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So I'm a Spider, So What? Light Novel #5
So I'm a Spider, So What?, Vol. 5
After my battle to the death with Mother, now my days are filled with preparing the next boss-the Demon Lord! But now I have a problem... I've said it before, but I'm TOO STRONG. Now I'm attracting all kinds of unwanted attention! Now I'll have to interact humans whether I want to or not...
8 pages, Audible Audio
First published February 10, 2017
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July 5, 2023
More connections are revealed between the past plotline and the present one, and there are a lot of battles. Spider-business as usual.
...and that's not always a good thing.
I could write this review with one-sentence paragraphs all the way through, like this novel is written.
But while it would be quick reading, it would also be kind of annoying, so I'll stop here. ;)
This volume didn't feel as fun or funny as the previous ones. Part of it, I think, is because the spider gets maybe one-third of the page count (who's the main character here, anyhow!). And also that her parts of the story were mostly about making progress toward closing the time gap between the plot lines, and showing how some of the characters in the present-day story came to be allied with each other. She is staying in one place, rather than exploring the world (such as it is, being a collection of RPG and supermarket fantasy tropes) and meeting its challenges in clever ways.
Somewhat harder to pin down, I felt the humor wasn't anywhere near as consistent. Aside from that, the spider's previous entertaining battles have been replaced with (1) her destroying thousands of soldiers in one blow (2) deus ex machina, in a near-literal way, since in two cases, the spider gets pulled out of mortal danger by characters who are far more powerful than she is.
Some of the confusion I felt reading the manga that corresponded with this part of the story was cleared up, but I also started feeling irritated at the hodge-podgy way that plotting is handled. New story elements are introduced on the fly with little or no foreshadowing, and treated like they were there all along. For example, ? ? ?? That last is more absurd than this series' usual, and I have no idea how it's going to be integrated into a fantasy story. (The spider herself objected to the sudden change of genre. Cute, but our author's going to have to make it work over and above simply lampshading it.) And this is a version of the story that's had a lot of rewrites for pro publication.
The reader has to just roll with it and not question it too much. Since I've picked up all the volumes except for v. 11 and 12--which other readers have dismissed as filler--I'll keep on with it. There's always something new going on in this story, and it's still fun and appealing, though less so than the volumes previous to this one.
...and that's not always a good thing.
I could write this review with one-sentence paragraphs all the way through, like this novel is written.
But while it would be quick reading, it would also be kind of annoying, so I'll stop here. ;)
This volume didn't feel as fun or funny as the previous ones. Part of it, I think, is because the spider gets maybe one-third of the page count (who's the main character here, anyhow!). And also that her parts of the story were mostly about making progress toward closing the time gap between the plot lines, and showing how some of the characters in the present-day story came to be allied with each other. She is staying in one place, rather than exploring the world (such as it is, being a collection of RPG and supermarket fantasy tropes) and meeting its challenges in clever ways.
Somewhat harder to pin down, I felt the humor wasn't anywhere near as consistent. Aside from that, the spider's previous entertaining battles have been replaced with (1) her destroying thousands of soldiers in one blow (2) deus ex machina, in a near-literal way, since in two cases, the spider gets pulled out of mortal danger by characters who are far more powerful than she is.
Some of the confusion I felt reading the manga that corresponded with this part of the story was cleared up, but I also started feeling irritated at the hodge-podgy way that plotting is handled. New story elements are introduced on the fly with little or no foreshadowing, and treated like they were there all along. For example, ? ? ?? That last is more absurd than this series' usual, and I have no idea how it's going to be integrated into a fantasy story. (The spider herself objected to the sudden change of genre. Cute, but our author's going to have to make it work over and above simply lampshading it.) And this is a version of the story that's had a lot of rewrites for pro publication.
The reader has to just roll with it and not question it too much. Since I've picked up all the volumes except for v. 11 and 12--which other readers have dismissed as filler--I'll keep on with it. There's always something new going on in this story, and it's still fun and appealing, though less so than the volumes previous to this one.
June 19, 2025
Another day another volume.....
FINALLY REACHED THE END OF THE ANIMEEEEEE YESSSSSSSSSS...
Now that I'm getting closer to new info I can write better reviews for this series. Possibly..... idk writing reviews for manga and manhwa volumes are weird sometimes.
But so far I still like all of the characters and it's nice to see everyone progressing in their skills.... still word vomit with the skills as usual but I've pretty much gotten used to that...
I wonder how the demon lord and those in her party will operate considering they're "bad" but then actually "good" because they're trying to overthrow the Elves which are causing too many issues for the fantasy world... but with the stigma against them I wonder how the author will frame them to convince the "hero" and his party....
FINALLY REACHED THE END OF THE ANIMEEEEEE YESSSSSSSSSS...
Now that I'm getting closer to new info I can write better reviews for this series. Possibly..... idk writing reviews for manga and manhwa volumes are weird sometimes.
But so far I still like all of the characters and it's nice to see everyone progressing in their skills.... still word vomit with the skills as usual but I've pretty much gotten used to that...
I wonder how the demon lord and those in her party will operate considering they're "bad" but then actually "good" because they're trying to overthrow the Elves which are causing too many issues for the fantasy world... but with the stigma against them I wonder how the author will frame them to convince the "hero" and his party....
March 25, 2019
After what seems like a long prologue, things finally come to a head in this volume of So I'm a Spider.
While this seemed like yet-another-boring-take on the "reincarnated in another world as a non-human" at the start, the author has masterfully dropped many many hints of an overarching plot behind the scenes by weaving multiple character point of views throughout the past 3 volumes.
All the major threads finally come together in the volume, making for an explosive revelations that questions who are the actual heroes and villains in this series.
