Yuusha, Aruiwa Bakemono to Yobareta Shoujo
The Maiden Called Hero or Monster

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Considerable improvement over the author’s previous work. This time we get an interesting world setting and, most importantly, characters that feel like actual people.

It’s exactly the characters that carry this novel. Not just the protagonist but also the people around her. Each of these has a multi-layered personality with more to it than just one quirk. Indeed, they are believably crafted humans and behave as people would. This is most visible on how the novel deals with grief. Grief is one of the major themes, but it’s not ever present. It’s not brooded over, it’s not dwelled on and unnecessarily dragged for content – more ... often it gets waved off by the characters. Coping with the grief as actual people and not soap opera characters would is what this novel gets right, and it’s thanks to this the story mixes drama and fun adventure so well.

The main character group chemistry is simply amazing, with the opposing personalities teasing each other while also banding together with real friendship. These characters develop through interactions with other, get influenced by them and influence them in return.

Another thing this novel does so well is how it writes its overpowered protagonist. This is because despite the enormous and absurd physical abilities miles above any other character, it’s the mental state that is important for the story. If anything, it explores how taxing it can be to have the responsibility of heroism. And not in the cringy “I must hide my true strength from everyone” cliché kind of way, thankfully. That said, even through the psychological state plays a big role, we still get plenty of cool action scenes. The actions scenes are also of interest as they are written and described so well you can really see the scene unfolding. Lot of light novels can get confusing when reading longer action scenes, but this is not one of those.

I also really appreciate the pacing. Every moment moves the story. There is no time wasted, but it also doesn’t feel rushed – the pacing is beautifully in balance. This could have been a 10+ volume series without much effort if you throw in a bunch of useless filler arcs just to sell more books, but the author kept the script on point and I respect them for that.

Please, give this one a try, it really deserves to be experienced by more readers.

Also, if you're wondering about the connection to Shinigami wo Tabeta Shoujo, you're fine reading this without that one. Those two are not directly connected, they just take place in the same world and have some connecting cameo appearances that are not important to understand story of one without reading the other.

***** Spoilers ahead *****

The Maiden Called Hero or Monster is the story of a young girl named, Hero, who suffers from amnesia. All she remembers is that she's a "hero," which to her, means that she must kill demons until they've all been exterminated. Along with Hero we have Matari Arte, a girl who's trying to reconcile with/ bring glory back to her family house. Edel Weiss, a necromancer who deals in spoilers, and Lulurile, the mandatory brains of the group who spouts proverbs near every line.

Now I'll readily admit that the setting as well as ... the plot outside the characters is pretty generic. Story takes place in a fantastical world within a city called Arte ruled by a religious cult called the Star Church. With things such as sorcery, monsters, guilds and the like all making an appearance; all the while, being somewhat grounded and believable with their applications. Within Arte is a place called the Labyrinth, a massive dungeon reaching deep underground populated by demons. So, our characters as well as others head into the Labyrinth to hunt demons and collect specified parts which can be exchanged for money, as said parts contain a precious substance called magic essence. As you can probably assume, the further down you go the stronger the demons get. But with a dense miasma that only grows in potency the deeper you go, there's a limit to just how deep one can get before ultimately dying to it. With the way this is going, it would be safe to presume the bulk of the story is of our characters making their way to the hundredth floor or something or other. But I'm glad to say that's not at all the case.

Now unlike what I've heard about the author’s other stories, this one does not take place during any major conflict between nations, nor is it driven by massive battles fought with in-depth tactics and strategy. Instead, The Maiden Called Hero or Monster is primarily character driven. I will say right now that there are essentially two different plots happening concurrently. One involves political strife within the Star Church that builds up leading to the climax that is the final chapter, and the other is of the characters and their daily lives as they overcome both the demons in the Labyrinth, as well as their own internal struggles. So if you're going into this expecting a great level of depth in the plot outside of that you'll probably be disappointed.

— Going into spoiler territory so be wary —

The majority of the story is spent showing Hero's inner turmoil, and her past. You quickly learn that she was an ordinary girl living her days in peace when demons suddenly appeared, led by a Demon King, they nearly wipe out the entirety of humanity. As the world was thrown into chaos, humanity begged their goddess for salvation, and salvation came in the form of giving Hero, well, the strength of a hero. So she, along with three others who were both her friends and teachers, were off to kill the Demon King. As one would expect from this author's works the protagonist is indeed overpowered. So much so that it ultimately leads to her friends abandoning her out of fear (which is elaborated on later as it’s not the complete story.) Calling her a monster, they abandon her, leaving Hero to conclude that a hero is in essence, a monster whose purpose is to kill demons and nothing more. From this point on she goes off and ultimately kills the Demon King on her own, and restores peace to the world.

So with the war against the demons having been won, she has no purpose with the world at peace. We get to see both Hero's mental instability, as well as her growth into finding purpose in herself outside of being a "hero" She spends a great deal of the story looking for a place to die, as to her, believing that dying along with the Demon King to have been a happy ending for a "hero." All the while, in her words, living but not alive, an empty purposeless husk, wondering why she's even alive.

— Spoiler Section Done —

For what seems like another generic overpowered protagonist story, ends up diving into topics of existentialism with a character, who even while being the strongest being alive, is just as mentally vulnerable as everyone else. That by no means is indicative of the rest of the main cast being flat either, far from it actually. Each character deals with their own problems in their own believable ways without being overly dramatized. While not to the extent of Hero whose character arc essentially spans the entirety of the novel, they still have a good amount of depth to keep them from being anime-trope cardboard cutouts. Again, keep in mind that this is a heavily character driven story, with the lead cast's development and interactions being the spearhead of the story. The plot outside that can be seen as quite bland I'm sure, and mostly serves as a way of providing situations to further explore different sides of the characters.

Aside from the characters and general story, I feel the action holds its own as well. The fights flow well, and never feel over explained or too wordy making it hard to follow. Despite some being what I consider to be a bit on the shorter side they all are memorable and entertaining sequences.

With that in mind, I hope those that choose to read it give it a chance and stick with it. I think it’s a genuinely good story which does what it sets out to do well.