Tensei shitara Dragon no Tamago datta: Saikyou Igai Mezasanee
Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling

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(This is a review for Doratama up to LN 2. The English translation for LN 3 is slated to release early this April.)

Despite a lot of people telling me left and right that Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling (shortened to Doratama) was mediocre, I was pleasantly surprised by this light novel. I think the issue people have with this series is based solely on the web novel version, which IIRC dragged on for quite a lot of chapters. However, that has no bearing on the light novel version. Kumo Desu, for example, had a similarly slow and painful first 100~ WN chapters, and that didn't ... stop the LN from being very well-written.

Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling is another entry to the plethora of "reborn as a monster" series inside the already bloated isekai genre. However, it does something I think is really special, and something you genuinely don't see very often.

See, Doratama's Illusia wasn't reborn as the crème de la crème of monsters. He also wasn't reborn with a crazy cheat skill. Though he is a dragon, and has the potential to become a walking natural disaster, he's reborn as an extremely weak, well, dragon hatchling (to illustrate, the description for his starting species would rather describe the tenderness of his meat than his power). Much like in Kumo Desu, Illusia has to work to get up to where he currently is at the end of the second LN, and even then, it's clear he still has a long ways to go.

Despite this, though, reincarnated life thankfully isn't all constant danger for him, and Illusia actually manages to have enough free time to ponder things like cooking the meat he hunts, picking spices to make a meal, or using clay he finds to create pots to store the other things he finds. Is it silly? Yeah. Is it boring? I'd argue it isn't, because having everything be dire all the time leads to reader fatigue, and besides, the LN is decently quick-paced.

Illusia is a nice guy in the most earnest use of the term. While he's a bit dumb at times, he's heroic, and he is gentle and caring. Seeing him progress in other aspects of his new life other than just the fighting is, I'd argue, just as satisfying as the violent bits, because it fits his character extremely well, and on the inverse, seeing his work not come to fruition is disheartening, and really does make you feel for him. Without spoiling anything, I'd argue the best Doratama has to offer character-wise, is Illusia defying expectations and circumstances to uphold his moral compass and help others. Is it cheesy? A little bit, but no more than any other isekai where the protagonist goes in the opposite direction and decides to snap.

The story isn't all just fluff, though. The action scenes are well-written and easy to visualize and enjoy. Due to the nature of the series, it's always fun to see Illusia and his friends overcome the odds against stronger monsters.

Is the series flawless? No, of course not. Despite the brisk pacing, there are some points in both LNs with a lot of "downtime". It's enjoyable downtime, don't get me wrong, but they might be frustrating to some readers. While I think Illusia is a great character, he has his moments of poor decision-making speed, and while this is an intended character flaw, much like the previous point, it might not be your cup of tea. Also, keep in mind we're still just at the second LN in the English side, it's entirely possible there's going to be future problems that are not yet present in the little media we have.

Overall, I'd argue these two LNs are a very strong start to the series' debut in the English-speaking audiences. If you're a fan of isekai, of "reincarnated as a monster", of stories where protagonists have to grow and earn their place in the world, definitely give Doratama a try. Don't be discouraged by the old reviews people have made about the series' WN version. Don't judge a book by its cover, don't judge a light novel by its web novel.

This story has 178 chapters at the time of writing this. That seems like it might be long. Well, You would be right because this is one of the most boring stories i'v read. Especially with something as epic as Dragons being in this.

Me and half the comments had resorted to just picking apart the story in the comments because there's nothing of interest happening.

Honestly, You can't help but start picking apart every plot hole and every issue with the because nothing happens. My god and i'm not even kidding but at least half this story chapters is just about our Stupid MC ... living his day to day life.

Ask yourself this. Would you like to read an Epic about Dragons and hero's ? Or would you like to read a story about a Dragon learning Pottery ? Well if you picked the former then you can fuck yourself cause we're getting that Pottery lessons any day !!

Story ranges from awful stuff like the previously mentioned Pottery lessons to listening to the MC talk about what he will do instead of him actually doing. May not be so bad, But the author has this last for 5 or more chapters every time

We then get to the biggest issue or one of the biggest issues. The MC is retarded.

Fuck we get some scenes where he has the chance to to kill off a Giant Centipede at low health but he decides that is the time to run away. This dude does some of the most senseless stuff. His reasoning is awful and he forgets that he has these skills for over 80 chapters and hasn't even used them. We even get some scenes where he is stuck and there is an enemy out of his claws reach, But he has these long range attacks but decides not to use them.

I can't even properly explain why this MC is so dumb. It's something you'd have to actually read yourself to understand.

What's worse is that he is such a better character in the Manga. But in this he's just retarded.

Things like him trying to be friendly to a human settlement even though all evidence has pointed to that being impossible.

I came in believing that this would be a story about a Human reincarnating as a Dragon befriending a Human girl. But we don't even get any actual interaction tell around chapter 40 or 50 if i remember. It might even be 70 but i'm not sure.

This story also has an awful habit of creating these characters just so they can be used for the plots convenience and then thrown away and never to be seen again. We had two high class adventures that come investigating a missing person in the forest and comes across the Dragon. But they are never used again. They had no purpose and was just forgotten. It honestly comes across as the author wanting to do something with them but just forgetting them.

