Director Criticizes Too Much Anime Isekai

An interview with Kazuchika Kise, chief director and character designer of "Ghost in the Shell: Arise" and "Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie," was posted on the official website for the "Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie." One of the questions posed to Kise, an anime veteran who has designed characters in shows such as "Blue Seed," "xxxHOLIC," "Blood-C," "Made in Abyss" and the "Fate/Grand Order Camelot" films, was whether he was aware of current trends. This led Kise to wonder about the spread of isekai anime.

«I think there are already too many stories asking, "Do we all really hate the modern world so much?" I find it strange that all that is done is isekai stories," was Kise's reply. "Recently there was even a series about being reborn as a vending machine. That one really surprised me. It seems to me that there are fewer grounded anime works than there used to be."

Kise also had a hard time believing in the RPG elements that are common in the modern isekai genre. "Recent anime works show things like a level meter that pops up when characters touch air, even though there's no reason for them to have a personal interface like that. It may be getting old, but it really makes me wonder, "What's going on here?" It just doesn't work for me."

The isekai topic was only a small part of the lengthy interview, but it was enough to spark a debate among netizens on comment forums:

"Isn't that the same as escaping into a world where cyborgs and artificial intelligence rule the world?"
"It seems that the subject is already too old to adapt to current trends."
"Modern anime tend to be romantic comedies with students as the protagonists. This reality hurts me."
"Is there much difference between isekai, tensei (reincarnation) and futuristic worlds?"
"The world sucks and I just want to die as soon as possible. The times I'm happiest are when I'm sleeping."
"The most popular anime like Kimetsu no Yaiba, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Sousou no Frieren are not isekai. They're just forcing gender."
"Ghost in the Shell is, in itself, a fantasy story with the same details that this director now criticizes. First of all, you have to accept your own mistakes before criticizing those of others."
"Science fiction is also a way of escaping reality, what do you really want them to do then?"
"I'd rather read about someone who's sent to another world like a fat bastard and struggles to survive, doesn't that sound tempting?"
"It seems like it took him about five years to figure it out."