>>54314490And if they were given a new chance on life, a revitalized young body to go with that, to contrast with the young timer and being able to put them in their place with an air of authority gained from their time in some hard field like the military, while also guiding them to be the best they can be, I think that could make for an interesting story. Hell, I could easily see said "old" man being a mentor for any new branch of friends that his so called grandson manages to pair with, even if not serving as the role of primary protagonist, such a character could prove to be an invaluable lynchpin type like Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
In this vein, I think isekai has pigeonholed itself into relying on easy fallbacks that do not advance the genre, going to the tried and true instead of going the unorthodox.
In response to you
>>54314262 Anon, it does not need to be a boring, "Oh woe is I, separated from my family, I need to get back so I can take care of them." That could be part of the plot, but I could easily see something made of such a protagonist making something new in such a world, forming new connections and family while establishing themselves once again in a position of strength.
Or if you want to skip that bull, just bring said family over and develop something from there. As I said with bringing over a grandson or granddaughter, depending on the setting, if we are to presume said younger family member were to be kidnapped and/or recruited by one of those typical bad guy organizations, or lost by another means, you now have a quest for said old protagonist to find their family member and hunt down the ones responsible for the kidnapping, carving a bloody path if the need arises, or utilizing other means that do not necessitated bloodshed.
