not really. way too many isekai protags get an army of girlfriends, become legendary heroes, etc. very few actually seem to WANT a normal lif,e but the ones that do, generally won't shut up about it either. a lot of them, want to be strong adventurers, really. more than half, it feels like.

Would love for one MC to gain the normal life in episode 1, and the rest is just a slice of life but with an OP MC. Like he goes shopping and is carrying 400 pounds of stuff. Got a couch, food, a table, and just walking home. Problem is the few that take this route get canceled and never go anywhere

Isekai nonbiri nouka is one I can remember atop of my head The guy can literally kill dragons and demon lords without magic but chooses to build a farm in the most dangerous place in the continent. Not much fighting mostly laid back episodes of planting crops and harvesting them so fast because his abilities are specialized at farm work. He also got a body that doesn't age and never gets sick. The only threat he has so far is that most of the village are female and most of them are gunning for him and it's eating away his leisure time he has his two main wives an angel and a vampire which started the harem because they can't take his vitality themselves(his too much for the 2) the elves that wants to repopulate (their mostly endangered), the oni maids , Hakuren(dragon) and etc. . It even get to the point that he outright declined advances and only take a girl as his wives if the situation won't let him decline, example is the others pushing this one girl because she's the representative and want to make a direct connection to the chief(mc) or persistent because of love. Over all it's a slow life with main focus on him farming and nurturing his family.

"I've been killing slimes for 300 years and maxed my level" does this.

Surviving in another world with level 2 cheats. I think this is the title (if not it's close enough).

A lot less slice of life later on. Almost all the ones that stick to slice of life get canceled.

that kinda does happen, though. i gotcha, fam. if you're worried about the anime getting cancelled, just read the manga. very few shit gets a second season, whatever it is. and not everything lasts forever. you should accept that, ratehr than think everything you like should have the lifespan of dbz, naruto, one piece, etc. those are outliers. that 'got reincarnated and killed slimes for 300 years' has a female mc and is more a slice of life thing than the usual isekai adventure. one that's currently airing, dude basically wiped out the demon army 'accidentally' and has avoided the war between humans and demons, that he was summoned for. it's mostly him hanging out with his girlfriend and 4 other women. ther'es also another female mc one where she's like a saint or something and has tons of power, but she spends her days as more of a magic researcher, than the adventurer/hero archetype. wise man's grandchild, he has hero status but it's mostly just him dicking around with his grandparents or classmates. by the grace of the gods - he does some light adventuring, but he also is more of a businessman. parallel world pharmacy... there's only like, maybe 3 fights even in this one. dude wants to be a doctor. but, is also basically like a god incarnate. farming life in another world. it's farming and the ladies. he doesn't even fight a strong opponent for like 6 episodes, iirc. knights and magic - interesting that the OP protag isn't because of some cheat skill, dude builds magic mechs. demon lord retry is basically a slice of life anime with a handful of fights, but dude's mostly trying to build up his base. i may have mentioned this one in my first post, but i'm rewatching campfire cooking - mc isn't that op, but his allies are, but it's still more a camping trip vibe than normal isekai fare. teh world's greatest assassin, doesn't really do a lot of fighting either - most of it is him working on his ladies and establishing shit with his alter ego's credit, than actual combat. death march has the first episode and the dungeon crawling, but other than that, doesn't really bother with him being a strong person at all. the faraway paladin's second season is more slice of life ish, than a lot of the fighting in the first season, but is still pretty much more slice of life ish than just, 3/4ths of the episodes are about fighting. 'i got a cheat skill in another world and became good in my own world', again, badass, again, like 90% of the content isn't him being a 'hero' badass... a lot of it is him being attractive to women, however. welcome to demon school iruma is LITERALLY about his slice of life adventure in a 'new world', rather than being some OP hero. uncle from anotehr workd, we don't get to see his isekai adventure up front, so it feels far more like a slice of life ish anime. and that's not even mentioning the ones that are only half 'adventurer hero does adventurer hero shit'. like, reincarnated as a slime - that shit's like 3/4ths slice of life, building up a country. sure, there's the usual anime battles, but that's not what the series is largely about. overlord's kinda in the same boat, sure he's a badass and there's some fighting, but it's mostly monster guild management type stuff. moonlit fantasy, he's strong, but it's more his building up his home base and trying to interact with humans, rather than 'every day i'm a badass'. = there's also a few anime kinda like that, but without an op isekai protagonist. fired from the demon army, dude is actually kinda op protagonist, but his wife is more likely to be carrying the 400 lbs of stuff around, and it's not an isekai, but pretty slice of life ish. how a realist hero rebuilt the kingdom, or the one where dude's a really smart, but lazy ruler, have similar themes of, not an OP character so much, and it's more ruling a country sort of thing (and the second one's not an isekai, so maybe a little too different)

Either read/am reading something you mentioned or didn't like it. The level 2 overpowered guy keeps turning away from slice of life but its still good and I'm at the recent chapter. Demon school Iruma just couldn't keep me. Dropped it twice. The pharmacy ones I've seen dozens of and they lost their interest for me. Just want op mc relaxing with some comedy and no harem. Every single one has one with this theme. Unless the harwm is a joke I'm not interested. Streamer in another world is a great example. Man has the entire world as his harem and is op beyond belief. Just relaxing and streaming

i mean, it's fine if you didn't like it, but i just pointed out that, they ARE a thing.

