Why do "RE" stories get so many favourable ratings and views?

#1
Stories where main character is reborn into another world


Also, here is a video i made because i was bored about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k559WbdjyP0

But yeah, why do these stories get so many views on this site, unlike almost all other sites
Should i start writing a story about a character being reborn as well? Is that the key to success?
Genuinly curious
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RE: Why do "RE" stories get so many favourable ratings and views?

#2
I think it's just one of those trends, you know? It's like how mainstream anime and manga has the whole harem/moe/weeb thing going on right now and another webfiction site has this chick-lit cheesy romance thing, RRL just happens to have a larger amount of fantasy/OP-MC/RE: nerds, for lack of a better term. The internet just sorta pools together like subjects naturally over time. Illicit things pool to the deep web while blogs and rainbow kittens float to the top of social media. It's a form of stratification.

Back to answering the question of WHY it's popular, I believe that it's simply for the fact that that specific audience is already present on the site. They just eat that stuff up and want more, more, MORE. It doesn't mean that other things can't get popular, but it's in a trending phase at the moment. If a certain thing has come to be liked, expected, and implicitly necessary even, then these stories will naturally begin to follow the same old trend. You can see similar things happening in anime, manga, games, and social media.
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RE: Why do "RE" stories get so many favourable ratings and views?

#3
I discovered RRL because I was trying to find a fiction similar Mushoku Tensei. And the first fiction I read in RRL is Forgotten Conqueror.

Like j0nn0 said, there seems to be a large amount of people in RRL who liked reincarnation stories and I'm one of them.
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RE: Why do "RE" stories get so many favourable ratings and views?

#4
'j0nn0' pid='817865' dateline='1478478412' Wrote: I think it's just one of those trends, you know? It's like how mainstream anime and manga has the whole harem/moe/weeb thing going on right now and another webfiction site has this chick-lit cheesy romance thing, RRL just happens to have a larger amount of fantasy/OP-MC/RE: nerds, for lack of a better term. The internet just sorta pools together like subjects naturally over time. Illicit things pool to the deep web while blogs and rainbow kittens float to the top of social media. It's a form of stratification.

Back to answering the question of WHY it's popular, I believe that it's simply for the fact that that specific audience is already present on the site. They just eat that stuff up and want more, more, MORE. It doesn't mean that other things can't get popular, but it's in a trending phase at the moment. If a certain thing has come to be liked, expected, and implicitly necessary even, then these stories will naturally begin to follow the same old trend. You can see similar things happening in anime, manga, games, and social media.

But why do you think its such a popular thing in general`?
Do you think its wish fullfilment?
Or do people just like reading about the character growing and impressing people, thus making them feel good? Kind of like a subsitute for good character progression.
Or might there be something else that i am missing, because i do enjoy some of them. but its mainly due to the fact that they "impress" and "break the expectations" of the people that would otherwise think they are just normal people. Which i guess also works for other mediums but its much easier with the "Re.born" Thing. Or is there something else
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RE: Why do "RE" stories get so many favourable ratings and views?

#6
'kalbob' pid='817894' dateline='1478546970' Wrote: Or is there something else
There are quite a few entertaining anime and light novels in this genre through the last years. So you have a fanbase who is looking for the translated stuff, can't find enough and turns to webnovels. And those people who might also enjoy an epic fantasy or a modern world drama are just going to read what they came for. It's promotion you get without a single word in the actual webnovel. You could convince them to read other/your stuff but that's more work you'll have to do. Many people pick a well known average over something new that could be better or way worse. With "light entertainment" it can be more fullfilling to see the same story in other words again instead of trying something new that may waste your (valuable) time (and money).

Many Re-Stories start with the first steps in the world where everything is new to both the main character and the reader. And this is important because you can dump all the worlbuilding and info on them in a more natural way. It's way harder to make all those explanations in a "real life school settings" where you have to describe something normal. The main character should now everything around his life so well that it's boring for him. And it's hard to fascinate your reader with stuff they dislike in their own lifes. Combine these themes with those introduction dialogs - "Hello Mr. important person whose full name I say once again so that the reader know you are that person who helped me out years ago with that thing that shouldn't be a theme anymore but here I bring that up again so that they know how cool you are!" - and this can seem really forced. I dropped quite a few stories because those moments destroyed both the world and the theme. It flows better to explore the unknown at the same time...

One more thing are the overpowered characters. While this theme is often used as wish fulfillment it's a good foundation for early action. The readers don't have to sit through hundreds of pages to learn that the action or skills are subpar. In addition, it lowers the likelihood of drama, tears, death and regret the reader don't want to find in many of those stories. Or at least they want to see the main character destroy those obstacles with ease to feel good again.



There is a potential fanbase of readers who want more of the same for their entertainment and "Re:OP" is the sign that they'll enjoy at least the ideas behind the story. It's like writing fanfiction. Many of them don't want you to invent something new but to just produce more of the stuff they enjoy. It's like you don't start your Twilight fanfiction with killing the whole cast.
As said many of them would probably enjoy other stories just as much or even more. I know quite a few who just endure some of the overplayed tropes to get to the stuff they enjoy. If you can make it clear enough that your story has parts of the stuff (OP, Fantasy, Surprise, Harem, etc) they enjoy so much, it'll probably work out. But that's even more work you need to put into the promotion yourself...

