Ryan Jonathan
Ever since the first time it was shown, isekai has inspired many stories and brought in a new genre of entertainment. Isekai is known for its excitement and flexibility of the genre because the many subgenres that go along with isekai itself. Even with their wide range of variations, one subgenre is the top of mind when describing isekai: fantasy-based adventures. Within the fantasy adventure subgenre, other themes like action, comedy, and romance are usually present as well. In this article, we would like to talk about the one subgenre that is also commonly feature, the romance!. Romance in isekai stories can have both similarities and distinct uniqueness compared to romance in other genres. Now, let’s talk about the uniqueness of romance in isekai with some anime examples. These are the writer’s top 4 reasons for the unique concept of romance in isekai stories.
- A Fresh Start
Their relationship usually begins with one character being summoned or dragged into the new world from their original one. Typically, by the moment they arrived, either the main characters have their memories lost or they have zero knowledge of the new world they are in. Furthermore, characters being summoned are either at the top of the tier, or at the very bottom. When they were at the very bottom of the hierarchy, they were usually being summoned as a slave, but their relationship will then grow into something more than just a master and slave relationship. Everything then evolves into something deeper after the long journey they spent together.
- Romance Against All Odds
One of the most obvious aspects of seeing romance in an isekai is that they typically do not start everything by liking each other. Most of the time it starts with conflicts and disagreements between the main character and their love interest. Along the way, their (possibly) antagonistic relationship gradually evolves into a romantic one. Together, they undergo a journey to overcome many hurdles and challenges. It allows both characters to bond through hardships and they start to see the similarities in each other. A change of heart from not trusting each other the slightest into trusting their whole lives to each other is a journey that these characters often go through.
- Sacrifice as Catalyst
The relationship might grow deeper and change into something more significant, but there is always a challenge after everything they’ve been through. Usually, this leads to either both or one of them making huge sacrifices in order to keep the relationship going. Everyone realizes that all must come to an end. The chance that everything will go back to the way it was, and the difficult choices the characters must take will present a tough scenario at the end of their journey. Having the final decision to make after the relationship between each other has been clearly established will be their toughest challenge. Hence, they have to decide the best outcome for both of them. With this in mind, they most likely will sacrifice everything they have in their previous world, just to be with someone they truly love in the new world.
- Magical Romance (Literally)
After we see several points of how special and unique the romance in isekai is, we have come to the most particular point of all, and that is a romance with magical beings. As we all know, isekai-themed stories are filled with different creatures, beings, or monsters that make them interesting to watch or read. With all the mythical creatures roaming around the world, it is only natural that there will be romance involving different magical beings. Magical creatures in isekai can vary between monsters, fairies, demons, elves, dwarfs, and more creatures than you can imagine. Thus, the concept of romance in isekai is pretty unique — not only because of the implication in the storyline, but also because the characters themselves are special and different. Isekai themed stories tend to show us the real beauty of romance and the meaning of true love.
That’s it, the 4 reasons why romance in isekai is unique. These different aspects, when combined, make romance in isekai special compared with romance in other genres. Take Inuyasha as an example, it has the element of adventure that transform the relationship from strangers to lovers. We can also see two different creatures falling for each other, and not to mention that sacrifices were made at the end of the journey to keep the relationship going. If you interested about the genre of Isekai story, you can try to play story based game called Memories Interactive. Memories has many Isekai story where you can explore and involving directly to choose your own plot. You can download Memories Interactive for free through this link for Android and through this link for iPhone. So, which type of isekai romance do you like?
