As an experienced otome isekai enjoyer of several years, I will give a short blurb of this genre.
Otome Isekai is a sub-genre of Isekai where the main character(s) are in some way transported to another world that resembles an otome game.
Isekai means "other world" in Japanese. Isekai stories are those where the protagonist goes to another world. Things like Escaflowne, Sword Art Online, even No-Game No-Life are all forms of Isekai.
Otome means "maiden" and "otome games" are a type of dating-sim visual novel game for girls and women. The goal is to make choices to navigate various story routes to win the hearts of different capture targets.
It is essentially the girly version of the modern shounen isekai that goes in the direction of female wish fulfillment. Instead of stuck in an action game, she's stuck in a romance novel or romance game. It is almost always "died and reborn there" rather than the sort of "stuck" we see in Sword Art Online or the "teleported" we saw in the 90s.
In general, otome isekais contain almost all of the following tropes:
1. The Main Character (MC) has foreknowledge of the events to come.
2. Our Main Character is usually a villainess.
3. Our Main Character almost always wants to avoid the "bad ending."
4. The setting is Lords and Ladies.
5. The Story is about Relationships.
6. It is written for The Female Gaze.
Otome Isekai is a sub-genre of Isekai where the main character(s) are in some way transported to another world that resembles an otome game.
Isekai means "other world" in Japanese. Isekai stories are those where the protagonist goes to another world. Things like Escaflowne, Sword Art Online, even No-Game No-Life are all forms of Isekai.
Otome means "maiden" and "otome games" are a type of dating-sim visual novel game for girls and women. The goal is to make choices to navigate various story routes to win the hearts of different capture targets.
It is essentially the girly version of the modern shounen isekai that goes in the direction of female wish fulfillment. Instead of stuck in an action game, she's stuck in a romance novel or romance game. It is almost always "died and reborn there" rather than the sort of "stuck" we see in Sword Art Online or the "teleported" we saw in the 90s.
In general, otome isekais contain almost all of the following tropes:
1. The Main Character (MC) has foreknowledge of the events to come.
2. Our Main Character is usually a villainess.
3. Our Main Character almost always wants to avoid the "bad ending."
4. The setting is Lords and Ladies.
5. The Story is about Relationships.
6. It is written for The Female Gaze.
sara: I really wish I could get hit by a truck and isekaied into an otome isekai.
beth: otome isekai?
sara: yeah so I can be surrounded by pretty boys 24/7
beth: otome isekai?
sara: yeah so I can be surrounded by pretty boys 24/7
by __nil May 20, 2021
by TheThyg November 26, 2019
A humorous and ambitious anime crossover in which 4 Isekai anime shows get transported to a school by a red button, all clustered together in one classroom.
Weeb: Isekai Quartet is better than Dream 9 Toriko X One Piece X Dragon Ball Z.
Another weeb: How come?
Weeb: Well it’s because Isekai characters from other shows interact with each other and have crazy adventures.
Another weeb: How come?
Weeb: Well it’s because Isekai characters from other shows interact with each other and have crazy adventures.
by Kuyet312 April 1, 2020
like an isekai, but the fictional characters end up in the real world. idk, i didn’t know if there was a word for it so here.
by fizzpop April 16, 2021
Non-isekai light novels or anime that gives off false impression that it's might be isekai,but it's not really isekai because characters didn't die in Earth and reincarnated in fantasy-like another world or got transported in another world via supernatural phenomenon such as magic summoning ritual,pure coincidence or by will of another world's god.
Just like how pseudofossils are inorganic objects, markings, or impressions that might be mistaken for fossils,pseudo-isekai is how you should call an non-isekai anime or light novels that gives off so many wrong and false impressions that cause people think it's isekai while it's not.
Just like how pseudofossils are inorganic objects, markings, or impressions that might be mistaken for fossils,pseudo-isekai is how you should call an non-isekai anime or light novels that gives off so many wrong and false impressions that cause people think it's isekai while it's not.
Sword Art Online is not an isekai. Virtual reality is part of science fiction genre,not isekai genre. While SAO has multiple arcs involving characters having journeys in different virtual worlds,characters weren't transported by magic or die and got reincarnated like in Rising of The Shield Hero or That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime,therefore,SAO is pseudo-isekai,which is how i call non-isekai works that looks isekai,but they are not really an isekai.
by ShadowRonin May 16, 2023
by Onys January 24, 2019
A genre of fantasy fiction comics or novels where people or monsters are transported to earth. Notable works of genre in the manwha (Korean comics) community are: Solo Leveling, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, SSS Class Suicide Hunter, and The World After The Fall.
"Yo homies, can I get a rec on a good male protag reverse isekai? No romance."
"All the good ones have romance, sorry man."
"All the good ones have romance, sorry man."
by ThatHurt March 15, 2023