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Nov 12, 2024
First of all, this is an Borderline-H dark fantasy. You’ll get exactly what you expect. In other words, if you’re not a fan of the genre, don’t even start reading this manga. In fact, it’s pointless for you to keep reading this review. It’s not for you. Period.
Secondly, if you’re considering using it for academic purposes, forget it. Entire chapters go by without a single explicit scene, and when there are such scenes, they’re usually only a few panels long.
I won’t summarize the story itself, as anyone can read a description. But I’ll add that the first dozens or so chapters are, in my
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opinion, somewhat of an unfortunate choice. They’re slightly misleading. You might expect a revenge story, but it heads in the opposite direction, asking the question, “What would happen if the betrayed hero wasn’t abandoned by their friends?” Surprisingly, this is reasonably well-written. This is mainly due to the fact that the story doesn’t feel rushed. It’s logically structured, and there’s time for things to sink in. In later chapters, there were moments that worked surprisingly well. I even paused for a moment on a few panels to think. You’ll even encounter a few thoughts that are a bit outside the box. Admittedly, these are presented in a pretty on-the-nose way, but it’s still a pleasant surprise for a work like this.
That said, I must mention that there are plenty of examples of the opposite as well, especially in the earlier chapters. This is especially noticeable with the introduction of certain girls [powered by mindbreak tag, just to be sure you know what to expect]. These scenes should have been handled with more nuance instead of being so quickly dealt with. It’s not even about the fetish aspect; I don’t care about that. It’s that these characters are more complex and deserve better than to just be tortured for a few panels and then have their personalities flip 180 degrees without much thought. Unfortunately, this is a typical flaw of the genre, and it’s present here too...
Moving on to the characters. Blum is a more or less interesting protagonist, especially in the later chapters, where his character gets more nuanced. Of course, he’s no knight in shining armor, but I suppose that’s no surprise to anyone. Personally, I think Alcanon is a far better-written character though. Thankfully, he’s not just degraded to a simple sidekick. In fact, he has a more important role than the protagonist. All-in-all, I think the main duo is quite well-written.
Then there are the antagonists. They aren’t portrayed as the typical evil laughing, two-dimensional villains. Sure, some of them are less compelling, but even in their cases, the writer makes sure to emphasize that they have strengths too. I’m not saying these are the most complex characters in literary history, but they still outshine the vast majority of flat evil villains typical of manga. Not just within the erotic genre but more broadly as well.
And finally, the girls... Well, as is custom in this genre, most of them end up in the protagonist's harem, despite the treatment they receive. Not all of them do though, which is a surprise in itself. Not to mention, that it’s not just the protagonist who benefits from the attention, but the sidekick as well, almost unheard of. As for the girls themselves? The girls who are attracted to Alcanon [sidekick] are decently well-written. Their roles aren’t limited to just fangirling. In contrast, Blum’s harem is quite shallow, though one or two of them slightly rise above the typical harem girl standard.
Overall, it’s no masterpiece by any means, so don’t expect anything like that, but still, it is better than what I've expected. All in all, I would say some aspects are surprisingly decent, others not so much.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 27, 2024
I have quite mixed feelings about this season. On one hand, reading the reviews, I agree with many of the points raised. Yet, I feel that many reviews are pointing in the wrong direction when it comes to identifying the core problems.
Let me use Roxy's case from the last two episode as an example to explain what I mean. What she did behind Sylphie’s back might come across as rather calculating. Despite that, I have to ask: why should a character be likable? Why should a character be required to be a saint? There’s no reason. If we set morality aside, the fundamental issue isn't
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what she did or how she did it. Roxy took advantage of the situation, and they had a quick grief-induced hookup—that’s all. Many of us have been in a similar situation. I wouldn't even say it doesn't help—because it does. Albeit only for the short term. When people are trying to run away from their feelings, they’re not thinking long-term or about the consequences. I don't even have an issue with Roxy trying to justify her actions, nor with the fact that, from her perspective, she didn't commit a grave sin. I mean, it seems like polygamy exists in their world. We don’t need to project everything onto our own world or values. Polygamy isn't the end of the world; many people live this way even in our world, and such relationships can function perfectly well. All of this is understandable so far. Not everything has to be guided by a flawless moral compass.
The problem begins with episode 11, where it seemed that Roxy didn't really regret her actions; in fact, she seemed to consider them justified and necessary. From my perspective, that's fine. She can think that way. Then came episode 12, where she spent the entire time lamenting on her guilt. It’s not a problem if a character’s imperfect moral values are changing over time, but they shouldn't just make a 180-degree turn without any prior buildup. And it wasn't just Roxy—this was a recurring theme throughout the season. There were many similar abrupt changes, making the characters and story feel inconsistent.
