Episode 117 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Well, now that Ben has watched Vision of Escaflowne and Magic Knight Rayearth, he's decided that he likes isekai anime, so in this episode he joins Duncan to dive into the development of the genre. What nuggets of wisdom will they unearth from the distant eighties and nineties? Will Ben discover that he is actually able to appreciate The Twelve Kingdoms now? Will Duncan be able to thread the needle of InuYasha being isekai? Ben certainly tries to do that when they talk later about Aria, the "other world" in question of course being Mars. Check it all out for yourself!
Discussed:
The Vision of Escaflowne (2:52)
InuYasha (7:46)
The Twelve Kingdoms (10:54)
Magic Knight Rayearth (13:03)
Spirited Away (25:20)
Overlord (40:40)
KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!! (42:15)
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation (47:10)
Aria the Animation (55:01)
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (1:02:30)
Do It Yourself!! (1:08:16)
The Aquatope on White Sand (1:13:43)
Related Links:
Yes, Kadokawa really did ban isekai submissions from a light novel contest
As promised, the third OP for Magic Knight Rayearth. Please don't blow up our spot
"You die in the game, you die for real" is the oft-quoted tagline of the 2006 movie Stay Alive
Here's that article in an academic journal about the four types of isekai setting
"Truck-kun" is famous enough to get his own Wikipedia page, turns out
What is "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?
If you're hearing from us that RightStuf, the largest independent anime retailer in the United States, is now owned by Crunchyroll, we're sorry
All the HBO Max Originals removed as a cost-cutting measure after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger
I like this argument that the pandemic briefly allowed Western animation to get more experimental, before business concerns prevailed
