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Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata (or Saekano) is a light novel series written by Maruto, renowned for writing visual novel script, and illustrated by Kurehito. It is a light-hearted school life series. The readers follow the protagonist Tomoya Aki and his doujin circle (harem), as they try to find success in making a visual novel that people will enjoy.

If the description so far sounds like a typical school life harem series, it is because Saekano never denies itself as such. Its character cast is set up with the classic harem formula. It has Kasumigaoka on the senpai role, Eriri on the osananajimi role, Mizuhara as the ... cousin character, and a couple more characters to fill in the cliches. While the set up is nothing new, Saekano is aware of its own cliches, and often play it to its advantage. The characters, most of them "otakus", are frequently aware of their own predicament as they get into a "cliched situation", and make fun of themselves using sarcasm. The story often "meme" well-known works in ACGN industry, especially Maruto's own works. The memes are presented in a light way that would provide mirth to those who understood it but would not overwhelm if the readers don't get it.

If this is as far as it go, though, Saekano wouldn't be anything special. There is one thing that Saekano does that set it apart from other novels, that is, by giving "realistic high school girl character traits" to its main heroine, Megumi. If one reads enough typical visual novels, one will come to expect certain things from a typical heroine, usually in a way that best appeases the readers, who are presumably 30yo, male, living in his mother's basement. Maruto, having wrote enough galgame to understand the heroines, wrote a character that is exactly the opposite of the cliche. Megumi is a girl who will not fall in love with the MC at first sight, who keeps a calm face when the MC does not keep his promise, who would not be jealous at everything the MC does, whose emotions are sometimes unpredictable, who can keep a normal conversation without trying to make a move on MC, nor would she immediately reciprocate MC's feelings after he professes his love for her. If you find a tons of similarities between Megumi and your girlfriend or yourself (for female readers), well, that is exactly what the writer is shooting for. When a character like Megumi is elevated to the role of central heroine in a somewhat typical harem comedy situation, the story is bound to become something very different.

The parallel between the game script written by the protagonist and his relationship with the heroines together with his own emotional state is another shining point of this novel. Since the protagonist is the game script writer for his group, and he draws on his own personal experience to write the story, the story in Saekano is told from two fronts. This becomes important especially toward later volumes, in that the script protagonist wrote echoes his own feelings, and sometimes even become a channel of communication between him and his friends.

In summary, while Saekano seems like a typical harem school life story at first, it sets itself apart by having a "realistic high school girl" central heroine and its own willingness to make fun of its cliches. The end result is a organic slice of life high school story about a group of students trying to make it into the doujin industry. Saekano is mostly humorous, sometimes dramatic, and occasionally heart-tugging, all in a very fresh way.

Masamune-kun no Revenge is the kind of anime that would inevitably come out every season. It is, in essence, a harem, high school life, comedy, light romance show. It is the kind of show that would appeal to younger anime fans, especially those with less experience in knowing the tropes and cliches in the industry.

Don't get me wrong. Just because an anime roots itself in a genre that can easily be seen as cliched does not mean it has to be so. My subjective opinions aside, there are definitely some good shows that I've seen in the past in this genre that have some ... unique aspects to them. However, Masamune is definitely not one of them. It does have a premise that has potential. As it turns out, though, the plot is more or less filled with tropes from the standard drama shows, of which plot development depends on. The eye-catching premise of "revenge for childhood rejection" is just another excuse to make the main romantic pairing, without going very deep.

One of the things that this show suffers from is that it tries to adapt the entire source material so far in 12 episodes. While even the source story is not complex, adapting the whole thing in one season turned out to be not so great. The show starts off fine, but rushes through character relationship with other main heroines during the middle, only to abruptly sweep them aside as "side characters" to make way for the main heroine in the end. While this seems to be the standard adaptation practice for harem shows nowadays, it is still very bad for the story.

What else is there to say? If you've seen a dozen shows in this genre you can predict how the story is going to go. The artwork is vibrant and character design is quite nice, but there is no "wow" factor to be found in visuals. BGM and theme songs are typical JPOP. If you enjoy it, you would like the music. Obviously, songs vocalized by upstart seiyuus are nowhere near the levels of "professional music", as you would expect. I would not call the main characters flat, but their depth are quite far from being intricate. In fact, the main girl is the amalgam of two tropes: ojousama and tsundere. The protagonist is just... another male harem lead.

