Question Why are mc that have been sent or reborn in a new world never nostalgic for earth?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Raven Evernight, Feb 26, 2021.

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  1. Raven Evernight

    Raven Evernight But they never just accepted me for the way I was…

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    Seriously why do characters just move on from earth so fast and like never think about ever again I want characters that randomly wake up with songs from earth stuck in their heads singing/ humming it all day or characters that randomly make references to books or movies or tv shows absentmindedly then realise no one understands instead of like oh I have a happy life here let’s forget my original world completely it’s not realistic at all
     
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  2. Chrono Vlad

    Chrono Vlad 『Banned From Drinking』

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    Because majority of reincarnated, transported individuals are escapist. :blobpeek:
     
  3. Xane

    Xane Well-Known Member

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    JP protagonists always seem to hunt for rice, soy sauce, and say itadakimasu before eating.

    Unless it's an edgy revenge novel.
     
  4. Chrono Vlad

    Chrono Vlad 『Banned From Drinking』

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    Ahh yes the dreaded food chapters.... :blobpeek:
     
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  5. Raven Evernight

    Raven Evernight But they never just accepted me for the way I was…

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    That’s just eating habits though most of the time they end up eating monster meat
     
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  6. Joospinch

    Joospinch Don't click my avatar!!!

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    Those are the little things, what i always wonder is how they move on from their loved ones so quickly i.e parents, siblings, SO's you get the gist, unless its explicitly stated that they have nobody on earth other than very far off family member i always regard the MCs as sociopaths and funny enough most are with how they regard interpersonal relationships at the very least, and on the other hand IF it is stated that they were antisocial and had no one to care about them on earth it always baffles me how seamless the integration to the new world is and how quickly they make friends, whenever it happens deep in my gut im screaming how flipping fabricated that looks like, if u were able to make friends that quick in the new world how come u weren't able to have even one person you'd look at nostalgically from earth, all in all some thoughts i have when reading these novels and i cope with it by saying its fiction and i frankly lost hope at finding an author that could tackle this problem satisfactorily
     
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  7. AncestorRebellion

    AncestorRebellion Well-Known Member

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    Toilets,
    better food,
    society being more sociable and less violent,
    family members/friends from the past which they will never see again,
    modern technology,
    grievances (unresolved problems which the protagonist cannot solve without being on earth),
    and to fit in - the protagonists often get transported into a world where people think differently and so cannot fit in the same way.

    The only protagonists who don't give a damn about going back to earth are those who worked corporate jobs 9-5 or where the protagonist is a hollow shell and the author cannot be asked to explain the protagonist's past life because they were lazy.
     
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  8. Vermouth

    Vermouth Older but none the wiser.

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    Ultimately, in the end, I don't think the author wants to write a mopey character who is stuck in the past and can't seem to move on and adapt to his new life.

    As Chrono Vlad said, the books tend to be escapist. Readers probably wouldn't like a book that was too overly focused on the MC's past life and their nolstagia for Earth, unless it is relevant to the current plot.
     
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  9. Manasong

    Manasong Well-Known Member

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    I've read a fair bunch of isekais with characters written like this, who keep reminiscing about their past world. The thing is, not only are there uncountable little things that someone would miss from their old world, writing someone who lives in the past makes for a pretty depressive story, and people who're reading isekais generally don't like this type of character/story. Even the "spouting random memes" thing comes out as sounding as a cringe moment for the character as they're just blabbering nonsense and then laughing by themselves about it.
     
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  10. Joospinch

    Joospinch Don't click my avatar!!!

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    Perhaps, it might come off as someone unwilling to move on but to just gloss it over so quickly and easily kind of feels...fake

    I do get the MCs that have nothing to live for on earth moving on quickly but the ones that have a perfectly good life on earth but just boring to them are the ones i dont get, as all things in life what matters most is balance, juggling between these two standpoints makes for good writing definitely
     
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  11. Magwayen

    Magwayen Sedated

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    It can also be seen as a convenience on the author's part.
     
  12. Raven Evernight

    Raven Evernight But they never just accepted me for the way I was…

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    Yeah I know but it’s annoying because we all have times we remember things randomly don’t we? Like when you smell a certain scent you could remember a person or place or a type of food so it would be realistic to have small little flashbacks of the past that randomly happen like that
     
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  13. Magwayen

    Magwayen Sedated

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    If there's an absolute lack of those small things in the character, then I must say the author failed to flesh out their MC right.
     
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  14. Raven Evernight

    Raven Evernight But they never just accepted me for the way I was…

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    Yes exactly we need a little bit of sentiment of past life to make them seem more human instead of them being like this is a new world with no rules the strong kill the weak so I will kill to survive now then mindless killing like they were serial killers
     
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  15. Lyrad

    Lyrad Active Member

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    There are a few that misses earth like FFF-Class Trashero and Arifureta just off the top of my head. I remember there's a chinese novel one too (was it Terror Infinity? Didn't quite remember).

    But yeah they're pretty rare since one of isekai genre's main theme is escapism. The one who's transported/reincarnated is usually some loser with no attachments to their previous life. It's much more reasonable for transported people to be the ones who missed their old lives though. They still have the same body and usually with some friends from their original world. Those who are reincarnated usually thinks that their old life has ended and is now starting over with a clean slate.
     
  16. MidstNost

    MidstNost 【 Reigen's Saltshaker 】【 Lingtian Raider 】

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    Not in Japanese light novels no, the MC make sure they enforce Japanese culture even in another world. Looking at you Rimuru blobmelt_thumbs
     
  17. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, I'm not sure how often it happens that the protagonist doesn't care about his former life any more. But in the books where he does, there's a good chance that it suffers from much more serious sins. The prime one is that the protagonist is often as boring as cardboard so he doesn't have much of any traits to begin with.

    One neat thing I've noticed is that Japanese isekai novels will usually use the phrase, "As a modern Japanese person" whereas the Chinese equivalents will use the phrase, "As a modern person".
     
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  18. Magwayen

    Magwayen Sedated

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    Funny how this suddenly took me back to history classes where Sinocentrism was talked about but meh, just a passing thought.
    And the flashbacks will come in the form of nightmares and phobias, yep.
     
  19. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    The Japanese quote comes from the idea that someone who isn't a modern Japanese person would not think said thoughts. And in fact, that being Japanese is as important as it is to come from the modern world.

    The Chinese quote is making the distinction between a modern person's thoughts and that of someone living in an older society. The latter quote doesn't bring up nationality because why should it matter?
     
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  20. tides

    tides Well-Known Member

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    what kind of novels are you reading?

    in jp novels, the mc are usually reincarnted into a world that's somehow similar to jpn culture. if they aren't, then there's always the compulsory arcs where the mc goes around searching for japanese food or making them in the new world.

    in cn novels, unless it is outright stated at the start where the mc is an orphan, poor and has nothing to miss on earth, they actually do miss earth.

    infact there are many xianxia where the mc eventually returns to earth, or parts where the mc misses earth or strives to return.

    ofc when shit hits the fan, you can't expect the mc to drop everything and go "ahhh, i miss earth" while someone is trying to kill him...

    regarding toilets...that's one thing i've always wondered...since the sewage system and modern toilets are often something that just does not exist in medieval....

    but it seems like it's logical to never write about these things in media, be they novels, movies or cartoons
     
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