So, this was pretty much inspired by my beginning to develop a taste for certain anime shows (being bored does that, heh -- at the moment I've watched Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun!, In Another World with my Smartphone, The Cautious Hero, and, of course, the legendary Saga of Tanya the Evil).

It's a little half-formed, and it's a bit of a ramble, but I thought people might find it interesting?

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Reincarnation is a lot different than what people would expect.

When you die, your soul does pass onto the "Next Great Adventure" -- you, as a person, are in the Afterlife -- unlike in commonly depicted reincarnation tropes, where the soul is essentially reborn in a new body, sans memories.

However, much like how ghosts are imprints of the people they once were (not the actual person, as they went onto the Afterlife, but as a tracing-paper copy basically), imprints of previous people are conjoined with new souls -- these inherited imprints can influence behavior, attitudes, feelings, subconscious thoughts...

A paragon of virtue could have the imprint of a someone as bad as Voldemort yet gain Voldemort's determination, and conversely someone as cruel and dark as Voldemort could've had the imprint of a noble hero to have the "conviction" to go through with his plans.

Anyway! It's basically a humourous subversion.

Perhaps the world is a stereotypical, generic "anime" one; perhaps it's a crossover -- it matters not.

The protagonist, the Hero, died.

Perhaps he lived to a ripe old age and died naturally; perhaps he died after killing the Big Bad/Demon Lord, or mayhaps it was a mutual kill -- the claw in his gut and his word in his foe's chest; perhaps he was assassinated afterwards, or he suffered from a cruel curse/dead man's switch effect.

But he's dead and gone.

His imprint, however, found its way to and was conjoined with Harry James Potter at the moment of his conception.

If it weren't for the following events, he, like millions of others, would remain completely unaware of this imprint's/"his" past life. Like in canon, he'd live his life and die, and his dominant imprint, with the experiences/jumbled mess of those that were chucked into it in the background, would find its way to another new soul as he lived it up in the Afterlife, repeating the endless cycle.

The loved ones of the aforementioned Hero track down what they believe to be his reincarnated soul, being under the belief that old souls are reborn in new bodies with memories suppressed. They could have their beloved back!

They watch Harry for a while, astounded that he's so familiar to their lost love yet so different, before trying to make contact/"take him home" (or make a "new home" with him here).

This could go in several directions/some things to consider, I think:

• If Harry is a kid, it'd alter things greatly than if he were a teenager/adult. Especially if the Hero's love interests/harem have no idea how to act/what to do with a kid!
• Given how many anime girls/women look, especially the fantasy setting ones, he might presume they're muggle or wizarding world sex workers trying to pick up a new client; naturally this misunderstanding causes comical situations
• Seeing them does trigger reactions/actions because of memories in his subconscious, and he may or may not have memory flashes from the imprint, which causes waves
• Slowly, it becomes apparent to them that Harry isn't their Hero reborn. It's agonizing to them that he's much like him due to having bits of him, but he isn't him
  • This may cause even more drama/hijinx if they find themselves falling for him because he shares many of the traits their Hero did. And the guilt. Especially the guilt

...Huh, I just realized this could even apply to something like Friendship is Magic, if Harry had Shining Armor's imprint or something.

So, um, yeah. Half-baked concept/idea/prompt. I dunno?