KrisVFX
God of Creation
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2020
- Messages
- 119
- Points
- 83
Here is the situation. I try to listen to any sort of feedback in order to make the best version and fix any sort of errors in my novels. Today, I re-released one of my novels, and I've made it clear that any sort of feedback is more than welcome.
The story is about a guy who has been trapped on a floating island in the middle of a void. (basically, another dimension)
The main character has spent so long trapped on that floating island that he barely has any memories of what his life used to be like. I specifically mentioned it in the narration that the mc doesn't remember. This is an important part of the story about why the mc doesn't remember and a logical explanation about why. But I didn't want to go into many details since I wanted to leave it a bit open, for the readers to guess why.
Now here is the problem, one of the readers decided that this novel is not considered Isekai because the main character doesn't have memories. And I should remove the "Isekai" tag from my novel or remove the fact that the mc doesn't have memories, because that makes him a different entity.
So should I remove the Isekai tag from my novel, or should I keep it?
TLDR : A trapped protagonist on a floating island, devoid of memories, sparks a debate over whether the story should be classified as an Isekai, with a reader arguing that memory loss negates the genre's definition.
The story is about a guy who has been trapped on a floating island in the middle of a void. (basically, another dimension)
The main character has spent so long trapped on that floating island that he barely has any memories of what his life used to be like. I specifically mentioned it in the narration that the mc doesn't remember. This is an important part of the story about why the mc doesn't remember and a logical explanation about why. But I didn't want to go into many details since I wanted to leave it a bit open, for the readers to guess why.
(Some of the readers, when they read the beta version, even gave some clever and interesting intel on how the mc has become delusional and lost him mind.)
I gave my opinion on this fact and tried explaining that this novel indeed has the isekai genere, because the main character can also cross worlds through a door. (It's basically a dungeon, meant to clear challenges.) But in the very first chapter, another character gets trapped/summoned to this world as well. So it should be considered isekai? Right?Not an Isekai... A true Isekai requires all memories to be intact. Removing any memories creates a new being, meaning that nobody crossed world's, proving that it's not an Isekai. Remove all mentions of memory loss, or remove that iskeai tag, and I'll give it another chance. I didn't read even a single word after the mention of memory loss. I'm tired of seeing authors use the "Amnesia-kai" excuse. It's just the same as the " Orphan trope" or the reborn in another world only for the new family to die a few chapters later trope. All horribly overdone and used because the author is too lazy to write a compelling backstory, or develop the family members characters.
I was going to reply again to that reader, but he/she/it seemed convinced that I was wrong, and he was right.Now let's see what the word isekai means. (Results from asking google)
Isekai is a Japanese genre of light novels, manga, anime and video games1. The term isekai comes from the Japanese word 異世界, which translates to “different world” or “otherworld”12. It is used to describe a lot of anime, manga, or light novels that revolve around a person who is transported to and has to survive in another world, such as a fantasy world, virtual world or parallel universe1.
I can guess that this reader didn't even consider reading this novel because he/she/it didn't stop and think about why the character didn't contact his family even though he has been trapped there for thousands of years. The narration in the novel mentioned that any attempt to contact or interact with humans is pointless as it is restricted by something.if it was thousands of years and he had internet access things would have changed at home. Would internet even exist? Why didn't he track his family and descendants through whatever social media? No, I'm sorry, your excuse is contrived and this is NOT an Isekai. No story that messes with memories at all is, even popular ones like "Grimgar". To qualify the person needs to be the same person on both worlds and this isn't, period, end of discussion. My upcoming review will reflect that, and this stories bandwagon tagging just to saddle into the popular Isekai genre.
So should I remove the Isekai tag from my novel, or should I keep it?
TLDR : A trapped protagonist on a floating island, devoid of memories, sparks a debate over whether the story should be classified as an Isekai, with a reader arguing that memory loss negates the genre's definition.