I'm personally very surprised at how good the story-telling manages to come together finally and definitely looking very much forward to how the story finally starts.
While this seemed like yet-another-boring-take on the "reincarnated in another world as a non-human" at the start, the author has masterfully dropped many many hints of an overarching plot behind the scenes by weaving multiple character point of views throughout the past 3 volumes.
All the major threads finally come together in the volume, making for an explosive revelations that questions who are the actual heroes and villains in this series.
I'm personally very surprised at how good the story-telling manages to come together finally and definitely looking very much forward to how the story finally starts.
March 19, 2019
Fun Read
Definitely another very fun and enjoyable story, though my interest is mainly in the spider main story and not so much the side stories. Overall though, a great read and I’m looking forward to volume six in the future.
Definitely another very fun and enjoyable story, though my interest is mainly in the spider main story and not so much the side stories. Overall though, a great read and I’m looking forward to volume six in the future.
April 17, 2019
The volumes in this series always feel like they are over too fast because of the point of view changes among other reasons. While there is a decent amount of action in this volume it feels like less than the previous ones, it also feels like we get less of who I consider the main character as they are on the cover which is disappointing because I don't really care about most of the others they aren't 2D but they aren't very interesting comparatively. The two time line point of views are slowly catching up and the current time line is starting to finally get as exciting as the past one was and it brings a lot of hope for the next volume. We get a little indirect world building and a few interesting twists I personally didn't think about, one of which completely changed one of the things I thought I knew and doesn't make much sense yet honestly. Overall it's a solid contribution to the series and an enjoyable read.
December 5, 2020
Hơi bị hụt hẫng với tiến triễn về sau của chuyện.
Chung quy lại mình vẫn kết Bé Nhện Ma vương hơn với cũng chả thích cách xây dựng hình dượng Dũng sĩ yếu nhớt cả đầu óc lẫn tinh thần.
Nói chung là cùi. Lót dép hóng tập sau khá hơn vậy.
Chung quy lại mình vẫn kết Bé Nhện Ma vương hơn với cũng chả thích cách xây dựng hình dượng Dũng sĩ yếu nhớt cả đầu óc lẫn tinh thần.
Nói chung là cùi. Lót dép hóng tập sau khá hơn vậy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2025
Lone 7 year old in the war was kind of surprising
March 20, 2019
I finished this so fast! The Shun storyline was actually exciting this vol, and ugh that cliffhanger. A lot of questions are answered, Ms Oka’s story, background on the Elves and why the Demon King hates them (the hierarchy is nuts), NS’s original identity confirmed, what happened to the missing students, Sophie’s issue, closure on Hugo storyline (sort of), etc. A lot happens and it works.
November 29, 2021
For those of you who watched the anime first, or are planning to watch the anime, note this before you proceed. Volume five marks the end of the anime adaptation's first season.
This volume is structured by two separate conflicts. On Komoko's side, the invasion of Kent in the country of Sariella by an alliance of the nation of Ohts and the Word of God Church. On Shun's side, the assault upon the Elf Village by an alliance of the Renexandt Empire, the Demon Army and the Taratect Army. Part of the fun is seeing how the first influences and builds up to the second.
I normally don't like shifting perspective novels, but Okina Baba makes it work. It works because the perspectives are always relevant to every other perspective. They provide information and perspective on the same things.
For Komoko's side, this volume is basically a breather volume. Yes, the Demon Lord Ariel is still chasing her, but Komoko can avoid her with relative ease, and Ariel isn't even actively chasing her for a good chunk of the novel. Instead, Komoko gets to wipe out humanoid bandits easily and without any danger to herself, and be worshipped by a grateful town's population. They place offerings of fruit at the edge of the forest where she's taken up residence. Yes, being worshipped is unsettling for a socially awkward shut-in, but it's much better than constantly fighting for one's life against monsters.
I'll say that again, for the first time, we get to see Komoko doing something other than Survive-by-fleeing-or-fighting. We get to see how her moral compass functions outside of life-and-death situations. It is really interesting. It's not concerned with either charity or selfishness; neither is her motivation. To put it concisely, the reasoning would be "I don't have a reason to /not/ heal the begging sick person. I'll only eat their cancerous organs, not their whole body, because I don't waste food."
I couldn't make it more concise than that. On one hand, Komoko performs miracle-level healing upon a stranger simply because they asked her to. On the other hand, Komoko considers eating said stranger's limbs, and tries to justify it to herself by saying she could regenerate them. So she only eats the sick person's cancerous organs, and then regrew those, because she couldn't heal the organs outright. Do cancerous organs taste good? No, Komoko just has a mental block against leaving fresh meat to rot. It really is interesting to watch these ethical questions roll around in her head.
Now for Shun's side of the story.
Shun's side takes place entirely in the Elf Village. Like the last volume, we see some good character development going on, especially for Anna. I'm going to focus on her in my review because she has focus in the book. Fei has this great perspective chapter that ties her past as a school bully to the haughty behavior of the elves, but it is built on Anna's development.
Anna is a half-elf woman who is basically Shun's surrogate mother. She has served Shun's family for several generations, first as a court mage and then retiring from that role to nurse baby Shun. She was born in the Elf Village, but was cast out for being a half-elf. Elves in this world are supremely arrogant and racist, and so they gave Anna a rough time of things when she was a kid. Not only does this give much character development to her but it also, at the same time, gives much development to the Elf Village and the elven people as a whole. It is world building created through character development that is 100% appropriate to the pacing of the story, supporting the here and now and also something that happens later on.
These conflicts are tied together by numerous factors. The one that I find most interesting is Potimas's involvement in both of them. He is becoming an important character. Indeed, it starting to look like he could be a major villain. In the first volume, he was just "a reincarnation's father". Now I'm thinking he could be the Big Bad of this entire series. That is an impressive development.
