A fan’s statement trended on comment forums in Japan after point out that the gender of the Romantic comedies has been displaced over the years by the isekai genre within the light novel industry, which has caused an apparent decline in narrative quality. In fact, he also points out that several of the popular romantic comedies today have emerged from a manga, which cannot be compared to a light novel when it comes to offering a detailed story.
The publication wrote:
- I was thinking about it this morning. Between 2010 to 2015, I remember that romantic comedies based on light novels were quite popular. I don’t mean that they were popular in general, because at that time anime consumption was still seen as niche and because what was popular changed from time to time.
- I remember that there were quite a few adaptations of romantic comedy stories, especially based on works by Dengeki Bunko, MF Bunko J, and Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. The Blu-ray/DVD discs were selling quite well, and I think the characters were extremely popular.
- From what I remember, there are probably many more, but they stand out “Oreimo: My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute“; “Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko“; “Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend“; “Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!“; “Oregairu: My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU“; “Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends“; and “Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo“.
- When I was a student, I used to lend these novels to my friends at school and read them during recess. At that time, there were still few isekai novels like the ones that are popular now, and it seemed to me that light novels were dominated by romantic comedies or action novels. (like “Sword Art Online” and others).
- Nowadays I can’t think of any romantic comedy that comes from a light novel. Of course, I think there are some that have been adapted and there are still plenty of rom-com type novels on the market. But they are not as popular or talked about as much as they were then.
- Recently (among anime fans), popular romantic comedies like “Gotoubun no Hanayome” and “Kaguya-sama: Love is War” are also based on manga, and anime based on novels and light novels are more about isekai and broken characters. than romantic comedies. When I visit the novel section of a bookstore, I notice that there are many isekai themed ones. Related to this, there are more and more novels with really long titles, and I can’t keep up with them because they’re all about different worlds, reincarnation, and different abilities. I feel a bit of a rejection reaction.
- Of course, I know it’s not that the works are bad and that I’m old, or maybe I’m a little nostalgic! I wonder if high school students today think that when I say “Light Novel,” I mean “Isekai.”
And of course, the matter did not go unnoticed in the comment forums in Japan:
- «For contemporary romantic comedies, “Otonari no Tenshi-sama” and “Roshidere: Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian.” If there are isekai, “The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte” or “My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!”. You can find all kinds of things just by raising your information sensitivity a little.».
- «I wonder if “Oreimo” is really a romantic comedy».
- «Twitter is so steeped in yuri that my guess is that female villain isekai seem to be all the rage, but I bet they’re not popular in the rest of the world.».
- «In the end, there are a lot of romantic comedies mixed in with the isekai genre, aren’t there? In a modern setting, it seems like that’s what became popular».
- «When you give these kinds of statements, fans of what is popular today can’t argue and just call you “old man.”».
- «It seems that isekai romantic comedies are popular nowadays, but what happens is that in the end they are all the same».
- «Villain isekai are what’s hot these days. This is a genre quite open to other options, so you can add romance, comedy and even battles».
- «It seems like they’re experimenting with some traditional rom-coms these days, but they’re not being successful.».
- «It seems to me that “Otonari no Tenshi-sama” was selling very well. Even some others will be animated soon. While I don’t think it’s possible to revive the popularity of the genre, perhaps it could be revived if combined with what’s popular today.».
- «Harem romantic comedies don’t have enough scale if you become easily attached to a person, so the psychological descriptions are really complicated. I couldn’t keep up halfway through. It’s like a shooting game turned into a barrage of bullets».
- «Look at the ranking of those who say that “romantic comedy is in fashion.” No matter where you look at it, the ones that are isekai are more popular».
Fountain: Yaraon!
