What's your favorite portal fantasy? Why is it your favorite?

[akitsukino]

Alice in Wonderland, Coraline, Narnia; portal fantasies are pretty popular and for good reason. Fantasy worlds are great to explore and write. I'd realized that the story I've been working on is a portal fantasy and I've been trying to look into other stories in the genre not only for inspiration but also to see what I might want to do differently. One type of portal fantasy I like is the kind that questions and answers some of the things other stories in the subgenre don't. For instance, how would someone who's been thrown into a magical land in their teens, lived there into adulthood, and then been kicked out and reverted back into a child react. They'd probably go insane wouldn't they?

I thought I'd asked some of you what your favorite portal fantasies are. What book, comic, movie, or tv series do you feel did the genre the best? What did it do differently that you appreciated? Was it darker like Coraline or completely fantastical like Alice in Wonderland? What do you think are some different themes/issues portal fantasies could address?

[storytimebiondi]

One of my all-time favourites is Escaflowne. A not well remembered anime from 1996 by the guys that did Gundam. If you haven't seen it, I'd check it out!

[xanedis]

So, let's start with your last question:

I think the first theme that immediately comes to mind is this: "If I had a chance to redo my life, would I do it?" Portal fantasy is perfect for that, especially if you go the nontraditional route of being realistic about the new arrival's chances in the unknown world. You get extra points for starting the story a few years later from the "portal accident point" and not telling the reader that the main character came from our world until the story's halfway done.

Another theme I suspect would do well is the theme of racism. In a fantasy story, a bully could become a hero, or a worse bully - especially since it's all allowed now at least in certain social contexts. How would the character change upon seeing such social injustice, and would they even act upon it? Will they, perchance, join a nonhuman resistance movement even though they themselves are "human" just because it's right... or will they join the human side because their crush fights on that side?

My favourite portal fantasy(also a fusion fantasy) is a Manhwa called "Id". Haven't read it in quite a while, but it's essentially about an eastern-style martial artist boy who gets transported into a traditional fantasy world but wait someone knows you and you have a talking sword. Fun stuff. Also, his crush is an elf. Traditions should not be broken without a good reason. totally not serious about the last part

The best portal fantasy in my opinion was... hmm... an anime called Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World. The story's a good watch on its own, but its plot twists are amplified if you know the traditional anime/light novel tropes that have to do with the "isekai"-genre("isekai" is Japanese for "another world"). It's a series that plays(and, really, PREYS) on your expectations until you're not sure how the story will end. That's the best way I guess this genre can be written these ways - write honestly, write true to the characters, and let them fail where a person of their caliber SHOULD FAIL. Then watch them fail more, or let them rise up like phoenix from the ashes. The more failures the person goes through, the greater the delight when they succeed.

EDIT: I am sorry for the long post. This topic is something of a passion of mine.

[Wumbl]

I really REALLY liked Blood Lad. It's a shame the anime didn't get more episodes than it did.

The premise is that a human girl is accidentally teleported to the demonic realm, where she is killed and turned into a ghost. The protagonist is a demon who becomes determined to bring her back to life... but mostly because he wants to eat her. He's also a HUGE weeaboo. It's kind of hilarious.

I recommend it a LOT. The characters are super interesting.

[Kura]

Though I'm not all that big on this theme, mostly because it's been done to death and a lot of them are just not done well, I REALLY like the reverse of it. With people from fantasy world coming to live in what's basically the real world.

[xanedis]

And then there's fusion fantasy(at least, that's what I think the genre is called), in which a character is active in two worlds - ours and the fantasy world. Now there's a genre with MUCH potential.

[punkarsenic]

the book of lost things!

i first read it when i was maybe 11, and i fell in love with the prose and the storytelling. i really like stories that deconstruct fantasy tropes, which this one does in bucketloads. i think looking back on it, maybe some of what it did would fall into a type of 'edgy' that illicits an eye-roll from me, but i still really like the worldbuilding.

[lil-sea-salt]

Winx --> its a show about magical girls who defeat witches and travel to different worlds to complete objectives. Then u got ur basic animes: SAO, NGNL, and Log Horizon, also ancient magus bride (more high fantasy tho), made in abyss.

I don't like shows that are too dark, I need some humor, friendship, something that doesn't feel like I'm engulfed in darkness bc I'll feel too depressed to keep going.

Portal fantasies put characters in difficult situations that people wouldn't normally be in so it makes the reader wonder what they would do in that situation.

[Testaccount]

Personally, I like dark stories, so I'll have to go with Pan's Labyrinth and the Splintered series.

I like both of those because they were dark, showing that the world isn't a happy place, but you can find happiness if you're willing to fight for it. To me, that echoes real life. Life isn't all smiles and giggles, and if we want to live a good life, we're constantly fighting. Fighting as in keeping a steady job, finding ways to support ourselves, and handling the relationships around us.

Of course, it's always fun reading and watching new worlds.

[keii4ii]

I like portal fantasies whose main attraction ISN'T the fact that it's a portal fantasy. Let's face it, that's just the genre. Give me something fascinating about the plot, or something tangible/ heartfelt about the characters. Then show me how you use the portal fantasy setup to drive that fascinating/ heartfelt thing.

BTW, does something like Silent Hill 2 count? The player character arguably starts from the real world and then descends into a different dimension. (He even goes in and out of that dimension back and forth, but the line becomes blurred as the story goes on.) If that counts, that would be my favorite portal fantasy story in the whole world.

it's been done to death and a lot of them are just not done well

I feel like that's true for pretty much every subgenre and trope XD