Remember when isekai was shoujo? And better?

Remember when isekai was shoujo? And better?

Other urls found in this thread:

youtube.com/watch?v=hQ-Qc3IH_38
twitter.com/SFWRedditVideos

When can we cycle back to this fad?

Garzey's Wing is the best isekai ever made

Come on Japan, bring it back.

Yep.

Somehow remind people that fantasy is supposed to be fantastical and not just bad parody comedy with fanservice.

Isekai became shit because it gravitated to lazily copying game (specifically MMO) tropes, not because it targeted a different audience.

Fushigi yuugi was fucking 10/10. Everything about it was so bad and cheesy (the characters, the story, the dubbing, the really 80's music), that it went full circle and became awesome again. I binged the show in under a week. My only complaint is that they should have shown Nakagos backstory earlier, not in the end of the final episode.

Escaflowne on the other hand was mediocre. The animation, mecha fights and the music were all gorgeous. On the other hand, the characters were unlikeable as all hell, the story was an aimless mess of different ideas, and the love triangle was just the worst. A real mixed bag.

Are Rayearth and 12 kingdoms any good? Should I give them a try? I heard that 12 kingdoms is one of those unfinished adaptations, and those always put me off.

Rayearth's easily a classic. At last the girls don't forget where they came fro, and in obtaining their armor material literally have to fight off their dearest person from home. The fantasy element isn't so bad either, and the supporting cast never overstayed its welcome.
I do wish Nova and Debonair were manga canon though.

Circa '00 shoujo isekai was good but there's also good stuff that comes out these days. I enjoy Grimgar and Overlord just as much as Rayearth or Fushigi Yuugi.

12 Kingdoms has a really cool setting but I personally think every single female character in the series is garbage and female characters are the main focus. Felt like I was watching PMSing women argue with each other by the time it was over. Lots of misunderstandings as plot devices. Honestly I think it downright sucks but this isn't a popular opinion.

Pic related is how you do uncompleted story right, I loved this series.

Only seen the first 14 episodes of Twelve Kingdoms, it's objectively good, but it doesn't capture me, it feels a bit like a chore despite being very well done so far. Very well done and complex fantasy world.

Rayearth is one of my favourite anime. Personally I found the second season to be the better one, the first season is still pretty enjoyable but the fantasy world is shallow and linear, there is very little of the worldbuilding that connects to anything else or extends for more than one episode. It still does enough progress with regular intervals to feel like it isn't stagnant, so the first season is still pretty good.
The second season goes much more in depth about what it does. It completely changes genre though, so many fans of the first season don't like it as much. But the mood is amazing, and it gets really emotional and it wasn't until the second season I really started to love the characters. I love this season and anime, and think more people should watch it.

In any case, you need to listen to the opening theme of the first season. One of the best, if not the best, songs in anime.

I have seen episode 1 of rayearth, and I felt like I might pick it up one day. Also, I'm known for liking sequels, that the fanbases of the first seasons don't like.

posting the only bad one

I remember. Oh God, I'm so old.

But if we where to compare shoujo Isekai with current Isekai it has a lot of differences:

>Shoujo isekai focused on world building rather than RPG mechanics
>Hero/Heroine is usually underpowered rather than overpowered
>Heroine has to fight their way through a dangerous world where they are constantly in danger

The only constant element in both is the harem element but this gets usually dealt in shoujo isekai via the "literally anyone can (and will) die" rule.

I like Fushigi Yuugi for it's cheesiness and not taking itself serious, but what the fuck, Escaflowne is better crafted in every single way. That you didn't like it doesn't make it mediocre, objectively it's the better show.

Also, give me love triangles anytime before shitty (reverse) harem.

Twelve Kingdoms is a bit of an odd duck. Overall I'd say it's fantastic, but it does take a while to really get going.
In some ways it's still guilty of overpowered MC shenanigans, but it's much better in the way it handles it, i.e. the responsibilities and difficulties that come with power.
There's a lot of drama and some interesting internal politics, but ultimately it's a solid fantasy piece. And being incomplete shouldn't really put you off, the series isn't any one character's story, it's more about the world than anything else, and character arcs are pretty much completed and done well in the anime.

>Hero/Heroine is usually underpowered rather than overpowered
That's not true of Rayearth or Twelve Kingoms, mind you.

It's not about me liking Escaflowne. I really tried to like it. But every single character was unlikeable (the mc in particular was the most unlikeable, whiny, annoying, useless and melodramatic character I have seen in a while), The romance was cliche, melodramatic and sappy, and the story was aimless and consisted of bunch of different ideas, that were just thrown together. it was a mess of ideas that didn't really work half of the time. I don't see how it is anything more than a 6/10 show.

youtube.com/watch?v=hQ-Qc3IH_38

>the romance was cliche, melodramatic and sappy

I totally see your point now.

If you're talking about old shoujo isekai, anyway. Nowadays you get a lot of
>Born into nobility or adjacent, maybe adopted
>Instead of an RPG world fantasy, otomege worlds are more common
>Heroine is prized for her ability to converse and WORK HARD, physical strength can be a bonus

At least Miaka and Tamahome were both likeable, and their romance was nice. Van, Allan and the main girl were all unlikeable, and their love triangle was incredibly angsty, overly melodramatic and uninteresting.

>Born into nobility or adjacent, maybe adopted
That also happens in The Twelve Kingdoms, though.

I'd argue Rayearth since the girls did have to fight with tooth and nail on their way through the world. At least until they had woke their respective genies. I feel Youko's was justified since the world she landed on would have her dead on sight. And later on her power didn't help much in saving people since they ended up dead anyway.

Oh? Shoujo isekai has changed a lot since I've last seen some.

>likeable
>unlikeable
Bulletproof argumentation there.

Compared to Escaflowne (which is by no means an example of too deep characterization), FY characters are flat sheets of paper; Miaka herself is a walking 90s shoujo heroine cliché, litteraly hitting every point. But hey, at least she is "likeable". Hitomi, who more or less behaves like an actual 15 year old girl would is "unlikeable" therefore her show is bad.

FY is by no means a better show, it just fit your tastes better.

You mean like this manga that started just a year ago?

Rayearth is wonderful. Umi a best.

Nirvana always felt pretty well put together. I like the blend of action and magical girl fusions too.

I think the majority of it is novelized like its Maou-sama quest Isekai counterpart. Though there are quite a few manga out there too, but I think many of them aren't translated.

I believe I captured the worst of it with this
pastebin.com/8Pg4ihxg