Isekai, Reincarnation, and Our Deepest Desires

I’ve read a lot of Isekai and Reincarnation manga. Throughout this process, I discovered some common themes in most of them.

These themes can help explain why Isekai resonates so much with so many people.

I’ve found 4 main themes in Isekai and how they reflect our deepest desires. These desires are born from a society that constantly bears down upon the majority of us.

So of course, our first instinct in that kind of world is to be free and escape.

Escape/Freedom

The most obvious desire is to escape our current lives into better ones. But I think there is more to it than just that.

We want freedom.

Not the freedom to go crazy but just the freedom to enjoy life. Many of the reincarnation mangas have an MC that wants nothing more than to just enjoy life.

No heavy responsibilities or obituary restrictions that drain the color from the world. Having the story take place in simple fantasy worlds also helps with fulfilling this desire.

It’s because of this desire that MC has to be overpowered. Without power, you can’t be truly free. There will always be those with greater power that will use and abuse you.

But if you have even greater power, you can refuse this reality and make your own.

Good thing the MC is always a generally good person because this line of thinking can have major consequences. But we are talking about an ideal world, so it’s fine.

Speaking of abuse of power, we desire to see those types of people taken down.

Justice and Retribution

A common thing that happens in Isekai and Reincarnation is that the bad guys get easily defeated and humiliated.

Whether they be corrupt societies or bullies, they often get away with much of their evil in our world.

In stories though, we can, for just a moment, experience a world where the wicked are punished and the innocent rewarded.

Most of the revenge sub-genre can fit within this simple desire for a fair world.

To defeat such people, the MC has to be overpowered to break through them.

I’ve experienced a sense of comfort when reading stories where this happens. No matter how evil or corrupt the enemy is, knowing that the MC will take them down is reassuring.

It's a feeling that doesn’t exist in our world. A feeling we desperately desire, a hero that can solve the obvious problems in the world. Problems too big for one person or group to overcome.

Shockingly, many Isekai MCs mirror classic Marvel and DC characters. They’re (most of the time) inherently good and strong enough to save the world when it needs them.

Not every main character fits into this model though. Most do focus on other desires.

But even the ones that don’t actively go around helping, still end up doing it through the story.

They don’t do this alone either, usually they have a group of cute girls to help.

Love and Companionship

For both male and female protagonists, getting a harem is a common trope.

Aside from the obvious sexual desire, I think there’s something deeper and more meaningful beneath.

From the hundreds of isekai I’ve read, sex is rarely the focus. Yes, the characters are always hot but that’s as far as it goes most of the time.

The focus is the desire for companionship and love. Someone to care for the MC and share with them the joys of life.

The best manga that shows this to me is “My House is a Magic Power Spot – Just by Living there I become the Strongest in the World.”

This doesn’t only apply to lovers but to friends and family as well. Most of these MCs have friends they can trust with their lives.

Can we say the same?

The desire to have friends that have your back no matter what is a great one. The world is cruel, but sharing the burden with someone close lessens the pain.

Speaking of the world, there is a hidden desire for it to be more simple. A simplicity that allows for happiness to grow and flourish.

Simplicity and Happiness

Our world is not simple.

Bills, conflicting ideologies, confusing legal problems, bickering corporations, and much more.

How could any flower of happiness grow here without great effort?

In isekai worlds the goal is simple. It’s either survival or defeating a great evil.

The tools to do this are also simple, relativity speaking. Swords and magic are all you need.

The chains of modern society are broken and the world returns to the simple freedoms given by nature. Survive and grow stronger.

Combine this with the other desires and you get a classic power fantasy.

But to fully enjoy that freedom and happiness gifted by simplicity, you need to be important.

Importance

There are 2 levels to this desire. One is the desire to be the MC of the world. An unrealistic desire but one nonetheless.

The one I want to focus on is the more basic desire. The burning hope that you matter at all.

From your soulless job to cosmic indifference, we humans so desperately want to feel important. We want to know that we matter, if not to the world then at least to someone.

But some of us are denied even that. But in Isekai, we can feel loved and treasured.

Most of these mangas focus on being important to people close to the MC. Later the MC becomes important to the city, then nation, and finally the world.

Despite it getting to ridiculous levels, the basic desire is there.

“I want to matter, even a little bit.”

This is another reason why MCs are overpowered. In our world, power equals your value. Whether that means political, physical, sexual, talent, etc.

You won’t matter much in the grand scheme of things without power or some equal value.

That’s why Isekai flourishes. It fulfills this simple desire and all the others before.

Conclusion

I know what you're thinking. Little of what I say applies to the top Isekai.

• Re:Zero (Flawed MC and not OP. Torturous existence)

• Mushoku Tensei (Flawed MC and not that OP)

• Konosuba (Same as before but worse)

• Overlord (MC is close to being evil but is OP)

• Tanya the Evil (MC is morally gray and OP)

What you need to know is that these types of stories are not the norm. They are a response to the norm, a break from the archetypal Isekai.

Even then, all of them still fulfill at least one desire found in this article.

• Re:Zero (Love)

• Mushoku Tensei (Love and Simplicity)

• Konosuba (Love and Simplicity)

• Overlord (Love(Familial) and Importance. Season 1 even had some Retribution.)

• Tanya the Evil (Importance)

And would you look at that? We find another pattern. Love, familial or deeper, is something we all want to experience.

Even through the most torturous experience, that is the one thing we may want the most.

Followed by Simplicity, a reduction of the complexities of modern life.

Finally, the desire to feel that we’re important to someone or thing.

But that’s just my thoughts on Isekai and Reincarnation after reading too many. What do you think?

Comment your thoughts below and if you learned anything here today. Are any of these desires even possible to fulfill in the modern-day?

With that, I’m done.