Discussion Readers of isekai/reincarnation novels...

I agree with the little to no knowledge part as I often feel that MCs know way too much knowledge over a array of fields in a lot of stories, especially when they are teenagers. If they are to have knowledge at least make it specialized in a single field with a believable backstory as to why they would have that knowledge e.g. a gun nut may know the workings of a gun but not how to make the materials for it (might be a bad example as guns are still fairly simple but you get the point)

 

Having it matter would be a start. Too many stories where it's a isekai/reincarnation prologue and then nothing connects back to it in the story. It's like the author needed to check that box and then forgets about it right away.

 

I've seem people say that the reason why isekai/transmigration stories are popular is that these characters are relatable and easy to self-insert into. I find that this is only a secondary reason at most. The real reason is that these kinds of stories are all about building dramatic irony - the reader is allowed to know information about the protagonist and his abilities that nobody else knows about. Take away the character's ability to use their specialized knowledge and you take away much of the appeal of the story, so why would a writer do it?

 

A mc should be allowed to use his previous life memories, or there's not much charm in it being an isekai. As long as the mc doesn't overindulge and keep his previous life an actual secret, then I believe it would fine.

The problem about an mc that has no memories of his past life, is that it would be barely be an isekai at that point. What I would like to see is some sort of amnesia, where the mc will be reincarnated (so birthed as a baby and over time, he/she will slowly remember their previous life.

 

I want the mc, especially of an isekai, to use their skills. If they are good at managing people, are politically savvy, or other such traits, I want them to embrace that in the new world. If it's something like "oh hey, I'm a gamer and know fantasy stuff, so this is how we should beat monsters a-z", not so much.

Reincarnation, I think I prefer them to keep their memories, but not try hard to use their knowledge to do things like investment/lottery winning or even avoid major natural disasters. If they do, I like having a butterfly effect in place to mitigate the golden finger.

As for survival. Either they have the skills themselves (i.e. they are good at self-defense, not necessarily black belts or anything, or they are particularly cunning) or they actually have made a friend (NOT love interest) that is able to hopefully teach them survival skills instead of just saving them all the time.

 

Personally I enjoy the quick and mind boggling "achievement" aspect, But i hate seeing guns in these novels, like dude. a fire ball. has more potential for dmg, a bullet has fixed dmg which will never grow stronger, Arifureta would have probs been good if they figured that out and didnt just turn the MC into some gun and mechanical nut.Sure use knowledge, but only that which general populace knows of. A.k.a that blood circulates. gravity is a thing. depending on the world rules ig. lets discuss guns for example. it sounds easy "use gunpowder to explode bullet, use gas emitted to push back the reloader and hook down the trigger then press again to repeat" but common knowledge only goes upto use gunpowder. you can substitute that with magic but the fact remains that if you misjudge the explosion ba bye hand and likely ba bye living. now if you use some magic indestructible metal to make sure the explosion is contained. then at that point it is more efficient to use the explosion magic directly. or figure some better use for the metal and the magic cause at this point you are wasting too much for a single bullet. Is there a need to be so fixated on guns?
Similarly, lets use the "earth cooking is the best", can we agree everyone has diff taste buds? personally i hated pizza the first slice i ate but grew to like it. treating it as some godly food. its retarded.
And is there a reason having modern knowledge suddenly makes you "smarter", wisdom does not mean wit.
Tho if its lets say a nuclear scientist who died. id love to see him recreate a magic atomic bomb.
hell even general population knows its basically a ionized uranium bullet hitting a mass of uranium pushing the hydrogen to mesh together due to the generated heat. but the fine process is very delicate. especially the hydrogen control part.
sure using magic to substitute that is a good idea. and i love the "I am Taepedon" magic from "Power in the shadows" but its one of the few good things i found bout that novel.
and lastly. if you dont know the logic behind something to a fault. dont bullshit. it just makes it harder to read
hopefully this wasnt too long of a rant

 

It depends, if the fact they are reincarnated doesn't matter at all and they dont use their knowledge then I prefer ones without memories. If they actually use their knowledge (smartly) and it doesn't cause them to be stupidly overpowered then I prefer that.

 

i think if MC does not remember their past life then it's not an isekai or transmigration. This event should be material to the MC's current life. It can be manifested internally (like values or mentality) or externally (knowledge put to practise). I prefer the latter. If the isekai is simply an intro and does not affect the MC's life. Then what was the point of isekai? That would simply be a clickbait.

 

Reasonable use of knowledge is fine, the problem is that the "reasonable" criteria is often not met, as both authors and audiences can be way off in what they consider realistic, either making the requirements to lenient or to difficult. Reality Is Unrealistic is a trope in fiction for a reason.

What knowledge the MC can use depends on the MC's background, Random kid will not know as much on a subject as a dedicated hobbyist, and what a hobbyist would legitimately know is something that many will not accept, or give to much lee way on.

For say guns, I personally do not know the formula for gunpowder, but it is very conceivable for someone to know how to make old fashioned black powder, modern gunpowder is a different material, and would have higher requirements to recreate.

For engines, I do not know how to make a car engine (well not the spark plug), or refine gasoline but it is very conceivable for someone in an area with high vehicle ownership to be familiar enough to be able to make a simplified version.

On a train, I know of the top of my head how the piston and valve it uses work, but not most of the extra features to improve safety and performance (one standard model has 5 openings, 1 dedicated steam input, 2 dedicates pressure release, and 2 that swap function based on the position of the valve, and are connected to each side of the piston)

What someone can do with the knowledge also depends allot on the quality of the world building, and quite frankly way to many stories get a F there since the worlds make no sense and rely on myths that are part of popular culture but have been demonstrated false (eg. that medieval peasants were dirty and unclean when for most of the period they did clean themselves and bathhouses were common, illiteracy is based on a false statistic since to be considered literate you had to be able to read and write Latin with your local language not counting, etc) or rely on factors that the author is not properly applying to how they would affect society (most places that use slavery magic the way it is seen in most series really should end up like the slaver nation in isekai smartphone was before he MC shut them down, or worse. Heck too many settings have being a victim of a crime/bandits meaning you lose all legal rights with no repercussions for merchants buyers involved, let alone having way to many bandits)