What do you think?
Rate this book
Outbreak Company Light Novel #1
Outbreak Company: Volume 1
The year is 20XX, and Shinichi Kanou is a pretty typical otaku: he loves anime, manga, games, and light novels, but his devotion to the two-dimensional hasn't always made him the most popular guy around.
What he doesn’t know is that Japan has discovered a portal to another world in the vicinity of Mount Fuji. The government sees a great chance to make a profit, if they can keep the secret long enough to corner the market on exports to the Holy Eldant Empire, their point of first contact with this new land.
The people of the Eldant Empire, though, only have eyes for one of Japan’s traditional exports: pop culture. When it quickly becomes evident that government bureaucrats and “Japanimation” don’t really mix, the bigwigs realize they’re going to need help bringing “otaku culture” to the Eldant masses.
Enter Amutech, a purveyor of “general entertainment” that’s secretly run by the Japanese government. Shinichi lands a job as the company’s general manager, whereupon he learns the state’s biggest secret. Now he finally has a chance to put his nerd know-how to good use spreading the otaku gospel in the Eldant Empire. And wait... he has to work with a half-elf maid, an empress, AND a female soldier to get the job done?
What he doesn’t know is that Japan has discovered a portal to another world in the vicinity of Mount Fuji. The government sees a great chance to make a profit, if they can keep the secret long enough to corner the market on exports to the Holy Eldant Empire, their point of first contact with this new land.
The people of the Eldant Empire, though, only have eyes for one of Japan’s traditional exports: pop culture. When it quickly becomes evident that government bureaucrats and “Japanimation” don’t really mix, the bigwigs realize they’re going to need help bringing “otaku culture” to the Eldant masses.
Enter Amutech, a purveyor of “general entertainment” that’s secretly run by the Japanese government. Shinichi lands a job as the company’s general manager, whereupon he learns the state’s biggest secret. Now he finally has a chance to put his nerd know-how to good use spreading the otaku gospel in the Eldant Empire. And wait... he has to work with a half-elf maid, an empress, AND a female soldier to get the job done?
196 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 2, 2011
55 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Ichirou Sakaki
124 books22 followersSAKAKI Ichirou
Name (in native language): 榊一郎
Associated Name:
SAKAKI Ichirou
Zodiac: Sagittarius
Name (in native language): 榊一郎
Associated Name:
SAKAKI Ichirou
Zodiac: Sagittarius
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 31, 2019
Shinichi has spent the past year holed up in his room in his parents' place, doing nothing but playing games and reading manga. His parents are otaku themselves (his dad writes light novels and his mom used to be an artist for erotic games), but even they've had enough. They tell him he either needs to go back to school or get a job, or they'll wipe all his game accounts and his hard drive. Shinichi opts to go job hunting and stumbles across something that seems tailor made for him: a position at a company called Amutech. The job pays well, and the only requirement seems to be that applicants must be otaku.
When Shinichi suddenly wakes up in another world, he learns that there may be more to this job than he thought. A year ago, the Japanese government learned of a portal that had opened up in Aokigahara Forest. It led to another world, one with magic, elves, lizardpeople, and dragons. The Japanese government sees an opportunity to establish a foothold in this new world before any other governments in our world are even aware of it. It's initially difficult to find something in our world that's small enough to be brought through the portal and that the Eldant Empire would even want or understand, but it turns out that otaku culture may be the answer the government is looking for. They want Shinichi to spread otaku culture throughout the Eldant Empire. (Why didn't the hire someone who's actually in the business of marketing and distributing manga and anime, you ask? Well, supposedly they'd prefer someone like Shinichi, who's less likely to be missed, although I personally didn't buy that his parents wouldn't go looking for him after a while.)
Right, so this wasn't initially on my list of J-Novel Club titles to try while my membership is still active. The cover and description made it seem particularly geared towards a male audience, the sort that loves adorable maids who cutely stumble their way through their jobs, flashing their panties. I gave it a shot after seeing it mentioned in a forum post written by someone looking for light novel recommendations that would be more appealing to female audiences, or at least not actively unappealing to them. Supposedly, this was a surprisingly appealing series that got better as it became more serious.