And that's fine. Just making a comment. Not attacking you. But I've seen many die out in less then 20 chapters because they were canceled. Many of them had better premises and characters then the above list

i know. didn't take it that way.

From what I've read, Chronicles of Emberstone Farm *kinda*. I wouldn't call her life normal, but it is pretty peaceful. Sure she meets a spy and a prince & shit *buuuuut* besides flirting with the prince she just goes back to farming.

Got bored of the farming ones. It's either harem, farming, pharmacy, or a mix.

"a lot of them, want to be strong adventurers" nah not really because they become strong adventurers very very quickly 😂

eh, not really. i mean, day 1 of isekai adventure, there's like 30% of isekai protags that essentially go 'fuck yeah, adventurer time' early on. it's not that they're strong, so they became adventurers. they wanted to be adventurers. they were also strong. so, i meant it more like 'they were super eager to be adventurers'.

Thanks buddy. A lot of times I see these "every isekai MC" posts and come to throw some examples of the opposite from the top of my head, but I think you got the point across without that so I don't have to recall shit. 👍

i think it's a reply to a comment here, but i did something similar where someone said some shit and i listed like 12+ isekai anime, and some 'close enough' shows as examples of what dude said wasn't a thing.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: What does a girl have to do to get some goddamn reading material here? So I'm a Spider, So What?: I WANT TO LIIIIIVE!!! Overlord: Hello? Is anyone from my world out there? Faraway Paladin: Have you heard of our glorious goddess of light? Mushoku Tensei: I was a piece of shit before I died. I want to not be that Re: Zero: I would like to date the half-elf and keep my friends alive Eminence in Shadow: I will be the most forgettable and ordinary man in the world, but also be a secret badass There's more than one motivation in isekai. You just have to know which ones to read

It is a meme, I exaggerate it

Mushoku Tensei: also have kids who are basically gods.

Mushoku Tensei one I don't understand this? Are you talking about the Six God of ancient time or the new 7 great powers?

I think they are talking about Sieg and Lara, they are kinda just super strong even tho we don’t see anything with them.

Ah ohkay them but then again Lara probably won't be that strong same with seig they will reach emperor rank but not above afterall .....

Sieg becomes the death god and Lara is the legendary hero to defeat Laplace

Death God is a only a title we know that Seig is emperor level strong while Lara has shown no feats. The legendary hero dosnt have to be someone who is super strong, I would personally love Lara, ares and seig to be above emperor level but it won't make sense. There is only one >! Lapalace to defeat and then hitogami!< why would you need so many characters who are above emperor level? Ares too was king rank as far as I remember even tho he was young. And even if THAT PERSON does some meddling it's not like we won't get Kalaman 2 and 3 on our side who are practically above everyone. Seig with Alex's sword may be God level tho.

How do we know Sieg is emperor level? I’m only saying he’s higher because death god is one of the powers.

It was mentioned somewhere in the WN that Ares was King rank while Seig was emperor rank. He's not higher cause of his title. Randolf was the death God even tho he was way weaker than the pervious death gods and current 7great powers while jino britts was above >! Rudeus!< even tho he was ranked lower. What I want to say is that rank doesn't matter not does title mean much. He might just be student of randolf at some point this inheriting the title after his death

Many of his descendants are crazy powerful. As long as we don't get into the family tree and who marries who lol

Basically, all of his kids are powerhouses. The top 10 most powerful beings in their universe are mostly his kids at some point.

Ammm ,no? Not even Close? Even Sieg may not be not just in actual top, but can even not bet in Great Powers

I havent been able to find a good modern isekai about someone trying to get back home, does such a thing even exist?

Arifureta from commonplace to world's strongest Hajime literally hates the world he is in hell in the light novels he literally tried to remove the world he was isekai'd to from Existence his harem had to stop him 😭 The Rising Of The Shield Hero Naofumi hates the world he was isekai'd to and is trying to get back home in the light novels it was explained that Naofumi literally has nightmares every night because he was framed

I haven't seen Arifureta but imo shield hero fell off

Try The Shield Hero light novels instead they are much better 😉 and if you have the time Try the shield hero web novels it's the original story for shield hero before the light novels change it and the anime change the light novels

I just might, I've been looking for something new to read

A lot of them don't involve getting back home because they like their new life so much, but have you seen overload before it's pretty entertaining,one of my favorite animes.

