Yeah it was fun in the beginning, after all who never thought about being transported to another world where you ate a big hero with swords and magic?
But what the hell, I’m pretty sure there’s more isekai now than other genres/settings. It’s gotten to a point that if I see the tag I just move on.
When I watched Frieren the best thing was that it was no fucking isekai. It’s still competence porn, but at least she is not a middle aged man who died lonely in his bedroom. Just a classic fantasy world. Loved it
I’m not sure if the competence porn is justified in this case. She’s clearly meant to be an RPG character at the end of their adventure (and consequently apex of their power), it makes sense to me she’s overpowered. There’s a reason most TTRPGs stop at a a certain level and sometimes even have rules and instructions for retiring.
I think it’s justified, but I don’t necessarily mean it in a negative way. Her competence is certainly an important part of exploring what the series is actually about, namely loss, regret, and what’s really important in life, etc. Which you can have even if you are very powerful.
Now that I think about it. Maybe that’s exactly the reason why it is not competence porn. Maybe her competence is analogous to a sex scene which enhances the actual topic and not the goal itself like how sex is in porn.
On the other hand I certainly watch it for the competency lol