The bulk of this book did not fill me with confidence. Shinichi was a stereotypical "nice guy" socially awkward otaku. There were lots of scenes that showed that he could act like a decent, non-slimy guy, but then something would happen and it was like a switch was flipped. He'd practically vibrate with excitement over being in the presence of an actual flesh-and-blood maid, or completely lose it because he was in the same room as a pair of large breasts (Shinichi kept saying they were Japanese F cup, US DD, but confusingly Minori's breasts in the illustrations were nowhere near that size).
The scene that irked me the most was when Shinichi was introduced to Empress Petralka an Eldant III. He'd been told to be as quiet and respectful as possible, but when he saw her this is what happened: "'IS THAT REALLY AN ARCHETYPAL LITTLE-GIRL CHARACTER?!' I shouted, jumping up and clenching both my fists." (63) The guy was an idiot who kept treating the world around him as though it were some kind of otaku paradise he'd been dropped into and could go all fanboy over without any consequences. He even viewed his interactions with others in terms of manga/anime tropes. The cute female characters wanted to be with him, so clearly some sort of love triangle/harem situation was brewing. When they started to be nicer and friendlier towards each other it was a possible sign of a yuri (f/f) relationship. When Counselor Garius, a handsome man with silver hair that went to his waist, showed signs of beginning to respect and maybe even like Shinichi, Shinichi's mind immediately jumped to "oh no, is he falling for me? because I don't swing that way."
I wouldn't mind all of this quite so much if there was more evidence that the author planned to subvert Shinichi's expectations and set him up as an unreliable narrator. Unfortunately, Petralka and Myusel's behavior around Shinichi really did look like the beginnings of a possible love triangle, and even Minori, Shinichi's bodyguard, seemed to think that it was possible that Garius was developing romantic feelings for him (although if Minori was really a fujoshi, her opinion couldn't necessarily be trusted either).
Things did take a more interesting turn in the last 15 or so pages, though. Shinichi viewed Petralka's apparent jealousy of Myusel (man, I hate that name, it makes me think of Mucinex) as something not really worth worrying too much about, and only started to become more concerned when Minori forced him to look at the situation as it actually was: Myusel, a half-elf, was discriminated against by the Eldant Empire's more dominant group, humans, and Petralka, the Eldant Empire's human Empress, very openly disliked her and was about to fire her. The likelihood that this would turn out well for Myusel was very low, no matter how much Shinichi liked her (in fact, him liking her seemed to make things worse). His inability to see the seriousness of the situation until it was almost too late could have left Myusel a homeless outcast, or even dead.
On the one hand, I had issues with the protagonist, and the stereotypical love triangle apparently brewing between him, the loli Empress Petralka, and the adorably clumsy and submissive Myusel irked me. And I really could have done without the passages on the appeal of breasts/chests of various sizes - the part where Shinichi tried to pacify Petralka, who was sensitive about her childlike appearance (she was actually 16), by going on and on about the appeal of flat chests/small breasts made my skin crawl. Petralka was an actual person Shinichi was talking to, not a character in one of his games, and he basically told her that her small chest was perfectly fine and attractive because, hey, lots of people are into lolicon. Man, I feel gross even just typing that.
On the other hand, I liked the author's focus on the practical aspects of spreading Japanese pop culture in a completely different world. Shinichi had to consider the issue of electricity - since the Eldant Empire didn't have any, his best bet was to put off anime and games for now and focus on print media. Language differences were also an issue. Special magic rings helped Shinichi understand spoken words and be understood, but those rings couldn't translate words on a page. Also, only nobles possessed them, and Shinichi wanted otaku culture to be available to all, not just the Eldant Empire nobility. Which then brought him up against the issue of this world's class system, and what the task the Japanese government had given him might accomplish on a wider scale, beyond getting a few real fantasy world humans and elves to love Spice & Wolf or whatever. The sociological aspects of this series could be really interesting.
