The Transmigration Genre is a Convenient Blank Slate
/Transmigration is a genre that is most often seen used in eastern media, which is seen in anime and manga to the point that it has become a whole new genre. In terms of western media, transmigration is less typically used but still very current in superhero comics and the like.
But, what is transmigration? Transmigration is the act of a person, or multiple, getting sent to another, oftentimes completely different world from their own. This genre started to allow authors and readers alike to explore a new world in a form of innocent escapism. But ever since its rising popularity in the eastern corner of things, the genre has become butchered beyond saving with many going wild with their fantasies to the point that transmigration has now become a trope.
Let me explain how it works. When sent to another world, the transmigrator in question retains all memories of their past life. Else if they didn't, there'd be no point in them transmigrating in the first place since there would be no purpose.
Why? That's because transmigrating is the genre in which normal humans with normal jobs living normal lives suddenly get brought to another much more fascinating and magical world (most of the time it's magical).
They'd have no problems ditching their previously tediously boring one and excel using the memories of their old world. The big theme in all of these stories is modern man (it's often guys instead of girls) completely dominates the less technologically-advanced magical world.
When it comes to modern girls ending up in another world, the genre immediately switches to romance. Rather than explore the world, they are typically confined to a city/continent (since romance is the focus, no point to explore the world), where most of the story takes place, while its male counterpart resembles more a worldwide adventure.
But first. What do I mean exactly by blank slate, you might ask?
I mean that the genre has become gasoline fuel for copycats that copy off more successful transmigration stories and turn the genre into what it had become today. Anyone can take up this blank slate and add themselves to a convenient world of their own. And by doing so, there are no consequences; there is no thrill and there’s no struggle. After all, who would want their self-insert to struggle; they are already doing that in the real world! It’s almost like fanfiction…
Either way, both version of these ordinary modern folk has one thing in common. They have become literal gods among men. They immediately know all the gimmicks of magic and have intensive out-of-the-blue knowledge about obscure or very specific things. They know of advanced technology, mathematics and literally, any other subject that is stunted in the other world pushes them from mediocrity and into godhood. They modify spells with not-so-basic science, create unthinkable cures/medicine with the use of chemistry/biology of all things and rise to the top in an effortless struggle.
I mean, at this point, it's hard to believe they were considered underdogs in their normal world when they suddenly decide to make amends for their mediocre lifestyle and instantly become good at everything.
They don't even try. They just do. And when they do, they’re already at the top of the world. The transmigration genre is nothing more than a major power fantasy where the main character goes through obstacles and easily surpasses them to cater to the target audience of those who want to go far in life but don't put the effort into doing so.
Transmigration started as a form of escapism, trying to see if there could be a world where one's worries could be unwarranted, and it then turned into a cringe self-insert fantasy for the authors themselves. But now, the whole genre is riddled with decalcomania of all kinds, a Frankenstein of stories blended together to spit out one more lacklustre story after another with a copied plot from a copied story and so on.
CHLOÉ LANDRY - Writer by day, artist by night. I’m a student at Algonquin College and currently writing blogs for my course, Writing For the Web. I’ll be writing a few fantasy-related stuff here, so go check it out whenever you have the time.
