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If you are a Yuri enjoyer and like slice of life manga of Japanese teen romance sprinkled with gag comedy this is your manga. That is also if you enjoy a bit of ecchi and the sometimes sexualization of teenagers. Keep in mind it's a manga, characters are not real, and it takes place in a fantasy setting with different rules than IRL. So, if you're able to clearly establish that disconnect, this is mostly an enjoyable read with fun antics and gag comedy. Story was slow to progress at times and the author could have concluded the series with much less chapters however if ... you like the characters, you wouldn't mind the filler stories. I recommend this Yuri manga if you want to read a rom-com manga that doesn't take itself too seriously.

I've been binge reading the whole series for the past week. Coming from watching the anime I can say the anime mostly stuck to the source material and there isn't much noticeable difference. I felt the series was really engaging until the end of Naofumi's "rising" arc. Following his rise there just doesn't seem to be any challenge or obstacle that can rival his rising arc. That arc was what really got me invested in his story but it seems every struggle or enemy he faces after just can't compare.

The stories that follow after his rise had the potential to be interesting but I'm ... disappointed they fell flat and honestly became rather predictable. When they introduced the Heroes from Another world I was hoping L'Arc would stand as a long-standing charismatic rival to give Naofumi a long goal to work towards defeating him. Nope that was settled in the following volume and it turns out L'Arc was just another goody-two shoe forced to do evil things by circumstances and he quickly becomes an ally. I felt that was a wasted opportunity to give Naofumi a real struggle that rivals his previous challenge of proving himself to Melromarc and his peers.

The Spirit Tortoise arc dragged on too long in my opinion. They could of resolved the initial part of it in much less chapters and with less filler. Also, I think the creator maintains some of the character tropes too long the story and the characters really become predictable. The heroes have not changed much since Naofumi's rising arc. I would of liked to see them slowly grow from the following challenges at least as heroes or with Naofumi. I see a lot of wasted potential for development for the characters. Even Naofumi and his close allies Raphtalia and Filo don't really develop much throughout the story. They don't change much except get slightly stronger to face the next challenge but there isn't anything developing between them or in themselves.

Lastly, I really hoped the manga did what the anime did well and that it had emotional ups and downs. In the anime there is a distinct moment where Naofumi tells Raphtalia that he wants to leave the world a better place for her and Filo so when one day he returns to his home he does not have to worry about them. In the anime Raphtalia had a strong reaction to this and she really struggled with this thought. In the manga all you see is Raphtalia shows slight discomfort at that idea but then theres never mention of that again. Where is the sense of loss? That emotion is not displayed in the manga unless Raphtalia in the manga would just mull it over a second and get over it. Also I know the harem trop is overdone and kind of cringe but where is the romance?!! I mean you have a manga with beauful women and you have a likable protagonist. I at least would want some romantic tension between Naofumi and some of his female peers but theres nothing. Naofumi maintains his aloofness and there is little to no tension romantically. For a issekai story with beautiful women I would expect a modicum of fan-service as a male reader. Oh and i don't include Rissia or the harem that follows the evil villains because there is no tension there since the women literally have an unhealhy obsession and its one-sided.

TL:DR I really hoped this manga would be a continous rollercoaster of emotional up and downs like it was in the first arc. The story and characters tend to remain consistently the same with little development. most of the stories and characters become predictable a lot of them falling into anime tropes. Some stories dragged on much longer than they needed to be that could of be finished in half the chapters. The anime did a better job communicating the emotional tension the manga so far stays pretty bland and neutral in the romance department. I don't like beating a dead horse the harem trope issekai mangas but this story has little to no romantic tension at all. ITS BORING~ I would want some tensions in the romance department of Naofumi and his female peers.