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I'm the Strongest in This Zombie World, but I Can't Beat This Girl!, Vol. 1
Part human, part zombie, all horny high schooler!When a sudden zombie outbreak ravages Japan, Yuuma Kousaka is bitten while trying to escape. Afraid of dying, he sits on a riverbank, waiting for the zombie virus to take over, where he runs into Haruka Hyuuga, the younger sister of his old school friend. Haruka takes pity on Yuuma and offers to fulfill his dying wish by becoming his girlfriend, giving him one final, irreplaceable memory to take with him to the grave—letting Yuuma touch her breasts. But when he finally transforms into a zombie, he retains his consciousness! Now that he can transform between zombie and human, Yuuma might very well be the strongest person alive in this new world…but he’s powerless against Haruka, who knows all his weaknesses!
187 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 17, 2024
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 12, 2025
Written by Ryou Iwanami and illustrated by TwinBox, I’m the Strongest in This Zombie World, but I Can’t Beat This Girl is one of the latest Yen Press light novel titles that puts a twist on the rom-com formula.
Set in a version of Japan overrun by zombies, the story follows Yuuma after he’s caught foul of a zombie attack. In his last moments before zombification, he manages to miraculously reunite with his childhood friend, Haruka, who offers to grant his dying wish, becoming his girlfriend. With his final wish come true, Yuuma can die in peace… or at least he thought he would. Stuck as a human-zombie hybrid, he’s given powers and strength beyond his imagining, as well as a pesky new girlfriend to keep him company.
As a concept, it was only a matter of time before someone decided it would be a good idea to mix the world of a zombie apocalypse alongside the saccharine sweetness of a Japanese light novel rom-com. In theory, the symbolic ignorance of danger for the sake of love, as the zombie threat becomes background noise for Yuuma and Haruka’s love, could work as it has done for other similar settings (e.g., Otome games that are supposed to end in tragedy). Unfortunately, this remains a theory for the zombie world as this series fails in its execution.
I’m the Strongest in This Zombie World occupies this strange middle ground, not quite sweet enough for a slice-of-life romance and not drama-heavy enough to be considered a more serious novel. As a result, the tone of the book comes across as confused, never sure whether it should be exploring harem antics or developing the world around it. Additionally, the novel’s original author doesn’t have a flair for the descriptive. There are times throughout the novel, in the beginning, especially, where the story reads more like a list of events rather than an engaging rom-com.
Fortunately, there are aspects of the series that are still enjoyable. As the first volume reaches its climax, there’s a larger emphasis on what caused the apocalypse and how to cure it. Albeit brief, this segment leaves the possibility open for any number of different mutations to occur in the same manner as Yumma’s hybridisation, as well as a whole host of different abilities that come with them.
Overall, it is safe to say that I’m the Strongest in This Zombie World’s first volume didn’t cut the mustard. Although the concept had potential, and there were sparks of something interesting developing towards the end of the volume, they couldn’t overcome the novel’s lacklustre execution and confused tone.
Set in a version of Japan overrun by zombies, the story follows Yuuma after he’s caught foul of a zombie attack. In his last moments before zombification, he manages to miraculously reunite with his childhood friend, Haruka, who offers to grant his dying wish, becoming his girlfriend. With his final wish come true, Yuuma can die in peace… or at least he thought he would. Stuck as a human-zombie hybrid, he’s given powers and strength beyond his imagining, as well as a pesky new girlfriend to keep him company.
As a concept, it was only a matter of time before someone decided it would be a good idea to mix the world of a zombie apocalypse alongside the saccharine sweetness of a Japanese light novel rom-com. In theory, the symbolic ignorance of danger for the sake of love, as the zombie threat becomes background noise for Yuuma and Haruka’s love, could work as it has done for other similar settings (e.g., Otome games that are supposed to end in tragedy). Unfortunately, this remains a theory for the zombie world as this series fails in its execution.
I’m the Strongest in This Zombie World occupies this strange middle ground, not quite sweet enough for a slice-of-life romance and not drama-heavy enough to be considered a more serious novel. As a result, the tone of the book comes across as confused, never sure whether it should be exploring harem antics or developing the world around it. Additionally, the novel’s original author doesn’t have a flair for the descriptive. There are times throughout the novel, in the beginning, especially, where the story reads more like a list of events rather than an engaging rom-com.
Fortunately, there are aspects of the series that are still enjoyable. As the first volume reaches its climax, there’s a larger emphasis on what caused the apocalypse and how to cure it. Albeit brief, this segment leaves the possibility open for any number of different mutations to occur in the same manner as Yumma’s hybridisation, as well as a whole host of different abilities that come with them.
Overall, it is safe to say that I’m the Strongest in This Zombie World’s first volume didn’t cut the mustard. Although the concept had potential, and there were sparks of something interesting developing towards the end of the volume, they couldn’t overcome the novel’s lacklustre execution and confused tone.
Displaying 1 of 1 review