All in all, Masamune is an above average harem show, but still deeply entrenched in cliches and tropes of the genre without its own quirks. Most people who enjoyed watching this show would probably not going to remember its title after a while.

5.5/10

As you may or may not know, galgame is a popular type of game in Japan, whose main goal is to raise flags with heroines and ultimately get together with each one of the heroines (and have sex, for 18+ version). For good or for bad, there many fans of galgame even outside of Japan, myself included. Now here is a mind-blowing concept, what if you are able to project the plot and characters in your favorite galgame into your real life? What would you do? What sort of (mis)adventures would unfold? Most importantly, do you get the chance to date your favorite 2D galgame ... heroine?

This, of course, is exactly what happened to the protagonist of this light novel.

Interestingly enough, it turns out that being a protagonist of a galgame is not as easy or as envious as one would have thought. Even if he did build a harem, he barely had any time to enjoy it, since waves and waves of danger just come so suddenly in threatening his peaceful everyday life. This is perhaps the strongest point of this novel. Often, there are new plot twists occurring that throws protagonist's peaceful life out of balance. Just as you thought that everything calmed down, a new crisis occurs.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for the protagonist), the 180 degrees plot twists are preceded by paragraphs of daily, bland life of the protagonist that most readers don't care about. Each volume feels rather long, exacerbated by the writer's limit in his narrative ability. Not that I expect a lot, but the writer's soulless, bland narrative of daily conversations really make even your typical galgames look good.

Another major discredit to the novel comes from the poor development of characters. Don't get me wrong, the protagonist, and a few non-heroine side characters are decently portrayed. Yet, the essence of a galgame, the characteristics of heroines, are not brought out at all. In fact, all of the heroines might as well be side characters for that matter, even if all of them did manage to become protagonist's harem in the end. Perhaps the writer intended to write this way, but it still doesn't cover for the fact that interaction between heroines and the protagonist is mediocre at best.

Galge no Sekai yo, Youkoso! is a bit voluminous, sitting at 8 lengthy volumes for the main plotline. It does suffer from bland daily narrative, as well as poor development of the heroines (perhaps because there are so many). However, for light novel readers who also are visual novel fans, or for readers interested in such concept, this should not be missed. The deconstructive plot twists alone are worth the read.

6.5/10

Summer Days is side story to the infamous anime/VN School Days. To be honest, I only read this novel because I was searching the keyword "summer" on a book database, and found it by accident. Summer Days is a spin-off of School Days, centered on Setsuna, Sekai's best friend if you remembered from the anime.

Guess what? I still don't get one bit how Makoto is somehow so popular that he could get as many cunts as he want.

Good novels are grounded on good characters and story, and Summer Days had none of those to begin with, not mentioning that most of the events in this ... novel does not happen in the anime series (perhaps it does with the game). The set up is poor, and we never got to know why Setsuna liked Makoto in the first place, just that she somehow does.

While the narrative is readable, the story that it tells is confusing, without a shred of charm in it. The emotions are far from genuine, and Makoto is just a dick more than ever. It was actually funny when the novel try to depict him as "gentle and kind" while his actions were obvious. The motivations just aren't there...

I give this a 2/10, because the drama is somehow funny, despite being artificial, and that I didn't have access to the illustrations, which might pull up the score by one point.

Yesterday, my girlfriend and I wanted to watch an anime movie. We had four choices: AnoHana Movie, Hotaru no Haka, Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo, and Nerawareta Gakuen. Because I thought the rest of the choices would be too sentimental for a casual watch, we went with the last choice, Nerawareta Gakuen.

Don't make the same mistake I did.

I'll say it right away. I am not sure where this story stands in terms of science fiction writing (the source material), but in terms of an anime movie adaptation, it is horrible.

Story (3)
I do understand that everyone enjoys a different type of story. Some prefer drama, some prefer ... action, and some prefer science-fiction, and the rest like other types of stories.

If you had to ask me what type of a story Nerawareta Gakuen is, I am not even sure where to begin. There is the romance, the science-fiction element, a fair share of drama, and just pure slice of life moments without ever being funny. As a romance-drama story, it could do away with the complicated time-travelling superpower back story. As a science-fiction, it suffers from melodrama and deficiency of plot structure. As a school slice-of-life story, there is not even a slice of comedy.

