Over the past few weeks, the anime community has been talking about a hot new genre sweeping the culture: Native Isekai.

Okay, the fandom hasn't exactly been "excited" about "Native Isekai" so much as "mocking people who use the term." Here's what a "Native Isekai" is supposed to be, and also why it's not a real thing.

What is a "Native Isekai"?

First, Isekai is an anime genre in which the main character is transported from the real world into a fantasy setting. There have been dozens of such anime in the past decade, often with titles including phrases like "That Time I Got Reincarnated As…" and "In Another World!", etc.

They've become so popular, in fact, that it seems some people have forgotten what it's like when a main character is actually born in a fantasy world, with no reincarnation required: in other words, a typical "Fantasy" story.

The term "Native Isekai" first saw use in 2018, when a 4chan user noted that a lot of anime that take place in a fantasy world where the protagonist is actually from that world have gotten popular lately, calling the phenomenon a "Native Isekai," instead of a "Fantasy."

How Has The Term "Native Isekai" Spread?

It took some time before more people started using the term "Native Isekai" on more popular forums. On October 10th, 2021, an AniLis forum user uploaded a thread asking about "native isekai" anime recommendations, and on April 11th, 2022, a now-deleted Reddit user uploaded a post about Isekai stories where the main character isn't reincarnated from the other world to /r/isekai subreddit.

It really began seeing use as a meme in November of 2023, when users began mocking people who attempted to pass off "Native Isekai" as a real genre. As many people pointed out the term "Native Isekai" is simply a needless synonym for "Fantasy," memes took the form of people replacing the word "Fantasy" in popular titles.

While there are plenty of "Native Isekai" that are popular right now, it's probably best you don't refer to them as such, and simply run with the (correct) term "Fantasy."

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For more information, check out the Know Your Meme entry for Native Isekai.