There are too many Isekai novels, and I don't even know what is interesting and what it is not (笑)...
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Aside from my attempt to make LN-like title for this topic, this topic is a discussion about what makes you think a said Isekai title is interesting (to you).
To me, a lot of them sound like lazy writing, or isekai part is just extra (it's there but it ain't adding anything to the story...it's just cuz it's isekai and isekai stories are popular...)
Before Isekai fad, I liked many Isekai titles cuz of their novelty or their well-built setting or their meta elements (I am big on meta stuff, after all).
Outbreak company
NGNL
Mondaiji (Loved the world they built in this novel and it's also one of my first light novels)It's not like I hate Isekai (or modern Isekai)
There are various titles I like:
Re:Zero
Grimgar
Konosuba
Youjo Senki
etc.For me, Isekai is like Highschool battle...kinda bland and overdone?
There are a few interesting titles but drowned in mob-like titles...- Lazy Dungeon Master
Like the concepts of lazy characters who knows how to take shortcuts (and it sounded like funny title)
- An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Slave Elf Bride.
Mainly cuz I like fluffy romance and I was promised it is..- Stuff like Isekai Nonbiri Nouka & I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level
Just haven't read anything similar and I wonder how laid back story about people who overworked themselves to death would work
There are other elements that can get me interested like if it promises a dark story or targets unusual demographic like "Bear Bear Bear" or has some unique setting that makes me wonder how it will go on like "Otome ge- sekai wa mobu ni kibishiisekaidesu" and "The Simple Job of Only Perishing to the Hero" or parodies...
However, titles like
I’m a NEET but When I Went to Hello Work I Got Taken to Another World
Hitoribocchi no Isekai Kouryakukinda make go "nah, I am good".
So, what about you?
What makes you think (ah, this isekai looks interesting but this is like "nah, I am good")... - Lazy Dungeon Master
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I just ignore whether it's Isekai or not. If the genres interest me, the setting catches my attention, and if I'm in the mood, I pick up the series. Isekai is just a setting trope so I never use it to determine whether or not I'll pick up a series.
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I don't usually think of Isekai stories as Isekai, I just think of them as fantasy. Usually the Isekai part is just the device to explain why the MC has particular powers, has a particular goal or why they are like a fish out of water in that particular fantasy world etc.
FYI "An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Slave Elf Bride" isn't Isekai as far as i'm aware (I haven't read any of it previously, just going on what the synopsis describes)
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@tim-saul said in There are too many Isekai novels, and I don't even know what is interesting and what it is not (笑)...:
FYI "An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Slave Elf Bride" isn't Isekai as far as i'm aware (I haven't read any of it previously, just going on what the synopsis describes)
Have read, can confirm not isekai
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Also you should totally read Dendrogram it’s a mixture of Isekai. TBH I don’t even know what to call it since it’s sorta Isekai but not really. Also has a lot of world building but that’s just the way I see it. Others might not. Like @Aruseus493 and @Tim-Saul said forget about the genre in most cases it doesn’t get brought back up unless to explain something that usually doesn’t happen.
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Here is what I say, Forget about the Genres and all that stuff. A Good story will be a Good story regardless of Genre and Trope.
I could say A lot of Romance stories just sound like they have Lazy Writing with all the Misunderstanding and more misunderstanding, characters getting cut-off when they try to confess their feelings, Love Triangles, in Shojo Romance there be the "Bad Boy" and the "Gentleman" and sometimes there is only the "Bad Boy" as the "Gentleman" might be just a secret "Bad boy" this whole time and all the "boys" are just trying to get into her pants with how handsy and touchy they are with her.
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It's almost to the point where I'm surprised if something isn't isekai. I started Unwanted Undead Adventurer this weekend and I was like, whoa, this isn't isekai!
I think it's a bit overdone, being that it's the flavor of the month (year? decade?). But I'll keep reading them if they're interesting. It's only one plot element out of hopefully several, if it's decent enough writing.
~ flarecde
Reality is nothing; Perception is everything. -
@flarecde Archdemon's Dilemma isn't an isekai.
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@paul-nebeling I forgot about that one, another good one!
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@flarecde Realistically Unwanted Undead wouldn’t read much difference if it were isekai, which is why I don’t care so much about whether a book is or isn’t isekai. Unwanted Undead is far more like many other popular Isekai (game world, game mechanics, etc) that Me, A Genius. I’d rather judge a book by its originality or lack therefore, it’s fun,l and it’s characters rather than whether or not it’s an isekai- that doesn’t even end up as a factor for me.
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Echoing Aruseus and green death, "isekai" isn't even a factor when I choose to read or not read or drop a book. It's just another label I can use to predict what kind of setting or tropes will be used in the story, the same way "sci-fi" or "shoujo" or "harem" help tell me what I can expect, in some shape or form.