Trickster Eric Novels gives "So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 5" an A+
This volume is structured by two separate conflicts. On Komoko's side, the invasion of Kent in the country of Sariella by an alliance of the nation of Ohts and the Word of God Church. On Shun's side, the assault upon the Elf Village by an alliance of the Renexandt Empire, the Demon Army and the Taratect Army. Part of the fun is seeing how the first influences and builds up to the second.
I normally don't like shifting perspective novels, but Okina Baba makes it work. It works because the perspectives are always relevant to every other perspective. They provide information and perspective on the same things.
For Komoko's side, this volume is basically a breather volume. Yes, the Demon Lord Ariel is still chasing her, but Komoko can avoid her with relative ease, and Ariel isn't even actively chasing her for a good chunk of the novel. Instead, Komoko gets to wipe out humanoid bandits easily and without any danger to herself, and be worshipped by a grateful town's population. They place offerings of fruit at the edge of the forest where she's taken up residence. Yes, being worshipped is unsettling for a socially awkward shut-in, but it's much better than constantly fighting for one's life against monsters.
I'll say that again, for the first time, we get to see Komoko doing something other than Survive-by-fleeing-or-fighting. We get to see how her moral compass functions outside of life-and-death situations. It is really interesting. It's not concerned with either charity or selfishness; neither is her motivation. To put it concisely, the reasoning would be "I don't have a reason to /not/ heal the begging sick person. I'll only eat their cancerous organs, not their whole body, because I don't waste food."
I couldn't make it more concise than that. On one hand, Komoko performs miracle-level healing upon a stranger simply because they asked her to. On the other hand, Komoko considers eating said stranger's limbs, and tries to justify it to herself by saying she could regenerate them. So she only eats the sick person's cancerous organs, and then regrew those, because she couldn't heal the organs outright. Do cancerous organs taste good? No, Komoko just has a mental block against leaving fresh meat to rot. It really is interesting to watch these ethical questions roll around in her head.
Now for Shun's side of the story.
Shun's side takes place entirely in the Elf Village. Like the last volume, we see some good character development going on, especially for Anna. I'm going to focus on her in my review because she has focus in the book. Fei has this great perspective chapter that ties her past as a school bully to the haughty behavior of the elves, but it is built on Anna's development.
Anna is a half-elf woman who is basically Shun's surrogate mother. She has served Shun's family for several generations, first as a court mage and then retiring from that role to nurse baby Shun. She was born in the Elf Village, but was cast out for being a half-elf. Elves in this world are supremely arrogant and racist, and so they gave Anna a rough time of things when she was a kid. Not only does this give much character development to her but it also, at the same time, gives much development to the Elf Village and the elven people as a whole. It is world building created through character development that is 100% appropriate to the pacing of the story, supporting the here and now and also something that happens later on.
These conflicts are tied together by numerous factors. The one that I find most interesting is Potimas's involvement in both of them. He is becoming an important character. Indeed, it starting to look like he could be a major villain. In the first volume, he was just "a reincarnation's father". Now I'm thinking he could be the Big Bad of this entire series. That is an impressive development.
Trickster Eric Novels gives "So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 5" an A+
February 12, 2024
The more spotlight the 'Hero' gets the less joy I experience and, boy, did we get a lot of Shun this volume. He's. So. Awful.
All throughout he frequently gripes about being ashamed of his actions but never makes any resolve to work on his weaknesses, just expects his companions to keep making up for them. Even goes so far to say that the enemy doesn't understand him like his friends do when they try to talk him down from fighting a fight he can't win. Yea, Shun, your friends understand that you're a huge fucking liability and that's why they have to constantly worry about you getting yourself killed. That's not something to be proud of.
His biggest weakness though is his inability to have a fully formed opinion himself which leads to him having some really wishy washy ideals based on the opinions of others and this weird 'protector of the world' image he has of his brother. He keeps telling himself he's fighting against Hugo and the others because of the malicious things they've done and to protect the elves but the elves really aren't any better? He literally learns while there that the elves are horrendously racist and kidnapped reincarnations but because he wants to believe in Oka, knows his companions hate Hugo, and thinks its his job as Hero he keeps insisting on protecting them. Which he knows he isn't even capable of.
The enemy even repeatedly makes it known they aren't there to kill anyone but the elves and Shun never cares to wonder why. I mean he does ask "why" at the end, but only to ask his friend why he's on the enemy team not to question their motives. He's just so blinded by assumptions and fairy-tales that he can't dare to believe that the other side is doing anything but bad things and that maybe not everyone on his side is doing purely good things. And we can't even blame all this on him being a teenager cause technically, being a reincarnator, this idiot is 30 by now. Dude really needs to grow the fuck up.
And speaking of idiots. Oka. She's terrified of her students dying from being "divested of skills" and let's herself be tricked into believing it's the administrators that will kill them BUT MA'AM, YOU YOURSELF HAVE THE ABILITY TO REMOVE SKILLS. YA'LL PASSED THROUGH AN ENTIRE VILLAGE WHERE PEOPLE WERE CAPABLE OF REMOVING SKILLS. And yet you're like "nah these mysterious administrators who rarely ever make an appearance are definitely the harbinger of death". I could be wrong here, but like, maybe you should be more suspicious of the skill-hating elves you've got kidnapping your students, huh?
Lastly on my rant is just weird technicalities:
1. During the chapter in Fei's POV she mentions not remembering anything while she was in her egg but in a previous volume she said she knew everything that was going on around her while in the egg. So which is it? ._.
