Does anyone else also hate how reincarnation is often handled?

[Scaletalon]

Now don't get me wrong, I do think reincarnation can be great when done well, that's the same for any other trope. What I do hate is when it just forgotten about after the start of a story.
Whenever I read a story about reincarnation I always have questions. How did the person reincarnate in the 1st place? Who or what is behind it? Are there other people who have also reincarnated into that world, if not why is he/she the only one? If he/she ends up in the body of an adult, what happens to the soul of the original person, do they just vanish?
Most of the time they barely answer any of these questions. It's even motivated me to write my own reincarnation story to answer all of these.
Overall this is just my opinion and it's okay to disagree with it. I just want to know if anyone else has felt the same.

 

[HappyBunnyWrites]

Well perhaps you'll like my story~ Shameless self promotion, but unironically, my first and first few chapters to a degree actually cover... how they reincarnated, who and why, if there's others, and even what's with the souls and more! ... guess I wasn't the only one who felt those things were important to a reincarnation story lol

Isekai de Kekkon – Red and Fox

If you don't like colored dialogue, color free version is here. https://www.scribblehub.com/series/1923117/colorless-version-isekai-de-kekkon--red-and-fox-together-forever/ Creation balked at the premise. 'So you are telling me that one of the most dangerous legacies left in this world in the...

www.scribblehub.com

 

[Tatsuo]

I think so too

 

[Lysander_Works]

This hits me hard each time I watch an isakie, the questions that never get answered yet should. Then again, this leaves a golden opportunity for special projects to get more attention. Start one yourself that is done properly, if you have the time. I want to. So many more existential questions to beat people over the head with...

 

[NotaNuffian]

Now don't get me wrong, I do think reincarnation can be great when done well, that's the same for any other trope. What I do hate is when it just forgotten about after the start of a story.
Whenever I read a story about reincarnation I always have questions. How did the person reincarnate in the 1st place? Who or what is behind it? Are there other people who have also reincarnated into that world, if not why is he/she the only one? If he/she ends up in the body of an adult, what happens to the soul of the original person, do they just vanish?
Most of the time they barely answer any of these questions. It's even motivated me to write my own reincarnation story to answer all of these.
Overall this is just my opinion and it's okay to disagree with it. I just want to know if anyone else has felt the same.

This hits me hard each time I watch an isakie, the questions that never get answered yet should. Then again, this leaves a golden opportunity for special projects to get more attention. Start one yourself that is done properly, if you have the time. I want to. So many more existential questions to beat people over the head with...

You answered your own question as to why no one had tried to solve the reincarnation question.

It is a can of worm of its own and most authors are not well equipped to answer. Many just use it as a plot device, one and done.

 

[corruption]

Imagine someone being reincarnated as something they hate. Imagine a feminest reborn as a guy, or a trekie being reborn as a wookie. How about a hard core communist reborn as a Lord?
Also, consider how the people just seem to accept the different social values of the world. "oh, I don't mind slavery here, despite it being considered very evil in my past life. But I'm still a good person who won't waiver on what is right or wrong." That kind of thinking.

 

[beast_regards]

The concept of reincarnation is a part of the actual, real world, religious beliefs and ...

In case you are curious, it's simply explained as "It is how the world works. Period." and your next life is either the reward, or punishment, for your acts in your current life.

If you steal a steak from the butcher and you are run over by the truck afterwards, you are reincarnated as the vulture. Good luck.

Considering you are supposed to be reborn as something specific, it's not appearing out of nowhere. At least, it is not supposed to be. In my example, you start as the baby vulture who just hatched. At least, that's how religion explains it.

Most isekai (portal fantasy) doesn't interpret it this way, usually to get the story doing faster, because it is not supposed to be taken that seriously.

Some elements are there (i.e. most protagonist are virtuous and thus rewarded in next life), but otherwise it is pretty much for the story's sake, where protagonist simply appears in the perfect body that appeared out of nowhere in the wilderness fully equipped with whatever he was supposed to have. I would say he (or she, we are equal opportunity here) was transmigrated rather than reincarnated.

 

[owotrucked]

Perfectly valid concern. It's not even that hard to come up with the causality for the target body of transmigration, especially noble children.

As for the middleman, just truck-kun is enough to reap the soul of the mc

 

[RepresentingWrath]

lol

 

[beast_regards]

As for the explanation of why it happens, or why: well, in the Japanese isekai it is usually a reward for the virtuous life (albeit very short, since they are usually teenagers or young adults). You could imagine it as the disembodied cosmic force, hence something beyond human understanding, though some series go with the actual gods being involved. Either way the principle is always the same. They did well, and there is a reward, and that's why the story happens. Western fantasy would have issue with that, but Eastern storytelling usually, not relying on conflict being present, doesn't have to worry whether the new reincarnated people have something meaningful to achieve. New body, new life, new fun, reward is reward.

