60923


Why are most isekai happening in a medieval world? I have been reading some of
these and I actually can't recall of any in which the story is happening in an
other era than in a medieval period. Why is that? Is it common in Japanese
videogames too, as some like Dragon Quest and the first Final Fantasy had this
background too? Was Japan influenced by the culture of European countries for
this theme to be recurrent? Or am I just reading too few novels and I'm only
interested in the same genre?


CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-27T22:05:04.410
60919
2020-10-29T08:02:11.980
2020-10-27T22:55:06.973
8843
56885
question
tropes culture
Why are most isekai happening in a medieval world?


I think you might have landed in a category of Isekai novels where Medieval
influence is more prevalent. As a avid reader of Isekai's myself, I can
confirm that there are also plenty of Isekai's available that do not draw from
the medieval ages, but focus more on other eras or even on far more futuristic
worlds.

However, as you validly point out, medieval influence can be found in in a lot
of media, including video games, board games, manga, and of course novels.
However, more often than not, those are not _truly_ set in the medieval time
period. They just tend to build upon the concepts of the medieval age, for
example [feudalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism), and build their
society around these concepts, all the while introducing their own mechanics
such as fantasy races, magic, geo/demo-graphics etc.

This way of story writing is quite common in the the fantasy genre, and even
more often so in the sub genre [high-
fantasy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fantasy). Which, quite a lot of
the Isekai's would fall under.

One of the reasons this happens is because it eases the burden on the writer
but also the reader.

> Rather than create an entirely different world that readers will recognize
> as alien, it's often simpler to revert to more primitive times, and simply
> add in magic when its existence doesn't require you to create a dozen
> centuries of magitech. It's a lot of work for the writer, and it may confuse
> or alienate the reader. _**-[Jerenda @
> Worldbuilding.SE](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/a/36/51930)**_

Additionally, the introduction of factors such as magic might also reduces the
need for a society to evolve beyond the Medieval era, or at least, not in the
same way as our society did. [Why would a magic world be stuck in medieval
times?](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/3953/51930)

Most of the Isekai's that I personally encounter also tend to follow the
[High-Fantasy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fantasy) medieval settings.
But occasionally I see a twist of [Heroic
Fantasy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroic_fantasy), [Low
Fantasy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_fantasy), [Dark
Fantasy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_fantasy) and sometimes even
[Grimdark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimdark) Isekai's.

To name a few:

  * [Youjo senki](https://myanimelist.net/anime/32615/Youjo_Senki) set in a world war 1/2 era (reincarnated as a war prodigy)
  * [Mezametara saikyou sobi](https://myanimelist.net/manga/125498/Mezametara_Saikyou_Soubi_to_Uchuusenmochi_Datta_node_Ikkodate_Mezashite_Youhei_toshite_Jiyuu_ni_Ikitai) set in a sci-fi space setting (reincarnated in a spaceship)
  * `Musou Kouro ~ Tensei Shite, Uchuu Senkan no AI ni Narimashita` set in a sci-fi space setting (reincarnated as an spaceship AI)
  * [A returners magic should be special](https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=151385) set in a relatively modern magical world (reincarnated/returned in their own world/timeline)
  * [Moshi fanren](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manhua/MoshiFanren) a modern day world struck by a zombie apocalypse from space (reincarnated/returned in their own world/timeline)


CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-28T16:52:40.083
60923
2020-10-29T08:02:11.980
2020-10-29T08:02:11.980
55782
1458
60919
answer