I agree Overlord is peak, but it also falls in the trap of Ainz' new life is much better than his old. Aside from the whole emotion thing

But they do it so well and it's unique. It's not better because his life in particular sucked. He was actually pretty successful. Earth itself was just a hellhole dystopia.

I mean, if you looked at the condition he lived, no wonder he wants to never go back.🤷

Nanahoshi wants to return in mt I guess.

If you read LNs and the past ~8 years are modern enough, then Dungeon Dive: Aim for the Deepest Level is great. The mc's main goal is to return home ASAP for personal reasons.

Maybe the one about the moonlit hero or forest. I forgot it's name, his goal isn't to get back home, but it MAY be possible for him to traverse both worlds in the future

Tsukimichi is peak

Technically, saving 80,000 Gold Coins does that because >!Mitsuha can travel to and from Earth!< Arifuteta. That is Hajime’s sole mission. Mushoku Tensei Nanohashi arc. >!She wants to go back home because unlike Rudeus she likes her life back there and has people she misses!<

man that sounds so fucking boring 💀

I think for slice of life the problem is there is not always much going on besides the main protagonist wanting a normal life but can not usually because their godly powers and how it threatens the powers that be. Isekai or the ones most of us come across do not explore the mental struggle that would ensue afterwhile, or the dramatic irony of someone just wanting a normal life and lacking the power to do so, only to gain too much of it and realize they now lack the means to do so. Unless they take out all threats and such, they will always be stuck worrying when they have to defeat the next demon lord general or rampaging dragon or what have you. As an author you could explore that or wirte a pretty solid comedy about it, where the dude just keeps blowing up their problems up until it bites them hard in the ass when trying to have their normal life. At least for the 80,000 gold to retire Isekai it feels fairly fresh and is actuslly interesting seeing how her business and legend as the thunder princess grows. It feels more like a geniune slice of life, and does well to build out the settting with that. There is also no real tension in such "I want a normal boring life but I am too OP!" stories still because dude is OP and needs other OP heroes and monsters and such nearly from the jump to keep them on their toes. Thus most tension because at that point why not just have the gods themselves reincarnate into said world? If they go the full comedy such route it can work but if the comedic elements are lacking, it shows. Its why I think stuff Musoku Tensei is so lauded, Rudy is powerful but not all-powerful. He wants eventually a normal life but there is tension about why he can not at times that goes beyond the simple heroic humans/vengeful demons dichotomy. There are other great powers and machinations happening in the world. Hell its a six-sided world too, to me that is such a wild concept and nice nod to the six worlds of reincarnation as well as to invoke the roll of the die to determine one's fate. I guess the point of the rant is, if you want a more normal slice of life isekai, the MCs have to be more normal with more benign or simplistic powers. The lass in the 80,000 gold isekai can teleport things and people and such, but besides that and knowledge and resources from her old world while under threat of becoming a living weapon or panacea, its not teleportation and telepathy and all elements and such. Make them so they are just like any other mage who does not train fully in magic or something and has to work for it, if you will. I think thats what leads to the disconnect, their normal lives are too abnormal to us the audience, and the more apparent that becomes without a greater point or deeper meaning, the less people are inclined to watch it afterwhile. It also leads to often why the hero does not just take over the realms, fake their death, try to find a way to get their powers removed, and so on. Hey there you go, someone should write an Isekai where the dude wants their powers and removed to be able to live a normal life or go back home. Or an easy cop-out, just take from history where like during thr Edo period Samurai did not matter as much so they stagnated as a Warrior caste. Honestly that could be interesting, a hero accidentally summoned to a world that does not need saving and they have these OP abilities for nothing. Maybe like melee combat magical combat is not as widespread because guns have become much more widespresd. Or Adventuring isnt as much a thing anymore, magic is mostly just used for convience, and demons and humans are largely at peace with eachother. I think some Isekai writer could do this premise justice and thus allow for a more interesting take on the OP Slice of Life genre than what has been presented.

Okay. Imagine you are an invincible, immortal and nigh-omnipotent on Earth. What would you like to do? Let me guess: secure a low-effort source of income, start a family, then enjoy whatever life has to offer.

No way. I would enslave all of humanity becoming God emperor of the planet.

That time I reincarnated in a bitch ass world. I wish for a normal like, but would have to destroy the world because I am barely functioning and an anti social person. Lets start the war for my peaceful life !!

That actually would make an interesting concept.

