The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the most widely accepted authority on the English language and is updated quarterly, with meanings revised and new words added as our language
One of these new words in particular is of particular interest to otaku, because it is a word created entirely for anime, manga, and light novels, and that is `isekai`.
Origin and impact of Isekai
The word isekai is written in Japanese as 異世界, which can be translated as `other world`.
Isekai is a concept that originates from Japanese folklore, especially in the story of Urashima Tarou, a fisherman who is transported to a magical world under the sea after saving a turtle.
Isekai has been around for a while in the anime world and started to really gain popularity in the 2010s, but has now been brought to the forefront thanks to the recent success of Studio Ghibli’s The Boy and the Heron.
Or other works of the isekai genre are also very famous such as That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World… All have contributed to making isekai a genre introduced to
Why is it important to include Isekai in the OED?
With The Boy and the Heron’s best animated film win creating a stir in the world of anime and Western cinema, isekai went from something only anime fans knew about to something that
This genre has existed for many years in international media, including famous stories such as Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan which all have similar concepts.
However, isekai has now been chosen to be added to the OED this quarter, showing that it is important enough for people to talk about it in English around the world.
In addition, a number of other Japanese words were added to the OED such as `katsu` – a form of frying food, `omotenashi` – a word used to describe hospitality, `kintsugi` – the art of repairing things.
