Are Astronauts Isekai Protagonists?

[Sergeandgreen]

So I recently started to write a new story and thought about how to tag it. But to tag a story correctly, understanding what a tag means is essential. The Isekai tag is probably one of the more famous and i think we can agree on the fact that it can be translated to "transported to another world." The question now is, how does this translate to characters that get transported to another world in the same universe? Was Neil Armstrong an Isekai protagonist? Or if a moon doesn't count, would someone who goes to Mars be considered isekaied?
And this thought opened a few more questions What if technology is so advanced that traveling to another solar system is the same as traveling to another city now. Would a story with such a setting be considered Isekai? What about time travelers? Does time travel count as isekai, or is it a genre on its own. Does entering Hell or heaven count as Isekai?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Depends on how you portray it. If MC appears in a different planetary system and you don't really explain why or how, and the world is different enough, you can probably call is isekai. Otherwise, it's sci-fi.

 

[KoyukiMegumi]

Isekai means transported to another world, but it mostly is to another dimension that isn't like the world you were originally in. Otherwise anything that happens in the original realm such as other worldy experiences like being abducted to another planet would be sci-fi

 

[NineHeadHeavenDevouringSerpent]

So we should start considering expats as isekai protags now?

Just keep it simple. If a truck Kun or some murder Kun kills a bloke here on earth and sends them to a magic world that's isekai.

I mean walking through a gate to another world works as well. As long it's from reality world to a fictional world it's isekai.

 

[Sergeandgreen]

Isekai means transported to another world, but it mostly is to another dimension that isn't like the world you were originally in. Otherwise anything that happens in the original realm such as other worldy experiences like being abducted to another planet would be sci-fi

But if a rocket transports you to another world? I mean, per definition, it should be Isekai, right? And sci-fi just means that they have technology that transcends our current. Royal road differentiates between hard and sof sci fi depending on wether you explain the science but as Neil was on the moon, i wouldn't call it sci-fi

 

[TheEldritchGod]

If you accept that as Isekai, then driving to taco bell is an isekai for me because I hate Mexican food and its a "different world"

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

By this logic we can infer that everyone who rides a plane and goes to another country to experience another culture is an isekai protag.

 

[Sergeandgreen]

If you accept that as Isekai, then driving to taco bell is an isekai for me because I hate Mexican food and its a "different world"

culinary isekai as a new subgenre? Sounds promising :D

 

[T.K._Paradox]

By this logic we can infer that everyone who rides a plane and goes to another country to experience another culture is an isekai protag.

That Time I Flew To The Philippines.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

That Time I Flew To The Philippines.

Nah, we already have an isekai title:

"That Time I Did Bad Things and Got Reincarnated As A Filipino"

 

[Sergeandgreen]

By this logic we can infer that everyone who rides a plane and goes to another country to experience another culture is an isekai protag.

You don't even need to go to another country. In most cases, just going to the super rich districts or super poor is enough.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

You don't even need to go to another country. In most cases, just going to the super rich districts or super poor is enough.

So do you consider such change worthy of isekai!

 

[Sergeandgreen]

Depends on how you portray it. If MC appears in a different planetary system and you don't really explain why or how, and the world is different enough, you can probably call is isekai. Otherwise, it's sci-fi.

Do sci-fi and isekai exclude each other?

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Gut feeling: In this context "Another World" refers to an alternate reality. Otherwise, Transhuman novels (where characters are disembodied consciousnesses placed in mechanical or artificially grown bodies, and often, but not always, can relocate to more appropriate bodies as needed for their current environment) and games are a subset of Isekai, as these bodies are used to explore and colonize/conquer/loot new planets, but I believe they are their own thing and not part of something else.

 

[Sergeandgreen]

So do you consider such change worthy of isekai!

Nope. I'm team Truck-kun. But I'm a sucker for definitions.

Nope. I'm team Truck-kun. But I'm a sucker for definitions.

In this case, meaning you need to leave the world for it to count.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

Nope. I'm team Truck-kun. But I'm a sucker for definitions.

No one can exactly say what is isekai, for there are lots of definitions and takes to consider. Unless there is an official council of authors, every genre definition will just take shape after the silent agreement of the majority.

I always go for the general meaning, which in this case, meant that it's for stories set in another universe.

 

[Sergeandgreen]

Gut feeling: In this context "Another World" refers to an alternate reality. Otherwise, Transhuman novels (where characters are disembodied consciousnesses placed in mechanical or artificially grown bodies) and games are a subset of Isekai, as these bodies are used to explore and colonize/conquer/loot new planets, but I believe they are their own thing and not part of something else.

The question there would be if it counts as "transported" to another world if you technically stay in the same. At least as long as the game world stays a game world and doesn't suddenly become real.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Do sci-fi and isekai exclude each other?

Depends. You wrote a good part.

But if a rocket transports you to another world?

Does a rocket transports you to a new world, or a new planet? Is every new planet a new world? It is debatable. Lastly, there is portal fantasy, and there is isekai. Isekai kinda turned into it's own thing. You can call every isekai a portal fantasy, but not every portal fantasy is isekai. Isekai has it's own unique tropes and characteristics. Technically you can call alsmot whatever you want isekai, but readers would probably disagree with you, and they won't be wrong. So it's better to follow NineHeadHeavenDevouringSerpent's advice.

 

[Sergeandgreen]

Depends. You wrote a good part.

Does a rocket transports you to a new world, or a new planet? Is every new planet a new world? It is debatable. Lastly, there is portal fantasy, and there is isekai. Isekai kinda turned into it's own thing. You can call every isekai a portal fantasy, but not every portal fantasy is isekai. Isekai has it's own unique tropes and characteristics. Technically you can call alsmot whatever you want isekai, but readers would probably disagree with you, and they won't be wrong. So it's better to follow NineHeadHeavenDevouringSerpent's advice.

Well, i guess if it comes to tagging the story, you are probably right. I mean, i would maybe add that the isekaied person doesn't necessarily need to be from earth, but otherwise, i guess as long as one gets unexplainably transported to another reality, it counts.
(Does anyone know about a story, where a character isekais himself and gets transported to another world, not by accident but by choice?")

 

[KoyukiMegumi]

But if a rocket transports you to another world? I mean, per definition, it should be Isekai, right? And sci-fi just means that they have technology that transcends our current. Royal road differentiates between hard and sof sci fi depending on wether you explain the science but as Neil was on the moon, i wouldn't call it sci-fi

But you aren't in another world per se because it's your original plane of existence, just another galaxy. You'd be on another planet that is more technical. I don't know anything about particularities in other sites, but I know as a reader that if someone says isekai, I expect another world that has magic or nothing related to the original plane of existence.