Discussion Who's the intended audience for Time Travel novels?

My point is that a target audience doesn't need to identify with the mc, or any of the characters. They can still enjoy it. And thus be the target audience
P.S. Though i do realise how my comment came off.

 

The reason it's always someone older than the targetted demographics going back in time is because age is an inspiration of power, wisdom and knowledge. If it was a twenty something guy going back in time in the extreme situations of these novels, what's the point? They couldn't tell an entire story that spans years while using the "I know everything that's going to happen" trick.

The targeted demographics is still teenagers. Why? Because said protagonist always "assimilates" so much with his body that he'll start acting like a teenager, no matter how much the author describes him as a wise and old man. A teenager will thus be able to feel related and the matter of age is suppressed.

What's more, teenagers do have such fantasies and regrets. It's not as much about correcting the past (usually there isn't even a huge mistake made or anything), it's about reliving your life as someone else, the one person you've always wanted to be, a more powerful version of yourself.

tl;dr: it's still wish fulfilment.

 

I think the target audience is for 'young-adults' like older teens would fit right in, but probably the older generation seems too far off.

 

Haha, I think in my teens, my preference was to have superpowers (chuunibyou). Harder, better, faster, stronger right?
Hence the near universal appeal of the superhero genre like "Boku no Hero", "Marvel", "One Punch Man", etc.

For a teenager, to go through the first step of becoming old, then reverting to their youth and reliving life again sounds like a pain in the ass.
If teenagers really wanted to have foreknowledge, why not go for a precog superpower like "Top Management"? Better than having unreliable foreknowledge that can change (the butterfly effect of messing with past events).
Unfortunately I'm not so sure young people appreciate the concept of wisdom

It's probably my generation gap showing. I also don't get why people use Instagram, Snapchat or rent eScooters I can probably identify with the Judiciary Committee dinosaurs interviewing the tech CEOs.

 

so...you're single?

seriously though thats a horrible thing to happen and i think its very cool of you to share your experience with us here at NUF. May your favorite series never get dropped and the translators forever be without a personal life!

 

i remember back when they were like 20 cents, man do i regret not buying some!

 

I think the intended audience depends more on the rest of the novel then in the time travel aspect.

Like... The novel's theme and stuff, plotlines and what not.

 

I thought time travel would refer to 21st century guy going to the future or past using a time travel machine or magic... welp.

Anyway, I think the aimed intended audience would be teenagers or people in their twenties. The knowing the future and thus (kinda) effortlessly succeeding in life aspects of these novels is a nice break from the stress that real life gives. Personally, I'm jealous of the way the MC easily picks their path based on what he experienced from the previous life.

Another thing, it's also likely that the authors write these novels more because of popularity and what they personally read themselves. I feel my writing style change more as I consume more translated novels...

 

I don't see your confusion. It doesn't matter whether the readers are adults, teens, or old folks, the intended audience crosses age barriers.

The intended audience is not age, but sentiment. I don't know how old you are, but you have things that you regretted doing, don't you? The audience for time-travel/do-over/second-chance novels are those sentiments of "If only I didn't do that back then" or "If only I can turn back time and undo all that" or "If only I knew back then what I know now". Everyone has this, but not everyone dwell on the mistakes of their past.

The target audience is those who can sympathize with the feeling of regret and wanting to change the past. Therefore, there is no age barrier, everyone has this, even kids. The only question is, can the author make the readers sympathize with the protagonist?

 

But are there any non-junk novels with op mc? They either born lucky(has a grandpa or a loli inside them) or gets lucky(gains a sacred item).

 

Thought about your post a lot. Think I have a possible response in a recent novel 重生似水青春

In the novel, a 30+ yr old earnest-but-average man is hit by truck-kun, and reverts to age 18. The difference from almost EVERY other novel's MC is that instead of:
- rushing to make money
- becoming stupidly OP/rich
- building a harem
- building a harem with loli/pedophilia
- punishing future evil-doers who haven't yet committed ANY crime
- being spiteful to people who have yet to commit ANY wrong
the MC focused on re-establishing relations with his family and people he cared about. He helped them avert major incidences and was cautious of the butterfly-effect in changing too many things. More often, he was just enjoying the sense of nostalgia, and cherishing the things that he used to take for granted ... friendship, childhood innocence, the sacrifices his parents made, a simpler and worry-free student life.
He was also mindful that people could change, and that their upbringing/circumstances/environment had a big effect on their actions. So he was always willing to give "future" evil-doers a chance and help them back to the right path. Even his "romances" with his high-school classmates were tastefully done, not some old dude perverting after school kids. And it's not a cakewalk for MC to make money either.

This presents a very realistic development of what happens when a mature 30++ person time-travels to their youth. Their actions ought to be responsible, not wish-fulfillment.
Writing the former indicates the target audience is for mature adults.
Writing the latter is completely inconsistent with who the MC originally is, and indicates the target audience is juvenile.

Everyone experiences regret differently. Your age + life experiences + character dictate how you address those regrets.

If the point is just "sentiment" and the target audience is for kids, then the answer is simple.
Make the MC to be in his late-teens, early-20s so that he's still relatively young, time-travel to highschool, then no one can fault the MC for still acting childishly/face-slapping/etc.
But it's incomprehensible and distasteful when a novel MC is older (30s++) and goes back in time for pure wish-fulfillment. That just shows the author (and audience who enjoys that) is juvenile. Even Detective Conan behaves maturely and is only forced to act like a kid when in public for the sake of appearances.

 

Hold on friend, I need names of those novels you been reading especially the ones written by older authors of those Re-Do Novels because those perspective seems really interesting to me.

 

Haha, unfortunately I don't think 重生似水青春 has been translated. Neither on Qidian's webnovel.com or independent translators. I did post a translation request for interested readers.
https://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/reliving-my-youthful-days-重生似水青春.83659/
If you read Chinese, you can get the link here.

My Reading List is public (link on the left), along with my highly opinionated ratings .
There are hardly any time-travel novels with actual mature MCs, or at least the translated ones. This novel was the rare exception. I know the "women's" genre section on Chinese webnovel sites has quite a few with obviously female protagonists. But from the synopsis, these tend to be incredibly makjang (ridiculously melodramatic).

The closest example of a "Re-Do" with a mature MC is "Reincarnator". It's an old post-apocalyptic battle-novel, but MC's got a good head on his shoulders. The plot is fairly simple and straightforward, no nonsensical twists. MC's actions are what you'd expect from a 40/50 yr old grizzled war vet carrying the existential fate of humanity. Lots of social issues are brought to the forefront as well.

Maybe the granddaddy of Chinese time-travel is "A Step into the Past". MC is sent back in time into the Warring States period (pre- Qin Dynasty). Am not a fan of the MC and it's definitely wish-fulfillment, but it's "mature" in the sense that he has to compete with real historical figures who are often as clever/scheming as he is. You're better off trying to find the manhwa adaption, although I'm not sure if there are english translations.

If you're looking for modern-day genre, try "Top Management". Not quite "Re-Do", but mature MC has some power of foresight and has to decide on how to react to possible futures. Or "Chemistry", no time-travel/reincarnation but MC has power to identify/interact with chemical reactions, very MacGyver.

If you're not period specific and focused more on "sentiment" and addressing "regrets" either in the same timeline or different timelines, then maybe try "Sansheng", or "Three Days of Happiness". The former is multiple reincarnations. The latter is more about what to do when your lifespan was limited.
Heck maybe you can even read "Reborn as my Love Rival's Wife", an oddball gender-bender genre but offers some interesting perspectives on "reincarnation"/"second-chances".