this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
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This is a way for shitty writers to justify infodumping in their story. If your main character doesn't know shit about the world he just got put into, you can justify every other character dumping a huge load of setting and world building down his ear canal. Instead of, like, trying to mix that info naturally into the story, which also avoids the "as you know, John..." trope (where character A explains something to character B that they already should know), but requires effort and skill on the part of the author.
I suspect there's also lots of demand from people that are stuck in the same routine for years and like to day dream that something exciting is going to happen in their life sometime.
It is a wish fulfillment fantasy most of the time, that's why I really appreciate series which go out of their way to deconstruct that aspect of the genre, like Re:Zero or Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari. Especially Re:Zero, which shows what would actually happen if you put a shut-in NEET loser otaku into a fantasy world.