Isekai anime is about to disappear, according to an interview with Akira Kanai, editor-in-chief of the giant Kodansha publishing house for over 30 years, according to a trusted German portal. In his words, he says that isekai is a genre that is self-consuming with its exploitation within Japan and the world, so in 5 years time, it will no longer exist as it does now.
Will this be the end of Isekai anime, interview with Kodansha gives a bad prognosis for fans
In a recent interview with the Kodansha publishing department, starring editor-in-chief Akira Kanai, the man told all about the industry with his more than 30 years in the industry. In the interview conducted by the portal “Manga Passion”, too many aspects of current affairs are observed, from the history of the publishers, the mangas Seinens and Shounens, as the main topic: The time limit of Isekai anime.
In Akira’s words talking about these currently popular series: “the current trends in the market are isekai for men and shoujo for women on the children’s side; this will probably continue for another five years. Both genres allow readers to escape reality and are simple,” he adds, “Reading the same stories over and over again makes people no longer able to approach things from different perspectives. If the stereotypical hero is always the good guy and defeats the (supposed) bad guy, sooner or later, this will carry over into real thinking and people will only see everything as black and white in conflict situations.”
It is a topic on the lips of many in recent years, not for nothing is one of the genres that has been criticized, at first for its mass production, almost as if they were made on purpose. It has received so much attention in recent years that it has been thought that the isekai is already getting fed up with the public. This we have detailed in this note which expands on the criticisms of many Japanese fans of this classification.
Editor-in-Chief Akira Kanai gives his perspective on the Kodansha publishing house, his 30 years offer him a lot of support within the medium, starting as a simple intern and sometimes as an assistant to the publisher. He says that nowadays Shounen that have been used to address young people who are not “mature in life” are somewhat wrong, since young people are capable of understanding more complex situations, just like adults. An example can be seen in Jujutsu Kaisen or My Hero Academia, where shounen exists, but also moments as traumatic and complicated as any existing seinen.
Akira Kanai is not the first to say publicly that isekai is a passing thing, other old acquaintances have given their direct opinion about these anime nowadays. In the same way they are still a profitable market due to their popularity, will the five-year forecast for these series be true, we can only wait and see how it develops. If you want to see more about this interview, you can watch it here.
Why Isekais always remain in the center of the hurricane, this is due to the factors that have been mentioned, the exploitation of this category has made it one that fans no longer enjoy so much. Does it mean that it is not good, no, simply that, the more it is played, the less amount of outstanding series there are and people are referred to pass their finger to see another genre. We know that Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari, Konosuba: God’s blessing On this Wonderful World!, and many other outstanding series have made fans believe in this category very strongly.
