Klok Blogs: I love Isekais! (Pt 3: Abstract Isekais)

What's up, everyone? Klok here. This is the third in a three-part series of posts I've decided to write regarding Isekais. Check out Parts 1 and 2 here!

Pt 1: I love Hard Isekais!

Pt 2: I love Soft Isekais! 

Returning to the definitions from my previous posts, there are three types of Isekai stories.

Hard Isekai: A character transports to another world, one unfamiliar to them. They often obtain new magical or technological powers, and as such, have to adapt to their surroundings, make new friends, and maybe even defeat a big bad villain. The method of travel to the new world varies. It can involve time travel, dimensional travel, reincarnation after death, a magical spell they cast or someone from the new world casts, a wish from a genie gone wrong, or any other fantastical element that yanks them from a familiar world to an unfamiliar one. Hard Isekais often focus on a single power fantasy character dealing with the unfamiliar new world and trying to return home. Side characters are often not very well-developed, and storylines can meander at random. Goals are, on occasion, nonexistent.

Soft Isekai: These are similar to Hard Isekais, but the rules become more flexible. For example, not just one character, but multiple characters might transport to the new world. In a Hard Isekai, characters are often trapped in the new world, but in a Soft Isekai, returning to their world might be possible, and even very easy to accomplish. Often, Soft Isekais focus on having the main cast of characters subjugate or otherwise take over the new world in some way.

Abstract Isekai: These are stories about people going to strange new lands, often in small or large parties, to do magical, fantasy, or sci-fi related stuff. They don't transport to a new world, but they do 'adventure' to a new world, metaphorically speaking. As an example, Frodo goes on an Abstract Isekai adventure along with Sam, Merry, and Pippin, by leaving their comfortable Shire and traveling across dangerous and unknown lands. They don't magically transport to a new world, but their own existing world is already pretty abstract enough to count as a new world to them (and the reader). These stories often feature characters who are ignorant of the 'bigger picture' surrounding their world.

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Today, I'll be talking about Abstract Isekais. However, unlike my first two posts which slotted these stories into tiers, I'm going to do something a little different today. I'm going to frame Abstract Isekais as different 'types' of abstractness.

Previously, I explained that Hard Isekais tended to focus on a solo traveler between worlds, while Soft Isekais tended to be more about groups of travelers traveling to and from those worlds.

Abstract Isekais differ in several crucial ways. The most important way is that people do not actually travel to different worlds. Instead, they tend to stay on the world they originate from, but they go on adventures, or step through barriers that normal people can't perceive/locate... etc.

The most defining feature of an Abstract Isekai, therefore, lies in the fact that there is no world-traveling, only the discovery of a reality very different from what our protagonist knows: My go-to example for this is Harry Potter. In that story, Harry finds out there are wizards living  on Earth, hidden from normal humans, AKA 'muggles.' Hogwarts is supposedly located somewhere in England, so that means it doesn't exist on a different world.

In this way, a story can have Abstract Isekai elements even if the story is not itself an isekai: For example, in John Wick, we find out the world of Earth actually has a secret assassin organization running in the shadows. This is very similar to the movie 'Wanted', where the protagonist also finds out there's a hidden assassin organization on Earth. However, that movie actually qualifies as an Abstract Isekai for this very reason! Because the protagonist (Wesley) joins the assassin world afresh and becomes one of them, he essentially goes on an isekai adventure.

Another way a story can be an Abstract Isekai is by making the reality we know the isekai: For example, in The Matrix, we find out that everything we know about Earth is wrong, in that humanity has been enslaved by robots and all the memories we know are false and our existence is a sham.

In the absolutely loosest definition of an Abstract Isekai, practically any adventure story can become one: In The Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy, the protagonist hobbits often go on adventures, discovering the world they live in is far bigger and crazier than they ever expected! Therefore, they 'discover a hidden world' simply by exploring the greater world itself. However, I feel that this definition of an Abstract Isekai might be a bit too generous, so despite what I've said previously, I'm going to not use it as a serious example. Just consider this loose definition a fun mental exercise.

One last example involves the idea of a secret world existing within the main world, but characters needing to access it through a convoluted means: Once again, I will point out Harry Potter and how he accesses the wizard world by walking into a wall at a random train station. However, other examples exist. Take for example a story like Journey to the Center of the Earth. Not that newfangled modern shit, I'm talking about the original story where there are like, I dunno, fucking dinosaurs living under the crust or something. That story was weird. Point being, the secret world exists on Earth or the base-planet our protagonist starts on, but it's inaccessible to 99.99% of people. That means secret islands (Jurassic Park) hidden caves, all those things count.

