Honestly isekai really only covers the first chapter or so. After that it’s just another {progression} fantasy. It’s a way to shortcut the Campbellian structure of these types of stories. You skip past the call to adventure, the initial rejection of the call and the hero leaving their old life and go straight to the new, unfamiliar and dangerous world.
What’s works is when you have an Isekai that absolutely doesn’t shortcut it, but actually ties the initial rejection of the call into how they felt about themselves in their old life
Honestly isekai really only covers the first chapter or so. After that it’s just another {progression} fantasy. It’s a way to shortcut the Campbellian structure of these types of stories. You skip past the call to adventure, the initial rejection of the call and the hero leaving their old life and go straight to the new, unfamiliar and dangerous world.
What’s works is when you have an Isekai that absolutely doesn’t shortcut it, but actually ties the initial rejection of the call into how they felt about themselves in their old life