The Isekai genre is falling away, and here's its replacement

Key conclusions

• Shōnen anime remains popular, but shōjo anime has been making a comeback in recent years.
• The success of shoujo anime adaptations such as Dress Up Darling and Horimiya has caught the attention of the internet.
• The decline in isekai's popularity may be due to oversaturation and a shift to more attractive slice-of-life content.

Shounen will always be at the top of the charts, but seasonal shounen anime tend to share the spotlight with the “trendy” genre that follows behind. Dozens, if not hundreds, of seasonal anime have been anime with insanely long titles and harem stereotypes where the main character is clearly OP and never loses. There are exceptions to the Isekai rule that are actually well done or provide a new take on the genre, of course; Re: Zero, Kanasubaand At that time I was reincarnated by slime some of the most notable examples of Isekai.

But times are changing. The only successful Isekai of late are sequels to already successful franchises; new Isekai tend to be smaller, farther apart, and not as highly rated. While the shounen has always been at the top of its game and is not about to slow down, there is a new contender that can compete with this year's popular shounen… and it's the complete opposite.

Shoujo anime finally shines again

Romance, slice-of-life, and other chart-topping shoujo subgenres

Although shoujo manga and anime hit their prime in the early 2000s, the genre has been out of step for over a decade, leaving the well of shoujo anime relatively dry and barren, with only a few exceptions. However, the last few years have seen an explosion of shoujo manga. This of course leads to a shoujo manga adaptation. Some of the popular hits of recent years Dress up Darling, Garimiaand now on the air Yakuza groom social media takeover. Some other recent hits Kaguya-sama: Love is war, Fruit basket reboot, Comey can't communicateand others.

Some of them, including the above Love is war and Fruit basket temporarily exceeded Brotherhood of Steel Alchemists and were the highest-rated anime on the infamous anime tracking website MyAnimeList, creating enough of a buzz to garner attention online.

Note Fruit basketreboot, many popular 90's and early 2000's shoujo anime are being made right now; Ranma 1/2 to be among them. Even Crunchyroll reports in an article this year about what they're calling the “Shoujo renaissance,” celebrating the anime Kimi ni Todoke is finally getting a third season after a 13-year hiatus and popular manga A sign of affection and Honey lemon soda finally got adaptations after years of waiting from fans. Shoujo anime is really coming back and influencing how other genres handle romance after that.

Why was Isekai so big?

Why did Isekai explode in popularity in the first place?

The Isekai genre usually involves being trapped in a fantasy world, usually an MMORPG or other type of video game, but almost always has some kind of fantasy world in it. It provided a level of escapism for anime fans worldwide. Huge and strong popularity Sword Art Online certainly contributed to the overall success of isekai; most anime studios wanted to recreate this phenomenon Sword Art Online became But another factor that contributed to Isekai's success was the escape from the super-powered fantasy of the average gamer who became the protagonist of their favorite game.

In isekai anime, the regular player is often reincarnated or transported into a fantasy game they are already playing. And these days, most MMORPG players are also anime fans, as most modern MMORPGs were modeled after anime, so there is a lot of crossover between the two niches. So it makes sense that these hybrid gamer/anime lovers would be drawn to an anime that shows someone they relate to traveling through an immersive video game world similar to the games they already play right from the start, right?

So why is Isekai not so popular anymore?

What has changed in the world of Isekai?

There are several theories that may contribute to the decline in popularity of isekai. The most obvious is oversaturation. When a genre takes center stage as a trendy, popular genre, fans of the entertainment medium are more likely to get burned by it. This is especially true for those who have been trying to keep up with seasonal anime over the last decade and have seen the isekai genre slowly eat up the space occupied by a wide variety of genres.

“The isekai genre should not die, but it should be reborn in a less cartoonish form. This has already started to happen, but the process must accelerate. In particular, anime studios also need to be more selective about the number of isekai they are willing to adapt per season, and writers who want to write isekai would be wise to try something different.”

Another theory that points to the fall of Isekai is that we generally don't need to save as much as we did a few years ago. Depending on the country you are in, lockdowns due to COVID-19 have been on and off for several years and have prevented communication with the outside world for a significant amount of time. Many otaku spent their time during adjustment watching anime and playing video games, so isekai was more relatable. Now that the world is out and experiencing the world again, it's possible to relate the characters in more realistic, grounded situations like what you'd see in shojo anime. Most people have spent years with limited contact, shutting down social events, and learning online rather than in person. As people experience it again in real life, people want to see the same experiences and events emulated on their screen.

The Isekai genre itself is starting to reflect this, with dozens of slice-of-life isekai popping up alongside the typical action fantasy adventure. While isekai is definitely not unpopular, shōjo anime ratings are rising and even sometimes surpassing isekai. The genre's dominance won't last long unless they find a new way to innovate.