, Alternate … ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/8 "2023-09-10T00:09:39Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > BTW, the reason you ran across “isekai” is probably because there is a _massive_ fad for it in Japan right now, both “played straight” and as parody of the genre. No, actually the reason I ran across it was because I heard a reference to another SF genre, grimdark, and when I was looking that up, I found a general list of SF genres and began looking up the terms I didn’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/9 "2023-09-10T00:12:24Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > An English term is “portal fantasy”: My understanding is that a portal fantasy is when a person or persons are unexpectedly transported to a fantasy world. So I felt it didn’t cover works where a person or persons traveled to the past. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/10 "2023-09-10T00:32:34Z")
Coincidentally I just started reading [All Our Wrong Todays](https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/All_Our_Wrong_Todays/PtbkDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT11&printsec=frontcover) by Elan Mastai. The link will provide the charming set up that instantly got me to grab a copy. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/11 "2023-09-10T00:37:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > My understanding is that a portal fantasy is when a person or persons are unexpectedly transported to a fantasy world. I thought that’s what isekai was. I’m only slightly familiar with the term, but I didn’t think it involved time travel. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/12 "2023-09-10T00:48:09Z")
Isekai most frequently involve fantasy worlds. And sometimes you’ll see the reverse, where fantasy characters end up in the “real” world setting. Returners, or screwed up summoning/banishing spells. It’s got a lot of little sub-genres and crosses. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/13 "2023-09-11T18:56:35Z")
Okay, so it seems I misunderstood the term and it doesn’t apply to most of the works I listed. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/14 "2023-09-11T20:49:58Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m only slightly familiar with the term, but I didn’t think it involved time travel. Often, it involves a very short distance traveled by truck. > **[Truck-kun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truck-kun)** > > Truck-kun is an Internet meme that refers to a common trope used in the isekai genre of anime and manga, in which characters are transported to other worlds. Typically, the protagonists of the isekai anime or manga are sent to these worlds via reincarnation after death, though recently many isekai works have featured characters being transported upon being hit and killed by a truck. After several isekai works featured this as a means to kill their characters, a meme claiming the existence of a ch... ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/15 "2023-09-17T23:30:38Z")
Pleasantville? Rosenberg’s original Guardians of the Flame novels? Feist’s Magician (in a certain sense)? –G? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/16 "2023-09-18T07:03:29Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > Feist’s Magician (in a certain sense)? I don’t think being portalled from one fantasy universe to another counts. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/17 "2023-09-18T08:04:34Z")
If broadly defined [_Last Action Hero_](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Action_Hero) and _[The Purple Rose of Cairo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Purple_Rose_of_Cairo)_ would be isekai too. Nice, I learned a new useful word today. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/18 "2024-03-29T19:39:52Z")
Isekai has entered the OED: “a Japanese genre of science or fantasy fiction featuring a protagonist who is transported to or reincarnated in a different, strange, or unfamiliar world.” > **[Isekai, the Popular Manga and Anime Genre, Is Now in the Oxford English...](https://www.ign.com/articles/isekai-the-popular-manga-and-anime-genre-is-now-in-the-oxford-english-dictionary)** > > Isekai, one of the most popular genres in anime and manga, is now officially in the Oxford English Dictionary. However, it may not mean what you think. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/19 "2024-03-30T02:52:22Z")
The discussion of isekai that I’ve read imply that it covers a wide variety of Japanese works. Broad enough to cover the OP IMHO: I would characterize those works as, “Examples of what the Japanese call _Isekai_.” Wiki seems to think that _Isekai_ is a subgenre of portal fantasy though, presumably portal fantasies created in Japan. They note correctly that Japanese Isekai has developed its own story conventions. I conclude that usage is still evolving. I strongly prefer to refer to manga and anime (when speaking English at least) as Japanese-only creations. (In Japanese, the words simply mean comics or animation.) FWIW, I don’t feel the same way about the Isekai term. If the Japanese folk tale [Urashima Taro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urashima_Tar%C5%8D), is considered Isekai, then I’m inclined to define the term broadly. Heck, I see from the IGN article that in Japanese _any_ fantasy world setting is considered Isekai. Huh. Twitter: > The common understanding is isekai = in another world > Isekaitensei = reincarnation in another world So _Isekai_ in English is properly translated as _Isekaitensei_ in Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852/20 "2024-03-30T03:45:05Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I see from the IGN article that in Japanese _any_ fantasy world setting is considered Isekai. Huh. Read the comments on the IGN article. The general consensus is that the article is pretty poorly written and the internet rando it quoted was an idiot. See, for example, the Japanese titles of a large number of Isekai series: > **[Baka-Updates Manga - Series](https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?search=Isekai)** > > Latest And Newest Manga Release Updates and News. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-isekai-only-japanese/989852.md?page=2)