I'm not making a quality comment on any of these but just last season off the top of my head:
Irregular at Magic Highschool S3: OP, knows it, secure, popular, insanely competent.
How to Love Your Elf Bride: OP, knows it, confident, albeit clueless about women
Slime Isekai S3: OP, knows it. Created a nation-state because he thought it would be fun. Beloved by his people.
The Misfit of Demon King Academy S2: OP, knows it. I can't adequately explain how self-confident and unreasonably competent that motherfucker is.
Loser Ranger: Despite "Loser" being in the title and having every in-world reason to feel he's a loser: is not a loser and quite clever.
How about you provide a couple of recent examples of the series you're talking about? Are you only watching the mandatory couple of "In another world but stuff" that come out every season? I'm just not seeing the "loser MC" thing as that broad of a trend lately.
Don't go further than the first part of season 2 on Misfit of the Demon King, the CGI is WARCRIME level bad, we're talking 7 deadly sins level of awful.
Putting it lightly. SoctaticMethod1 is right. If I wasn't already this far in, I would have bailed. Irregular also had a really weak season. Which is a shame because it started out as an interesting universe.
I liked Loser Ranger, but was pissed off by people online constantly comparing it to The Boys as if they invented the idea of public-facing "heroes" being the bad guys. The key difference here is that it has a protagonist instead of "everyone is bad" navel-gazing. D's a fun MC.
Isekai/regression/transmigration are super popular due to the escapism they offer, but they also end up being painfully derivative. So much of it is copying what other stories did, but lack the creativity to do something new with it. It's like the Human Centipede of anime.
Since anime runs behind the manga/manwha/manhua, I would say you are experiencing anime that pounced on Konosuba's popularity and are running "loser MC haha" into the ground.
Even this was originally considered to be a fresh spin on the typical MC, at least from a few years ago. It's sort of like how bog standard harem MC dudes were very bland losers (think Love Hina, etc.) so the male audience could project themselves onto, but then once light novels started to pick up the MCs started to become competent and a little angster (think Sword Art Online, etc.).
I've fallen off a lot of anime since isekai is so prevalent. And one of its major pitfalls is the determination to make the MC such an OP as fuck character that the story is incapable of producing a compelling villain character. When the MC does nothing but steamroll over any opposition he has, and antagonists all have to be incompetent and stupid, shit just gets boring.
But the whole "people just can't see HOW POWERFUL I REALLY AM" is slop that 13 year olds eat up and once they get sick of it there is always the next back to 13 year olds to get in line. Which has made isekai almost impossible to get stale at this point. It's frustrating because there is nothing stopping people from writing better, but why make the effort when you're going to get rich all the same?
I'm a 80s and 90s anime guy and being old I think everything new sucks. Except unlike previous gen, this is with cause.
isekai is the fucking worst, no real conflict, op protagonist, just an endless parade of success, like watching someone play video game with game genie on.
I assume given its popularity that isekai is fulfilling something missing in modern japanese society and youths in general and they're getting some kind of satisfaction or even a dopamine hit of seeing someone else living a fantasy life on easy mode.
As for MC being a doofus? That's always a thing, worse now, I don't have an answer (to anything ever) but if I were to make a guess, dumb loser MCs are easier to write for anime mills, and identification, makes the readers relate or even feel they're better than the MC in some ways.
In general, it is harder to write a smart character than a dumb character, because a smart character has to be capable of solving problems in smart ways. If you aren't careful and skilled, it's very easy to either end up with a "smart" character that's actually kind of dumb because he misses solutions and clues and details he should figure out (ex: many episodes of Doctor Who), or a "smart" character that's really just magic (ex: many versions of Sherlock Holmes, basically every scientist in superhero fiction. Also many episodes of Doctor Who).
To a certain degree. That said, there are ways you can fake it; the writer has hours or weeks to solve a problem and can then have a character divine that same solution in a few seconds, for example. You can use a computer to do complex calculations, then have the character perform them mentally. You can consult and research with people that are smarter or more knowledgeable than you, then have you character use their knowledge.
It depends as you might be looking at the low hanging fruit Isakai area than the ones that stand out more. I'm reading a lot of Manga and Manwha nowadays and Anime is at least 1-2 years behind that and that trend for the 'weak MCs that have no backbone' has run out and we've gotten more what I like to call 'the quiet kid MC Isakai'
By that I mean they're actually nearly psychopaths that have a 'well you tried to kill me so fuck you' mentality. Current one I can think of is Failure Frame: I became the strongest and Annihilated Everything which I've also read and by end of episode one he's gone full no mercy and pretends to be a weak MC just to lower guard and mercilessly kill someone.
If you don't want to deal with that at all you're best off with Manga and Manwha at the moment as they'll eventually get adapted as Omniscient Readers Viewpoint is getting an adaptation so it'll only be a matter of time till Mercenary Enrolment/Teenage Mercenary gets an adaptation plus Season 2 of Solo Levelling is coming soon.
It does really depend on the writing quality of the authors, I've seen so many that have a good premise go to shit because they just don't make it interesting enough.
While I've seen literal meme shows keep my interest because of the writing quality, like I'm enjoying My Deer Friend Nokotan just because both the author and studio KNEW which direction to take the show.
I had this exact thought like a year ago when i started Campfire Cooking in another world. I pivoted away from it since I was tired of all the same fantasy isekai, but eventually I got around to it and it was pretty fucking good. Demon Slayer is still good, Wind Breaker was sick, and kaiju no.8 wasn’t bad but it definitely wasn’t animated great either. Damn, just remembered Frieren too. Fuuuuuck, hate to say that Dungeon Meshi hasn’t been bad either. I dunno, dude.
your shit taste aside, I do feel like anime is starting to get formulaic. art styles feel like they are converging, and the stories don't feel so crazy anymore. maybe it's just that I've gotten desensitized.
