The isekai genre is known for three things -- power fantasies, names longer than your arm and worlds worth fantasizing about. Being a genre that's mainly meant to help viewers and readers get away from the dull day-to-day of real life, this makes sense, but not all protagonists are lucky enough to land in one of these worlds. Many times, isekai heroes find themselves in a world that is arguably worse than your garden variety fictional Earth. From the Digital World of Digimon, to the Duchy of Ehrenfest from Ascendance of a Bookworm, here are a few worlds we won't be wanting to visit anytime soon.
Digimon: The Digital World
Living in Digimon's Digital World sounds a bit like a nightmare. The lower leveled Digimon, particularly when at Rookie or In-Training level, are completely at the mercy of Champion and Ultimate level 'mons. And even if they manage to do alright giving their food to a local dictator, brainwashing is an all-too-common occurrence if they so much as think of resisting. The land is literally lawless, with about six evil powerful Digimon to one good powerful Digimon... Either way, unless you have a Digimon of your own, you may want to cancel those cruise tickets for the digital sea.
Monster Rancher: Pangea
Likewise, Monster Rancher's Pangaea is run by "baddies" corrupted by Moo (who, as the theme song will tell you, is evil). They terrorize the most agriculturally prosperous, making them hand over goods, services and money or face the consequences. One such consequence is actually temporary death, via turning your monsters into lost discs. These monsters can only be revived by Moo as another baddie or, as our heroes aim, by the Phoenix, like a goodie. But even if you escape Moo, there are plenty of natural disasters like droughts and floods that are perfectly capable of ruining your crops as well. Throughout the adventure, our heroes are constantly running out of money for food, traveling long distances by foot and getting attacked at every turn.
Spider Riders: The Inner World
Spider Riders' Inner World isn't much better, with the Invectids forcing many people to work for them -- even other Invectids, meaning life is only good for the higher-ups. While those under Prince Lumen have it better, they're wholly dependent on the Spider Riders and often suffer collateral damage as a result of the ongoing war. And casualties are by no means rare, either. Even being a Rider doesn't necessarily help, as Aqune, a rider is who is brainwashed into fighting for the Invectids, shows. Oh yeah, and there are giant talking spiders.
Ascendance of a Bookworm: Ehrenfest
Ascendance of a Bookworm's terrible world is actually part of the plot as Myne struggles against the systems that stunt lower class citizens' education, as well as the nobles' terrible treatment of those without mana or status. While we haven't seen much of the world outside Ehrenfest, the thorough worldbuilding gives no hint that we should expect anywhere else to be different. The common folk don't have the opportunity or ability to pursue any sort of education, and the only reason Myne is able to advance at all is her stubbornness and excess mana. While she is able to break into the middle-class merchant scene, the slow pace shows exactly how much time, dedication and work she put into making that opportunity a reality. With the realistic portrayal of politics within the world as well, you can bet that even if you did manage to become a noble, life would not be any easier than back on Earth.
Problem Children are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?: Little Garden
And finally, Problem Children are Coming from Another World, Aren't They? also makes the terrible world part of the plot -- by being forced to bet their communities' banners in a superpowered gift-game, the No-Names are relegated to surviving off of a small plot of land in the outer circles of Little Garden, marking them as weak and powerless. Much like Ba Sing Se, the closer to the interior of the city one lives, the stronger and richer the area -- but all that power and prestige could be lost in an instant. Some communities turn to underhanded tactics, like kidnapping or blackmail, to force others to bet their banners and land. Not to mention the games themselves have the potential to end in death.
Overall, while the isekai genre has many wonderful locales to escape to, you might want to read the fine print before popping over to a new world. From evil to simple starvation, knowing what you're in for may have a pretty big impact on whether or not you stay.