In contrast with this are summoned heroes, this is also very common in Japanese isekai anime.

Problem is, summoned hero scenario does answer all your questions by default.

There is a very specific summoning ritual involved usually, requiring a specific and usually very rare conditions to reform, hence you have as many heroes as many rituals you could perform and that's it, if you miss the moment when the stars are right you are done (or something similar). It does also involves bodies brought from Earth, so explains the body without the past, though infused with the magic.

You could raise a question of why you need Japanese teenagers to defeat the demon lord, but the western version of isekai has this covered with their "smart protagonists".

 

[BearlyAlive]

"A deity did it for reasons(?), ofc MC is the only one becuz MC, they get either trucked or die, who cares whose body it was, now it's MCs, yoink" -isekai in a nutshell

Most of the time reincarnation is a plot device instead of a plot point. So they just ignore it after happening

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

It's like people forget that mysteries exist. Just about all isekais I've read eventually answer this question. Ya'll just seem to give up at the beginning or something.

 

[AuroraAvengarde]

Now don't get me wrong, I do think reincarnation can be great when done well, that's the same for any other trope. What I do hate is when it just forgotten about after the start of a story.
Whenever I read a story about reincarnation I always have questions. How did the person reincarnate in the 1st place? Who or what is behind it? Are there other people who have also reincarnated into that world, if not why is he/she the only one? If he/she ends up in the body of an adult, what happens to the soul of the original person, do they just vanish?
Most of the time they barely answer any of these questions. It's even motivated me to write my own reincarnation story to answer all of these.
Overall this is just my opinion and it's okay to disagree with it. I just want to know if anyone else has felt the same.

Because we don't always get the answers to these types of questions in life.

Let me ask you about us here in reality. Where do we go when we die? Whats it like there? Does God exist? If so what are they like?

Why should we assume that you can get all these types of answers in a story? I think that its extremely unrealistic to expect that. It's one thing if the author intentionally includes it as part of the plot, but there is nothing wrong with leaving it a mystery either, as long as it doesn't end up as some type of plot hole. (I.e, don't make it seem like there is a definite answer or it plays some big part in the plot, when it doesn't and is never resolved).

 

[aToTeT]

Now don't get me wrong, I do think reincarnation can be great when done well, that's the same for any other trope. What I do hate is when it just forgotten about after the start of a story.
Whenever I read a story about reincarnation I always have questions. How did the person reincarnate in the 1st place? Who or what is behind it? Are there other people who have also reincarnated into that world, if not why is he/she the only one? If he/she ends up in the body of an adult, what happens to the soul of the original person, do they just vanish?
Most of the time they barely answer any of these questions. It's even motivated me to write my own reincarnation story to answer all of these.
Overall this is just my opinion and it's okay to disagree with it. I just want to know if anyone else has felt the same.

I know the villainess genre is doing a pretty good job with this recently.

They have started answering what happened to the bad girl before the protagonist got there.

The answer is usually: the bad girl died — means varied, now you’re in their actually terrible life but with maturity and a level head for politics that just might keep you alive.

More rarely, they decided your life was better and stole it.

Occasionally you actually are them, and the previous life you lived was when you died, went away to wonderland real world, and the book/story you were obsessed with and so loved the villainess for was just your own previous life, which you’re back in now.

I think Death Is The Only Ending For The Villainess with Penelope Eckert as the main character is the best of the genre I have read. Very complex, genuinely not a good person, loved it.

 

[Corty]

I am gonna answer it from the perspective of writing two stories now dealing with reincarnation/transmigration.

Whenever I read a story about reincarnation, I always have questions. How did the person reincarnate in the 1st place?

• I had an explanation for it as an integral part of the story in Mad God.
• It was also partially explored in Steel & Mana

Who or what is behind it?

• Explained in Mad God directly
• In Steel & Mana, there is no real explanation for transmigration; it happens "accidentally," but there are two characters later in the story who are in-universe reincarnators. Their reincarnation is explained.

Are there other people who have also reincarnated into that world, if not why is he/she the only one?

• Directly stated there is only the MC and also why in Mad God
• In Steel & Mana, there were two individuals who were reincarnators. The first is explained by now, including why, how, etc. The second was also explained and how it was a failed attempt at it because the first reincarnator didn't leave his method behind, and they only found clues about what he may have tried to do.

If he/she ends up in the body of an adult, what happens to the soul of the original person, do they just vanish?

• In Steel & Mana, I didn't state explicitly -by design- only heavily implied that the MC, merging into the yet-to-be-born baby, occupied a body that would have been stillborn.

