M.L. Olmstead

I’ll never forget my first time at the Utica Anime Fest when I was describing the The Knights Lost in the Void. I rambled on and on about the other world that the characters wake up in, and finally the person stops me and say, “So you wrote an Isekai?” I starred blankly at the person, and said, “Umm yeah…”

I immediately had to look up the term because I had never heard it before. Even though I have been watching anime since the 90s, I’m still behind in the terminology. Perhaps it was because obtaining anime was extremely difficult before the internet was huge, so most animes I watched were dubbed. If I got my hands on a subbed anime, it was a recording on a blank VHS tape. There weren’t a lot of online communities or resources either. Or maybe its just people of today love terminology. Either way, when I’m asked if Rising of the Shield Hero or Sword Art Online are inspirations, I have to say no. Even though there might be some similar themes or appearances. It’s time to go back to the 90s once again…

Ravena Isekai inspiration:

One of the animes that had the biggest impact on me, and the first other world anime I saw was The Vision of Escaflowne. Hitomi Kanzaki is a normal high school girl who gets transported to the planet Gaea right from her high school track. Fanelia itself is an amazing place because while it has old fashion clothing and a lack of modern convivences like phones and televisions, it does not lack technology. So its not time travel, its just different. Hitomi’s connection to Gaea is through her grandmother’s past. This is a common theme you will find in other animes.

Another anime of that time period that grew my interest in other world stories was Fushigi Yuugi, translated to The Mysterious Play. Miaka and Yui start off in a library and end up getting pulled into the book The Universe of the Four Gods, which is set in ancient China. So you do have the elements of time travel, but its also its own world because its a book.

And the final anime that inspired a love for Isekai even though I never called it that: Inuyasha. Kagome is living in the modern day Tokyo and is transported through a well into the Sengoku period where she meets up with Inuyasha-half human half demon. Most of the show is based on battles between humans with spiritual power and demons and mixtures of such. Kagome is a reincarnation of Kikyo who is living in the time she travels back to.

If you have read The Knights Lost in the Void, you will definitely see some influence from all three of these series, particularly the way they arrive and later on some of the connections to Ravena. I will try my best to tell you where the Knights is different without giving spoilers. You see, you need pieces from all three books to understand what Ravena is…so here goes.

Ravena is not another planet nor does it exist in a certain time period. Ravena occupies its own unique space, and yet it is connected to the Earth. The inhabitants of Ravena do live in a medieval style of world, but its not due to time, its due to lack of resources. And that lack of resources is connected both to Ravena’s origins and its changes. There is a Ravena that existed with the first Knights, and there is a Ravena that exists after the Fall of those Knights.

Another difference is that Ravena’s natural elements are beautiful, but unlike Gaea, the Book from Fushigi Yuugi, or 1500s Japan, the beauty of Ravena cannot be appreciated. There is too much loss and desperation in the remaining people. The Knights is trying to explore the concept: Can evil acts penetrate the core of beauty so deeply that its appearance is meaningless? Or does beauty shine through regardless of circumstances? It’s really a question for the reader to answer for themselves.

Also, in a lot of Isekai, the characters except the supernatural elements much quicker. Perhaps its because of the spiritual undertones that exist in Japanese culture. The Knights characters are modern day Americans raised with no understanding of things beyond the material. It creates a different feeling than that of watching an anime.

The nature of Isekai reflects the nature of fantasy itself-the goal being to bring other worldly elements into the lives of regular people who are in need of something more. The Knights is no different. Mario, Virgil, and Robert can be like any other person in the world. Living day by day until its over. There is a complacency that can overcome any of us until a fateful day when everything changes. Ravena is that change for our three main characters and others. Their response to that change, to the call to be more than they currently are, is the story.

Ok, so I only planned to write three parts, but there is the storytelling elements themselves to go over. So stay tuned to Part 4!