Sekai Saikou no Ansatsusha, Isekai Kizoku ni Tensei suru
The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat

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So do you like isekai with harem tropes and a powerful MC in a world of swords and sorcery? Well then this one is for you, written by the same author of Redo of Healer, this isekai clearly takes inspiration from Mushoku Tensei, as it's initial chapters are very similar with some nearly identical aspects.

We follow our MC Lugh Tuatha Dé, who on his previous life was the world's greatest assassin, until one day his own allies turn on him and kill him, betrayed by his own people Lugh reflects on his own life and how he spent it being tool to a organization ... just to be disposed by them, he wishes that he could redo his life, a life where he would work only for himself. And upon this Lugh gets summoned by a goddess who grants him his wish, but in turn he has to help her with a job, and this job is to assassinate a powerful hero, who will save the world by killing the demon lord but later will turn rogue and will be source of much destruction, pain and suffering.

So as for the things I like: It has a very strong premise, which I think are some very clever ideas, the first few chapters are really good, it's very similar to Mushoku tensei and we have this detailed world building involving the magic system that is really clever and honestly surprised me a lot, I also like how instead of a loser self insert op character we have an experienced dude that in his previous life had no compassion, he is not afraid of using his skills to manipulate the people around him, and despite being very powerful we see he growing his powers throughout each volume, there are battles he can't win and enemies he cannot defeat, he is overall just a very smart character that doesn't do many things that seem out of character or stupid. And the art was overall really good, its way superior then most manga art I've seen (as LN art should be).
For the things I didn't like would've been some of the pacing, things happen either really fast or really slow, it's not so much a inconvenience because the content is still interesting, and the author does he improve his writing with each volume, in volume 1 specifically we spend a lot of time setting up this whole second identity "Merchant life" thing, which is useful for the story but I feel like it wasted too much time there, outside that not much to complain, light novels are supposed to be easy to read and this one is. I'm not expecting the next Shakespeare here.

The characters are all pretty standard isekai characters, all the girl's fall in love with the MC but there is genuine reasons for that. But what interested me the most was the dark tone it had when explaining the backstory of one of the characters, I guess I should've expected that given the author. Some romance appears later on and is developed naturally, it's not really something that feels forced, I genuine like the relationship and chemistry the characters have.
The side characters all have their unique aspects, but I expect the story to develop them more in the future.

The battles that happen on this LN are interesting to say the least, I liked the battle between kid Lugh and his father when they were training, but the final battle of volume 1 was rather disappointing, it does show a new spell that is super powerful and amazing, however it ends very fast and they barely do any fighting, Lugh just talks to his opponent and AHA! I have outsmarted you this whole time. The final battle from the second volume was actually my favorite, Lugh goes all out but its not enough and it shows that even for him there are enemies he can't defeat. And on volume 3 he legit pulls up a railgun and destroys his enemy.

I have only read 3 volumes so far, and I can say it gets better with each volume, volume 3 specially had some great character development and world-building as well as introducing new characters and mysteries, I'm honestly surprised by this LN and really recommend it if you like isekai stories but is genuinely bored of all the self-insert op main character stories out there.

Review based off all 4 currently released LN's

Tired of reincarnating the same black haired, weak willed, unfairly overpowered MC who's scared of women? Well lucky for you this time it's an alternate world's very own John Wick ultimate assassin who gets his chance to reincarnate this time.

And get this, he even gets a mission to complete from the resident goddess, assassinate the hero to save the world. Honestly I found the concept a refreshing and enjoyable twist on the standard "isekai" plot.

The LN features the standard "child prodigy type who uses his former life's worth of knowledge to become as powerful as possible" type ... of story but in this case the MC's former life as an assassin gives the standard formula an enjoyable twist as both his combat prowess and the fact that he remembers details like how guns function make actual sense. The way in which magic is explored is enjoyable and his interactions with his magic tutor Dia feel like a realistic relationship rather than a completely absurd "wow you just saved me out of nowhere, guess I'm yours forever" type beat.

I do have to note that the original vibe of the LN is lost past the 1st volume as the MC mellows out from his original "professional killer" personality due to the "power of love" and the story shifts to more romance/harem and exploring character relationships. I personally found this a minus compared to the original path I saw the story following but it's still not terrible and enjoyable in a different way.

Story: 8.5 (Volume 1) 7 (Volume 2-4), an enjoyable twist on the standard format

Art: 8, I really enjoy the art style, also including the anime art for this score

Characters: 6, not bad exactly but not great either, would be higher if the MC didn't change as much

Enjoyment: 8, a thoroughly enjoyable LN, I would recommend giving it a try

Overall: 8

CONCLUSION: a good read for isekai enjoyers put off by cowardly MC's who can't handle touching a woman. Combat is varied and enjoyable. LN falls off a bit as it goes on but it isn't that bad, just not as good as it could have been.

This series lacks consistency. I started reading the LN after the release of episode 4 of the anime. So far, the anime is doing well, the story has been well adapted. I could say the same for the first book of this title. However, the 2nd book left so much to be desired. When reading vol. 2 of the series, there are a lot sudden additions to the story that just made no sense.

The book starts off with Lugh as genius boy with a realist personality. As the story progresses, however, Lugh's personality gradually changes. It is to be expected, however, since the plot ... focuses on him developing as a character. BUT! The story begins to meander a bit and Lugh is now portrayed as the "hero", clearly contradicting his job as an assassin both in his previous life and as Lugh. This is fiction, and I am aware of the trend of the fantasy genre in the anime community. But, this only proves the lack of a proper pacing this series has.

Adding to the already terrible pacing is the author's poor decision making. This is a trend I noticed throughout the story, the author would purposely start a scene and add something that was not previously mentioned when said scene began. I find it difficult to understand the author's intention with the story's progression. Same can be said during the introduction of Maha to the story. She was added to the main story as is, only then was her background revealed in an interlude chapter. To me, reading this series feels like reading a 4-koma manga, with new episodes each time you enter a new chapter, instead of it just being a continuation of the last. While this does not apply to all the chapters in the story, it does hinder consistent reading when such events does happen.

I am a bit disappointed with the terrible pacing the story has. IMO, this is a rare instance where the anime adaptation is leagues ahead of the LN. The anime is able to pace the story well, while the LN tries to include everything into 1 book, resulting in a terrible explosion of the plot.