But I'm going to need more than 20 or so pages of content directly focused on the practical aspects of Shinichi's job and a lot less "look at those boobs! look at that elf! wow, that girl over there is so moe!" for this series to really work for me. It also bugged me that most of the on-page action was devoted to the stuff I didn't like, while most of the more serious/practical issues stuff was relegated to the narrative (which gave the unfortunate impression that Shinichi was basing most of what he knew about the Eldant Empire on conjecture, overlaid upon what his vast knowledge of anime and manga told him about how a world like this should function).
Reviews for the second volume indicate that it's an improvement upon the first, and continues on with some of the series' more serious aspects. There's a possibility that I'll read on, but for now I think I'll check out another title on my list of J-Novel Club works to try.
Extras:
Black and white illustrations, a few color illustrations, and a fairly lengthy translator's notes section. I really liked the translator's notes, which included a few Japanese cultural details I hadn't known about but realized I'd noticed in various anime and manga series over the years.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
When Shinichi suddenly wakes up in another world, he learns that there may be more to this job than he thought. A year ago, the Japanese government learned of a portal that had opened up in Aokigahara Forest. It led to another world, one with magic, elves, lizardpeople, and dragons. The Japanese government sees an opportunity to establish a foothold in this new world before any other governments in our world are even aware of it. It's initially difficult to find something in our world that's small enough to be brought through the portal and that the Eldant Empire would even want or understand, but it turns out that otaku culture may be the answer the government is looking for. They want Shinichi to spread otaku culture throughout the Eldant Empire. (Why didn't the hire someone who's actually in the business of marketing and distributing manga and anime, you ask? Well, supposedly they'd prefer someone like Shinichi, who's less likely to be missed, although I personally didn't buy that his parents wouldn't go looking for him after a while.)
Right, so this wasn't initially on my list of J-Novel Club titles to try while my membership is still active. The cover and description made it seem particularly geared towards a male audience, the sort that loves adorable maids who cutely stumble their way through their jobs, flashing their panties. I gave it a shot after seeing it mentioned in a forum post written by someone looking for light novel recommendations that would be more appealing to female audiences, or at least not actively unappealing to them. Supposedly, this was a surprisingly appealing series that got better as it became more serious.
The bulk of this book did not fill me with confidence. Shinichi was a stereotypical "nice guy" socially awkward otaku. There were lots of scenes that showed that he could act like a decent, non-slimy guy, but then something would happen and it was like a switch was flipped. He'd practically vibrate with excitement over being in the presence of an actual flesh-and-blood maid, or completely lose it because he was in the same room as a pair of large breasts (Shinichi kept saying they were Japanese F cup, US DD, but confusingly Minori's breasts in the illustrations were nowhere near that size).
The scene that irked me the most was when Shinichi was introduced to Empress Petralka an Eldant III. He'd been told to be as quiet and respectful as possible, but when he saw her this is what happened: "'IS THAT REALLY AN ARCHETYPAL LITTLE-GIRL CHARACTER?!' I shouted, jumping up and clenching both my fists." (63) The guy was an idiot who kept treating the world around him as though it were some kind of otaku paradise he'd been dropped into and could go all fanboy over without any consequences. He even viewed his interactions with others in terms of manga/anime tropes. The cute female characters wanted to be with him, so clearly some sort of love triangle/harem situation was brewing. When they started to be nicer and friendlier towards each other it was a possible sign of a yuri (f/f) relationship. When Counselor Garius, a handsome man with silver hair that went to his waist, showed signs of beginning to respect and maybe even like Shinichi, Shinichi's mind immediately jumped to "oh no, is he falling for me? because I don't swing that way."
I wouldn't mind all of this quite so much if there was more evidence that the author planned to subvert Shinichi's expectations and set him up as an unreliable narrator. Unfortunately, Petralka and Myusel's behavior around Shinichi really did look like the beginnings of a possible love triangle, and even Minori, Shinichi's bodyguard, seemed to think that it was possible that Garius was developing romantic feelings for him (although if Minori was really a fujoshi, her opinion couldn't necessarily be trusted either).
