If Isekai included space travel.

If Isekai included space travel.

  • Does counts as an isekai

    Votes: 20 69.0%
  • Does not count as an isekai

    Votes: 9 31.0%

  • Total voters
    29
  • Poll closed .
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Historical context: This was written on Dec 25 01:00 - 08:00 with 6hrs of sleep ~32hrs prior to writing. Best read half dead
This was written as part of an internal argument about what isekai encompasses.

This was my reply to my own question
While I am at it, are space travel manga also isekai? I have never looked to see. But, they do fit the one requirement given by its name. Although I expect isekai to refer to a more mystic process... then again, how different are a warping spaceships, teleporting, and a summoning circles? They all get you to your destination near instantaneously. Perhaps they use the same technology inside?

Anyone have stricter requirements for isekai? How many of said requirements must be fulfilled?
My requirements:
Body/Soul Transferred to another world in a magical/fantasy like process.

common themes, of which I require 0 to be fulfilled:
gain powers from transfer.
transferred against their will.
cannot easily return.

I am following at least one manga with the tag that breaks each of those options. Although none that break all 3.

I then conceived a space based isekai that I would accept. It is a little short, but I believe it counts. How about you? Isekai or not, vote above.
And here we go!




Our MC, Mr. Worth Less, was walking around the spaceship parking garage as usual.
"*Sigh* I wish I wasn't so worthless, if only god had given me a fraction of the skills and talent that my little sister has. Maybe I could properly contribute to society as well."
*FZZZT* The sound of a warp opening fills the sky, an extremely unusual occurrence since warps are absolutely forbidden within 1 light hour of all planets with an atmosphere.
"What the....!" Mr. Less is nearly blinded by the burning hot fireball that is now his planet. Luckily, the personnel safety necklaces, a birthday gift from his little sister, encased him in a protective shell. Everything went dark and quite.
"Whats happening... did someone just warp straight into our planet at light speed? What the hell were they thinking! Rather, arn't there any safety measures against that!?And why the he..."
Mr. Less's sad conversation with himself is abruptly interrupted with the odd sensation of falling sideways.
*thud* *wissshhhh* His body slammed against the personnel safety device, seemingly causing it to malfunction and open. Or perhaps that was a safety feature to prevent the device from harming the user itself?
"It is nice to meet you, Worth, I am Alie, the space god."
*silence*
"I had come to check on Earths space travel progression, but accidentally destroyed your world in the process."
*silence*
"Well, whats done is done. I am sure your planet will recover in a few hundred millennia. As an apology for destroying your world, how about I give you a power and throw you onto a planet with magic?"
"uhhhh"
"What power would you like?"
"*sigh*".... The ability to know when my life is in danger. I would hate to have this happen ag.." *CLAP*
"Then it's settled! I will give you amplified danger awareness! This ability will tell you when your life is in danger by amplifying pain signals by 2000%!"
"Wait, thats not what I.."
*ZAP* *shove*
Mr. Less stumbles backwards into an ejection pod, which promptly closes.
"Well then Mr. Worth Less, Enjoy your new life!"
*Zzzzzt*
Alie spared no time, instantly warping and ejecting Mr. Less who, between the impact of the shove and electrified head, had passed out.
.....
......
.........
Mr. less opened his eyes. Surrounding him were 20 elven guards and the remains of the ejection pod.
*zzzt* He looked down to see that his personnel safety device had blown. It appears the impact from crash landing had been too much for it..
... Actually, on closer inspection, it seems the headpiece has been completely blown off. How the heck am I still alive! he thought to himself.
"What are you?!" One of the elven guards now stood above him. A fierce looking man in his early 20s.
"I am a human from Earth. This may be rude of me to ask after having crash landing in your forest, but where is the nearest intergalactic travel center?"
The elf looked at him with a confused expression. Mr. Less started to look around again, but soon fixated on another guard. A slim and gorgeous figure, like all the elves, but with a couple of distinctive features. Long blond hair, blue eyes, and a chest-plate that had been magnificently dented outwards! No, wait, they were breast!
aah, I wish the intelligent beauty had come to talk to me instead of this ugly fatso. Mr. Less thought to himself.
The elf guard pressed on.
"Where is earth, I have never heard of a human nation by that name. And what do you mean by intergalactic travel center? Is this what you call your place of worship? I'll tell you now, gods don't visit worthless beings like you who destroy the homes of other creatures without so much as an apology."
Did that stupid space god throw me off in a planet where space travel has yet to be invented?! Does he expect me to teach it to them? Frankly, I slept through all my classes so that's impossible! And what am I suppose to do in this situation!... Calm down, maybe I can talk my way out of this
"I am so sorry, I do not mean any harm. While I am do apologize for damaging your forest, please know that this was not done of my own accord."
Yes, I can still talk my way out of this. I have 20 years worth of practice talking my way out of trouble. I even managed to talk my little sister into supporting me financially