The problem continues with the fact that nothing was allowed to sink in. Every potential problem had a solution served on a silver platter. It felt weightless. Every dialogue felt like empty, melodramatic chatter, despite the fact that they were often dealing with life-changing, dramatic subjects. To stay with the Roxy example, from Rudy's perspective, his actions were unforgivable. He could have at least felt like he was piling mistake upon mistake. Apart from the visual clues, the dialogues and internal monologues barely hinted at this. Sure, an episode later, in the closing scene, he said he "made a lot of mistakes", but by then it was too late. The line was delivered in a completely different tone, for a completely different reason than how it should have been. Key sentences were delivered at the wrong times, hence the dramatic scenes ended in an unsatisfactory manner.
We also know from Rudy’s father's situation that jealousy exists. So even if we don't want to turn Rudy into a saint, he could have at least shown some concern about how Sylphie would react to all of this. Instead, the solution was already established before he spoke a word about it to the person who should have had the most say in the matter. It was almost laughable that it was Roxy who brought up that they should at least ask Sylphie first. Then when they got to it, Sylphie, naturally, agreed without any problems, as a good wife would—without even addressing the fact that everything had been decided over her head. That wouldn't have been a problem in of itself though. Sylphie could have been a character who just can't say no. But someone like that also has their own desires, which their would express through passive-aggressive remarks. Or, if nothing else, as a last resort, she could be bisexual or something. You know at least she could be part of the fun. But instead, they just threw in this bombshell without any buildup. Whatever they would have chosen to do, for it to be beliveable and natural, they should have been develop Sylphie's character first with small hints and details. But they didn't, and again, this was a recurring issue with other characters as well.
Lastly they could have solved all of this, if they cut the aimless dilly-dally out of the season. I mean, why did we have to watch a whole episode of "will-I-save-won't-I-save-mom"? We all knew, he will. At least, I assume so. Honestly, even the Norn arc could have been cut out or at least cut short. From the time saved, they could have separeted the Roxy arc from the "saving-mother" arc. They would have had more time to further deepen the impact of it. In the meantime they could slowly develop the relationship between Roxy and Rudy in the background and they could have created a real conflict out of it. Still happy end, yet it would have been more coherent in tone. Not to mention, more impactful.
What I'm trying to say is that this could have been just fine. The puzzle pieces and the potential for conflict were all in place, but they didn't do anything with them. It turned out to be a dry, emotionless, sometimes rushed, sometimes unbearably dull season. Very few scenes were properly built up. The problem is that there were too many parallel story arcs running in the background. Some of them evoking completely contradictory emotions: love, regret, grief, etc. It was too much all at once. As a result, the scenes jumped between emotions and tone abruptly. The creators didn't really know how to prioritize what they wanted to present and in what order, so overall, the entire season was ineffective or downright frustrating.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 26, 2023
Let me start with where this review comes from. I can't stand the "will-they-won't-they" romcoms. What is this anime? Yes, a psuedo "will-they-won't-they" romcom. I also hate tsundere to my guts. Hell, they make my skin crawl. Who is the FMC? Yes, a damn tsundere. What do I hate even more than tsundere? Self-insert simp MCs. Who is the protag here? Yes, exactly, your avarage joe self-insert simp. So, as you can see this anime ticked all the checkboxes which could make any show a candidate for the "my most hated anime of the year" award. Why did I watch this then? Well, this summer
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season was so abysmal, I had to scrape the bottom of the barrel.
Yet, I gave it a 6 and slapped a recommended tag on it. You may think, "it ain't much, but it's honest work", but you are wrong. I mean, most of the time I'm not finishing even the first episode of a romcom anime due to the unbearable second hand embarrassment. Yeah, they are painfully unfunny and cringe. So this 6 is actually a really high score from me.
Damn, finally a tsundere who is handled properly by the MC. Yes, exactly, the correct way of approaching them is to ignore them until they finally wrap their head around what the hell they want. If they didn't? Ohh, well... You didn't lose anything of a value. The cherry on the top is the fact, that our resident annoying tsundere barely had any screen time for a quite a few episode. It was refreshing to see the annoying tsundere moments are kept bare minimum. Sure, we don't really get to know why the MC is head over heels with this "fine" lass. I'm not sure even after the end, but who cares? I don't get most people taste anyway, so it is nothing new to me. Also, there is one more thing which caught me by surprise. There is only a single (or maybe 2) cockblocking scene here. I couldn't belive my eyes.