Things did take a more interesting turn in the last 15 or so pages, though. Shinichi viewed Petralka's apparent jealousy of Myusel (man, I hate that name, it makes me think of Mucinex) as something not really worth worrying too much about, and only started to become more concerned when Minori forced him to look at the situation as it actually was: Myusel, a half-elf, was discriminated against by the Eldant Empire's more dominant group, humans, and Petralka, the Eldant Empire's human Empress, very openly disliked her and was about to fire her. The likelihood that this would turn out well for Myusel was very low, no matter how much Shinichi liked her (in fact, him liking her seemed to make things worse). His inability to see the seriousness of the situation until it was almost too late could have left Myusel a homeless outcast, or even dead.
On the one hand, I had issues with the protagonist, and the stereotypical love triangle apparently brewing between him, the loli Empress Petralka, and the adorably clumsy and submissive Myusel irked me. And I really could have done without the passages on the appeal of breasts/chests of various sizes - the part where Shinichi tried to pacify Petralka, who was sensitive about her childlike appearance (she was actually 16), by going on and on about the appeal of flat chests/small breasts made my skin crawl. Petralka was an actual person Shinichi was talking to, not a character in one of his games, and he basically told her that her small chest was perfectly fine and attractive because, hey, lots of people are into lolicon. Man, I feel gross even just typing that.
On the other hand, I liked the author's focus on the practical aspects of spreading Japanese pop culture in a completely different world. Shinichi had to consider the issue of electricity - since the Eldant Empire didn't have any, his best bet was to put off anime and games for now and focus on print media. Language differences were also an issue. Special magic rings helped Shinichi understand spoken words and be understood, but those rings couldn't translate words on a page. Also, only nobles possessed them, and Shinichi wanted otaku culture to be available to all, not just the Eldant Empire nobility. Which then brought him up against the issue of this world's class system, and what the task the Japanese government had given him might accomplish on a wider scale, beyond getting a few real fantasy world humans and elves to love Spice & Wolf or whatever. The sociological aspects of this series could be really interesting.
But I'm going to need more than 20 or so pages of content directly focused on the practical aspects of Shinichi's job and a lot less "look at those boobs! look at that elf! wow, that girl over there is so moe!" for this series to really work for me. It also bugged me that most of the on-page action was devoted to the stuff I didn't like, while most of the more serious/practical issues stuff was relegated to the narrative (which gave the unfortunate impression that Shinichi was basing most of what he knew about the Eldant Empire on conjecture, overlaid upon what his vast knowledge of anime and manga told him about how a world like this should function).
Reviews for the second volume indicate that it's an improvement upon the first, and continues on with some of the series' more serious aspects. There's a possibility that I'll read on, but for now I think I'll check out another title on my list of J-Novel Club works to try.
Extras:
Black and white illustrations, a few color illustrations, and a fairly lengthy translator's notes section. I really liked the translator's notes, which included a few Japanese cultural details I hadn't known about but realized I'd noticed in various anime and manga series over the years.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
January 29, 2020
Picked this up because I'd seen it shown on BookWalker a number of times.
Prologue: “Oh, it looks like the main character will be a guy from the prefectural police who discovers another world. This seems pretty interesting.”
Chapter 1: “Oh, it looks like the main character is a hikkikomori otaku who gets hired as general manager for a media company in the other world for his detailed knowledge of anime. And he insults the head of state and a military leader in his first royal audience because his love for anime is too irrepressible.”
It feels like the light novel is purposefully insulting the reader's intelligence.
Prologue: “Oh, it looks like the main character will be a guy from the prefectural police who discovers another world. This seems pretty interesting.”
Chapter 1: “Oh, it looks like the main character is a hikkikomori otaku who gets hired as general manager for a media company in the other world for his detailed knowledge of anime. And he insults the head of state and a military leader in his first royal audience because his love for anime is too irrepressible.”
It feels like the light novel is purposefully insulting the reader's intelligence.