"I was caught helping an elf slave escape from her master. Although I believe elves and humans should walk hand in hand as equals, my country looks down on them. They labeled me a criminal, and banished me on the spot!"
He looked around, the elven guards were starring intently, carefully listening to his story.
"What more, they claimed in order to atone for my actions, I was to personally deliver a message to the elves. I was to be used to tell you that your worthless. But not verbally... instead I was encased in a metal ball and fired out of a cannon. Their intent seems to have been to banish me into the forest of the elves that I so love, as the one who destroyed it."
The elves seemed conflicted, but upon realizing he was finished with his story, their gaze shifted to the female guard, who was still staring intently at him. Her beautiful blue eyes seemed to shine, a slight gold tint sparkled around the limbal ring. The wind seemed to circle around her, causing waves to flow upwards in her hair. Her beautiful lips glistened as she slowly, almost provocatively, opened her mouth.
"Lies"
The guard above him, who had been seemingly unarmed, whipped out a wooden sphere and shoved it into Mr. Less's shoulder.
"AAAAaaaa..."
Warning, Bleeding out! Skill, Danger Awareness activated! Amplifying pain signals in arm by 2000%
"aAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Warning, cerebral cortex overload detected! Skill, Danger Awareness activated! Amplifying pain signals in brain by 2000%
"AAAAAa!"
Mr. Less passed out. His mind, which was already in critical condition from the amplified pain in the arm, couldn't withstand the further amplification happening directly in the brain. He died of agonizing pain.
The elves, taken aback by his sudden and unexpected death, attempted to revive him right away. After all, they still needed to know why this weird metal ball had suddenly fallen from the sky, and weather or not more were to come.
"Revival!" The intelligent beauty, and only mage among the guards, shouted the name of the magic spell which brings the dead back to life! In this world, words themselves have meaning embedded into them by magic. But words alone aren't enough to use it, one must also have great concentration and imagination to activate a spell fully. Of course that alone isn't too special, our female elf wasn't the only one around capable of using magic well. But revival and healing magic special, one must also be able to fully empathize with the victim to call upon their soul, and sympathize with the pain of the injury to heal it. Typically, only women could ever become true mages.
"aaaAAAAAAAAAAa!"
Revived back with the injury still in place, Mr. Less died of pain again right away.
"This wound shouldn't be fatal, why does he keep dying!? Revival!"
"aaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa~!"
Our bewildered elf tried again and again.
"Revival!"
"aaAAAAa!"
The humans soul was obviously drifting away
"You must stop this!" One of the elven guards, a tall male with brown hair and glasses, spoke up.
"If you continue any more, your souls may fuse together!"
"This isn't right! This shouldn't be a fatal wound, so we can't just let him die here! We have yet to hear the full truth!" She frantically replied
"This is the monster that destroyed our forest, and then lied about it. Why do you wish to save him!? Even if he hadn't done this, what we did shouldn't be the cause of his death!"
"That's exactly why I cannot let him die here! What if there was some truth to what he said? I cannot imagine him willingly getting inside that thing and flinging himself at a forest. What more, the way he died was suspicious! If he were under the effects of a slave contract, then reviving him now and finding out just who would go this far to harm us is our only choice!"
"Don't be ridiculous!..."
"I must not be empathizing with him enough, but I don't know him well enough to do it more.... there is no choice but to sympathize stronger instead."
The elven beauty, in a frantic attempt to revive the strange human, pulls out her sphere.
"Wait, Stop!"
And skillfully stabs herself in the same spot of the shoulder as the human before her.
"aa... Revival!" She screams!
"aaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAa~!"
*bu-dump*
"Revival!"
"aaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa~!"
*bu-dump*
The air around her changed color, his soul bent the light as it surrounded its summoner
"*tch*" The mage was starting to get ticked at the stubborn soul
"Revival!"
*bu-dump*
"aaAAAA"
*bu-dump*
"aaaAAAAA"
*bu-dump*
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa~!" The elven mage started screaming in pain and anguish!
Soul has fully fuzzed with a new body!
The repeat revival attempts had worn out the elven guards soul, and the copied injury made her revival more capable of attracting the soul. Normally, a revived soul enters the body with the least resistance near the summoner, usually a soulless body. But when the summoners soul is week, or their is no body nearby, the souls the summoner called upon may gather around them and take over.
Warning, Bleeding out! Skill, Danger Awareness activated! Amplifying pain signals in arm by 2000%
"aaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa~!" Our elven warrior, soul nearly depleted, is now fully sympathizing with the human she was trying to save.
Warning, cerebral cortex overload detected! Skill, Danger Awareness activated! Amplifying pain signals in brain by 2000%
"AAAAAa!"
Without even time to think about what that strange voice in her head was, the elven warrior, along the Mr. Less, died their final agonizing death.