Anyways, no matter how we define this movie, one thing is for sure. By the end of the viewing experience, I bet most of us viewers did not understand what-the-fuck happened in the movie. The story might made sense in the more detailed story-telling of the original science-fiction novel, it sure did not make any sense here.

One thing that the production team screwed up worse than the story itself is the pacing. The painful experience of watching this movie is like watching a slug moving across the road. Individual preferences differ significantly with pacing, but I dare to say the majority of viewers will agree with me.

Art (8)
Artwork is very well-done in this movie. I really like the emphasis on the various scenes where sakura petals fall from the sky. The animation is also pretty good. Highlight include Natsuki's complicated gymnastic maneuvers whenever she appears on screen. Strangely enough, the art in this movie didn't really do anything for the story as a whole, unlike perhaps in Makoto Shinkai's 5cm per second. Put it this way. You could spend 2 million dollors on animating a person walking from point A to point B, making it looks gorgeous. However, in the end it would still just be the a person walking from point A to point B, no matter what kind of elaborate background you draw.

Sound (7)
I wanted to give a higher score for the sound, but the truth is, the only outstanding part about it is the OP, which is a no-brainer really because it's done by Supercell. The sound tracks, if there were any, did not do anything for me, nor was it particularly bad. Hanazawa Kana's voice acting could be identified at the first minute of the movie, but her performance in this work is mediocre. Just mediocre.

Character (6)
Overall, the characters weren't bad, nor were they particularly interesting people to watch. I really don't want to comment too much on the characters because I feel like in this show, whether or not viewers like these characters would very much be subjected to viewer's whimsical discretion. Though, no matter how good a character is, he would just be dull in a dull story.

Enjoyment (3)
The first five minutes of listening to Supercell's Giniro Hikousen gave me hope. The next hour extinguished most of my unrealistic expectation. I did not particularly liked or disliked the ending, since I was already desensitized to this movie at that point. I was just glad that the producers decided to play the last minute of Giniro Hikousen at the last minute of the show.

Overall (3.5)
I finally know why this movie was ranked at #1882 (Nov 6, 2014). I wouldn't personally recommend this movie to any of my friend.

If this manga had ended with a School Days TV anime ending, I would have actually give it 5/10.

Shounen yo Taishi wo Dake! tells a story of a university freshman, who lost his chance to potentially become a wizard, and had sex with two girls (separately) at the day he lost his virginity. The manga closely follows his daily life.

Story:
It's sad to say this, but the story is actually good to a certain point. Although the plot is clearly aimed at young male audience, at least the way the story is executed seems interesting at first.

Art:
The type of art that will neither make ... you drop the manga immediately, nor make you cry in joy. It's the type that barely let you read on.

Character:
You thought Makoto from School Days is a douchebag? Well, the mc here is almost as much of a jerk, except that he didn't get a boat ending. I am amazed by mc's ability to consistently treat girls like they are holes used for sex. He is stupid to the point that after a girl takes him on a trip for free, invite him to her home, comfort him numerous times, and have sex with him whenever he wants, he still think of her as just a sexfriend/friend.

Oh-wait, did I mention that he did it with her while he has a girlfriend? And this just doesn't happen to one girl. It happened to all the girls who had sex with mc. I am pretty sure at the end of the manga, he did not gain any maturity from his university experience. Strangely enough, though, mc is actually portrayed as a very emotional person, as he is depressed everytime he is "dumped".

This makes me wonder what is the mangaka trying to convey with this manga, especially to those who are still in highschool/middle school and without much experience in man-woman relationship. That it is okay to screw around with girls, and they will still let you do whatever you want with them?

Enjoyment:
I suppose one could enjoy the manga. Despite the mediocre art, the sex scenes are somehow pretty hot. However, once you think about the plot, it will definitely piss you off, feminist or not.

Overall:
A gracious 2/10 awarded for this manga.

Oh wait, did I mention the ending is rushed?

Since I spent two days and 3 nights up to 3am reading this novel, I thought I'd write a review, though I am too lazy to write a comprehensive one.