2. How did Oka communicate with Potimas while she was a baby when she didn't know their language? From the sounds of it she got telepathy and spoke to him within days of waking up. Even Wakaba, with parallel minds and other brain enhancing skills, is still having trouble with this world's language after days of learning. So how???
So, yea, I was quite miffed with this volume. Even our spider friend's small portions weren't particularly good with the sudden genius epiphanies saving her life out of nowhere instead of her usual well thought thoroughly explained plans. Feels a little like it was just a rush to mush the timelines together...
Might take a break here instead of moving right on to the next volume cause I worry it'll just get worse. I can't take reading anymore of Shun's POV.
All throughout he frequently gripes about being ashamed of his actions but never makes any resolve to work on his weaknesses, just expects his companions to keep making up for them. Even goes so far to say that the enemy doesn't understand him like his friends do when they try to talk him down from fighting a fight he can't win. Yea, Shun, your friends understand that you're a huge fucking liability and that's why they have to constantly worry about you getting yourself killed. That's not something to be proud of.
His biggest weakness though is his inability to have a fully formed opinion himself which leads to him having some really wishy washy ideals based on the opinions of others and this weird 'protector of the world' image he has of his brother. He keeps telling himself he's fighting against Hugo and the others because of the malicious things they've done and to protect the elves but the elves really aren't any better? He literally learns while there that the elves are horrendously racist and kidnapped reincarnations but because he wants to believe in Oka, knows his companions hate Hugo, and thinks its his job as Hero he keeps insisting on protecting them. Which he knows he isn't even capable of.
The enemy even repeatedly makes it known they aren't there to kill anyone but the elves and Shun never cares to wonder why. I mean he does ask "why" at the end, but only to ask his friend why he's on the enemy team not to question their motives. He's just so blinded by assumptions and fairy-tales that he can't dare to believe that the other side is doing anything but bad things and that maybe not everyone on his side is doing purely good things. And we can't even blame all this on him being a teenager cause technically, being a reincarnator, this idiot is 30 by now. Dude really needs to grow the fuck up.
And speaking of idiots. Oka. She's terrified of her students dying from being "divested of skills" and let's herself be tricked into believing it's the administrators that will kill them BUT MA'AM, YOU YOURSELF HAVE THE ABILITY TO REMOVE SKILLS. YA'LL PASSED THROUGH AN ENTIRE VILLAGE WHERE PEOPLE WERE CAPABLE OF REMOVING SKILLS. And yet you're like "nah these mysterious administrators who rarely ever make an appearance are definitely the harbinger of death". I could be wrong here, but like, maybe you should be more suspicious of the skill-hating elves you've got kidnapping your students, huh?
Lastly on my rant is just weird technicalities:
1. During the chapter in Fei's POV she mentions not remembering anything while she was in her egg but in a previous volume she said she knew everything that was going on around her while in the egg. So which is it? ._.
2. How did Oka communicate with Potimas while she was a baby when she didn't know their language? From the sounds of it she got telepathy and spoke to him within days of waking up. Even Wakaba, with parallel minds and other brain enhancing skills, is still having trouble with this world's language after days of learning. So how???
So, yea, I was quite miffed with this volume. Even our spider friend's small portions weren't particularly good with the sudden genius epiphanies saving her life out of nowhere instead of her usual well thought thoroughly explained plans. Feels a little like it was just a rush to mush the timelines together...
Might take a break here instead of moving right on to the next volume cause I worry it'll just get worse. I can't take reading anymore of Shun's POV.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2021
We’ve been rolling right along with this series and now we’ve reached Volume 5. Volume 4 was my favorite so far, but how does Volume 5 stack up?
If I’m being honest, this Volume is definitely toeing the line between being the best of the bunch so far and being the most confusing. I’m honestly wondering how Okina-san will top herself going forward. In this Volume, there is so much going on, it’s almost too much to handle. We see war on two different fronts: the human-demon war happening between Shun and the rest of the human reincarnations, and the war happening between an area our spider has decided to hang around and the city just outside of the labyrinth. Both have some high stakes, and will most definitely will have implications going forward, though I guess the fallout of one of the wars has already been felt?
I say that because since this series has side stories that take place in the future of the world our spider is living in, it’s difficult to determine just exactly when everything will line up. I’m actually really curious as to the motivations of some of the reincarnations and why they decided to side with the Demon Lord. It’ll also be interesting to find out if they actually know Ms. Oka’s (the teacher who’s tried to round up all the reincarnations) secrets. That’s one of the main reasons I’m so eager to keep reading: I want to know how this all plays out. I want to learn more about these characters we also see glimpses of, and I want to get to the point where we are in one timeline, instead of jumping around.
Even with that said that, seeing how much spider-chan has grown, despite being borderline deus-ex machina-esque in a lot of cases, is always a treat to see. I love seeing how her plans almost always seem to work out. It goes to show just how much she’s grown, not only in skills and power, but wits. She’s had to constantly come up with plans, traps and strategies that would allow her to defeat things way above her standing, and even with how strong she’s become, you can never be sure if she’ll make it out of any given situation. I’m eager to see how much stronger she grows, considering she’s already one of the most powerful creatures in this world.
I’m sure it’s going to be a wild ride.
If I’m being honest, this Volume is definitely toeing the line between being the best of the bunch so far and being the most confusing. I’m honestly wondering how Okina-san will top herself going forward. In this Volume, there is so much going on, it’s almost too much to handle. We see war on two different fronts: the human-demon war happening between Shun and the rest of the human reincarnations, and the war happening between an area our spider has decided to hang around and the city just outside of the labyrinth. Both have some high stakes, and will most definitely will have implications going forward, though I guess the fallout of one of the wars has already been felt?
