Isekai (異世界): self-imposed confinement in Japan and Latin America
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 quarantine has a sort of social and narrative precedent. The isekai is a genre with its own entity in Japanese fiction. Its protagonists, the otaku, fans of manga, anime, novels and videogames die or disappear from reality to fulfill another mission, atone for their sins or save the world in another time or parallel reality. Isekai TV series such as Sword Art Online, The Rising of the Shield Hero or That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime are among the 20 most viewed on Crunchyroll, the world's largest platform dedicated to Asian series. On this website, Uruguay, Colombia and the Dominican Republic are among the top six countries in the world with the most users. This article reflects on the possible transfer of the isekai from Japan to Latin America. The protagonists, and some of their followers who practice self-seclusion, are known in Japan as hikikomori, and it is extended to the rest of the world with the labels NEET or NiNi. Thanks to cross-media and multi-screen narratives, a new digital cavern appears, made up of video games, electronic devices and social networks. The user of isekai fiction takes refuge, like the protagonists, from society and everyday problems.
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