Question What's the difference between isekai and transmigration?

As the title describes, is there any real difference between the two or is it just a matter of preference?

 

Isekai is specific. Another world, fantasy.

Transmigrate is more general. It can be of any genre of any world or even the same world. As long as the location, time, or body is different, one can say transmigrate.

 

Transmigation is usually reincarnation. So you can transmigate to the same world as a different person.

Isekai is a different world, so you can keep your original body.

 

Doesn't isekai often use certain tropes like summoning?

 

Isekai is the japanese term for another world while transmigration got to do with the soul 'inhabiting' another body (could be also the same body in some novels) after death thus getting another chance at life, doesn't necessarily mean reincarnation as this latter must include rebirth (reborn or restarting as a baby) which is not necessarily the case with transmigration, although in JP novels transmigrators (transmigration) are those who went from earth to another world (by being summoned or some other way) thus the meaning here is migration or traveling in a sense

 

Are you asking CN or JP novel?
That because CN novel always same a blood cake on top bloody table at middle of bloody island that floating on bloody sea

 

I interpreted transmigration as “bodily transportation/teleportation/dimensional travel from one world to another.” If there is a difference between that and reincarnation, it is that transmigration has you go from one world to another with body and soul, while reincarnation is just a soul trip.

Isekai would be a genre where the main character or characters are transported from their original world to another one (souls only would be reincarnation and body and soul is transmigration). So an isekai can qualify as one whether it is reincarnation or transmigration from my understanding.

 

I think that they're pretty much the exact same thing.

Depending on the context (usually Japanese novels), you could say that transmigration is a method of going to an isekai that is separate to reincarnation. I.e. with transmigration it's like you've just teleported to another world (whether it be your whole self or just your soul taking over someone else's body), whereas with reincarnation you have to die have your soul sent into another world to be reborn as a child.

Transmigration also doesn't come with as much baggage of the tropey fantasy world that is identical in 99% of all Japanese isekai.

 

Transmigration = soul migrating to another body or a body migrating to another world. Trans stands for across or beyond (beyond your body or world in this case). Soul transmigration would be rebirth/reincarnation or taking over someone who died. You can transmigrate to a body in your own existing world.

Isekai = different world, so going from one world to another. So all isekai is transmigration but transmigration doesn't have to be isekai.

 

That and the other trope is you died and then god puts you in another world.

Isekai from my prospective is being sent to another world, usually that has magic, with either your body intact or being reborn into the world with full memories and personality from previous life.

Transmigration from my prospective is where the soul takes over the body of someone who is dying or just died. Sometimes receiving the memories of the deceased. You see this alot in Chinese Novels, especially in where the lead is Female. Not to be confused with reincarnation since the original host died. .

Reincarnation from my prospective is something happens like bumping their head, getting super sick, or had a near death experience and they get memories from a past life. The host doesn't die but gets new memories and experiences.

 

Damn... reminds me of the ‘a square is a rectangle but a rectangle is not a square’ thing lol.

 

One you get a very power thing/s which prevents you from death and gives you god like abilities like gaining woman with a simple gesture to being able to tell good from evil easily.
And the other does the same but now he has something from our world like a smartphone and he wants to bring his harem everywhere with him

 

yep yep, transmigration is when the soul transmigrated to another person's body, be it dead or otherwise. reincarnation is when the soul actually reincarnated, like they lived the life from birth until whenever they remember their past memories. transported is when one gets summoned or sent to another world, with their whole body intact (if it's just their soul then it's transmigration). isekai is just a genre where the setting is in a whole another world that is entirely different from ours.

 

One of them you meet truck-san. The other.. you get sucked into the book you’re reading.

 

Isekai is basically it, another world. Transmigration is 'transported'. A transmigration is always isekai, but an isekai is not always transmigration. Under isekai there is also tensei, which is 'reincarnation'.

In other words, isekai is the broader term that includes transmigration and reincarnation stories.

 

I think of it like this:
Isekai - someone is transported(summoned) or reborn
Transmigration - someone posses the body of an already existing person in a different world(or sometimes the same world)
The main difference is that for transmigration the character is preexisting and has a history in the other world while for isekai the character is new to the other world.
There are exceptions, but I feel like it usually goes like that.

 

In the technical sense, there really isn't that much difference between the two. But for practical purposes, "isekai" only really refers to modern isekai stories, and these are totally different from older isekai stories much less transmigration ones. These two aren't trying to do the same thing, and cater to significantly different audiences.

 

isekai is the word used in japanese stories, transmigration is for chinese ones.

 

isekai is where you go (to another world different from your original world)

transmigration is how you go ( move your soul to another body (not necessary get isekai'ed))

 

Simplest example between Reincranation & transmigration is notebook comparision:
- Reincranation is you accidentally burnt your old notebook and having a new one throwing your way.
- Transmigration is you accidentally burnt your old notebook down but someone toss you a half-filled one.
In both comparision, there is or there's not a back-up note( old world memories) kept somewhere in the memories of yours, but soon they'll burn no matter how hard you try to put out the note's flame.
On which scenario, is depend entirely on authors.
XD