Isekai stories have been all over the internet for as long as I can remember. The stories tend to gain large audiences and commonly have an exciting hook (the main character being reincarnated) to draw people in from the start. Large audiences bring in money, leading to many more reincarnation stories popping up. However, because so many novels exist and many desire to make quick cash, a majority of reincarnation novels now follow similar plots. People on the internet have noticed this, with some calling reincarnation stories repetitive slop. Are reincarnation stories too repetitive, or are there enough differences between them to make them unique?
First of all, we need to understand how most reincarnation stories are structured. There are 4 main categories for reincarnation stories: fantasy drama, action fantasy, modern drama, and modern fantasy. Drama typically refers to novels in which social status, relationships, etc are the main issue. Action, on the other hand, most commonly refers to when the challenge of the story is to stay safe and fight for survival or justice. Fantasy refers to medieval times, where dukes, emperors, nobles, etc are involved, while modern refers to the current or futuristic time period. Altogether, these tropes can be categorized into 4 types. Although each trope may be unique and different, most of the stories in each trope are noticeably similar.
The first of the four categories is fantasy drama stories. This is unarguably the most repetitive genre, with tons of these novels popping up on online reading websites, with one of the most popular being Webtoons. Most main characters in this genre are females, with either the original character being reborn again or a person from the modern world being reborn into a novel they read. These books also receive tons of attention because of the catchy titles and the enticing hooks. For example, titles include “For my derelict favorite,” “Noble in name, vulgar at heart,” “The price is your everything,” etc. As for hooks, most stories in this genre start off with the main character suffering from immense abuse from their families because (most commonly) they were an illegitimate child. Or, if it is a modern reincarnation into fantasy, the main character commonly suffers from no familial support and stress from working hard to support themselves. The character then opens their eyes and sees either the world from the novel or from their past life, and is shocked. They then go on to most commonly be girlbosses who effortlessly dominate their opponents and get a rich and powerful noble to fall in love with them, which, in my opinion, makes the plot boring and predictable. Some authors try to add elements to make their story stand out, like in the story “not your typical reincarnation story,” where they add otherworldly restrictions that the character cannot effortlessly solve. However, even this was predictable, as again, most if not all stories in this genre end up with a happily ever after.
The next genre is action fantasy. In these novels, the world is structured again with nobles, but this time with dragons, slimes, and other magical monsters. The protagonist typically gets reincarnated from the modern world into a video game they were playing and are extremely good at. The main characters under this genre are usually males, with them ending up pulling way too many females with their overpowered stats. Some common examples of this story trope are: “Sword art online,” “Solo Levelling,” “Omnescient Reader’s viewpoint,” etc. In addition, many of these stories are actually reverse isekais, where the fantasy elements get added to the modern world instead of the other way around. These stories are less arguably repetitive than fantasy dramas because you don’t really know how it will end. However, they are still pretty repetitive in the sense that you know they still will get through everything effortlessly because the main character always has immense knowledge and therefore power.
The third genre is modern drama. Most stories in this genre follow the plot where the main character is originally the daughter of a rich family, but due to unfortunate consequences is ostracized from society and has nothing left for her. She often dies after, usually through suicide. Some stories that fall under this genre are “Perfect marriage revenge,” “As if love doesn’t exist,” “A chance at last,” etc. In my opinion, these stories are not only the most repetitive but also the most boring. These are extremely similar to fantasy dramas, but I believe these are more boring because the “exciting” scenes are more dull and unfascinating. For example, in fantasy dramas, you get to see more events regarding high society status, which is newer and more exciting compared to modern dramas. Moreover, these stories commonly follow the same overall plot: get more money, a rich and hot husband who loves them unconditionally, and embarrass and ruin the ones who had previously ruined their past life. They also typically end up with the main character living happily ever after with no issues whatsoever.
The last most common trope in reincarnation stories is modern action. These are quite similar to fantasy action, but instead of fighting fantasy monsters, they fight other people who are corrupt. These are probably by far the least common regarding isekais, so when they pop up, they are actually pretty unique. However, they are pretty similar to fantasy isekais in many aspects, mostly where the main character is overpowered. Most world structures are set up differently though, with different abilities and different morals for each. In my opinion, these genres are the least common and are new and unique when they do show up.
All reincarnation novels are similar in the aspect that the protagonist is reborn with essential information, leading them to be successful in their new life. Most actions have the protagonist as a male, pulling in numerous women with their newly awakened overpowered skills. Dramas, on the other hand, mostly have women as the main character, displaying her girlboss personality in social situations, humiliating her enemies. Actions are typically more entertaining in the long run because of different world setups, while dramas are typically more repetitive, with the main plot being that the protagonist ends up with a happily ever after with her lover. All these stories have similar points, but to what extent depends on the individual story, as some can have more attention and care put into them, making them better.