The animation is subpar though, but honestly I don't really care about how well a sprite resembling a girl is drawn in a romcom. I'm not here to fall in love with 2D girls. I would have been fine with some powerpoint slideshow. Although, some scenes really reminded me of that. Oh wait, I almost forgot... You most likely care about it. Well, it sucks, you are not gonna find the latest and greatest bouncing boob tecnhology here.
Instead, what you get is a genuinely intersting sidecast, simple lifelike problems, and a somewhat self-aware MC who improve on himself (not much though). The dialoges and the story didn't come from a Shakespearean drama, but it gets the job done. No pretentious bs, no excessive melodrama, just simple people with simple issues. Well, I really like the simplicity of this show. If I would have been looking for some complex psychoanalytical lectures I wouldn't have watched a romcom anyway.
At this point you may think, I'm just being sarcastic here. Well yeah, mostly, but I genuinely had a good time with this one. Ultimately though, this is just a crappy bland romcom. You get what you paid for. So basically nothing, but this one is a slightly bigger pile of nothing than the usual.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 20, 2023
I start with this, since this will be the first thing most reader will notice anyway. This manga operates with really similar basic premise as Frieren. There is a almost immortal protag (Aesir), whose perception of time is completely different from that of mortals. However, this manga approach the same questions from a completly different angle. While Frieren is full of nostalgia, reminiscence and regret, this one is the exact opposite. It is forward-looking and life-affirming. Mostly due to the fact that the protag here is not as dum-dum as Frieren, and understands the meaning of mortality from the get go and he spends time
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and get close to people whom he likes (unlike Frieren who is like: "Bye, we meet again in 50 years"). He is way more mature, despite his personality is way more lighthearted, friendly, careless and easygoing. I do not want to compare the two though (at least not more than I already did), but if you read both of them, you'll realize that they are really similar, but the message they try to convey is completly different.
Aesir is a damn well-written protag. He is full of childish curiousity, yet when it is needed he acts as mature as I would expect from someone who already lived more than a century. His childish curiousity doesn't stems from the fact that he doesn't understands the meaning of mortality though, but from the fact that he lived a secluded life in an near immortal community cut off from the world. Hence why his understanding of the world and the mortal society is limited. This is why his story feels like a real adventure of discoveries. His goal is nothing more than to learn, discover, experience, make friends and have fun.
The story itself is extremly fast paced (but don't expect high octane action). I'm only 24 chapters deep and like 70-80 years already have passed. However, it doesn't mean the story is rushed. Quite the opposite, from the MC's perspective a century really is nothing. Just to illustrate this, in the first chapter he kills wolf, and when he visit the "starter town" he decide to learn blacksmithing to make a knife out of it's tooth. His tought process is like: "Why not learn blacksmithing it only takes 10-15 years". Not to mention every arc touch some really deep topics, especially since he is not a loner, he makes friends in the process of his adventures. You can guess where this is going, right? Yes, exactly, he has to overcome losing friends and loved ones. The interesting message here is, what does it matter if it takes a decade or two to mourn? Nothing really, and you feel exactly the same. You just flip the page or read a few panels and a decade have passed, and the MC is more or less over it. People come and go throughout our lives, we need to learn to deal with it somehow, even if it painful for a while. So yes, The story can hit really hard right in the feels.
The most interesting question for me what occasionally appear in the manga is what can be a purpose of an immortal being? The answer here seems like, preserving the original goal and ideals of a tradtion or legends. He was there when it born, he even knew personally those who invented it, so he can pass the original ideals from generation to generation. Somewhat lonely, but noble goal. Connected to this, a really interesting aspect of this manga is when he occationally visits places where he did something in the past. His deeds already became legends of the local folklore. Sometimes these encounters are smile inducing, since the reality is way more mundane than the epic legend.
All in all, I could mumble a lot about this, since it is so damn good. Anyway, I highly recommend this to anyone who have read Frieren and liked it (in certain aspects I think this one is even better than Frieren, in others not so much), or just want to spend some time thinking about the time we spend on this mud planet. I'm pretty sure this will considered a masterpiece by some. As for me? It is almost there, but I'm not sure a story like this can become my favorite.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Aug 30, 2023
This is the 200th anime I've watched since I made my account here, so I decided to write a short review to celebrate this "distinguished" moment. [TLDR: I could have choosen a better one]
You may ask why it is recommended despite I rated it for a measly 4? The thing is, this show has some merits despite the abysmal execution. Such merits which is rare in the isekai genre. You may wonder, what merit can a crappy generic isekai have?