I say that because since this series has side stories that take place in the future of the world our spider is living in, it’s difficult to determine just exactly when everything will line up. I’m actually really curious as to the motivations of some of the reincarnations and why they decided to side with the Demon Lord. It’ll also be interesting to find out if they actually know Ms. Oka’s (the teacher who’s tried to round up all the reincarnations) secrets. That’s one of the main reasons I’m so eager to keep reading: I want to know how this all plays out. I want to learn more about these characters we also see glimpses of, and I want to get to the point where we are in one timeline, instead of jumping around.
Even with that said that, seeing how much spider-chan has grown, despite being borderline deus-ex machina-esque in a lot of cases, is always a treat to see. I love seeing how her plans almost always seem to work out. It goes to show just how much she’s grown, not only in skills and power, but wits. She’s had to constantly come up with plans, traps and strategies that would allow her to defeat things way above her standing, and even with how strong she’s become, you can never be sure if she’ll make it out of any given situation. I’m eager to see how much stronger she grows, considering she’s already one of the most powerful creatures in this world.
I’m sure it’s going to be a wild ride.
April 4, 2020
I had trouble as to whether I’d give this 3 stars or 4. In the end, I downgraded to 3 because the previous volumes made me eager to read the next. This did not, although I’m still very interested in the story.
What I liked about this series is still true. Though there were some aspects about this volume that made me feel like it may go in a direction that I don’t want it to go in. One aspect is that the first few volumes felt like I was reading a game. The story and game mechanics were so intertwined. Less so in volume 4 and even lesser so here. It seems plot has reared its head in place of “gameplay.” Which isn’t bad...just not what I loved about the series.
To pile onto that, I really enjoyed the side stories of the previous volumes, but here they felt fluffy, almost filler-ish, as if the author was just filling time until the timelines matched up. That and I’m really starting to not like Shun. He is a good character, but he does not listen to anybody and is always putting his friends in danger for selfish reasons. His character had barely grown too so it’s frustrating sometimes when reading his POV.
Without spoilers, my last gripe with this volume is what happens to our main spider protagonist. She was so endearing and always had an end goal, but at the end of this her character felt very fractured and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue following her for fear that something bad will happen to her character.
Sigh. I have a lot of feelings about this volume and I’m not sure if that’s just because I read these first 5 volumes in such rapid succession. I still liked most of it. The second half more-so than the slow first.
What I liked about this series is still true. Though there were some aspects about this volume that made me feel like it may go in a direction that I don’t want it to go in. One aspect is that the first few volumes felt like I was reading a game. The story and game mechanics were so intertwined. Less so in volume 4 and even lesser so here. It seems plot has reared its head in place of “gameplay.” Which isn’t bad...just not what I loved about the series.
To pile onto that, I really enjoyed the side stories of the previous volumes, but here they felt fluffy, almost filler-ish, as if the author was just filling time until the timelines matched up. That and I’m really starting to not like Shun. He is a good character, but he does not listen to anybody and is always putting his friends in danger for selfish reasons. His character had barely grown too so it’s frustrating sometimes when reading his POV.
Without spoilers, my last gripe with this volume is what happens to our main spider protagonist. She was so endearing and always had an end goal, but at the end of this her character felt very fractured and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue following her for fear that something bad will happen to her character.
Sigh. I have a lot of feelings about this volume and I’m not sure if that’s just because I read these first 5 volumes in such rapid succession. I still liked most of it. The second half more-so than the slow first.
June 14, 2020
The purpose for studying all these light novels lately is to get a feel how the stories pace themselves. This series in particular underwent changes from the web version to the novel. This volume particularly had more original content than the ones preceding it. I can’t say that I enjoyed the book. Like book 4, there was a minimum of stats dumping. However, the main character, the Spider, felt like a passenger in her own story while the author focused on “cooler” things elsewhere. Multiple side characters received their own chapters as the POV bounced around like a pinball.
The author’s tendency to pull deus ex machina plans out of a hat was also in full display. They usually take the form of “What? Didn’t I mention this before? I started working on this behind the scenes ages ago!” In this volume, the Spider goes on for pages and pages explaining things she knows about humans in town but couldn’t because she doesn’t speak their language, then suddenly, tada! No, she’s been learning all along, silly. We’re just getting around to letting you know now. Despite the major revisions done to the story, one could still get a feel for the week by week serialization of the story poking through here and there. It’s not hard to imagine that this error was caught by Japanese readers, then corrected in the next installment.
However, all was not bad. Great plot points did converge as events in previous books were now explained. The past and the present began to intersect. It was an important volume to read. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the reduced focus on the main character.
The author’s tendency to pull deus ex machina plans out of a hat was also in full display. They usually take the form of “What? Didn’t I mention this before? I started working on this behind the scenes ages ago!” In this volume, the Spider goes on for pages and pages explaining things she knows about humans in town but couldn’t because she doesn’t speak their language, then suddenly, tada! No, she’s been learning all along, silly. We’re just getting around to letting you know now. Despite the major revisions done to the story, one could still get a feel for the week by week serialization of the story poking through here and there. It’s not hard to imagine that this error was caught by Japanese readers, then corrected in the next installment.
However, all was not bad. Great plot points did converge as events in previous books were now explained. The past and the present began to intersect. It was an important volume to read. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the reduced focus on the main character.
December 27, 2020
Por fin nuestra araña favorita se encuentra con un bebé reencarnado, nada más y nada menos que un vampiro (a quien conocimos en el tomo 4 como Shopia). Seguimos su travesía y como se convierte en un ser venerado por humanos. Vemos como toma parte en una guerra entre dos países y sus aliados y como una vez más, consigue escapar del Rey demonio de un ataque mortal, también vemos como por fin se convierte en Aracne, una evolución desconocida en ese mundo. También la no tan loca alianza entre el Rey demonio y arañita.
