This week, a fan's comment made waves on Japanese forums, questioning the quality of current romance anime. The comment suggests that the quality of romances has changed due to the influence of the isekai on the light novel market.
For Japanese people, romance anime is losing quality
The comment in question refers to a time when many romance anime were adapted from successful light novels. Between 2010 and 2015, the light novel market was dominated by the romance genre. Titles like Oreimo: My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute and Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko were very popular in the otaku community. According to the source, these anime sold many Blu-ray/DVD copies and featured famous characters.
However, the fan cites that it's difficult to find a quality romantic comedy among light novels these days. While there are still some adaptations, they don't garner the same enthusiasm as in the past. Since the isekai genre dominated the light novel market, the romance genre has been sidelined. There are still successful romances like Gotoubun no Hanayome and Kaguya-sama: Love is War , but only in manga.
Furthermore, he/she says that current romance light novels are derivatives of isekai, dealing with different worlds and reincarnation.
"I know it's not that the works are bad, but that I'm old, or maybe I'm just a little nostalgic! I wonder if high school students today think that when I say "Light Novel," I mean "Isekai.""
Japanese comments regarding this:
- "After all, there's a lot of romantic comedy mixed with the isekai genre, right? In a modern setting, that seems to be what's become popular."
- "Isekai villains are all the rage these days. This is a genre that's quite open to other options, so you can add romance, comedy, and even battles."
- "Look at the rankings of those who say 'romantic comedies are in.' No matter how you look at it, isekai ones are more popular."
- "Harem romantic comedies don't have enough scale if you're easily attached to someone, so the psychological descriptions are really complicated. I couldn't follow it halfway through."
Anyway, do you also think the quality of romance anime has changed that much because of isekai? Leave your comment below!
Source: Kudasai
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