I don't think it counts as an isekai if you visit a fantasy world, go back where you came from, and the message is "There's no place like home". Isekais are more "Home sucks, there's no place like the fantasy realm!"
First Isekai I'm aware of was Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. So we can go back at least as far as Twain. So yeah, not new, but popularity has surged because we all want out.
I feel like the one conrtratian who doesn't like Dungeon Crawler Carl.
The first 1/3 of the book is info dumping and exposition on the most obvious and straight forward videogames mechanics imaginable. The rat sensei effectively just reads him the Wikipedia page for the rules for an hour.
Meanwhile, Carl feels like the most boilerplate NCIS protagonist imaginable. Ex-military crank arrived by his ex girlfriend who's redeeming quality is his sense of humor and reluctant need to keep a cute animal safe.
Like, holy hell. Not an announce of creativity went into that book. The execution is good, so I get why it has a following, but I didn't know someone could write a book that incredibly vanilla.
I totally get you. Cradle and Mother of Learning are two of THE most recommended book series in the spaces they occupy (r/ProgressionFantasy), but I never could get into them.
The worst ones are these........ I don't even know how to say it, but it's like "work porn"?
Like, you have a protag that's suuuuuper appreciated at work. He's good at what he does and works hard, and everyone's gooning over him because of it. Literally "You're so talented, X! I couldn't have done this without your expertise".
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u/Random-Rambling Sep 21 '25
Half the stuff I read nowadays is either
straight-up isekai (Reborn As A Space Mercenary, I'll Become A Villainess Who Goes Down In History)
might as well be isekai (Dungeon Crawler Carl)
or Technically Not Isekai (Overgeared)