January 27, 2018
The market is being flooded with isekai books, feels like j-novel club is picking up a new title every other week. This is at least different from the rest. There is no demon lord to defeat instead our "hero" is tasked with spreading the love of moe in another world.
October 2, 2022
The otaku in this book is supposed to spread otaku values, manga, anime, etc. in a parallel world. What could possibly go wrong? Granted, the otaku in question has spent his last year at home, in his room, avoiding people. There is that whole parallel world thing. There are a few JSDF troops running around and did I mention the hot half-elf half-human? There is also that whole take over with a cultural revolution thing as well. I'm thinking it is a slam dunk.
Problems arise and plot twists occasionally pop up.
Not brilliant but it has some touches of originality. Worth a read.
Problems arise and plot twists occasionally pop up.
Not brilliant but it has some touches of originality. Worth a read.
March 25, 2018
I am always on the hunt for new isekai (that's 'trapped in another world' for those who don't know) light novels. Somehow I'd missed the anime Outbreak Company when it first aired, so I jumped at the chance to read the light novel. Outbreak Company Vol. 1 by Ichiro Sakaki, author of Chaika: The Coffin Princess among others, is a light novel that is both fun, but unafraid to delve into the more serious aspects of politics and the issues that arise when transporting pop culture to another world.
When a portal to another world is discovered in the forests surrounding Mt. Fuji, the Japanese government makes an effort to corner the market on exports to the Holy Eldant Empire while keeping the discovery a secret. After several failed export attempts, they've figured out what the Eldant's want - entertainment. More specifically they want manga, anime, and light novels. It's going to be Shinichi Kanou's job to figure out how to get it to them. There are language barriers to be crossed, politics to be waded through, and Shinichi isn't sure if's been hired by the government or straight up kidnapped.
Outbreak Company Vol 1 begins with a lighthearted, humors tone, something I expected with the genre and synopsis. As the light novel continued, the humorous situations began to take a more serious tone leading up to a tense climax. And it is in its more serious moments where the book really shone.
In many ways, this is the daily life of Shinichi as he tries to introduce Japanese culture to the medieval, magic weilding citizens of The Holy Eldant Empire. Major setbacks begin accruing before he's even hired for the job, though, and Shinichi quickly realizes that this isn't going to be any walk in the park. Eldant doesn't share either a written or spoken language with Japan. There are no translators available, and the magic which allows people to communicate relies on telepathy and mind reading, something which cannot be used to translate previously recorded media. The major problems inherent to bringing a foreign culture to a wildly different society are devled into rather deeply, much more so than I initially expected.
Despite the light novel's cover image and the subtitle reading 'The Power of Moe', the fan service and what I imagine will eventual become a harem scenario are no where near as egregious as many other isekai. Only two female characters spend any sort of quality time with Shinichi. Each has very real reasons as to why they admire him and want to spend time with him. This isn't simply plot convenience and happy coincidence. Real characterization and development take place for all three, something I find can be completely lacking in similar light novels.It isn't hard to see why the peoples of Eldant are drawn to Shinichi either. He' very different from them, an oddity. This is a society based on magic with a medieval social structure. Modern philosophies Shinichi takes for granted aren't even discussions among the learned let alone practiced. Equality and freedom are foreign. These differences play an integral role in character relations, world building, and plot. The clash of culture is evident here. Humorous situations quickly become serious.
Many of Shinichi's strengths are characteristics gleaned from his consumption of media. Having parents that are light novel authors and video game designers means Shinichi has been exposed to a very wide variety of manga, light novels, anime, and video games since birth. When confronted with a brand new world he is understandably in awe. There are times he's left in wide eyed wonder at the prospects of another world, or else left a frightened mess upon finding the very real, very frightening looking creatures found there. Yet, what we see most often is a cool analysis that doesn't seem at all out of place for such a character. Upon first waking in a new place, Shinichi analyzes the architecture, gleaning an impressive amount of information about what that says about the place he’s in. When the maid in the room beings speaking Shinichi rattles off what languages she definitely isn’t speaking before realizing that he has no idea what language this could possibly be. Written language, too, gets this treatment before Shinichi admits that it doesn’t look like anything he’s seen. Shinichi has clearly learned quite a bit from his consumption of various media, something that is most definitely echoed in the real world.