Alternative reason for being stuck on that planet
[3] Warps can only flow from a high energy potential location to a low one. It would take a millennia to travel back without warping, or more energy than the world can produce to overcome the energy potential difference. (stolen from Sokushi Cheat ga Saikyou Sugite, Isekai no Yatsura ga Marude Aite ni Naranai n desu ga)

I am sorry for the world that I wrote this.
 
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@Sokers I don't blame you for not liking it, especially that end (what a d!ck move, the author deserves to rot in hell along with the MC). Nor will I question your vote.
But, if a story went in this rough direction (science teleports MC to a new world via common spacecraft), do you think it is possible to create an isekai that you would accept? If not, what are your requirements for isekai?
 
Fed-Kun's army
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I guess no? Isekai is supposedly about another world after all. I mean, it'd still be your world even if you time leap to a time with different evironment and different level of civilization.
 
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Alright, taking things seriously, I can see the potential. Isekai has always been fantasy but you just brought a new sci-fi concept into this genre.

If I were to continue, I would make MC a top student so that he is knowledgable about his acvanced technology but not Einstein. Then, abusing the magic system of the world, he begins with boasting his strengths and invincibility due to his almost psychic sense of danger (I'd remove the pain thing tho cause I can't see it being a lead to plot points). During this phase, he is unaware of the enemies he is making, on this planet as well as outside.

You also brought the concept that god/gods exists so MC eventually taking revenge on the god who destroyed his planet could be a good finale.

And magic system could be polished as well. If it were me, I'd make it so that words combined with will would invoke magic and mana is collected through agriculture because it is made of "life". A way MC could abuse that system, after thouroughly discovering it all over time, is to create his own religion where he is comparable to a pope. He could also farm cultures of bacteria and harvest their lives since a life of a yeast cell and a human makes no difference here.

Eventually after ruling his entire planet and re-inventing space travel using a mixture of basic sci-fi concepts imtroduced over 50 episodes and abusing magic, his revenge plot seems just outside his reach although he needs more people to join his army when fighting that god. So maybe some intergalactic war and politic filler and training arcs, with just a sprinkle of romance for the sake of character development, and MC decides that revenge is not the answer in such a convincing way that the viewers do not ragequit the series. He eventually became the supreme leader of planets, races, religions, armies, as well as a father and a husband. He also invited the god to dinner since he found a way to contact them, and arguable as powerful as they are now.

And then season 2 comes where MC is invited by the gods to join them but one of them gets jealous so that-

Nah jk I can't think of anything better. @firefish5000

Sleep is for the weak. I fell asleep at 5 last night... then debated about the transgender tag and slept at 6 instead...

a.m.

I'm on holidays.
 
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@DANDAN_THE_DANDAN You just took my story, along with just about every isekai I am following and combined them into 1. Minus the scifi ones, I bet we could turn each sentence into a isekai link.
And I will probably sleep around 2:00pm-4:00pm. From the time the Christmas party starts, to when the food is ready.

@421cookies it was another world. His world was destroyed by the space god, Alien. We warped through space, not time (or maybe both. I will have to check the manual). I also hereby declare that the universal isekai transporter, truck-kun, utilizes a miniaturized spacecraft, a product of nano-technology, to deliver the souls to the other worlds.
 
