The World's Least Interesting Master Swordsman: Volume 1

The World's Least Interesting Master Swordsman (Light Novel) #1

by Rokurou Akashi, Noboru Akimoto (Translator), Shiso (Illustrator)

Sansui Shirokuro is a young guy with an old man's name, which ends up landing him in tragic circumstances when God snuffs out his life candle after mistaking him for a geezer whose time has passed. Now reincarnated into a fantasy world, Sansui is one of the Immortals, capable of immense power... as long as he's willing to put centuries of work into achieving it. One day, after five hundred years of swinging his sword, his monotonous existence is upended entirely by the appearance of a little baby. His master sends him out into the world to raise the child, and it's there that he meets a haughty young noblewoman and her tomboyish bodyguard. His fighting style may be bland and unpretentious, but the fast-paced mortal world is about to find out just how good even the most hopeless swordsman can get with half a millennium of practice behind him!

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy

269 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 2018

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fell asleep twice tonight trying to read this. I hate to go after the low hanging fruit, but it lives up to part of its title. It is just not that interesting. The most interesting part was the cliffhanger, but I had already checked out at that point.

[Bernard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isekai with a longer perspective

This book is a gem.

A person accidentally killed by a god, yes another one, is asked what he wants in his reencarnation, this time in a magical world. He chooses to be the greatest sword master ever... Oops. Here begin the adventures of an interesting character.

He is made an immortal and given an immortal master to learn from. The idea being that even an idiot can master the sword with enough time and practice.

Five hundred years later, our hero journeys out into his new world.

Then, being an immortal, he asks himself the questions that none of the other reincarnation heroes ever do. Things like just how useful is a living sword? Is it wielded by a hero or is it the wielder of the hero? When one of our Japanese heroes ends up in another world, are they truly strong, or merely manifestations of their unique powers? Do the unique powers make them weaker as characters?

This author uses the character's immortal perspective to really add depth and thought to his novel.

Towards the end, the author starts really getting into describing the political situation. STOP RIGHT THERE! It seems that whenever a j-novel talks politics, it is nap time for the readers. Overly detailed analysis of imaginary characters that contributes little to the story, other than a headache. I assume that it has something to do with the study of Japanese history. Unless you know all the players and everyone's connections, you really can't understand who did what for whatever reason...

This is not one of the most exciting j-novels, but it is one of the most interesting and thought provoking that I have read in a long time. It will be interesting to see what the author does in the next book.

[Aelvana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sansui Shirokuro had the misfortune of dying because God messed up, so he jumps on the chance to reincarnate into a different world. Of course he asks for amazing powers---but all that really bought him was a particularly unusual master and school of swordsmanship. Now an Immortal, Sansui has incredible powers compared to normal humans . . . and the least interesting life imaginable, because all he's ever done is train. When a few civilians stumble into their training ground, he ends up with the task of raising the baby left alive, and sent back into the mortal world.

Despite the title, this actually was a fairly interesting book. Sansui is pretty laid back about everything, and sees his power as complete overkill. He can't even relate to his initial longings anymore. Now training is just a lifestyle. As a bodyguard for the spoiled and somewhat villainous young lady, Douve, he's content to act on her orders and keep most of his commentary to himself.

I thought it was interesting how he points out her flaws, while not really condemning her for them. He's trying to take a bigger view of who she is and what she's doing, and even when she's wrong he's not interested in correcting her much, even though he's also not a complete yes-man for her. (I do hope the whole issue of marrying him off gets dropped, although given the nature of these types of novels I suspect it will be an ongoing plot development.)

It was also amusing to see Saiga, whom Sansui dubs the typical harem protagonist, and the little ways Sansui makes fun of him (though never out loud) for all the typical plot developments.

Overall this is a decent story, though whether the supporting characters and the overall political mess can carry it for more than a few books remains to be seen. I rate this book Recommended.

See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....

[Pablo García · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isekai-fantasy (reincarnated into another world because a "God" accidentally killed me) novel series is as dull as the main character's (Sansui Shirokuro), wooden sword and as enjoyable and dispassionate as him, staying a virgin for 500+ years... As you can probably deduce by the light novel's title, "World's Least Interesting" and the author's need to make it lackluster, for this reason, that it is a chore to read. It feels like opening up the technical manual to a computer terminal from 50 years ago, and continually reading for the duration of this light novel volume, which by the way, is 200+ pages, but because the monotony of the main character and story, gives the impression of being over 500 pages long...with just 2 chapters and one side story. It has interior illustrations in black and white, and a color illustration on the cover and first page (no maps of this other world).
Main character, Sansui, trains by himself, without an instructor or manual, and just taking basic sword swings, for 500+ years. Sansui was "isekai-ed" to this other world as "compensation" for mistaken his identity with an elderly person, by a "God" that accidentally "took his life". So it picks up a little at the end, and it ends in a kind of a cliffhanger, but if the author is persistent with the title and how he has developed this story so far, it will be a "flat-line" ride...

[Miso · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of the main MC is interesting, but I feel like this LN tried to do too much world building in too little space. Apart from the 'fight' scenes, at no point did I really feel drawn into the story.

With no personal investment in the state of the world or any character apart from the MC created, I don't feel like the lead into the next volume creates enough interest in me to keep reading the series further.

[Randy Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was OK

It was an interesting view from someone who is basically immortal. His view of life and his place in it. I think the author was attempting to show the viewpoint of someone like an old-time samurai working for someone who’s almost evil.

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the story

I picked it out of curiosity due to the title, I liked the story and it promises lots of things for the future. Well keep reading the next volumes and see if it can deliver in those promises

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this is trying to be serious and comedic at the same time and it’s not working out as well as I thought. Also it has pov sections from side characters I could not give a fuck about and it kinda bogged down the experience for me.

[Alec Rebert · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8

Even though it wasn't the best light novel that I've ever read it was still fun and enjoyable read 3.8

[Kurenai Kei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un protagonista finalmente diventato invincibile dopo 500 anni di allenamento! Detto questo sarebbe da uccidere la sua datrice di lavoro(odiosa) e metà del cast, a parte la bambina e il principe.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow and just as boring as the MC in this book. The cliffhanger at the end might make me read the next book if it's cheap enough. For me, this book was a waste of time.

[Dantegideon · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s not just a clever title.

[Will Abel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lives up to the title...