I discovered and know why I love old/older isekai from the 90s/early 2000s....

[BrawlMan]

I love isekai like El Hazard: The Magnificent World, Monster Rancher, Digimon Adventure (even 02, Tamers [when they go to the digital world in the second half], and Frontiers) so much. They have something many modern isekai lack: a sense of actual wonder, discovery, and most importantly, the adventure itself. Many isekai today are just too corporate driven and copies of a copy, copying another copy that's ultra derivative. Nearly everything else feels flat, all glitter, no soul, or is just another lame and cardboard cut out harem with nothing else going on. I watched El Hazard: Thw Wanderers (AU TV series) 2024 (the last time was in 2004), and even it gets this right.

 

[Tonberry]

Agreed. The idea of visiting another world was the main form of fantasy for almost a century, and it used to be full of whimsy, danger and adventure.

So much of contemporary (usually reincarnation) isekai feels like it's is just cynically engineered wish-fulfilment for depressed salarymen who are so overworked that they don't have the energy to engage with anything deeper, and I think that's really sad, because it's a sub-genre that allows for almost infinite interpretation, but it's been bastardized and flanderized so much it's incredibly hard to find anything sincere and worthwhile nowadays. I doubt it's all completely bad, but it's become such a nexus of absolute derivative schlock that it's almost easier to just generalize.

I've never checked out El-Hazard but I remember it from long ago, I think a friend's older brother was big into it. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Stookymalarkey]

I'd saying that they also didn't over rely on jRPG tropes that were taken literally since the author was too lazy to come up with their own magic system and too lazy to do character progression thing where they get stronger over time. No, the want the easy gratification of just giving their protagonists stupidly strong powers and removing any real stakes, unless they add in some infuriating bullshit.

Also, the characters lack real character, especially the MC either being a beaten down doormat Japanese salaryman or a shut-in sociopath.

It seems it's getting harder to find good premise in manga/anime these days. Too much lazy slop.

 

[Zerohour2k12]

The Monster Rancher anime air on our country back in my elementary day and I remember really liking it.

 

[BrawlMan]

seems it's getting harder to find good premise in manga/anime these days. Too much lazy slop.

I haven't seen either these shows, but i've heard nothing but great things. Try out Amphibia and/or Owl House. They're not anime, but that's not a big deal. Both Western animated shows that does this genre justice. Both shows have about three seasons and have a finale.

I've never checked out El-Hazard but I remember it from long ago, I think a friend's older brother was big into it. Thanks for the recommendation!

Just stick with El Hazard: The Magnificent World OVA 1, El Hazard OVA 2, and The Wanderers (Alternate Universe 26 Episode TV retelling of OVA1). El Hazard: The Alternative World is a sequel to both OVAs, and sadly, the final entry to the og continuity. It's a steaming pile of garbage and got canceled after one season. They tried get a kickstarter going a a sequel to it in 2015(?), but the funding didn't go through. The OVAs and TV series both have their respective own self-contained endings that work and can act as finality. So ignore OVA 3.

 

[Skunkobot]

Have you ever watched Vision Of Escaflowne ? If not you should give it a go. Mid-late 90s Isekai in a Fantasy world but with Mechas.

 

[BrawlMan]

Have you ever watched Vision Of Escaflowne ? If not you should give it a go. Mid-late 90s Isekai in a Fantasy world but with Mechas.

I saw it once back in the 90s, and that was it. I really don't remember much sadly. I saw the movie once too in the 2000s.

 

[DinoRexMax]

Aura Battler Dunbine (1983) is, like, the Granddaddy of Isekai in Anime. It's by Yoshiyuki Tomino, the creator of Mobile Suit Gundam.

Magical Knight Rayearth (1993) came out almost 10 years later, and was originally published as a manga by CLAMP, the same lady team who created Cardcaptor Sakura and got Kakyoin pregnant.

Also, while double checking dates, I found this:

Isekai Wiki

isekai.fandom.com

A fandom wiki dedicated to cataloguing all isekai ever. So if those don't do it for ya, here's the buffet, take you pic.

On the topic of isekai becoming soulless and stale? At some point in time in the 2010s, it got popular, went corporate, and is now a part of the ceaseless content mill companies churn out to reach their bottom line. It's like a literary cancer, brought on by the rapid production of stories as the creative process breaks down from the constant mutation.

Everyone loses track of where it all started, learning the wrong lessons from a false point of origin. So instead of being a fun excuse to have fantasy adventure with a protagonist relatable to a contemporary audience, it's just constant series of blank slates to trick the viewership into filling in all the blanks themselves.