As of writing this its 2023. Isekais become like lets say the cigarettes of manga at least for me. I hate it it reeks and its detrimental to the health of not only its enthusiasts but people in their vicinity too and if you dont like it your Cool Kid status is usually revoked. But much like I have to get through a gigantic cloud of cigarette smoke to get to my universitys only entrance sometimes I also have to get through that gross cloud of the isekai tag to get to some unique and fun stories every now and then and Iseikai Tenseis a brilliant example of that thanks to how insane its idea of what qualifies as isekai gets. Now the cigarette metaphor falls apart here a little bit because I wanna preface this by saying that contrary to popular belief I dont think isekais that terrible of a concept in and of itself its just that certain tropes have proven to sell well prompting multiple authors to go with the flow and pump out more formulaic videogameinspired power fantasies to get in on the action. Weve had gems like Skeleton Knight where the isekai aspect largely takes a backseat thanks to the MC wanting to immerse himself in this new world and his chuuni instincts telling him to act like his game character would or Magi Craft Meister where the isekai aspect seems tacked on just to pitch it to the publisher easier at times and manages to be relevant for what one chapter...? And then there are also literary works like Mark Twains A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court which Id argue uses so many of the tropes youd expect from an isekai story that it serves to reinforce the point that a fishoutofwater story of a person getting transported to a world different than theirs is just fundamentally entertaining as most pieces of fiction should be. Anyway onto Iseikai Tensei itself a major part of this story hinges on its biggest plot twist which I dont want to spoil. Without going into detail the storys about Noah Yesterday a sweet previous cinnamon roll cyborg that his mysterious scientist mom Im sure those of you who watched Witch from Mercury already panicked a little created in order to examine and document a distant world. After his ship goes around space for several thousand years he wakes up in a world that seemingly obeys the same sort of basic principles as Earth but has changed to an almost unrecognizable degree the animals are all weird theres no sign of advanced civilization anywhere and some random horned demon lady runs into our protag and clearly needs his help. Thus our hyperadvanced cyborg MC ends up tangled in an almost painfully bythebook premise...except its like the opposite of your usual isekai power fantasy premise: its actually the demon king and his subordinates that are the victims of humans relentless discrimination. As it turns out theyre commanded by a mysterious entity known only as The Pope and the story that unravels leads on a truly fascinating journey into the history of a world so different than ours and yet so eerily similar in its patterns. What makes Noah a really fascinating and antischematic protagonist is how at his core despite abiding by the timeless rule of all that humans create is inevitably human for example he wears funny sukajan with cute anime girls on the back and mixes up the idea of friendship and romance convinced they should be inseparable not to mention his constant curiosity hes just so fundamentally different from the average isekai protag that I cant help but be enamored with this doofus. He leans neither into the power fantasy nor everyman schematic hes too emotional and imperfect to be a power fantasy and too kindhearted and unique to be a true everyman. Thankfully he isnt a member of the loathsome third some nihilists weird sadist dream caste either. Hes just Noah and hes really curious about why was it weird that he wanted to hug and kiss this random demon lady he just met. Naturally being a cuttingedge cyborg in a fantasylike world he does get more than enough cool moments however with magic and mysterious technologically advanced artifacts aiding his opponents and allies alike he never truly mows down an entire garrisons worth of soldiers all on his own or anything his real strength comes from his desire to right wrongs and defend those who need defending. And maybe a little bit of just wanting to look cool. Speaking of his allies theyre honestly just charming especially Balor/Balar/Barrel/whatever the correct spelling of his name actually is. Ellies father. Hes like somebodys Bowser gijinka mixed with a King of the Hill character and for that I cherish him wholeheartedly. Additionally as Noahs body changes he says something that I think in a world obsessed with appearances and shunning those that do not fit specific criteria of fitness beauty aesthetic and even gender or skintone not to mention weirdly afraid of the idea of immortality and life extension via mechanical means is exceptionally important: its not our body that ultimately matters and makes us who we are its that thing inside. Call it our consciousness call it chemicals call it a soul doesnt matter. Its what makes each of us who we are and not just Noah but many other characters in the series unmistakably alive and carries an unfathomable value of its own worth preserving and extending until were satisfied with what it accomplished. A major spoiler about that theme of being satisfied with what weve accomplished what we made and atonement for our mistakes can be put here but Id rather encourage you to read the whole thing and see for yourself. All I can say is that if you like Gnosticism youll find a fair bit of things to enjoy here. Or at least I couldnt shake off the feeling of Eve Noahs mother being directly inspired by the concept of the demiurge. Overall Ive only had issues with one thing. While we do get enough information for this story to work and the author wastes no time on things that the average series wouldve probably dragged out into 510 chapters I nonetheless felt what I can only describe as Tailenders Syndrome both Tailenders and Iseikai Tensei are short and manage to give us enough info and worldbuilding that we can immerse ourselves in the world and have most of our questions answered hell we even get backstories for a bunch of minor side characters but by the end of it theres this feeling of ah dammit I was just getting attached to the cast...and I wanted to see more of this world too.... I certainly wouldnt mind seeing a 1213 episode anime adaptation of this with a few more lighthearted scenes of the cast just hanging out. Theres also the issue of the only English scans Ive been able to find being handled by somebody who themselves admits to not knowing Japanese. This leads to several pages worth of wordlbuilding where the translator goes I THINK this is what they meant which may prove troublesome to the average reader. Its nothing that an official release wouldnt be able to fix though and honestly Id gladly buy a physical English version of this if one appeared sooner or later. I beg whoever picks it up though please PLEASE do not use that awful paper that Vertical used in Ninja Slayer 1. Seven Seas used that sort of wonderful thick white paper which Im used to in Polish releases and was surprised to find out isnt widespread in Englishspeaking countries in 2 of Chinese Fantasy so I BEG you to use it future English publisher... All things considered however in this timeline where great fun media is already hard to come by let alone one with some creative and unique character designs that arent just we want the Kirito fans or BUY HER SEXY STATUES or photorealistic dude with 3D models of guns pasted onto him via one of those programs for manga artists Iseikai Tensei is a breath of fresh air not just narratively but stylistically as well. I do have to admit though I wonder if the author Sanpo Ooyama and Kazuyuki Kisa the robogirl enthusiast of Magi Craft and ShingouSan fame ever met were inspired by each other or are related somehow. Their styles and aesthetic sense are so similar at times that I genuinely thought they were the same person...