A Survey of the Story Elements of Isekai Manga - Volume 2 - 57-91

Aug 20, 2026

This paper surveys story elements in isekai (other world) manga, leveraging the large number of available series to identify recurring patterns. These patterns support hypotheses about relationships among story elements, authors’ intent, and readers’ interests. The study reviews defining characteristics of isekai manga and situates them within existing speculative fiction ontologies, including a brief history and links to roleplaying computer and tabletop games. Results summarize 746 identified isekai series and a detailed analysis of 427 portal-quest cases, with data organized into a story-element database.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages35

Reading Time1 h 28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background and popularity of isekai manga

Survey aims and research questions

Other world stories and isekai manga

Definitions and scope of “other world” stories

Examples from Japanese and Western literature

Survey framework and results (as described in abstract)

Data coverage: 746 series and 427 portal-quest series

A Survey of the Story Elements of Isekai Manga Dr. Paul S. Price Volume 2, Pages 57-91 Abstract: This paper presents a survey of the story elements in isekai (other world) manga. The large number of available isekai manga series allows the use of a survey to investigate patterns in story elements. These patterns can be used to generate hypotheses about relationships between story elements, authors’ intent, and readers’ interests. The paper begins with a review of the characteristics of isekai manga stories and places the stories into existing speculative fiction ontologies. A brief history of isekai manga and their relationships to roleplaying computer and tabletop games is provided. Finally, descriptions of the survey framework, instrument and results are presented. The survey includes data on 746 manga series identified as isekai manga by publishers or fans. The series are divided into four types (portal-quest, immersive, intrusion, and liminal) . A detailed survey was performed on the 427 series identified as “portal-quest” stories (the most common type of isekai stories) . The survey results are captured in a database of story elements that is organized based on plot points dictated by the form of the portal-quest stories. The survey found that the majority of the manga series are inspired by first-personshônen and otome computer games. The characteristics of the stories vary with the gender and age of the protagonists (here taken as surrogates for the gender and age of the stories’target audiences) and this variation allows the generation of hypotheses on the motivations and interests ofthe different reader demographics and how they are satisfied by the stories. A database and a data dictionary are provided as ancillary files and could be used to perform additional analyses of isekai manga. Keywords: isekai, portal-quest, manga, database, fantasy Author Bio: Dr. Price has had a forty-five-year career as a risk assessor, evaluating hazards posed by exposure to chemicals. He has published more than eighty papers and book chapters on toxicology and exposure assessment. His interested in anime and manga is driven by the ability of these literary forms to explore issues related to society and technology. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License Introduction Isekai (other world) stories is a type of manga popular in Japan and the United States. The degree of popularity of isekai manga can be seen in the number of series listed at Anime-Planet, a website that tracks English translations of manga and anime. This site has information on 605 manga series and 102 anime series and movies that it identifies as isekai. The site reports that 385 isekai manga series were published in the years 2017 to 2019, or roughly one new series every three days (Figure 1) .1 A similar peak in the number of isekai-based anime occurred over the same period with the broadcast of 39 isekai series or roughly one new series a month.2 | 160
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| | --- | --- | | 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 | | Figure 1: Number of isekai manga and anime series released in the years 2000 to 2019 as reported by the internet site Anime-Planet3 This paper presents the results of a survey of isekai manga that attempts to quantify the occurrence of certain story elements in isekai stories. The paper begins with a review of the concept of isekai in literature. This review consists of a discussion of the role of “other worlds” in literature, an examination of how isekai manga are categorized in existing ontologies of speculative fiction, and a discussion of the impact of role-playing games on isekai manga. The survey instrument, data frame, and results are then presented. The paper uses the results of the survey to explore two issu

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the survey in this paper?

The paper surveys story elements in isekai manga to quantify how frequently key elements occur and to identify patterns that can generate hypotheses about authors and reader interests.

How many isekai manga series are included, and how are they categorized?

The survey includes data on 746 isekai manga series. They are divided into four types: portal-quest, immersive, intrusion, and liminal.

What additional analysis is conducted beyond the overall survey?

A detailed survey is performed on the 427 series identified as “portal-quest” stories, and results are stored in a database organized by plot points dictated by that story form.

Aug 20, 2026

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