If you’ve been enjoying manga and anime for a while now, you could see that many of the stories now revolve around isekai or “other world” theme. It’s when the protagonists are spirited away or summoned into a parallel world without their consent to fulfill a mission.
Some popular examples of the isekai genre are Sword Art Online, Inu Yasha, Re: Zero, Digimon, and Overlord. You can tell how popular they are from the number of memes and social media posts about them.
All things said, why is the isekai theme so popular in mangas and animes in the first place? Well, let’s talk about the two main reasons why.
#1. People love made-up worlds
For many people, the world they live in right now is boring. That’s quite unavoidable when you’ve seen the same things and followed the same routine all your life. Stories taking place in a world different from ours is so appealing because those stories bring fresh vibes into their lives.
The western culture itself is no stranger to the concept of made-up worlds. In a sense, this genre is similar to those of the Narnia Chronicles, Alice in the Wonderland, and Wizard of Oz. Perhaps familiarity is one of the reasons why manga and anime with parallel world themes are widely popular among westerners too.
#2. Wish fulfillment
What if we can redo our lives so we can avoid painful experiences? What if we can mold the world to our liking? What if we can live our lives like an RPG? What if magic and superpowers are real?
Isekai stories answers to these questions that you undoubtedly have asked yourself at one point in your life. Admit it… you want to be a part of the world where the questions are answered in its entirety, don’t you?
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OK, so what’s your opinion of those two reasons? Do you think there are other reasons why there are so many manga and anime following the isekai theme these days? Be sure to share your thought on the comment section below.
By the way, you don’t need to wait for any mysterious power to summon you to a different world. You can do it yourself with the power of ambient sounds. Do you want to live on Mars? Done! Want to live with the elves? You got it!
Or perhaps you would like to start your own web novel or create an audiobook with an isekai theme? Be sure to use ambient sounds when possible to add immersion to your story. There are so many more unreal ambient sounds at ambient-mixer.com that can teleport your readers’ conscience to where ever you want them to go.
Be sure to visit the unreal atmosphere section and grab a couple of your favorite sounds. You can also make your own if you don’t find anything that fits your taste.