An amazing start. A shitty finish.

...sums up the plot of this novel. The setting is in a medieval, slightly fantasy world. We follow the story of a young slave, who later is tasked with the pretending to be the dead prince. Throughout the adventure, we often view things from the supporting character' POV.

This book, unlike most other light novels that revolve around high school drama, resembles western fantasy war literature more. The world construction is ... detailed and vivid in the first few volumes. In fact, when I finished the 4th volume, I thought this would be my first 10/10 light novel. However, the plot failed spectacularly in the latter half of the story. There were a lot of annoying plot devices that long outstayed its welcome. Way too many characters are introduced without proper buildup or even plot significance (Several characters are introduced in the last volume!). Even existing main characters lost some of their charm, as they act unlike their previous character. Worst of all, many conflicts are resolved in manners that raise eyebrows and warrant face-palms. It would even be better if the author just write a more detailed epilogue giving its fans some much needed shipping, but even that is not done...

The art is quite good. It really gives a medieval feel, which is the setting of the story. However, good art can't save bad writing in the second half of novel.

Overall, I was disappointed. Instead of the 10/10 I had been expecting, I found myself something more akin to 7/10, considering its strong beginning.

*I am very sorry to kill everyone's hope since I understand that the English version is only translated up to volume 2. The truth need to be said. Don't expect too much for the ending.

“I want to prove to the world that grades aren’t everything.”
- Yuuji Sakamoto, leader of class 2-F

In a high school where the equipment you get, the amount of respect you receive, and the destruction power of your summoning beast are strictly divided according to your academic skills, this seems to be a foolishly ambitious claim. However, if it is those “idiots” in class 2-F, I believe they can definitely do it.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu is a popular, 17-volume (5 side stories volumes) light novel series that has been since adapted into anime (2 seasons) and manga. Ironically, this series is perhaps most prominent for ... introducing the idea of FFF brigade, an organization that is dedicated to torturing the happy, fulfilled individuals (male) that have received affection from the opposite sex. This notion is frequently cited by the anime community in China (and other countries), as far as I know, even by those who have never watched or read this series.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu is a completed (12 main story volumes, with 5 volumes of side stories) light novel series by Inoue Kenji. It tells the story of Yoshii Akihisa, an utter idiot, in multiple contexts, and his daily adventures with his group of friends from Class 2-F. His high school uses the exclusive Exam Summoning Battle (ESB) system, where each student has the ability to summon with its power depending on individual’s academic performance, and each class is separated by their overall academic performance. Facilities are also given to each class based on performance, such that Class 2-A gets high-tech stuff, while Class 2-F gets a run-down classroom.

- - - Story - - -
Frankly, the story didn’t appeal to me at first. The set-up seems clichéd. Of course, we’ve seen it hundreds and hundreds of times. The protagonist is a slow-witted guy, surrounded by a couple girls who seem to be romantically interested in him, as well as by a bunch of other male friends. There is some sort of injustice happening around the protagonist, and the group of friends strive to change that. Every volume is just going to be fillers that repeat the same things over and over again with no real plot development!

…is what I wanted to say at the beginning, a perception that I soon dismissed.

Following class 2-F’s leader Yuuji Sakamoto’s lead, the idiotic and “weak” class 2-F manages to out-smart their opponents no matter how strong they might be. Some of their ploys are quite genius, and each volume provides an entertaining and dramatic plot, with outcomes that are difficult to predict. Even the side stories volumes are not entirely fillers. They provide important flash-back chapters that adds to the character development.

The story is written in a hilarious style. Readers will constantly laugh, because of funny and idiosyncratic dialogues between characters. Actually, some of the funniest contents can be found in the beginning of each chapter, for which a question is assigned to several main characters in the story, and each character answers it, along with the teacher’s feedback. This not only allows readers to get to know the characters better, it also sets the mood for each chapter, sometimes even foreshadows what is to come in the future.

I’d recommend reading this novel one volume per day and take it in slowly (don’t skip the opening question at the start of each chapter). Just remember to keep reading even if some of the volumes disappoint you a bit, because the ending is certainly perfect for baka to test to shoukanjuu, that I wouldn’t have it any other way.

