The Isekai Genre Is Falling Off, And Here's Its Replacement (2024)

Shonen will always be at the top of the charts, but seasonal shonen anime tends to share the spotlight with a "trendy" genre following close behind. Dozens, if not hundreds, of the seasonal anime have been anime with insanely long titles and cookie-cutter harem stereotypes, where the protagonist is explicitly OP and conveniently never loses. There are exceptions to the Isekai rule that are actually well-made or provide a fresh take on the genre, of course; Re:Zero, Konosuba, and That Time I Was Reincarnated By A Slime are a few of the more notable examples of Isekai.

But times are changing. The only successful Isekai as of late are continuations of already successful franchises; new Isekai tend to be fewer, farther apart, and not as highly rated. While shonen has always been at the top of the game, and isn't going to slow down anytime soon, there is a new contender to compete with the popular Shonen of this year... and it's the complete opposite.

Shojou Anime Finally Shines Again

Romance, Slice-of-Life, and Other Shojou Sub-Genres Populating The Charts

While shojo manga and anime had their heyday in the early 2000s, the genre has fallen short for over a decade, leaving the well of shoujo anime relatively dry and barren with only a few exceptions. However, the past few years have seen an explosion in shojo manga. This, of course, leads to shojo manga adaptations. Some of the flashbang hits of recent years are Dress Up Darling, Horimiya, and the currently airing Yakuza Fiance taking over social media. Some other hits of recent times Kaguya-sama: Love is War, the Fruits Basket reboot, Komi Can't Communicate, and others.

Some of these, including the aforementioned Love is War and Fruits Basket have temporarily surpassed Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and were the highest-rated anime on the infamous anime tracking website MyAnimeList, causing enough of a stir to garner online attention.

On the note of Fruit Basket's reboot, many of the popular Shojo anime of the 90s and early 2000s are all getting right now; Ranma 1/2 being among them. Even Crunchyroll is reporting on what they call the "Shojo Renaissance" in an article this year, noting the anime Kimi ni Todoke is finally getting a third season after a 13-year hiatus, and popular manga like Sign of Affection and Honey Lemon Soda are finally getting adaptations after years upon years of waiting from fans. Shojo anime truly is making its comeback, and is influencing how other genres are handling their romance in its wake.

Why Was Isekai So Big?

Why Did Isekai Explode In Popularity In The First Place?

Isekai as a genre typically involves being trapped in a fantasy world, typically an MMORPG or other type of video game, but would almost always feature a fantasy world of some kind. This provided a level of escapism for anime fans everywhere. The immense and intense popularity of Sword Art Online certainly contributed to isekai success overall; most anime studios wanted to recreate the phenomenon that Sword Art Online became. But another contributing factor to Isekai success was escapism into the ultimate power fantasy of an average gamer becoming the protagonist of their favorite game.

In isekai anime, it was often a regular gamer who was reincarnated or transported into a fantasy game they were already playing. And these days, most MMORPG gamers are also anime fans, since most modern MMORPGs have been modeling themselves after anime, so there's a large amount of crossover between the two niches. So logically, these hybrid gamer and anime fans would be attracted to an anime that shows someone they relate to off the bat, traveling through an immersive video game world similar to games they already play, right?

So Why Is Isekai Not As Popular Anymore?

What Has Changed In The World of Isekai?

There's a couple of theories that could contribute to isekai's declining popularity. The most obvious one is oversaturation. When any genre takes center stage as the trendy, popular genre, fans of an entertainment medium are likely to get burned on them. This is especially true for anyone who tries to keep up with seasonal anime over the past decade, and has seen the isekai genre slowly swallow up the space held by a larger variety of genres.

Another theory that points to Isekai's downfall is that we as a whole don't need to escape as much as we did a few years ago. Depending on the country you're in, COVID-19 lockdowns were on and off for a few years and hampered experiences with the outside world for a considerable amount of time. Many otaku spent the time during lockdown watching anime and playing video games, so isekai was more relatable. Now that the world is out and experiencing the world again, and what is relatable is characters in more realistic, grounded situations like what is seen in shoujo anime. Most people spent years with limited contact, social events shutting down, and school over the internet rather than in person. As people are experiencing these in real life again, people want to see the same experiences and events emulated on their screen as well.

The Isekai genre itself is beginning to reflect this, with dozens of slice-of-life isekai coming out along with the typical action fantasy adventure variety. While isekai definitely isn't unpopular, shojou anime ratings have been creeping up and even occasionally surpassing isekai. The genre's reign of dominance won't last much longer, unless they can find a new way to innovate themselves.

Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War

Comedy

Romance

Seasons

3 + OVA Series

Studio

A-1 Pictures

Streaming Service(s)

Crunchyroll , Hulu

MyAnimeList Score

8.41 (Season 1)