Simple, a finished story. That alone is commendable.
Well, this is the sad reality of the isekai genre. It counts almost a miracle if we
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ever see the end of an adventure.
Other than that the only aspect of the show worth mentioning are the characters. Don't expect much, but the MC is acceptable. Nothing spectacular, but he is not a whimpy looser, which is always a win in my book. The sidekicks are forgettable cardboard cutouts though. Not to mention most of them are completly unneccesary. Anyway, as an Isekai connoisseur, I have seen far worse.
What are the flaws? Basically everything else. So I'm not gonna waste your time explaining them, here is a list instead:
-Low budget animation
-Horrendous, laughable fight coreography
-unremarkable stock OST (and terrible sound balance)
-Semi-interesting premise ruined by the painfully unimaginative writing and catastrophic pacing
-Episode starts->MC goes to a new place -> meets with an old friend -> old friend overjoyed -> flashback how they met. Rince and repeat.
-I don't even know what the hell was the last 3-4 episodes. Damn, it was garbage. The last few minutes is semi-decent though.
In summary, a horribly executed garbage show, which doesn't even meet the fairly low Isekai standards, but at least a finished product, and I appriciate the attempt. So, to support the initiative, I slapped a recommended tag on it. It would be nice to see more finished Isekai stories, but for god's sake, please execute it at least decently.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 2, 2023
Ok, I have to write a review about this one. In short:
Sumimasen, what the fuck?
A slime isekai with a "little twist" aka. how a realist slime rebuild the demon race. I don't want to spoil the fun for you, so I'll let you experience the peak culture for yourself. Honestly though, I'm speechless. It is pretty hard to put a pricetag on this one. I mean, this one is so "wtf", that the shock made me belive that I actually read something. I mean, definietly a pretty unique idea, I didn't really read anything like this in manga format before (and considering my
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taste that's quite something). Not to mention, it made me burst out laughing. Also, surprisingly the translator put a lot of effort in this one. Don't ask me why though.
Anyway, this is one of those flagships of the japanese culture, so if you wanna read some R18 brainfart give this one a shot. (By the way the score is on the stupidity scale)
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 1, 2023
This is a slow life fantasy with the usual "I'm a famous adventurer, but I want to retire now" premise. It is pretty good for what it is. Actually, one of the best in this subgenre what I've read so far. If you are expecting high octane action, or a complex story then you are at the wrong place. However, if you want to read a chill wholesome fantasy manga than this is the one you are looking for. IF...
As custom for the slice of life genre there is no real overarching story. So don't expect anything like that, but again, if you don't like
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the subgenre why would you even consider reading this? Don't get me wrong, the writing is pretty good, the dialoges are realistic. There is no unneccessary melodrama. The characters are really adorable things coated with lovey-dovey sugar syrup. I mean, it is really a feels good manga.
The settings and art has a really chill and captivating atmoshpere. Honestly, I completly understand the protagonist why he wanted to settle in that specific village. It conveys the feeling of "finally a place I can call home, and I can rest".
As a fair warning: This manga contains multiple several panel long H-scenes. All of them are lovey-dovey though. I know it is blastphemy, but it is part of every healthy relationship, especially if we are talking about adults (like here). Although, the length of scenes felt a little bit unneccessary, an implication whould have been just fine, but it didn't subtract from the heartwarming experience for me, but some of you may find offputting.
All in all, if you are looking for a slow life fantasy manga and don't mind a few H-scenes, than this is the one you are looking for. If you sit down with the right expectations, you'll most likely enjoy it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 31, 2022
Another conteder in the "otome villaness" subgenre. This manga mixed the tropes really well. It almost matched my taste. Despite it is a shoujo manga, there is surprisingly little syrup, which makes it quite digestible. The lead duo is really good. The loner psuedo-goth female lead with her deadpan face is kinda adorable in her own way. The male lead also sympathetic, a good guy, without the usual pathetic slimey "white knight" glaze. The chemistry works really well between them. They are kinda rare in this genre. So yeah, so far so good.
Yet, I'm so disapointed... Or rather, I would say I have a really
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bad feeling after I have read the 13th chapter. I'm affraid this one will became another one of those "will-they-won't-they" type of ambiguous trash romances. Which I wholeheartedly hate. Especially, if it happens, because of a misunderstanding. So yeah, the author kinda ruined the whole experience for me in 1 panel. I don't have high hopes for this one anymore. I mean, it is kinda expected from the genre, yet, I was hoping for a miracle to happen, but it seems unlikely at this point.