Años en el futuro o presente? seguimos a los demás reencarnados preparándose ante la inminente guerra entre elfos y el imperio Rengxandt, conocemos más de sus vidas pasadas y queda claro la habilidad de la profesora Oka (lista de alumnos), nos damos cuenta que los reencarnados no encontrados están en el lado contrario, por lo que el equipo de Shun, sabe que pueden enfrentarse con sus antiguos compañeros.
Durante el enfrentamiento vemos la diferencia de poderes entre los alumnos que están del lado de los elfos y los que están del lado del imperio. También nos dan a entender que nuestra arañita es el rey demonio? Qué?
Me ha encantado este tomo, la forma en la que se entremezclan el pasado y el futuro es genial. Las preguntas que nos van dejando los acontecimientos del presente, se van contestando con lo acontecido en el pasado, ya quiero saber que pasará en el tomo 6. Los personajes son muy buenos y se ve el crecimiento en cada uno de ellos, el autor no hace a un lado a los personajes secundarios y nos cuenta su historia,me encanta.
Años en el futuro o presente? seguimos a los demás reencarnados preparándose ante la inminente guerra entre elfos y el imperio Rengxandt, conocemos más de sus vidas pasadas y queda claro la habilidad de la profesora Oka (lista de alumnos), nos damos cuenta que los reencarnados no encontrados están en el lado contrario, por lo que el equipo de Shun, sabe que pueden enfrentarse con sus antiguos compañeros.
Durante el enfrentamiento vemos la diferencia de poderes entre los alumnos que están del lado de los elfos y los que están del lado del imperio. También nos dan a entender que nuestra arañita es el rey demonio? Qué?
Me ha encantado este tomo, la forma en la que se entremezclan el pasado y el futuro es genial. Las preguntas que nos van dejando los acontecimientos del presente, se van contestando con lo acontecido en el pasado, ya quiero saber que pasará en el tomo 6. Los personajes son muy buenos y se ve el crecimiento en cada uno de ellos, el autor no hace a un lado a los personajes secundarios y nos cuenta su historia,me encanta.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2025
This is where the anime ends and a lot of stuff comes together. In all honestly, the book is better than the anime in that you get a better idea of what is going on for each of the characters and what is going on in their heads. You learn more about the world, the elves, the demon lord, and what happened to bring the class to this world.
And you also get to see why some students are siding with the demon lord and some are siding with the elves, and everything you have faced up to this point gets turned upsidedown, which is honestly an amazing twist.
You get a lot more of the humans in this book, which helps in telling the story about what is going on, I found it to be kind of meh. (just like I did with the anime) I, and it seems a lot of the reviewers, are here for the protagonist, not the humans. Now, I recognize that the humans help to set up what is going on in the world, and how the human aspect of things and rest of the class is doing. You also get to see a really good comeuppins as well, so it's not all bad.
In the end, this volume was pretty good, and I admit, at the end I wondered where we would go from here.
All in all, I enjoyed this book and look forward to where things go from here. A lot was dropped onto the readers and a lot about what we know of the world is no longer valid. So yeah, where do we go from here? It's actually a pretty good way to keep the readers invested, and 5 books in, it was a great call by Baba.
And you also get to see why some students are siding with the demon lord and some are siding with the elves, and everything you have faced up to this point gets turned upsidedown, which is honestly an amazing twist.
You get a lot more of the humans in this book, which helps in telling the story about what is going on, I found it to be kind of meh. (just like I did with the anime) I, and it seems a lot of the reviewers, are here for the protagonist, not the humans. Now, I recognize that the humans help to set up what is going on in the world, and how the human aspect of things and rest of the class is doing. You also get to see a really good comeuppins as well, so it's not all bad.
In the end, this volume was pretty good, and I admit, at the end I wondered where we would go from here.
All in all, I enjoyed this book and look forward to where things go from here. A lot was dropped onto the readers and a lot about what we know of the world is no longer valid. So yeah, where do we go from here? It's actually a pretty good way to keep the readers invested, and 5 books in, it was a great call by Baba.
May 9, 2020
My thoughts on "So I'm a Spider, So What?" (蜘蛛ですが、なにか?) Vol 5
Written by Okina Baba
Art by Kiryu Tsukasa
I'm writing this at 3 am, this series is taking over my sleep schedule plz send help.
The story:
This volume had so many story developments I can't actually believe that all the things that went down were in just 1 volume, a lot of things happened.
On the hero MC side, he just defended (?) the elf village and fought a lot.
(spoilers ahead)
And on Spider MC side:
She fought against the demon lord, evolved into a very awaited evolution, fought a war, saved a vampire, fought a robot, got told by literal god that she was too op and created 999 monsters that want to destroy the world
(End of spoiler)
Enjoyment:
It was crazy this volume was crazy crazy crazy.
It had a lot of very incredible story developments and fights on both sides and tbh spider MC story this volume was just wild like so crazy I can't even believe it. It was tremendously enjoyable.
The verdict:
The story is just crazy but in a very good way, the book left me hyped af. If this volume was this good I can't wait for what's to come in next installments. This vol definitely putting this series in my all-time-favorites. 10/10
Written by Okina Baba
Art by Kiryu Tsukasa
I'm writing this at 3 am, this series is taking over my sleep schedule plz send help.
The story:
This volume had so many story developments I can't actually believe that all the things that went down were in just 1 volume, a lot of things happened.
On the hero MC side, he just defended (?) the elf village and fought a lot.
