Reincarnation ruins good story

I keep finding novel that would've been really good if not for the fact that the MC have a reincarnated soul inside
Like, why don't just make him have an otherworldly knowledge rather than making him a reincarnated person? The feels in the latter are better imo.
Novel example of the latter one are like the hero king hercules who get injected with other world knowledge by spirit(forgot the title), the magician with guidance book (also forgot the title), and the one with both soul fused to make a different personality (akuyaku reijou ni koi o shite)
My opinion of reincarnation genre is currently quite low with how negligible the "reincarnation" trait are used in it

 

Reincarnation, the author wants to show you that mc from their country is a walking Wikipedia with an eidetic memory

 

Expectation: reincarnated person is capable of starting several industrial revolutions singlehandedly with their otherworldly knowledge and outstanding leadership abilities.
Reality: reincarnated person suffers from Internet addiction, can't survive too long because of a lack and inability to acquire survival skills and is shunned by the society because of inability to fit in

 

mc is usually reincarnated to make the readers reletable , like, a person from modern sociaty with modern thoughts and all .

 

I feel like there are times, in certain novels (which will remain unnamed) that the only reason why there is reincarnation involved is so authors can insert funny quips that would only make sense if someone was from our world. And personally, I think the novels with reincarnators being a walking wiki are oftentimes better since it serves a narrative purpose (albeit a poor one), instead of just being a staging ground for "cute" one-liners.

 

Rather than relatable, more like to make it more "chewable" by decreasing the explanation needed. But most of the time, it breaks the story flow for me.

 

I like reincarnation when done right.

Like, in most otome game novels, it's important that the MC is reincarnated, because the entire premise of the novel relies on the idea that the MC has to work with the game knowledge to avoid a troublesome future.

On some other novels, it can be interesting to see baby/child protagonists adapting to the new environment and accepting that they are in a new world, with a new family and the like. Those can be quite lovely slice of life novels.

Now... If the protag is just a living wikipedia, or if the isekai aspect is quickly forgotten and stops mattering, then it shouldn't be an isekai novel in the first place.

 

So isekai

 

I think the biggest problem with isekai is how overused it is. I mean getting transported/reincarnated in another world is, if you think about it, a pretty interesting concept with quite a lot of possibilities. But now every author just uses it's premise because not only does it get readers, it's also easy to use. At this point they don't even bother trying to give a reason why you get isekai'd, they just think that you know the rules and so do I. Heck it there are times where they just mention it, only to never have any importance at all. For example, if I remember correctly, Battle through the Heavens was like this, where the mc was said to be a reincarnator at the beginning and this fact was never mentioned ever again.

 

Though when it comes to transported into a game/novel stories I often end up feeling even that aspect of the story could have been skipped in the first place.
Either because the author isn't using it enough to make it feel important, or because they rely on it too much but without really considering the consequences it has for the story.
In particular a lot of "reincarnated as a villainess" stories leave me wishing it had just been about an initially villainous character having a change of heart with no reincarnation or prior knowledge about what is going to happen.

 

Ah... Well, I definitely agree that it has to be used on the right amount.

Use it too little and it stops mattering. Use it too much and it starts making the overall narrative kinda underwhelming.

But still, when used in the right amount, I think it can be great~

 

When i started reading novel or fanfic for the first time, i am quite disturbed by the MCs who reincarnated in another world saying, "yes, adventure", " my life has been boring in earth anyways ", "i want to be a hero", "i am going to be the harem king (especially this one)", but now i am indifference to it, mostly. i know this is a fiction, but why not try to make it a bit more realistic.i always taught the authors are cheating by not showing seriously how the mc react, accept and adapt to the new world.

 

so true!!!! there have been so many times when reading a novel i think to myself, "is the transmigration really relevant?" and when i remove that element from the story, it makes no difference - sometimes, i find that you can substitute a better storyline that would've been much more interesting to read. i think a lot of people jump onto it, its because there's already a framework in place so its easier to start the story since everyone is already familiar with the setup. i think the main issue is like what others have already said: either 1) the transmigration/reincarnation is completely underutilised and serves barely any plot relevance or 2) is used in unrealistic and unnecessary ways such that it messes up the plot from flowing naturally and hence lowers reader experience

 

I don't think the OP is entirely incorrect, but I disagree with the general premise. The most important reason for a protagonist to come from the present day isn't because of knowledge or abilities; it's because he or she has modern attitudes and sensibilities. This allows for all sorts of cool interaction between how the character reacts to the new world and its peoples and how they in turn react to the protagonist. Yes, it's possible to do some pretty interesting things with protagonists from different backgrounds, but it's a lot harder to sustain interest for a long time.

Now I do hear the counterargument that the background of the protagonist doesn't matter in a lot of bad books, but the issue is that these are bad books. Nothing about how the story is constructed is going to matter anyways, and changing the protagonist's background to something else isn't going to improve it in any way.

 

That's exactly what breaks it. Those sudden modern value when the MC is already accustomed to the different world value, especially in those which have a long timeskip.
This value suddelny goes up when other decision MC made is based on "it's isekai after all". That breaks MC's character and that's what ruins an isekai story.
Isekai is one of my favorite genre. My top novels like Arifureta, mushoku tensei and akuyaku reijou ni koi o shite use isekai genre in 3 different way. Arifureta where MC goal is to go back home, mushoku tensei where the MC slowly lose his isekai value and falling in love with the villainess where the MC's value blend

And the issue in bad books is only a bad books is a mindset only a shallow reader have. A good reader follow the story and see it's flaw and how can it be improved.

 

I agree, specially if the reincarnation barely made any difference. It's like the only purpose of the reincarnation BS is because the author can't write a good romance, so he'll pull this "she/he's too young for my adult mind" BS. Like that reasoning have any ounce of realism on it.

I also don't get weebs or otakus being super strong and overpowered, a world with no modern technology to make things easier for you is just so depressing for their kind of people. They already can't make their lives any better despite having facilities that would make their progress easier and faster, yet they expect us to believe this weeb who plays with lotion and tissues all day suddenly have the drive to be better?

New World, New Me? Is that it? Lol, that's just unreal. You were yanked out of your comfort zone then suddenly your skin is clear, anxiety no more, anti-social behaviour gone and just have the urge to save this new world you have no attachments to or whatsoever? But I'd be damned coz' these kind of novels are my guilty pleasure. It's so stupid and flawed but it's just so easy to consume, like MSG to the brain.

 

Are you okay dude? With that kind of thought, once you hit depression you'll reach rock bottom fast.

I can get that some peeps will get better or died fast if they go to isekai. Especially because there's no place to run away from reality there. Either you face it or die

 

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I'm not really thinking about isekai novels when talking about writing elements in general. The thing is that these books tend to eschew standard writing techniques so making minor changes aren't going to improve the quality. Basically, I'm saying that they're so fundamentally defective that you'd need to make really drastic changes before they'd be any good.

Specifically your suggestion of changing the background of the protagonist doesn't make all that much sense to me. While good isekai novels are rare, I have come across them and they all use the drawn into another world aspect in positive ways. This is even more true of old school isekai novels as this story element is extremely important. Taking that away from them just seems like an awful idea.

 

Unfortunately, we're not talking about a good isekai novel here. The premise of this thread is about not-so-great books that can become more interesting by removing the isekai premise with other premises.
Some examples, if an otome game character read a guide book of the game rather than a reincarnated person or if the character gain only the otherworldy knowledge and not a fully reincarnated person. These kind of premise changes