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Abstract Isekais tend to bear a lot of similarity to Soft Isekais, but little if any to Hard Isekais. They typically have multiple characters traveling to the hidden world, and those characters can return to their original world with ease. They are extremely varied, to the point where it's hard to point out 'common flaws,' since their abstractness makes them hard to get a full grasp on. Instead, I'll talk about common themes.

The theme we encounter most often will typically be what I call the 'realistic exploration hook': Typically, Hard and Soft Isekais have a barrier to entry in that people who dislike sci-fi and fantasy simply cannot suspend their disbelief at the idea someone could magically teleport to new worlds. The idea of secret societies hiding on Earth, or the idea of there being secrets on our world tends to appeal to these people the most. Imagine something like an Alex Jones conspiracy theorist redneck who thinks the lizardmen are real, but also that magic is totally dumb and no self-respecting big strong man could ever read that 'kiddie fantasy crap'. These are the sorts of people who would greatly prefer Abstract Isekais over Hard and Soft Isekais.

Therefore, while there are many Abstract Isekais that feature worlds hidden through magic, I feel that there are just as many where the secret world falls more into the 'you could totally find it if you tried hard enough' category. 

Another aspect of Abstract Isekais revolves around the idea that the readers are capable of incredible things if only they could just 'see through the illusions of the real world'. Many people read fictional stories because we want to vicariously experience a fun reality where everything is great, or a grimdark reality where everything is waaaaay worse than what we experience in our daily lives. Similarly, in stories like The Matrix, the reader gets to imagine, if only for a moment, that our world is not the 'true reality' and that if they can just 'break their mental shackles,' they can experience this secret world. Similarly, Toy Story and other Pixar movies have large elements of Abstract Isekais in them, because they exist in realities where toys and cars are all secretly alive but the dumb humans just can't figure this stuff out.

I think at this point I've elaborated enough on what Abstract Isekais consist of. In this next section, I'll talk about a bunch of them. Don't expect any 'tiering,' though, as Abstracts are really hard to compare to one another. They're much broader in scope compared to their Hard and Soft counterparts.

I've already mentioned a few Abstract Isekais, but I'll detail all of them again for posterity's sake, along with others.

The Matrix.

Few stories evoke the concept of an Abstract Isekai more clearly than the Matrix. In this movie, Neo finds out he is The One, a person of importance who can break through the reality he and all of humanity have been forced into unknowingly. All of humanity was once enslaved by machines, and now the Earth we know is merely a program designed to trap our minds and keep us docile.

This story is an Isekai because Neo very much leaves the comforts of his world, but his 'world' is merely a lie, an illusion. As far as the idea of "Not quite an Isekai, but close enough' goes, the Matrix hits a home run.

If you haven't seen this movie, what the fuck is wrong with you? Watch it now!

The Harry Potter series.

Harry potter is to 'secret worlds on Earth' stories as the Matrix is to 'our reality is a lie' stories. It's the defining example of its niche.

In Harry Potter, the aptly named young boy gets whisked away from his foster home (where his foster parents treat him like shit and make his bed underneath some stairs) and gets taken to Hogwarts, a magical place hidden on Earth where it's revealed that wizards, witches, and other magical beings all live. The Earth is not as simple as it seems, and secret societies hide in the depths of our world.

To be honest, I don't actually like the Harry Potter series. I feel like time has not been kind to it, and many other stories have done the 'magical school' thing much better, as well as the 'world inside our world' shtick as well. Even so, it is a beloved classic for many people, one which I sadly lack all nostalgia for.

Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne.

Not to be confused with the wacky and completely different movie of the same name, in this story, a group of researchers set off to burrow into the Earth's core, where they find out that all the ancient dinosaurs and other civilizations survived somehow and continued to live to the modern day.

To be honest, I can't remember much more about this story. I'm going entirely off memory. What is most notable about Jules Verne is that, as an author, he wrote fairly high concept fiction at a time before technology had answered many of the universe's great mysteries. Prior to this book, nobody really knew what was in the center of the Earth. An educated guess and simple deductions might conclude "dirt, rock, and magma" but the sheer unknown quantity allowed readers to explore a possibility of something much more fantastical in nature.