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@firefish5000 Make it so that a trap betrays MC and destroys half his progress because we need 200 episodes. At the same time, make the betrayal really metaphorical and deep so that anitubers will talk about it and the series would get more fame.
 
Fed-Kun's army
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@firefish5000 I guess yes then lol (let me take my vote back please)
But really, I barely remember ever see time travel and isekai together. The only one I can remember is mahou shoujo of the end.
 
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Hmm, I suppose I haven't seen any. Closest I think I have come to are ones with time-disjoints between the worlds (eg. 1 second here = 2 seconds there). Or was that a game one...

@DANDAN_THE_DANDAN oh god, not a trap! (thinks for a second.... MC was mooching off of his little sister)... Lets make it a really assertive trap.
@firefish5000 finally understands the proper use of a trap
 
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If space is still part of real world, it's not isekai. Is going abroad isekai? The term should not be diluted for travelling to different locations.
 
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@josephgomes619
Isekai has nothing to do with real or fake world. Your thinking of fantasy. Which is understandable since 90% of isekai are fantasy with the extra bit "I came from another world".

Isekai is another world. Literaly, sekai is world, isekai is another world. Isekaijin is another world-er(or alien). The only thing implied by the word is that someone transferred from their home planet to another world. This can be an earthling going to a fantasy world, a fantasy character transferred to earth, a fantasy character transferred to a different fantasy world, or even 2 earth like planets where the mc is transferred from one to another (usually by God in this case, though there have been ones where they were teleported into an earth like book world with no explanation of why whatsoever).

That is, unless I am somehow terribly mistaken. I won't claim to have God like(or sub average) Japanese skills, but I am fairly confident of this bit.
 
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The rebirth/fish out of water process is a key element in almost every isekai story. Even just a story about someone getting frozen 1,000 years ago and waking up in the modern day (or being frozen today and waking up on earth 1,000 years in the future) could probably be considered isekai since they certainly would be adjusting to what would seem to them to be a completely different world.

As long as the MC is left to establish a new life in a suitably alien world it's basically an isekai. I would argue you could even consider something like 'The Gamer' to be an isekai. MC awoke new powers, learned about an extra-dimensional space with fantasy like elements. Now even though he lives in the real world outside of attending school he barely has anything to do with the real world at all. As the story puts it he "Belongs to the abyss" now.
 
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Sekai refers to world as in a planet, not a reality. Earth and Mars refer to 2 separate sekai (worlds=planets=not pluto, im sorry, that is just mickey's dog now). Though, I agree, parallel universes would be a good way to describe it as well. That said, I believe there are a few isekai where physical travel between worlds was said to be possible, just not feasible (give me a moment to look for one, probably one where god kills you on accident). Though, most are parallel universes (fantasy ones capitalizing on string theory for transportation)

@FlashGordan has a good point. Outside knowledge and/or missing knowledge is a very common theme for isekai (and one I hinted at, but didn't capitalize on). Although the fish out of water aspect is not a guarantee for the way the tag has been used. For instance, we also have "2nd time I was summoned into another world" ones where the MC is fully adjusted to the new world already. Knowledge, however, does usualy come into play in one way or another. They are either:
1) Completely Lost (as you said),
2) Excessively knowledgeable on this world's circumstances and future (reincarnated into a story/game world. Avoid/follow story/game events and the future they bring),
3) Utilizing ideas and inventions from their world ("Lets invent chocolate!", "This world needs a water wheel and wells!", "This world's magic SUCKS! Perhaps I should open a school and teach them the magic from our world....")

Except in In 2nd time summoning ones.... there is no gaurentee knowledge will be used in these much at all. The ones which use it the least tend to go like "Actually, dear king, I have no powers, please let me live as a commoner instead". Basically, circumventing knowledge I guess. Then we just get a MC who is no more or less knowledgeable than normal citizens, but is secretly super OP.
 
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@firefish5000 Isekai Shoukan wa Nidome Desu or 2nd time summoning doesn't exist in a vacuum though; it states that the MC had previously been transported to that world and lived out a standard Isekai storyline. If a standard Isekai story had a sequel following the same MC I wouldn't say it changed genres it's just further along in the MC's story. 2nd time summoning is essentially a sequel to an implied prequel. As it goes along it fills in the events of the previous story so it really tells two stories simultaneously. "This is the water dragon that we're going to use to ride." And "Oh yes when I first met her I had to beat her up so she became my friend."

