So, trapped in another world, isekai, transmigration or what you’d like to call it

It is a trope with so much potential, and yet, all I seem to find is the same paint water fantasy set dressing with nothing plots. So perhaps I am looking in the wrong direction (Anime, Manga, Light novels, Webtoons.) The souless meatgrinder that is the anime industry is likely not very conductive to much creative exploration.

So what am I looking for then?

A. Superfan of a piece of media yeeted into it upon death.

Except trying to live in your (as an example) favourite fantasy book is very different from reading it.

A.1. You are nobody, you know nobody, you don’t even speak the language. The knowledge of what will happen, knowledge of things you really should not know, it is arguably not that useful. Not when you’re currently more concerned with with what you’re going to eat that evening or where you’re going to sleep. (Alongside figuring out what the hell is going on.)

You could try to fix things, prevent tragedies. But you have no special main character powers, no surprise inheritances or animal companions. Oh and you’re still on the point of not dying of starvation, or any of all the other things.

There are many things you should have no way of even knowing. Things some people would kill you over were they to even suspect you do.

A.2. Your favourite piece of media just happens to be like dark souls. Or any other thing death is common.

Again, not dying would be nice.

And maybe you can die and not stay dead. Except you always wake up at the same point in time, anything you’ve accomplished reset. And dying hurts, a lot.

B. It’s a video game! One you just started playing before dying!

And now you have to deal with video game mechanics (no stat windows, what are you talking about?)

Your footsteps only have a limited amount of sound effects they can make. Eat anything and it will just be consumed whole instantly. Lay down in a bed and now you’ve slept the whole night.

And maybe you won’t notice at first but eventually you will run out of things to talk about with the npc’s. There are no real people and after chatting with them enough they’ll will repeat dialogue tree’s. There are only so many things that they’ll respond to.

C. There is a isekaié but we the audience does not get to find out. (They’re not the main character.)

D. They decide to prevent the conflict by murdering the antagonists before they can commit any crimes. To mixed results.

I would be open to other interesting ideas.

And more generally I’d prefer without romance, at least not with the main character.

Something with interesting world building, and compelling characters. That could stand on its own as a regular story.

I am also quite partial to morally dubious character’s and protagonists who slowly fall into villainy. The road to hell and all that.

Please no system windows or “helpful Gods who is behind the reincarnation.”

But they may have been summoned by some wizard who needed a person for parts but messed up the spell.