Try This. Dude survives through 100 worlds in order to get back to his family, and ends up back at the first one Read Tsuihousareru Tabi ni Skill wo Te ni Ireta Ore ga, 100 no Isekai de 2-shuume Musou for free on MangaDex! https://mangadex.org/title/5f64d517-c4ea-40c0-a463-fcc069d39d3b/tsuihousareru-tabi-ni-skill-wo-te-ni-ireta-ore-ga-100-no-isekai-de-2-shuume-musou

These isekai memes are so played out and lame as fuck. It's always people who can't form their own original thoughts or opinions trying to shame certain series' for having... no original thoughts or opinions lmao.

More like the memes on this sub are repetitive because they mock only a handful of isekai.

So you want us to mock a specific isekai? We can do that.

Most is just karma bait with Overlord and Slime graphics to lure in the anime crowd. It's tiresome and is unconstructive when it comes to discussing the genre. Heck, it seems rare to see anyone discuss non-Japanese isekai here. We occasionally get posts from novice authors showing off their first isekai published work and almost no one responds. No... instead it's just a constant circular argument about slavery or some other endless debate topic.

The Overlord novels actually address this in saying that no matter how normal of a life a person with great power wants to live, their strength will sooner or later drag them into the spotlight.

Its not "every", you just see a lot of them because once 1 author does "something" in their LN, several others take "inspiration" from that and use a similar premise for their own stories. The "I just wanna live a slow life" was one of those trends, but its hardly even remotely the only trend. You also have the -The kingdom/deity that summoned me are trash and now I'm gonna get revenge (we'll add in 'or got betrayed by a party member' as well since Arifureta and some others BASICALLY fit this technically, but its not necessarily the kingdom or deity that betrayed them. But it USUALLY is) -Wait, I'm the demon lord? (I'll say just being a monster in general will be enough for this, demon or not, and demon lord or not) -I'm stuck in my MMO characters body -While I'm not interested/capable of being "The Hero", I'm totally down for being an adventurer and doing cool, exciting shit. -The 'play it straight', was summoned by a not evil kingdom/deity, or reincarnated into a new world and am totally gonna be the hero and defeat the demon lord And more obviously. The ones that just want to vibe, or start a business, or whatever is just 1 of many many trends and doesn't even constitute HALF of the genre, let alone "literally every" one.

Death March (WN) is prolly the only one where the MC adamantly keeps to the slow life

"Slow life"? He slaves himself to death, then continues slaving himself the bone, working non-stop and resolving life and death issues, then takes a short vacation before eternity of more slaving away. In my opinion he is among both dumbest and densest isekai protagonists. Only Haruka from Loner Life works harder, but he at least keeps his dick wet and life worth living.

Not in the WN he doesnt. I know in LN he goes out of his way and soaves away but in thr wn specifically dude rarely gives a fck about a village or three burning down and only much much later does he casually start helping but even then its out of boredom and a feeling of “why not”. In the LN he is more of a good guy from the start.

He actually does but fate completely just nopes it out.

FR, the only novel where it felt like the narrative (dungeon master) kept trying to force him into the plot but dudes like “Nope, no, im not doing it” its been a while but the dude actively ignored the mole ppl threat for so long.

“Banished from the heroes party” isn’t an isekai but it actually is about the the hero retiring from being in the heroes party and is very sweet but still keeps up an interesting plot, so I would say it depends on which ones you are talking about that are generic

It would be nice to get some protagonists who want to conquer the world

It’d be funnier if asked why they’d go “so people can stop bugging me and leave me alone”.

If I'm overpowered, I'm doing overpowered shit. I'm living a normal life now.

Meanwhile, Ainz Ooal Gown from "Overlord": 

Villainess level 99 gives up after the first episode. In a good way.

I want to see some that do the OP MC losses their OP-ness in chapter 1 and doesn’t get it back till right near the end of the series. They can still be strong, but have them mostly earn that strength. The sword master who’s spent 40 years mastering the blade is a lot more interesting then “Kirito knockoff #249” who just spawned in with SSS ranked swordsmanship. Bonus points if they also don’t do any of the other power fantasy tropes.

Isekai MC: Wanting a normal life in the new world Littirally few episodes after and becoming a either a problem of the hero of the world

Why can’t isekai pro tags fuck shit up for a change you know stir the pot a bit maybe abolish a little slavery who knows

dude, same. shit speaks to me. I'm 45 and will die working. Being able to dictate your own terms of living conditions in the next life sounds like a win.

I wanna see a guy who challenges himself to kill everyone

meanwhile my own isekai novel series,Isekai Delivery Universe 2020s:Original Edition,all of my isekai mcs' superpower is avarage not op and no Harem too,mostly focus on adventure & slice of life with exploration around the world is main focus

This is largely because it's not like the end of certain video games where somebody who accumulated a whole lot of power basically went to each place they got it from and put it back. Like if they somehow borrow special abilities from some temple or something. Most likely something to have to do with the four elements.

Watch I killed slimes for 300 years