Stories like that and "Nidome no Yuusha" where the MC uses his (now) greater knowledge of the world to execute his revenge or right some wrong, still have the earlier story where they were new and gullible which led to the 2nd incarnation in the first place.

If not for the implied and often referenced previous storyline where they had been the typical fish out of water "new in town" kind of protagonist and been betrayed then the second story could/would have never happened.
 
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@FlashGordan
First, let me mention that that is a manga with no prequel (for others who read this). All of the 1st summoning happened before the story starts, and is summarized by the MC with flashbacks to justify his revenge plot.

And also, at what point do you consider this "fish out of water" thing to matter? The story I mentioned Isekai Shoukan wa Nidome Desu most certainly does not focus on this. It is all in the past after all. Does 2 seconds of panic count? Do we just need to not know how much money is worth once? Can we be completely stupid for the first 3 pages, and then have god give us common knowledge so we can adjust to the world? I believe I can pull out an example for all 3 of these, but if they all count, then you are formidable.

Assuming you only believe in ones with an adjusting phase, here are some counter manga examples you might accept from the Otome Game series collection:Koushaku Reijou no Tashinami! Our MC's knowledge (and soul?) is transferred into the world of the game as the vileness. Although she is in a tight spot in the beginning, she knows exactly what is going on. She retains all knowledge of the world, both that gained from playing it, and that which the vileness had from her life (actually, I think her soul and the vileness merged). She adapts instantly.
Now, there is a moment of confusion, both from the vileness and the MC. But it is just confusion from the sudden entering of the world. Not confusion about how the world works, or what is going on (once she realizes she is the vileness).

Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shite shimatta... and The Daughter of the Albert House Wishes for Ruin : My argument for these ones will not be quite as strong. They still retain memories of this world, but their soul/personality is more or less completely overwritten. They don't need to adjust to the world, but to the personalities/character that they used to depict. They also need to change/not change the world to avoid/keep the terrible fates that await them.

Lady Rose Wants to be a Commoner: Lady rose gains her memories from her past life and realizes she is the main heroin of the world game world. Not wanting to deal with the annoying personalities and lives of the capture targets, she decides to become a commoner instead. The adjusting phase is not depicted, unless you count trying to get the capture targets off your back as part of the adjusting phase.

From the reincarnated into a book collection: (TODO)

I have more examples if needed, but I have no clue if any of them properly counter you.
In the end, are you looking for a fish out of water during:
1) The moment they enter the world (oh no, what happened! Why am I surrounded by middle aged knights(are the young ones on break)? And who is that old man in that oversized chair? )
2) Adjusting to the world (how many apples can I buy with this gold coin? You will give me your entire house!? Just spare your life!? What, it is the symbol of royalty? what the hell did that goddess give me!).
3) In the story itself. I will say now, I cannot give an example where the MC is an all knowing god. Most stories, isekai or not, need something to challenge the MC. And I don't follow the all knowing god MC type of stories so I cannot give a counter with it. (im sure they exist though. many stories I do follow go just below that route)

My other examples are ones where god informed them ahead of time. They aren't caught off guard in the beginning, though they do have to adapt in one way or another. My otome game one was countering the adjusting to the world phase. They are already adjusted, they just need to fix the situation they are in.

On another note, I am following way too many isekai. What troups they lean towards is different from genre to genre, but still no gaurentee they use any of them.
Type of worlds: Book world, Game world, Random world.
Things I have argued are not required thus far (including other threads and discord):
Must keep knowledge of past world (erased by god),
Must not have knowledge of new world ( keep knowledge the character originally had, god implants common sense),
Must gain powers (every non-fantasy setting isekai, although they are still labeled as such due to the reincarnation),
Cannot easily return ( Teleporting and Portals to another world),
Must be Reincarnated/Summoned (see above),
Must be an Unwilling transfer (see above),
Must be a parallel universe (oh god, someone help me find a manga to counter this! My closest match isn't quite explicit enough to conclude that it is not a parallel universe....
Conclusive evidence will include one of these:
A reference to how far away their world or the new world is from the other. eg, 500,000,000 light years away!
The worlds are visible through outer space from one another(visible through a portal doesn't count). Perhaps an entire planet was teleported next to ours, or we visit a mars civilization. Seriously, I cannot even find a manga where we go to mars, much less meet a civilization on it. Is it that unpopular of an idea (not that I would read it)
)
 

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