Yet, I’ve very rarely seen this knowledge of various cultures and histories via video games and books so blatantly visible and celebrated in a book. This is something that is undeniably true, at least for some. Having an interest in fantasy, for example, inevitably leads to a deeper knowledge of medieval society and defensible castle design than one would expect. Shinichi is clever, and for a reason. Manga, anime, and light novels are spoken of with a sort of reverence. Sure, there are funny moments that play on standard tropes, but these are tempered very well with Shinichi's sheer pride in manga, anime, light novels, and video games and why they should be celebrated. Even with the Empress's enthusiastic embracing of Japanese pop culture, distributing the things he loves so much is still a very uphill battle. The heroes whose stories we gravitate to, the stories of people fighting for justice and overcoming oppression simply don't translate well to a society that still uses a caste system, has a low literacy rate, and bears deeply ingrained, unquestioned racism. The Eldants simply have no context in which to place these characters or understand their motives. This is an uphill battle and learning process, but one Shinichi tackles with both passion and logic.
Events really ramp up towards the end of the novel. The pacing is faster, events grow much tenser, and a more slowly paced slice of life isekai develops a politically motivated plot with a good dose of action. Honestly, I hadn’t quite expected this turn, so much so that while I was completely on board for the change of pace, I couldn’t quite understand the change. Yet the motivations of characters begin to come to light, and Shinichi finally puts all the puzzle pieces together. I won't get into this too much here as I don't want veer away from spoilers, but rest assured that this doesn't stay slowly paced. The next volume is set up to have a much more complex plot with a lot of political intrigue with both personal and widespread consequences.
I am really looking forward to the second volume of Outbreak Company Vol 1 by Ichiro Sakaki. The series is fun, and surprisingly serious. If you are a fan of isekai, I would definitely recommend picking up this series.
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This review and more can be found at Looking Glass Reads.
When a portal to another world is discovered in the forests surrounding Mt. Fuji, the Japanese government makes an effort to corner the market on exports to the Holy Eldant Empire while keeping the discovery a secret. After several failed export attempts, they've figured out what the Eldant's want - entertainment. More specifically they want manga, anime, and light novels. It's going to be Shinichi Kanou's job to figure out how to get it to them. There are language barriers to be crossed, politics to be waded through, and Shinichi isn't sure if's been hired by the government or straight up kidnapped.
Outbreak Company Vol 1 begins with a lighthearted, humors tone, something I expected with the genre and synopsis. As the light novel continued, the humorous situations began to take a more serious tone leading up to a tense climax. And it is in its more serious moments where the book really shone.
In many ways, this is the daily life of Shinichi as he tries to introduce Japanese culture to the medieval, magic weilding citizens of The Holy Eldant Empire. Major setbacks begin accruing before he's even hired for the job, though, and Shinichi quickly realizes that this isn't going to be any walk in the park. Eldant doesn't share either a written or spoken language with Japan. There are no translators available, and the magic which allows people to communicate relies on telepathy and mind reading, something which cannot be used to translate previously recorded media. The major problems inherent to bringing a foreign culture to a wildly different society are devled into rather deeply, much more so than I initially expected.
Despite the light novel's cover image and the subtitle reading 'The Power of Moe', the fan service and what I imagine will eventual become a harem scenario are no where near as egregious as many other isekai. Only two female characters spend any sort of quality time with Shinichi. Each has very real reasons as to why they admire him and want to spend time with him. This isn't simply plot convenience and happy coincidence. Real characterization and development take place for all three, something I find can be completely lacking in similar light novels.It isn't hard to see why the peoples of Eldant are drawn to Shinichi either. He' very different from them, an oddity. This is a society based on magic with a medieval social structure. Modern philosophies Shinichi takes for granted aren't even discussions among the learned let alone practiced. Equality and freedom are foreign. These differences play an integral role in character relations, world building, and plot. The clash of culture is evident here. Humorous situations quickly become serious.