The issue is, if we subtract the budding romance between the leads, well, nothing much remains what we didn't read countless times before. The story is kinda wishy-washy. The heroiness doesn't really have much room for development. The world is a bog standard otome game world. The art is fine, but nothing fancy, and so on.
All in all, in case you are not full of the "will-they-won't-they" type of romances I can recommend it. Other than that probably you should just skip it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 29, 2022
At first glance you may think this is an another one of those "everyone evil, me good, but now I'm angry" stories which begs for a shallow revenge plotline. You are not completly wrong, but it is just a small part of the bigger picture. This manga is much more than that. True, there are 4 adventurers who were decieved, and everything was taken away from them, but because as a lucky coincidence (and plot convinence) they meet each other, and they get a chance for a new beginning thanks to each other. It is somewhat dark, yet wholesome at the same time, which
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is a unique combination in my opinion .
The cast: Let's start with the most interesting part of the manga. What would you think, if I tell you, we have a Idol maniac otaku assasin MC (Nick), a gambling addict mage (Tiana), a hostess (/whore) lover ex-priest (Zem), and an air-headed dragonoid muscle girl (Curran)? Most likely you would think it is an another one of those cheap Konosuba clones, right? You are completly wrong. Their flaws are not comedic at all, actually the manga has the guts to take them seriously, and portray these as substitute acts for the characters, because they are running from their past. As you read the manga, you get to know more and more about the characters and the events happened to them, so you slowly realize the pit the characters are in is much deeper than it seemed initially. Actually, we have real characters and character development here (even our supposed to be self-insert otaku is more than meets the eye).
Not to mention the "evil" characters have plotlines too, what makes them relatable (or at least understandable), and I always appricate when a manga dare to depcit them not only as "I'm evil for the sake of being evil" (For eg.: Leon is an interesting character for a seemingly disposable "bad guy").
Note though, the main cast are kinda cautious (understandably), so they do not take unneccesary risks, so the majority (=/= all) of the fight scenes doesn't have real risk involved. The story much more focused on how the characters overcome their past, and how they grow as a person.
The story: It is kinda slice of lifish, since the manga portrays the growth of the party too, and not just "here, kill this one mob, and became immortal god in 4 panels". It takes it's time to develop the characters. Because of this we are kinda early in the main storyline, but it seems like it has a direction (and a goal) where the story goes, so probably it will be interesting in the future, but so far we only got a few chapters about the mistery behind the world. Additionally, I kinda like how the characters solve the problems, it is not only the usual "I'm a OP nice guy, so I gonna solve everything with brute force". So the plottwists are actually well thought out.
The world: A generic high fantasy, so if you are looking for fantasy manga with a unique world, than this is not the one you are looking for. Although, there are a few interesting ideas. Nothing groundbreaking, but it is something. Personally I kinda found the "Union" idea offputting at first, because I was expecting a cheap haremish waifu bait crap, but it turns out it is not the case. So, I got used to it.
All in all I was pleasantly suprised. This one is actually damn good read, a hidden gem, despite it's genericness here and there. I can recommend it, if you like power fantasy with a somewhat OP, but really interesting main cast. My preliminary verdict is a high 8 after 40 chapters.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 22, 2022
This manga is like when you finish the main storyline of the game, but you go back to the starting village to do a few sidequests what you have skipped. In this case you bring the final boss (aka demon queen) with you, because why not? So yeah, nothing has a stake anymore, but you still wanna help that one farmer dude, because he gave you an apple at the beginning.
This manga is the perfect example of "we have seen this dozens of times before, but finally one managed to execute the tropes well". Everything is just the right amount here. Right amount of accidental
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flexing, right amount of chill, right amount of ecchi, right amount of lovey-dovey scenes. Most of the things are matching my taste. No unneccesary pretentious melodrama, just a chill athmosphere and funzies. So don't expect any nail bitingly exciting action, or anything deeply phylosocphical.
The protagonist is well written. His relationship with the demon queen is unconventionally adorable. I mean as adorable as a realtionship between an ex assasin and an ex demon queen can be. Not to mention, that it is quite hearthwarming to see as their personalities change as they adapt to their "normal" lifestyle. My only issue is the "bad guys" are all one-dimensional arrogant stupid idiots, but that is just manga for you.
All in all it is a really good read, if you want to read something chill, and laugh time to time. If you don't take it too seriously you'll have a good time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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