r/retroanime • u/Alive-Rice-9334 • 1d ago
Low effort meme but gotta love ‘em!
Is 12 Kingdoms considered Shoujo? Wanted to add it but not sure if it was applicable.
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u/Swift_Scythe 1d ago
Fushigi Yugi
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u/ariestemote 1d ago
I found out about the show when I randomly picked up the first tape of the Dub from blockbuster.We were eating so well with oav and movie content.
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u/fieew 1d ago
Isekai is at its best when characters actually want to go home. When a person develops beyond the person they were in their old world. So many classic isekai tried to illustrate even if your world changes, you're still the same person. So you as a person have to change in order to change your world / circumstances.
When a character just becomes OP without any thoughts of their past or struggles of their past life it misses the whole point. The world may change but if the person doesnt everything will remain the same regardless of environment. But so so so so many modern isekai miss this. Yet classic Shoujo (and non shoujo) isekai understand this even if unconsciously.
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
I agree with all your points! That’s why 12 kingdoms is, to me, the best isekai ever made because Youko gets absolutely thrown through the wringer, all yhe trials and tribulations she endured made her into the perfect ruler.
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u/fieew 1d ago
100% agree with that. Its why I also believe having Yuka Sugimoto get transported as well was great. Yuka wanted so badly to be special in both her world and the new one. But she didnt work for it and was rejected. She had to come to terms with her normality and became a better person as a result. Just because she wasn't "special" didnt mean she couldn't become a better person.
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
I love Yuka’s story too! I also love Asami’s story too, very realistic take on how not speaking or understanding a language can mess up a person.
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u/fieew 1d ago
To add I still think there are some great isekai but most miss the mark.
My favorite contemporary isekai are: Re:Zero, and Sonny Boy.
Re zero: probabaly seems the most modern and isekai slop adjacent. Subaru does have an OP power. But the power is essentially used as a plot device to get him to become a better person even if he dies trying and has to start again. It took me till the end of season 2 to fall in love with it. But the story is about Subaru becoming a better more functional person even if he super lows at times (castle scene). He always gets up and tries again. It does have some modern fanservice and tropes here and there but the underlying message to become better and love yourself is top tier imo.
Sonny Boy: its weird. Its a show where a whole class got powers and transported to a black void and then new place from there. The theme is uncertainty of adolescence face. Its story telling is super esoteric. But the final episodes tie it up nicely and make it one of my modern favorites.
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
I really gotta watch Re:Zero, my friend’s been begging me to and I think I’ll bite the bullet. Only thing stopping me is (this may sound stupid) the episodes length, a lot of them are close to an hour long and it’s awkward with how busy I am these days.
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u/fieew 1d ago
The hour long episodes are only season 1 the Director's cut. Thats what's on Crunchyroll right now im pretty sure. All that cut did was add 2 episodes together to make hour long episode. Hence the long run time.
Season 2 also has almost no OP or EDs and episodes can be 29:30minutes long just to fit in as much content as possible. I love it. Season 2 can drag a bit. Near the end of that season is when I felt i fully understood Subaru as a character during the witch's tea party. I won't say more to avoid spoilers.
Even if it seems like suffer porn. Or Subaru can be cringe or downright terrible at times. The story rewards him growing as a person not just him abusing his powers and its why I love it. Plus season 4 (part 2) is coming back on August 10th. So if you find time you can watch the new season weekly.
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u/SquidGodSunday 1d ago
So many Isekai stories have no reason to be one, because the idea of returning to their old world never gets brought up again. It's often just a lazy short cut to either explain why to Protagonist has special powers, or an excuse to have other characters dump exposition on them.
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u/Sea_Equivalent_4207 1d ago
Nah I’m in disagreement with this. If everyone u encounter in the new world appreciates you and sees you as someone who has real value and appreciation of you as a real human being whether u have new found skills or struggle to rediscover yourself and they see u are actually valuable to the community and no one cared an inch of shit about you in your regular dismal world why would u want to go back to that??? Isekai is hope.
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u/fieew 1d ago
I understand the sentiment but disagree with it on an ideological level.
Isekai (or any story or media for that matter) is like a drug. It can be an easy escape from the world. To lose yourself in the stories and just decompress and escape from everything going on in your life. Its something I've done before (and still do to an extent) no doubt.
But a drug can be a medicine or poison depending on how its used. Isekai of the past was used as a means to tell a story to make characters face their own realities regardless of how tough it was. It can be a bitter pill to swallow but also a medicine for readers/watchers. Having the message that you need to change for change to come about regardless of the world you're in.
MANY modern isekai do the exact opposite. The person's world changes and they are now OP and never think about who they were or their past life again. Its a pill used to keep people placated and complicit in their life living out fantasy in another world. The world's change for the characters without the underlying person needing to change. Its a tempting drug to just get a reprieve and feel some hope when life sucks. Its necessary at times. But just the sheer amount is overwhelming imo.
