Isekai: Oversaturated in anime but pretty cool in the west.

IMO, the best western isekai is the Adventure Time spin-off Fionna & Cake. The whole story is in part a deconstruction of the desire for escapism that uses a Loki style multiverse traversing plot device to make fantastical escapism a physical element of the story

Well now that I think about it does the super Mario franchise counted as an Isekai at one point, or am I just crazy ?

Check out Return to Oz. It will blow your mind.

The Wizard of Oz has a sequel. It's called Return to Oz.

Japanese Isekai is way better even so there is many low quality ones
i like idea of being transformed in medival style times when you have to battle against medival monsters

It's strange to see an isekai story being just a regular fantasy story. You see that isekai elements were attached to it for marketability and exclusion of those wouldn't hurt the story. Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash would be an example of that

Never Ending Story, The Last Star Fighter, and Labyrinth from the 80s.

that graphic novel series "amulet" will always be a favorite of mine

It make me want to read wizard OZ on Apple Book.

World of oz is kinda mystery because of th way to entered and exit this world, dorothy think that was dream but maybe Oz really exist but this kind of mystery

Sonic and the black knight.
I shall say nothing else.

They actually did make a sequel called return to oz

Seeing Twitter users prefer western media over anime for once feels incredibly surreal

eastern is better

I am getting BORED and had ENOUGH of those generic Isekai from Japan about a GENERIC bland protagonist sent to a dark-ages time period-based European-based fantasy world where the protagonist is OVERPOWERED with little to NO effort!
I want something more challenging to happen that the protagonist does NOT win effortlessly all the time! I want the protagonist to be special, NOT just a blank slate for the audience to project themselves into. I would also like a non-human protagonist being in a Isekai that has a more unique setting, like a sci-fi Middle East-based setting. I do not want cringy and disturbing fanservice. I had also ENOUGH of OVERUSED cliches of personal eye for an eye (v***eance), power of love and friendship, darkness being associated with "evil", etc.
The Legend of Oz done the "Isekai" RIGHT!

Funny that the tom and jerry adaptation of the witard of oz "fixes" the ending of the movie, by having tom and jerry also remembering the events

John Carter from the Princess of Mars/Barsoom series is sorta a isekai, its arguable that he is originally from Mars or is immortal or something but it is about a guy getting photocopies and faxxed to Mars to cause problems

Looking at all the complaints about japanese isekai in the comments makes me believe even more that Sonny Boy is the best (jp) one.

Characters are doing their best to get back home despite the pushbacks. Some decide to stay some do not
It's not happening in a vaguely medical european world but across multiple unique locations

And it's not a self indulged dating simulator

Isekai >:(
Isekai, Western :)

I’m writing a novel about a mercenary team of fantasy warriors and a human male protagonist on a mission to stop a fantasy warlord from conquering the world using Earth technology. The fantasy characters show remarkable awe in our own world and present that our own world can just be as wonderful and fantastical too.

Wait until she realizes that isekai are basically just the western "hero's journey" structure but missing most of the second half

Realizing that The Wizard of Oz is Isekai is something I’m not sure I’m comfortable with lmao.

Now that I think about it, Terminator is a reverse isekai. The destination world is the modern world, and the Terminators are the OP players albeit antagonists who already are OP against the better prepared future Resistance.

does adventure time counts as isekai too?

alice in wonderland is isekai

The more modern western isekais (Owl House, Amphibia) reminds me of older Japanese isekais like Magic Knight Rayearth( getting a new adaption next year), Fushigi Yugi, Escaflowne. The target demographic seem for favor a female audience with the MCs being teen girls.

I've scrolled through all the 1,2k+ comments here and somehow nobody has mentioned Stephen King's the Dark Tower series. I think it's a very honorable example of western "isekai", especially with the "portal" between the worlds being of a very big importance for the protagonist

Another mention I'd like to make is volume 9 of RWBY, though it didn't last that long

The thing is, I got /really/ into isekai through ONE specific webnovel and nobody else does it quite like it did... my disappointment when nobody else was writing wild isekai danmei criticisms of the harem genre and deconstructions of the relationship readers and writers have with a novel was honestly a lot to cope with... (the novel is called The Scum Villain's Self Saving System, if anyone's wondering)

okay I’m ngl I forgot about the existence of rainbow brite until just now

yall forgot I Hate Fairy Land.

Isekai are pretty cool in anime too.

I think Brian just hanging around, and being (mostly) useless, would be kinda novel and cool to see in an Isekai. Perhaps give him a chance to shine every now and then - not in the way of unearned power, but more in having a unique perspective on the world.

japan isekai it is kinda dark anime. Because the MC need to die first before go to isekai.

For country with so many case of suicide and die alone....so many isekai anime it is kind of alarming.

i hate fairyland beats all

Actually if I’m not mistaken Wizard of Oz did have a sexual movie called “Return to Oz”

Time Bandits could be another example. It's about a little boy who finds a bunch of dwarves who have a map that tells them how to find portals between different time periods. The places they go keep getting more and more outlandish until they end up in a very dark fantasy world.
Also John Carter, story about a guy being transported to Mars.

Cyberchase and Reboot were peak

Re-Zero bordeline sucks

What about Forbidden Kingdom film with Jet Li and Jackie Chan

If you think western isekai is cool then look at Russian Isekai that shit is INSANE.

If you think american isekai is wild, you should see some if the Russian one's lol)

The Family Man starring Nicholas Cage is an isekai.

This is personal, but I don't like calling more traditional (and usually western) portal fantasy "western Isekai". Or to what degree Winx Club even counts as Bloom is traveling between Magix and Gardenia/Earth freerly.
I like to think about "isekai" as subgenre of portal fantasy, usually from East Asian countries (a lot of korean webtoons is also fitting). One big think I noticed is characters often die and are reincarnated in other world. Often in games or fictional stories.

Someone told me that camp Cretaceous was a isekai🤦‍♂️

I hate fairyland

I like the idea of iseaki. Just the fact that it’s sort of bittersweet. “I’ve ended up in a whole new world, made new friends, and discovered amazing things. But I am stuck here and can’t go back to my original home with my family and friends.”

Magi-nation is another Isekai many have forgotten.

Narnia was the bes western isekaii watched in my childhood, and Inuyasha was my favorite japanese isekai at that time...

Amphybia is actually a really fitting and funny idea for an isekai because the word "amphibian" comes from the Greek words "amphi" which means "double" and "bios" which means "life"

My favorite isekai anime is Escaflowne. It’s about a Japanese schoolgirl named Hitomi who finds herself in Gaea, an alternate world where the Earth hangs in the sky. It’s got war, romance, dragons, knights and even mecha robots so if you’re looking for a good 90s isekai, I would highly recommend Escaflowne.