No it absolutely is not. The isekai of the 80's, 90's and early 00's have practically nothing in common with modern isekai other than the "in another world" part. Spirited Away, Inuyasha, Escaflowne
Hell,
The Wizard of Oz and
Amphibia is strictly speaking isekai!
The amount of actual possible narrative variety you can actually have in isekai is ENORMOUS!
Now you generally get this:
- Loser/generic nobody falls into a portal or
dies.
- Is greeted by a summoner/god that either tasks them with some objective or wants to give them some damn reward for their unremarkable lives. Usually then granted some OP power.
- Is given a gimmick/limitation that they then overcome/learn to exploit practically by the end of the first chapter.
- "Oh, you're reborn as a talking mushroom in another world?
Well you get your human body back by episode three anyways. And then you get to also be super OP with no weaknesses for no reason.
"
- Generic Dragon Quest-esque western fantasy world.
- LETS BUY A SLAVE/Set up an exploitative relationship with someone in a servant role in a feudal society. They will never (be able to) reject you!
- Actual fucking
video game mechanics!
- Harem giiiiirls~
- Conspicuously basically never tries to actually get home, nor do they seem to have anyone they actually miss.
(Gods, I hope "Goblin is very strong" gets an anime)
- "I was reborn in another world with a set of skills that will let me PROVE THAT JAPAN IS SUPERIOR AND I AM HERE TO SAVE YOU FROM YOUR PRIMITIVE WAYS!!"
- MORE harem girls!
- Not overpowered enough yet? Here's even MORE powers, or yet another reveal of how your gimmick is completely broken from the start.
- No proper villains even if the world is at stake, with baddies only serving to show how cool you are when you fodderize them, or to be hilariously and unrealistically evil to make it more satisfying when you eventually take them down with ease.
Alternatively you get isekai that "plays" with that formula specifically, with "subversion" of it being its main goal. But they can only do so because of how dominant the formula is. The formula is so dominant they you get points for "originality" by intentionally trying to go for subversions rather than come up with your own shit. And if your light novel catches on you'll have
two fucking dozen copy-cats by the end of the fiscal quarter! Several of them will themselves obtain success by doing the aforementioned "subversion" thing on top of your "original" premise. Right now it's the otome game theme. More specifically about being reborn as the generic villainess of such games and
"trying to avoid the fate of your character at the end of the game."
And then you get isekai like
Knights & Magic where there's
no reason for it to even be isekai in the first place! It actually would have been better had it not been. They hamstrung their own story just to try to ride the isekai wave.
The entire modern genre (in Japan) still revolves around the formula, even when it is "subverting" it. As seen before, it absolutely does not need to, but they all try to play within the current boundaries in order to chase
the same golden goose.
And many of these clichés come from one simple thing: Most of these authors are not good writers. As in, they're literally just some schmuck between 18-28 with passable grades in Japanese. They then submit to huge LN websites that have practically no real regulations for who can enter. Thus you compete by coming up with the whackiest and biggest title possible in order to grab people's attention. And for a whacky title you need a whacky premise.
And that's where their creativity runs out. So the reborn mushroom man gets his (now way stronger) body back, the cellphone dude is actually given superpowers practically unrelated to the phone. "I Was Naked When I Reached the Other World". That's the level it is at.
Dude's naked, gets his fucking clothes back, and then it's just some generic harem fantasy where people are throwing themselves at his feet because of his superior nippon knowledge. The premise ONLY exists to grab your attention long enough for the sad power fantasy to set in.