(spoilers ahead)
And on Spider MC side:
She fought against the demon lord, evolved into a very awaited evolution, fought a war, saved a vampire, fought a robot, got told by literal god that she was too op and created 999 monsters that want to destroy the world
(End of spoiler)
Enjoyment:
It was crazy this volume was crazy crazy crazy.
It had a lot of very incredible story developments and fights on both sides and tbh spider MC story this volume was just wild like so crazy I can't even believe it. It was tremendously enjoyable.
The verdict:
The story is just crazy but in a very good way, the book left me hyped af. If this volume was this good I can't wait for what's to come in next installments. This vol definitely putting this series in my all-time-favorites. 10/10
December 15, 2025
The first volumes of this series focused on our spider's protagonist learning to navigate and survive her new circumstances. While she is our main perspective, focus is occasionally shifted to follow another reincarnation who is growing up as a baby. At first it felt like an annoying addition. I am fond of the way the spider is written and the author's world and monster building and would rather continue reading that.
The strongest point of this dual perspective story telling to me, is how they both intersect. This volume does it the best by far and I expect this to trend to continue as we see more of the world through the spider's eyes. With so many characters properly introduced, the hero's perspective in the future become much more interesting as we wonder what will happen in the spider's story to result in what we see in the hero's.
As the spider's story grow in scope she might take up less of the pages, I just hope we won't stray too far from what have gotten my hooked on the series in the first place. Aside from some annoying generic tropes here and there from the hero's side of the story, I am now enjoying it much more than before. The ending of the story leaves me excited for what is next for our spider.
The strongest point of this dual perspective story telling to me, is how they both intersect. This volume does it the best by far and I expect this to trend to continue as we see more of the world through the spider's eyes. With so many characters properly introduced, the hero's perspective in the future become much more interesting as we wonder what will happen in the spider's story to result in what we see in the hero's.
As the spider's story grow in scope she might take up less of the pages, I just hope we won't stray too far from what have gotten my hooked on the series in the first place. Aside from some annoying generic tropes here and there from the hero's side of the story, I am now enjoying it much more than before. The ending of the story leaves me excited for what is next for our spider.
March 20, 2021
This book ended up being gone I liked a lot, mostly because I've been super confused this whole time about the demon lord and white. like both villains sound exactly like what the spider MC could be like as a human. white has the coloration and overpowered skills that everyone is amazed by. And the demon lord has the personality.
So seeing in this book how the spider's personality consumed the demon lord, while the main set of consciousness has started turning human was a satisfying answer to my confusion.
It was almost worth reading through all the tedious vague villain chapters for that reveal.
---
There still are no real incentives or goals for any characters that I understand really, besides they are just bored and don't know what else to do besides fight and kill things around them.
Also I still don't care at all about any of the humans.
So seeing in this book how the spider's personality consumed the demon lord, while the main set of consciousness has started turning human was a satisfying answer to my confusion.
It was almost worth reading through all the tedious vague villain chapters for that reveal.
---
There still are no real incentives or goals for any characters that I understand really, besides they are just bored and don't know what else to do besides fight and kill things around them.
Also I still don't care at all about any of the humans.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2019
I really love this series. I love it so much that I was upset that I finished it. There were some parts of this volume that annoyed me. I didn't like how short the main characters POV were. There were instances in which I got annoyed at the side stories because I wanted to quickly go back to the main POV.
It was interesting how you realize that there's a timeline shift as your reading. It was an ineresting surprise but made me wish that there were more hints. Also the mc's identity reveal was suprising because she wasn't who I thought she was. (Originally I thought Sophie and the mc's real identities were switched.)
Anyway I can't wait for the next volume. It's going to be on my mind every day until the release. I preordered it but I'm still full of anticipation.
It was interesting how you realize that there's a timeline shift as your reading. It was an ineresting surprise but made me wish that there were more hints. Also the mc's identity reveal was suprising because she wasn't who I thought she was. (Originally I thought Sophie and the mc's real identities were switched.)
Anyway I can't wait for the next volume. It's going to be on my mind every day until the release. I preordered it but I'm still full of anticipation.
March 9, 2020
This volume is definitely the best one out of the five volumes I have read so far. Besides the usual engaging read with our main character's light and comedic perspective, all the scattered plot lines of the story start to converge and make sense. Even better, the way it's done is so gradual that you get just enough info to speculate several newer informations out of the little bits of the mysterious plot that get revealed to you. And even even better is the thrill that you get when the informed speculations that you make about the plot lines were revealed to be true. Although I managed to guess correctly only some of them, I still felt very excited. And what allows me that feeling is the author's awesome way of revealing the plot lines. All in all, I really enjoyed this volume.
November 13, 2020
SPOILERS!
THANK GOD!!!!! Finally!!!!! We have spider chans real name, the storys seem to have collided and we are actually okay!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!
1 star off because the actions seems were sometimes annoying and I still don’t care about Shun’s story. Except for now maybe? I wanna see their reaction to spider Chan though! Or i suppose white? White Chan? Hmm..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note to myself on the reading dates:
I’m like. 90% sure that I got a couple pages into this story and then bam! I set it down and only picked it up and finished the rest of it the same day during my cafe shift. So uh, whoops. So October 27th I picked it up after finishing the last volume and then November 12 I picked it up again and finished it that night. Cool.
THANK GOD!!!!! Finally!!!!! We have spider chans real name, the storys seem to have collided and we are actually okay!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!