I read this book when I was 7, 8, or maybe 9 years old. Even then, I knew it was silly to think there was anything but magma below the crust. Still, it tickled my childlike fancy and probably got me started on reading isekais all throughout the rest of my life.

Worth mentioning: If you're not familiar with Verne's work, I highly recommend you give his stuff a try. From the Earth to the Moon, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, and Around the World in Eighty Days are some of my favorite classical literature.

Wanted.

I love this movie. I love lots of stories that feature 'secret assassin organizations hidden right under our noses.' There's something thrilling about these 'realistic' stories where you can't help but imagine they might have a granule of truth to them. Do you really think important people just go missing at random? Wouldn't it make sense for some organization(s) to work to silence those they deem evil, or those who they think have crossed their bottom line?

In this story, the protagonist, Whitley, works a shitty dead-end office cubicle job. His boss is a bitch, his best friend/coworker is banging his girl, and he has no future to look forward to. Then, Angelina Jolie shows up, seduces him, and tells him he actually has the ability to slow his perception of time by accelerating his heartbeat, just like his dad. You're an assassin, Whitley!

When you set aside the time-slowdown stuff and the bullet-bending that happens in this movie, it feels very plausible. Oh sure, there's some spiritual mumbo jumbo and a vat of blue stuff that heals 'fatal' wounds, but otherwise, it feels like something that could exist.

Similarly, in John Wick, there is also a criminal assassin organization based around the world that takes out high-priority targets. The difference is, instead of having a goober named Whitley who gets thrown into the world, the protagonist of John Wick already starts out as an S+ ranked Assassin with a kill count so high that whispering his name causes men and women to faint... albeit for different reasons.

Since this movie doesn't have the protagonist learning about a new world, I like to think of it as an Audience-Based Abstract Isekai. We the viewers get taken on the journey, instead of the protagonist. Cool!

Bleach.

In this story, a teenager named Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper. He finds out that there are evil spirits in our world which need cleansing, and so, he sets out to take them all down.

This story falls into the Harry Potter type of Abstract Isekai, where the character experiences a magical event that opens him up to the 'true reality' of Earth, allowing him to step into the new world and join with its peculiarities.

There are a LOT of anime and manga stories in this vein. Here are a few others.

Shakugan no Shana.

A teenager runs into a cute redhead named Shana, who turns out to be a demon-slaying badass. In this story, there is a 'parallel world' occupying the same region as Earth. By phasing through reality via spiritual energy, one can interface with demons and watch them interfere with common people. This story takes the novel approach of having demons subsist of positive emotions from humans, which drains those away and replaces them with negative energy.

So, essentially, if you're depressed, it's because a demon ate your happiness. Tough luck, buddy.

(I used to be really into this story when I was younger and edgier, but then I kinda forgot about it til today. Whoopsie!)

There are many, many more stories like this. I'll list a few:

Yu Yu Hakusho: Guy dies, gets reborn back on Earth as a spirit detective. Great show, highly recommend.

Death Note: The human world exists in tandem with the world of the dead, where Shinigami (death gods) exist. These death gods kill humans by writing our names in their magical notebooks. This story really isn't much of an abstract isekai, but it sort of has that Harry Potter-ish idea of 'a world adjacent to ours, but unseen by the normies.'

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Same thing. Joseph finds out he has magical powers and that other horrifyingly powerful magical entities exist.

Abstract Isekais are, at their broadest, mere adventure stories where people metaphorically visit new worlds within their own. However, I prefer to believe in the three types I've outlined here as being synonymous with this genre:

- "Secret World Inside Our Own" variants

- "Our World is a Lie" variants

- "Explore Carefully Enough and You'll Find Something Cool" variants

Typically, I find that the first one often veers into fantasy and sci-fi territory, while the latter two are often somewhat more sober and 'realistic.' 

Of the stories I've outlined, my highest recommendations go to:

The Matrix

Anything written by Jules Verne.

Wanted.

Yu Yu Hakusho.

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I would list more, but I found that adding other stories merely compiled onto the three types I listed above, or broadened the scope of an Abstract Isekai to the point where practically any adventure story could count.

Regarding my next Patreon post, I plan to write two posts focusing on how to write really good characters. These will focus around Character Interactions (between each other), and Character Choice.

Thanks for reading! I'll be writing Cryopod for the rest of the month, now!