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You thought I was done talking about isekais? Wrong! I have endless salt about isekais and the potential no fucking one seem to use.

Anyways. An aspect of isekais I wish was more explored is the simple question of: which world do you want to live in?

Many isekais features found family, glory, or otherwise just a better living situation in the isekai world than in the base world. In this other world, you are powerful. You have friends. You don't need to work 40 hours a week.

But at the same time, isekais worlds are usually inherently dangerous. There are dragons, monsters, battles. Yes, you are strong, but you are still in life-threatening situations every days. If not you, then people you love, who are muuuuch weaker than you are. This is its own set of trauma. Can you honestly say you'd rather live in a world where assassins are out to get you than in a world whose biggest sin is being boring?

And even if the isekai world is a net improvement of your quality of life- can you honestly say there's nothing from your old world you will miss? Nothing at all? Not your mom? Not this trashy webcomic you read and never got the ending of? Not your friends? Not the cooking? Not the festivals? Not your cat?

The thing modern isekais fail to explore is that there is no win situation when you are an isekai protagonist. Whether you go home or stay here, you will always lose something. It's too late for you now. You have loved ones on both sides. You have loved things on both sides. No matter where you go, there will always be an important part of your life you can never talk about except in five layers of metaphors. You can never explain to your dad the rush of mastering a new spell, the terror of being possessed, because he does not know what magic is. You can never explain to Gunthur III Slayer Of Goblins about your experience with cyberbullying, about how you met your best friend through online roleplays, because he does not know what the internet is. The hero who crosses through worlds now belong in neither.

I don't care what answer you, as a writer, bring to that question. I don't care if your protagonist goes home or stays in that world. But I do want the question to be asked.

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