TL;DR
No, it's that you have abominable taste.
Are we in the same universe?
I'm not making a quality comment on any of these but just last season off the top of my head:
How about you provide a couple of recent examples of the series you're talking about? Are you only watching the mandatory couple of "In another world but stuff" that come out every season? I'm just not seeing the "loser MC" thing as that broad of a trend lately.
Don't go further than the first part of season 2 on Misfit of the Demon King, the CGI is WARCRIME level bad, we're talking 7 deadly sins level of awful.
Putting it lightly. SoctaticMethod1 is right. If I wasn't already this far in, I would have bailed. Irregular also had a really weak season. Which is a shame because it started out as an interesting universe.
I liked Loser Ranger, but was pissed off by people online constantly comparing it to The Boys as if they invented the idea of public-facing "heroes" being the bad guys. The key difference here is that it has a protagonist instead of "everyone is bad" navel-gazing. D's a fun MC.
Isekai/regression/transmigration are super popular due to the escapism they offer, but they also end up being painfully derivative. So much of it is copying what other stories did, but lack the creativity to do something new with it. It's like the Human Centipede of anime.
Since anime runs behind the manga/manwha/manhua, I would say you are experiencing anime that pounced on Konosuba's popularity and are running "loser MC haha" into the ground.
Even this was originally considered to be a fresh spin on the typical MC, at least from a few years ago. It's sort of like how bog standard harem MC dudes were very bland losers (think Love Hina, etc.) so the male audience could project themselves onto, but then once light novels started to pick up the MCs started to become competent and a little angster (think Sword Art Online, etc.).
I've fallen off a lot of anime since isekai is so prevalent. And one of its major pitfalls is the determination to make the MC such an OP as fuck character that the story is incapable of producing a compelling villain character. When the MC does nothing but steamroll over any opposition he has, and antagonists all have to be incompetent and stupid, shit just gets boring.
But the whole "people just can't see HOW POWERFUL I REALLY AM" is slop that 13 year olds eat up and once they get sick of it there is always the next back to 13 year olds to get in line. Which has made isekai almost impossible to get stale at this point. It's frustrating because there is nothing stopping people from writing better, but why make the effort when you're going to get rich all the same?
I'm a 80s and 90s anime guy and being old I think everything new sucks. Except unlike previous gen, this is with cause.
isekai is the fucking worst, no real conflict, op protagonist, just an endless parade of success, like watching someone play video game with game genie on.
I assume given its popularity that isekai is fulfilling something missing in modern japanese society and youths in general and they're getting some kind of satisfaction or even a dopamine hit of seeing someone else living a fantasy life on easy mode.
As for MC being a doofus? That's always a thing, worse now, I don't have an answer (to anything ever) but if I were to make a guess, dumb loser MCs are easier to write for anime mills, and identification, makes the readers relate or even feel they're better than the MC in some ways.
In general, it is harder to write a smart character than a dumb character, because a smart character has to be capable of solving problems in smart ways. If you aren't careful and skilled, it's very easy to either end up with a "smart" character that's actually kind of dumb because he misses solutions and clues and details he should figure out (ex: many episodes of Doctor Who), or a "smart" character that's really just magic (ex: many versions of Sherlock Holmes, basically every scientist in superhero fiction. Also many episodes of Doctor Who).
To a certain degree. That said, there are ways you can fake it; the writer has hours or weeks to solve a problem and can then have a character divine that same solution in a few seconds, for example. You can use a computer to do complex calculations, then have the character perform them mentally. You can consult and research with people that are smarter or more knowledgeable than you, then have you character use their knowledge.
It depends as you might be looking at the low hanging fruit Isakai area than the ones that stand out more. I'm reading a lot of Manga and Manwha nowadays and Anime is at least 1-2 years behind that and that trend for the 'weak MCs that have no backbone' has run out and we've gotten more what I like to call 'the quiet kid MC Isakai'
By that I mean they're actually nearly psychopaths that have a 'well you tried to kill me so fuck you' mentality. Current one I can think of is Failure Frame: I became the strongest and Annihilated Everything which I've also read and by end of episode one he's gone full no mercy and pretends to be a weak MC just to lower guard and mercilessly kill someone.
If you don't want to deal with that at all you're best off with Manga and Manwha at the moment as they'll eventually get adapted as Omniscient Readers Viewpoint is getting an adaptation so it'll only be a matter of time till Mercenary Enrolment/Teenage Mercenary gets an adaptation plus Season 2 of Solo Levelling is coming soon.
It does really depend on the writing quality of the authors, I've seen so many that have a good premise go to shit because they just don't make it interesting enough.
While I've seen literal meme shows keep my interest because of the writing quality, like I'm enjoying My Deer Friend Nokotan just because both the author and studio KNEW which direction to take the show.
I had this exact thought like a year ago when i started Campfire Cooking in another world. I pivoted away from it since I was tired of all the same fantasy isekai, but eventually I got around to it and it was pretty fucking good. Demon Slayer is still good, Wind Breaker was sick, and kaiju no.8 wasn’t bad but it definitely wasn’t animated great either. Damn, just remembered Frieren too. Fuuuuuck, hate to say that Dungeon Meshi hasn’t been bad either. I dunno, dude.
Watch Apothecary Diaries.
I've had quite some fun watching Anime i the past months and will make a list soon, but anything Konosuba after S2, I didn't like.
your shit taste aside, I do feel like anime is starting to get formulaic. art styles feel like they are converging, and the stories don't feel so crazy anymore. maybe it's just that I've gotten desensitized.
Anime is and always was mega gay.