- - - Art - - -
Like any other light novel, there isn’t really much to say about the art. I’d say that the art in this series goes for the cute style where the characters’ heads are slightly larger than normal, as opposed to the ecchi style that is found in most other novels. Overall, the art provides a solid illustrations of the characters, and make the dramatic scenes that much more so.

- - - Character - - -
The students of 2-F are idiots. They are completely, undoubtedly, irreversibly idiots. Perhaps it is precisely because they are idiots that they are able to grasp something more fundamental and basic about human’s emotions.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu certainly resembles a shounen title in that it features a large cast, each having his or her own distinctive features or quirks. This by no means signify that characters are flat. In fact, the main characters undergo significant character development, through their trials of fighting in the summoning war.

The character dynamics between the main characters are amazing! Class 2-F is such a place where friends could lie, steal from, and stab each other in the back without blinking an eye. However, when grave situation calls for and the display of manliness is required, each is willing to sacrifice and give heartening encouragement to their precious friends who need it. They would place their trust in each other and achieve the victory together. They are the best kind of comrade that you would trust your back with.

- - - Enjoyment - - -
It is not a masterpiece, and some volumes may seem slightly repetitive. Still, it will make you laugh; it will give you feels; it will deliver to you an unforgettable cast of idiots.

- - - Overall - - -
Baka to test to Shoukanjuu is a story that follows the tale of the biggest idiots Akihisa Yoshii and his friends. It has some brilliant plot execution with well-placed foreshadowing, a nicely stitched together cast of characters, and has forever left its mark on the anime community with its (horrifying) idea of FFF brigade, dedicated to burning every happy and fulfilled couple on this planet.
8.5/10

The setup of the story is much like other Chinese (internet) fantasy novels, with multitudes of races, weapons, and classes that we are familiar with from games and high fantasy. However, this novel really stands apart from the typical ones. This isn't a story where the protagonist slowly builds up his strength, and saves the world in the end. The narrative focuses much more on relationship between the numerous main characters, and how characters grow from their experiences, even though they do end up saving the world in the end.

By just reading the first chapter, one will see that the author has a talent ... for being funny. The source of endless laughter is, of course, the Sun Knight, who despite his outward appearance of being kind, compassionate, and elegant, are actually the exact opposite inside. He complains, swears, curses, and always plans his schemes perfectly. Yet, he remains likable, and a genuinely charming person.

However, there are two regrettable things for this novel. First, as far as I see, there is no insert art for this novel. Second, there is no (or very little) romance for the Sun Knight. For me at least, a good romance subplot always adds the spice on the cream.

Legend of Sun Knight starts with a strong arc that instantly demands readers attention, slowly build up, and finish on a satisfactory and not cliched note. In this days and age where excessive fan-service and over-powered male leads are so rampant even in light novels, Legend of Sun Knight proves that a good novel can be written without relying on it.

Overall: 9.5/10

**I have already finished reading this manga**

First off, if you are just looking for a happy-go-around romance/slice of life manga, stay the fuck away from this one. Saiteihen no Otoko is noticeably different from the majority of other manga because it actually tries* to be a true horror story, with very messed up contents that might just appeal to horror thriller fans. This is quite rarely seen in the medium of manga and anime.

For something that is only 3 volumes long, there are a tons of narrative contents told. The pages are filled with twists and turns, leaving readers on the edge of their seats. ... The manga never loses its intensity, though there is a clear departure of tone in the second half of story, opting for a less scary but more “shounen” tone. Compared to numerous other mystery manga that I have read (with shitty ending), it actually gives a great finish. Not masterpiece, mind, but quite good. At least I found it satisfying.

Being a psychological horror story, there is a heavy focus on MC’s (unstable) state of mind. The MC's 'loser' characteristic is vastly exaggerated. Still, it’s entertaining (in a shounen way) to see how even a person who resides at the bottom of social hierarchy can exhibit moments of heroism, at crucial moments.

The art is hit or miss, depending on whether you like drawings of messed-up faces in this mangaka's unique style. Regardless of your preference, the artwork contributes to the horror suspense atmosphere perfectly.

tl;dr

Overall, for its on a whole satisfying story, unique art style, and an interesting MC loser-kun, I award it with 8/10.

For ultimate recommendation, I point you to Ibitsu, also a short horror story.