 

[aToTeT]

Imagine someone being reincarnated as something they hate. Imagine a feminest reborn as a guy, or a trekie being reborn as a wookie. How about a hard core communist reborn as a Lord?
Also, consider how the people just seem to accept the different social values of the world. "oh, I don't mind slavery here, despite it being considered very evil in my past life. But I'm still a good person who won't waiver on what is right or wrong." That kind of thinking.

“Yeah, no, I’m good with the slavery.”

Has got to be my single most hated isekai trope.

What’s worse than a harem: a slave harem.

Though there is an argument to be made that the only way the average isekai protagonist is getting laid: is if the ladies have no choice in the matter.

Such a gross trope, among so many others. If you put slavery in your world, I demand it be done well, or at least interestingly (Penelope, meet Eckles(Eclise?))

 

[Daydreamers]

Now don't get me wrong, I do think reincarnation can be great when done well, that's the same for any other trope. What I do hate is when it just forgotten about after the start of a story.
Whenever I read a story about reincarnation I always have questions. How did the person reincarnate in the 1st place? Who or what is behind it? Are there other people who have also reincarnated into that world, if not why is he/she the only one? If he/she ends up in the body of an adult, what happens to the soul of the original person, do they just vanish?
Most of the time they barely answer any of these questions. It's even motivated me to write my own reincarnation story to answer all of these.
Overall this is just my opinion and it's okay to disagree with it. I just want to know if anyone else has felt the same.

a lot of stories address that, truc kun +goddess sama

I assume other stories keep it as an option , perhaps an arc they might explore or not.
The pacing and the hook are the issues; you can’t keep trying to persuade readers how reincarnation works if it risks losing their interest down the line

 

[sbdrag]

As for the explanation of why it happens, or why: well, in the Japanese isekai it is usually a reward for the virtuous life (albeit very short, since they are usually teenagers or young adults)

I don't think I've ever actually seen this as the explanation in any isekai I've watched? ?

The explanations for the why I've seen are almost always some variation of "giving the MC an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of their past life." Most commonly, "office drones" needing to learn a healthy work/life balance.

The other most common explanation I've seen is "god messes up and gives MC a new life as an apology". Usually happens with chronically ill MCs who missed out on childhood being given the chance to experience the things they couldn't in their past life.

The only other explanation I can remember is variations of random chance or no explanation. That is, either the being reincarnation the MC admits there was no particular reason why, or the MC never finds an explanation and/or never meets the power that caused their reincarnation.

I know the real world explanation for reincarnation is often about virtue, I just don't think I've ever seen it in any isekai that I've encountered. Maybe just because I tend to gravitate towards isekai with older (30yo) protagonists closer to my age, and it's less common in those? Though even in the ones I've watched with young adults, I don't think I've seen "reward for a virtuous life" as an explanation before. I have seen "magic determined you have the skills we need", and that's usually fun for subversion.

I will say, I get squicked out by stories where 30 year olds or older get reincarnated as children with all their adult memories. Just like... that's really weird to me? So any isekai where they stay children with their past memories for any significant amount of time is just a no for me because... it just icks me out, even if nothing icky happens.

(I'm good with time skips or them losing and then regaining their memories as they get older, or how in The Weakest Tamer Begins a Journey to Pick Up Trash the MC's past life is more of a voice of reason offering advice without being her. It's stuff like Ascendance of the Bookworm where the entire series has the MC as a child with memories of an entire adult life that weird me out. Like, why not just make them an adult?)

 

[beast_regards]

The explanations for the why I've seen are almost always some variation of "giving the MC an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of their past life." Most commonly, "office drones" needing to learn a healthy work/life balance.

As far I know, the "learning life lessons" was the case for mostly old anime - about 20 years ago as far I could tell. The lesson learned are shows like "Paprika". Most of those shows involved returning to Earth as nothing had happened. Interestingly enough, most of those shows had female protagonist too, and shows were indeed intended for the young girls.

The newer isekai is different. Intended audience shifted from female to male, and it become more escapism than message. They don't send people to the different world as the lifetime lesson, as it would require them getting back and continue their life as before, which was most people hate. Instead, they go for the reward route. The office drones that worked themselves to death aren't isekai'd to learn about life-work balance, they are isekaid because working yourself to death is virtuous (at least for Japanese, it's hard to understand for the rest of the world).

 

[Ananias5]

Now don't get me wrong, I do think reincarnation can be great when done well, that's the same for any other trope. What I do hate is when it just forgotten about after the start of a story.
Whenever I read a story about reincarnation I always have questions. How did the person reincarnate in the 1st place? Who or what is behind it? Are there other people who have also reincarnated into that world, if not why is he/she the only one? If he/she ends up in the body of an adult, what happens to the soul of the original person, do they just vanish?
Most of the time they barely answer any of these questions. It's even motivated me to write my own reincarnation story to answer all of these.
Overall this is just my opinion and it's okay to disagree with it. I just want to know if anyone else has felt the same.

Do it