Japanese for another world: stories in which someone from our world is transported, reincarnated or summoned into a fantasy realm, often gaining special powers. A close cousin of Portal Fantasy, it dominates much of modern light novels and anime and overlaps with LitRPG & Progression Fantasy.
Origin
Rooted in folktales such as Urashima Taro; modern examples date from the late 1970s and 1980s, and the genre boomed in the 2010s alongside Sword Art Online.
Quick answers
- What does "Isekai" mean?
- Japanese for another world: stories in which someone from our world is transported, reincarnated or summoned into a fantasy realm, often gaining special powers. A close cousin of Portal Fantasy, it dominates much of modern light novels and anime and overlaps with LitRPG & Progression Fantasy.
- Where does the term "Isekai" come from?
- Rooted in folktales such as Urashima Taro; modern examples date from the late 1970s and 1980s, and the genre boomed in the 2010s alongside Sword Art Online.