Prompt: Fernweh
Isekai manga told me lies
Promised me ten volumes and a movie franchise
All I had to do was hop into the portal
To get magical powers and not be mortal
Turns out I picked the wrong hole
I’ve not been dropped in the lead role
Instead, I’m the bumbling comic relief
And every scene I have is brief
Every villain quickly beats me up
To motivate the hero’s buildup
All the girls laugh and pass me by
The hero is the apple of their eye
I know I’m not the prettiest there’s ever been
Does the hero really need fifteen?
He gets all the scenes and all the plot
While I’m stuck on the edge of shot
My side story will end in tears
Because I won’t get it for ten long years
Until then, I’ll sit here and mope
As the person who broke the Isekai trope
Jonathon Greenall is a freelance writer, artist, and tabletop roleplaying game designer who has written for CBR, Polygon, Nintendo Life, Gayley Dreadful, Enbylife, and many other publications. They have also published several popular and highly-praised tabletop roleplaying games including “You Have One Ability….The Ability To Fuck This Up,” “Macarons, Milkshakes, And Magic,” and “Wander Wizards.”
Jonathon has always been fascinated by media, from the big hitters to the small, obscure, and often overlooked titles that linger on the sidelines, capturing both the on and off-camera stories that make these shows so fascinating.
Jonathon is also a major anime fan, having been exposed to the medium through shows like Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena. Since then, Jonathon has maintained a passion for anime, watching most new shows each season and hunting down overlooked gems from previous ones.