1 star off because the actions seems were sometimes annoying and I still don’t care about Shun’s story. Except for now maybe? I wanna see their reaction to spider Chan though! Or i suppose white? White Chan? Hmm..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note to myself on the reading dates:
I’m like. 90% sure that I got a couple pages into this story and then bam! I set it down and only picked it up and finished the rest of it the same day during my cafe shift. So uh, whoops. So October 27th I picked it up after finishing the last volume and then November 12 I picked it up again and finished it that night. Cool.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2021
Tuvo un buen comiemzo, desde el encuentro de los reencarnados con el grupo del héroe y la parte del comienzo del ataque donde por fin se pudo ver el reencuentro con Kyouya, que supongo muchos esperamos... La parte donde Kyouya esta apunto de contarle la verdad sobre los malditos elfos, pero lamentablemente es interrumpido por Oka me dejó algo frustrada.
Otra de la apartes que me gustó fue como Kumoko llega a salvar a la vampiniña y Mera y posterior a esto la inesperada, agradable y graciosa entrada del señor demonio que salvo el día. También está el hecho de la invitación que les hizo para unirse al ejército demoníaco.
Todo fue muy agradable de leer.
Otra de la apartes que me gustó fue como Kumoko llega a salvar a la vampiniña y Mera y posterior a esto la inesperada, agradable y graciosa entrada del señor demonio que salvo el día. También está el hecho de la invitación que les hizo para unirse al ejército demoníaco.
Todo fue muy agradable de leer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2025
Yeah, this series has been great so far. And I'm just here for the ride now. I trust in Okina Baba and with the end of this novel, I finally get to the end of the content adapted for the anime. From here on out it'll be new stuff and I'm totally looking forward to it. To be honest, I enjoyed the hell out of everything up to now as well, even though I had vague memories of some of the things that happened. So now, when things I have no forewarning about happen, I'm going to enjoy myself a lot more.
September 23, 2024
A lot of more of the same in this one. The other children who were blown up and reborn as heroes, etc, are just an okay aspect of these light novels, but I've always been 100% team spider.
Unfortunately, it's more and more those other kids, albeit with a world war, but I miss my cute, immortal, soul-sucking big-bad spider. What we did get, was good, but I'm not certain how I feel about that last twist.
I'll keep going, of course.
Unfortunately, it's more and more those other kids, albeit with a world war, but I miss my cute, immortal, soul-sucking big-bad spider. What we did get, was good, but I'm not certain how I feel about that last twist.
I'll keep going, of course.
April 10, 2019
So many Tropes
I can not express how much I dislike the Hero's story...
That said, my distaste for the hero and the teacher weren't enough to stop me from enjoying the spider girls story.
It's more of the same; if you're this far, and can forgive the constant tropes and cliches in the hero's side of the story, then you'll probably like the story.
I can not express how much I dislike the Hero's story...
That said, my distaste for the hero and the teacher weren't enough to stop me from enjoying the spider girls story.
It's more of the same; if you're this far, and can forgive the constant tropes and cliches in the hero's side of the story, then you'll probably like the story.
July 31, 2020
มันก็มีจังหวะน่าเบื่อบ้าง แต่จังหวะสนุก ก็สนุกจนวางไม่ลงเลย
หลังจากอ่านจบ รู้สึกว่า เนื้อเรื่องก็ไม่ได้เดินไปเร็วเท่าไหร่ คงเพราะมีการดำเนินเรื่องผ่านตัวละครหลายตัวด้วย ในพาร์ทของตัวเอก เล่มนี้มีอยู่น้อยกว่าเล่มที่ผ่าน ๆ มาด้วย มีหลายช่วงที่แอบรำคาญ แต่ช่วงสนุกก็สนุกจนวางไม่ลง ประมาณช่วงกลางเล่มจนจบเล่มนั่นล่ะ
หลังจากอ่านจบ รู้สึกว่า เนื้อเรื่องก็ไม่ได้เดินไปเร็วเท่าไหร่ คงเพราะมีการดำเนินเรื่องผ่านตัวละครหลายตัวด้วย ในพาร์ทของตัวเอก เล่มนี้มีอยู่น้อยกว่าเล่มที่ผ่าน ๆ มาด้วย มีหลายช่วงที่แอบรำคาญ แต่ช่วงสนุกก็สนุกจนวางไม่ลง ประมาณช่วงกลางเล่มจนจบเล่มนั่นล่ะ
March 1, 2021
2.5 💛 rounded up. Huh, wasn’t expecting that. Interesting enough twist with the demon lady but Pot head elf is seriously annoying. I do like Mez’s storyline.
I wonder if there will be a time skip to match up the plot lines? I keep expecting one but so far no dice. The writing is still bare minimum to get things across and it’s not very well done, but I will stick with the story for now. Besides, the library is picking up the rest of the series for me...~
I wonder if there will be a time skip to match up the plot lines? I keep expecting one but so far no dice. The writing is still bare minimum to get things across and it’s not very well done, but I will stick with the story for now. Besides, the library is picking up the rest of the series for me...~
March 12, 2020
Woah
Ik I didn’t comment on the others cuz i was catching up but I finally caught up and my god i love how this is going!! Prefer this rather than the manga but i cant wait for more!!
Ik I didn’t comment on the others cuz i was catching up but I finally caught up and my god i love how this is going!! Prefer this rather than the manga but i cant wait for more!!
February 11, 2021
Loved it
The story was fun and down to earth. It was a good intro to the events that involve the demon lords. I wish it had more about the spiders journey but it helps bring the party’s closer together, can’t wait for the next one
The story was fun and down to earth. It was a good intro to the events that involve the demon lords. I wish it had more about the spiders journey but it helps bring the party’s closer together, can’t wait for the next one
February 25, 2021
Best one so far, also really like how it’s totally new material to me (finally caught up to/surpassed the manga [chapter 50.1])!
The book itself was great, I couldn’t put it down and before I knew it I was already finished!
The book itself was great, I couldn’t put it down and before I knew it I was already finished!
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