Hell, The entire reason why the MC is there in the first place doesn't make sense. He has amnesia ( Plot Writers best friend ) and remembers nothing about his previous life. But we do know that some god or something is the reason as to why he is there. We see one part where the god thought he was gonna die. So the god decides to just break his entire radio silence sense the start and just tell our MC that he's fucking off cause he thinks the MC is gonna die. Not only is this stupid and awful. But this never comes back into place and the story seems to forget all about it.

Something else that me and everyone else were always pointing out. Is that the Author seemed to have forgotten that the MC has these skills ( Like previously mentioned ) But the Author seems to forget a ton of stuff.

We eventually get the MC moving to someplace new. It's a dessert. This can be fun. The MC is a Dragon and the Dessert holds a lot of possibilities.

But then we are introduced to the Rabbit, An awful new character that isn't fun or charming or even adorable. This by itself isn't enough to ruin this section of the story.

We are later introduced to some fat ass in a carriage being chased by a giant Centipede. The MC decides to help. But for awhile he is just following and watching. Even when the fat ass starts throwing out slaves to slow down the Centipede he doesn't hurry. Even when Children are being thrown out he doesn't help. It takes him a ungodly amount of time to stop the carriage. But he fucks that up. So no only does he let more then 0 innocent people get kill but he also manages to screw up capturing the Carriage. This by itself isn't bad enough to ruin this section of the story. We even get one of 4 likable characters this entire story.

What really ruins this story is the "Hero" Now i saw some people like him. I can see why. With him on screen the story is actually kind of interesting for a bit. But he is one of the worst made characters i'v seen in recent time. He puts Disney Mustache twirling villains to shame.

He is for no reason evil. He is an awful character. Not just in the sense that he is the bad guy. But he is such a badly made character that it's impossible for me to enjoy this section and it even ruins my opinion of the rest of the story.

The fact that he has the title of Hero and other shit is obnoxious. Him being bale to defeat the our MC in just one hit is stupid. They built up this battle and it ended in only one hit. The "Hero" tries raping one of the only good characters and then later captures her.

The stupid "Hero" Let's nature kill of the Dragon instead of finishing him off himself. Like why ? No reason to do it.

Now the MC has a deadline to level up and get ready to beat the Hero in just 4 days!! Sounds like it might be interesting right ? Well that's wrong as soon as you remember that this entire thing would never have happened if the MC wasn't an idiot.

I could go on with more and more about why this is a bad story. But i want to cut this short before i end up writing a review that rivals The Bible.

I don't like doing this. I'm more someone that will suffer through a story in hopes that i find something special of a story. But with this i can't. I am dropping this.

Never have i said this for a story besides my review for Boku wa Mari no Naka. But Do not read this. I find this to be one of the most insultingly bland stories i'v read. I can't do it anymore. Currently the Manga seemed pretty fun but if it follows the story like the novel then i will be dropping that too.

A review For the doratama light novel up to chapter 744 or light novel number 16. First review i make in this site if memory serves right.

This is a battle shounen, that feels like that's an apt description. The story has an undertone similar to the beggining of "kumo desu ga, nani ka?" with volumes having consistenly cool and grander fights and some interesting lore to read in later volumes.
The fights tend to be well written and there is always suspense about how MC is gonna solve each encounter. There is comedic moments as is common in lightnovels, i liked them at least.

I don't think ... that this is a story for people that like complicated plots or drama, so i don't recommend it if you are looking for intrigue, not that there is nothing of it in the story it's just very light on that aspect. This is a read for people searching for emotional stakes, awesome fights and cool characters. It does what it sets out to do very well.

I would rate it 8 if it's your jam.

Pretty brutal isekai. Though there are no graphic depictions of grotesque scenes, there is no shortage of fights to the death or death itself. The amount of these battles is also high (too much for my taste) and all books are told in the first person. Can be tiring to read non-stop combat chapters back to back. It gets a bit better in 3-4,5-6 volumes, as MC have more opportunities to fool around and get involved in some political problems, but still this isekai remains to have main focus on action scenes.

There is little (almost none) focus on MC's past life, this is mostly ... a "monster" focused story with minimal mingling with humans. He does not build a monster nation or anything like that, just basic survival and some application of human knowledge to make his own daily life easier. The monsters he actually interacts with are quite human-like, so there is a very thin line between intelligent monster and human.

MC has few needs (only social, to have someone to talk to), which leaves him with a lack of obvious motivation to do anything and often leaves the story to progress artificially by some deliberate push from the author. This is the biggest problem, which is especially evident in the beginning of the 4th ark (volume 7). It feels too artificial and shoehorned in, basically degrading to volume 1-2 levels. Battles happen as if the author is filling some quota without regard to the story. Seeming inability or unwillingness to write political intrigue, no direct conversations within the MC party (only a few bonus chapters do this outside the scope of the story).

There are also some inconsistencies in the magic system - after the 3rd volume it starts to change a bit, and by the 7th volume it feels like the author has completely forgotten how the skills were learned before. There's also a change in the frequency of MC using his skill to view enemy stats and get detailed info on enemy specific skills (which is kind of a big deal) to strategize the fight. At some point you can see this as an overconfident lapse, but it becomes apparent that this is not the reason and more likely just a convenient way to play out the element of surprise.

That said, the story is entertaining enough to read and enjoy. If I were to give my overall rating for each volume:
1,2 - 7 (overdose of battles, quite tiring)
3 - 8 (improvement from 1,2)
4,5,6 - 9 (best stuff here)
7 - 7 (feels like 1,2. Plus somehow, out of nowhere, MC starts caring about his past life?)