RE: Why do "RE" stories get so many favourable ratings and views?

#7
'LostLibrarian' pid='817925' dateline='1478625940' Wrote:
'kalbob' pid='817894' dateline='1478546970' Wrote: Or is there something else
There are quite a few entertaining anime and light novels in this genre through the last years. So you have a fanbase who is looking for the translated stuff, can't find enough and turns to webnovels. And those people who might also enjoy an epic fantasy or a modern world drama are just going to read what they came for. It's promotion you get without a single word in the actual webnovel. You could convince them to read other/your stuff but that's more work you'll have to do. Many people pick a well known average over something new that could be better or way worse. With "light entertainment" it can be more fullfilling to see the same story in other words again instead of trying something new that may waste your (valuable) time (and money).

Many Re-Stories start with the first steps in the world where everything is new to both the main character and the reader. And this is important because you can dump all the worlbuilding and info on them in a more natural way. It's way harder to make all those explanations in a "real life school settings" where you have to describe something normal. The main character should now everything around his life so well that it's boring for him. And it's hard to fascinate your reader with stuff they dislike in their own lifes. Combine these themes with those introduction dialogs - "Hello Mr. important person whose full name I say once again so that the reader know you are that person who helped me out years ago with that thing that shouldn't be a theme anymore but here I bring that up again so that they know how cool you are!" - and this can seem really forced. I dropped quite a few stories because those moments destroyed both the world and the theme. It flows better to explore the unknown at the same time...

One more thing are the overpowered characters. While this theme is often used as wish fulfillment it's a good foundation for early action. The readers don't have to sit through hundreds of pages to learn that the action or skills are subpar. In addition, it lowers the likelihood of drama, tears, death and regret the reader don't want to find in many of those stories. Or at least they want to see the main character destroy those obstacles with ease to feel good again.



There is a potential fanbase of readers who want more of the same for their entertainment and "Re:OP" is the sign that they'll enjoy at least the ideas behind the story. It's like writing fanfiction. Many of them don't want you to invent something new but to just produce more of the stuff they enjoy. It's like you don't start your Twilight fanfiction with killing the whole cast.
As said many of them would probably enjoy other stories just as much or even more. I know quite a few who just endure some of the overplayed tropes to get to the stuff they enjoy. If you can make it clear enough that your story has parts of the stuff (OP, Fantasy, Surprise, Harem, etc) they enjoy so much, it'll probably work out. But that's even more work you need to put into the promotion yourself...

very well reasoned, i think i agree with you on most of what you say
Its quite a shame though, that so many people just read the same things over and over again
but then again, the silver lining, is that the truely original stuff shines like a rough gem in the dust among all of the similiar Re:op novels
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RE: Why do "RE" stories get so many favourable ratings and views?

#8
'kalbob' pid='817927' dateline='1478642511' Wrote: very well reasoned, i think i agree with you on most of what you say
Its quite a shame though, that so many people just read the same things over and over again
but then again, the silver lining, is that the truely original stuff shines like a rough gem in the dust among all of the similiar Re:op novels

Disclaimer: I don't mean this in a negative way, I just couldn't think of a better comparison.

Part of it is because Re: novels are often like literary white noise.

It isn't uncommon for the characters to be bland - or just bland enough - that the person reading can mentally insert themselves into the shoes of the MC. This ties into wishfulfillment in some ways, but not the in the typical way - which is usually the author self-inserting. Usually when a story has the issue of author self-inserts, readers can't put themselves into the MC in the same way while reading.

The other reason I compare it to white noise is because Re: stories often don't deal with deep plots or subject matter. They're something where you can relax, shut your brain off, and just go with the flow. You can't necessarily do that with SciFi, High Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, or Romance genre novels.

Of course, that isn't to say there aren't any Re: fics that don't deal with deep/heavy plots and subject matter. I know damn well there are quite a few, especially on this site, that are dark and disturbing with well-laid out characters and developments.

There's also a fair share of "white noise" novels too though (which, personally, isn't my cup of tea.)
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RE: Why do "RE" stories get so many favourable ratings and views?

#9
RE novels often feature a dark world and deep background plots but you don't have to worry about the main cast being shit on every chance the author gets. I mean someone has to be living the good life in these dark crappy worlds, why the not the main character? It's a nice combo, you can get a dark fantasy world without the story being a tragedy. I love dark fantasy worlds and I've read tons of english books set in such worlds, but often times it can be hard and eventually annoying reading about the the crap that always happens to the main cast over and over again.

Of course wish fulfillment can be a factor, but that works its way into making any genre of any medium popular.

Re: Why do "RE" stories get so many favourable ratings and views?

#14
Isekai is far from being a new genre, isekai with OP MC is.

we have Narnia, Through the looking Glass, Dinotopia, and such.

The base ingredients are the same, but the cooking process and result is different
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Wang Tian Gu, an old Poison Master from Jianghu is reborn in the body of a young girl down on her luck in another world.
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Jude was a relatively normal kid, until one day he was transported to Purgatorium
It is a world of angels and demons. Where everything and anything is trying to kill him. He will have to learn about this new world. To delve into the things fantastical and bizarre. Of secrets, both sacred and taboo.

In this new world, the choice is easy.

Adapt or Die.