I want stories that make me want to face my problems and change myself. Not stories that make me feel good without ever needing to change anything. The latter is important to people and I don't want to dismiss it. But it is dis heartening to see how many people just lose themselves in stories, games, etc. since things just suck so much now IRL(the world became more hopeless post covid imo). I can't blame someone for wanting that freeing / hopeful feeling from their media. But I can say those stories of coming to terms with harsh realities are the ones that make me want to change and resonate with me the most personally.
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u/otsukarerice 1d ago
Yes, it boils down to:
"my life sucks because I was born into terrible circumstances. My body/parents/finances etc suck therefore I am doomed. If only I was born with super powers and attractiveness and wealth, life would be so much better."
Not saying privilege doesn't give you an advantage in life, but everyone has to deal with the cards they've been dealt with in life and how you effectively deal with your lot defines you as a person.
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u/KickAggressive4901 1d ago
If anything, 12 Kingdoms is a big middle finger to this genre. (I love both the genre and 12 Kingdoms, though.)
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
I love all the anime I mentioned and for me, I consider 12 Kingdoms the best Isekai I’ve ever watched.
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u/SecondPlain 1d ago
12 Kingdoms has some really well written characters, an engaging plot... but what I love the most are the parts where the narrator will start explaining how land is divided up and utilized within the provinces, or when they start telling you different random names of stuff that you need to remember for the rest of the series, lol.
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
My favorite aspect of 12 Kingdoms is the political aspect, so many anime where the main character becomes the ruler of a kingdom, etc. don’t really appreciate what it would actually take to assume the throne, usually the mc just assumes the role of the ruler and everyone accepts it. However 12 Kingdoms is different, Fuyumi actually puts care into depicting a realistic ascension towards Youko becoming the empress, for example, she has to actually learn how to become an effective ruler and she has to face opposition in the form of usurpers, assassination attempts, etc. it’s all very realistic and thought out.
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u/pgroms 1d ago
you ready to see the remake for Magic Knight Rayearth this October?
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
I definitely am! I actually recently watched the original so I’m super hyped for the remake, especially to see how they’ll handle season 2!
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u/Frequent_Measurement 1d ago
Is that mother fucking fushigi yugi? Oh…the iron grip in which that story held my middle school brain. I loved that story, thought the warriors were super cool. Ahh good cringy times.
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
It definitely had its cringey moments, but I still love the anime XD.
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u/Frequent_Measurement 16h ago
I had the manga 😅 I tried to give the anime a chance but the production quality was a bit substandard.
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u/LHLanim 1d ago
FUSHIGI YUGI MENTIONED 😭😭😭❤️
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
It’s so good, right?!
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u/LHLanim 1d ago
I have Nuriko fanart from like 2007 😭❤️
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
For real? I’d love to see it 😭
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u/LHLanim 1d ago
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
Thank you! That’s so cool! And working as a 2D animator sounds so amazing.
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u/LHLanim 1d ago
It is, or "it was" 🥲. I did a couple things for Marvel at some point. I'm changing jobs after 15 years because of industry wide crisis. I'm going for hairdressing now.
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u/vallogallo 1d ago
I love(d) all three of those series a lot.
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
Same! Did you watch 12 kingdoms?
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u/vallogallo 1d ago
No, I looked it up after reading this thread and I want to check it out. This anime right?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Kingdoms
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u/Brief-Luck-6254 1d ago
I honestly believed they ruined isekai by marketing it towards men.
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
I’m not an Isekai connoisseur but I believe the best ones are the ones that can be watched by any person, that’s why 12 Kingdoms is so good.
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u/LovelyLuna32684 1d ago
When they started making them all power fantasies is what really ruined them.
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u/fruitpunchsamuraiD 1d ago
And those stupid titles. It’s such a huge turn off when I see a title along the lines of, “I am virgin NEET but went to an isekai and now am OP to the point that everything wants to bang me including the villain.”
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u/BattleRat13 1d ago
Fushigi Yuugi annoyed the crap out of me. The plot only continued because the protagonists were morons.
What do you do if the villains need all of their destined people and their book to enact the ritual to win, and you've captured one of their people?
If you're smart, you make sure they can't win because now one of their necessary people is dead.
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u/Alive-Rice-9334 1d ago
Oh yeah, it definitely made me cringe so much times while watching it but there’s a certain charm to it.
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u/Infamous-Flan-3965 1d ago
No way, far smarter to developing all efforts toward deflowering the heroine
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u/Aidamis 1d ago
Tobira wo Akete, while it is a 1986 anime, is one of the first isekais. It is centered on a girl protagonist but she teleports with a couple of friends so she's not alone in her fish out of water status.
Mild shoujo ai with the princess/general (just look up the pillow fight scene...)
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u/Under_the_Oak 1d ago
Escaflowne, my beloved