Many of Shinichi's strengths are characteristics gleaned from his consumption of media. Having parents that are light novel authors and video game designers means Shinichi has been exposed to a very wide variety of manga, light novels, anime, and video games since birth. When confronted with a brand new world he is understandably in awe. There are times he's left in wide eyed wonder at the prospects of another world, or else left a frightened mess upon finding the very real, very frightening looking creatures found there. Yet, what we see most often is a cool analysis that doesn't seem at all out of place for such a character. Upon first waking in a new place, Shinichi analyzes the architecture, gleaning an impressive amount of information about what that says about the place he’s in. When the maid in the room beings speaking Shinichi rattles off what languages she definitely isn’t speaking before realizing that he has no idea what language this could possibly be. Written language, too, gets this treatment before Shinichi admits that it doesn’t look like anything he’s seen. Shinichi has clearly learned quite a bit from his consumption of various media, something that is most definitely echoed in the real world.
Yet, I’ve very rarely seen this knowledge of various cultures and histories via video games and books so blatantly visible and celebrated in a book. This is something that is undeniably true, at least for some. Having an interest in fantasy, for example, inevitably leads to a deeper knowledge of medieval society and defensible castle design than one would expect. Shinichi is clever, and for a reason. Manga, anime, and light novels are spoken of with a sort of reverence. Sure, there are funny moments that play on standard tropes, but these are tempered very well with Shinichi's sheer pride in manga, anime, light novels, and video games and why they should be celebrated. Even with the Empress's enthusiastic embracing of Japanese pop culture, distributing the things he loves so much is still a very uphill battle. The heroes whose stories we gravitate to, the stories of people fighting for justice and overcoming oppression simply don't translate well to a society that still uses a caste system, has a low literacy rate, and bears deeply ingrained, unquestioned racism. The Eldants simply have no context in which to place these characters or understand their motives. This is an uphill battle and learning process, but one Shinichi tackles with both passion and logic.
Events really ramp up towards the end of the novel. The pacing is faster, events grow much tenser, and a more slowly paced slice of life isekai develops a politically motivated plot with a good dose of action. Honestly, I hadn’t quite expected this turn, so much so that while I was completely on board for the change of pace, I couldn’t quite understand the change. Yet the motivations of characters begin to come to light, and Shinichi finally puts all the puzzle pieces together. I won't get into this too much here as I don't want veer away from spoilers, but rest assured that this doesn't stay slowly paced. The next volume is set up to have a much more complex plot with a lot of political intrigue with both personal and widespread consequences.
I am really looking forward to the second volume of Outbreak Company Vol 1 by Ichiro Sakaki. The series is fun, and surprisingly serious. If you are a fan of isekai, I would definitely recommend picking up this series.
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This review and more can be found at Looking Glass Reads.
October 29, 2018
This book tries to be more serious, and light, all at the same time. I feel if it would become just a bit more serious, it would be very good. I'm hopeful that the author develops in this way in later novels.
I would have given this a higher rating had the author explored the social issues in more depth. Possibly this will happen in later novels, but I haven't read those yet.
Additionally, while there is probably a gay character, he is treated primarily as a gag. He is treated almost seriously, but not quiet. Sort of like most of the social issues.
Finally, the opening involved a lot of characters that never showed up again, and had a different tone than the rest of the book, which was jarring. Almost like they were written by completely different people, though it could just be completely different translators.
I would have given this a higher rating had the author explored the social issues in more depth. Possibly this will happen in later novels, but I haven't read those yet.
Additionally, while there is probably a gay character, he is treated primarily as a gag. He is treated almost seriously, but not quiet. Sort of like most of the social issues.
Finally, the opening involved a lot of characters that never showed up again, and had a different tone than the rest of the book, which was jarring. Almost like they were written by completely different people, though it could just be completely different translators.
April 24, 2021
Outbreak Company literally is about a 'company'.
It's kind of similar to 'civilization' kind of story, but I don't think it gave deep civilization story-telling at the beginning.
Outbreak Company talks about a guy who 'transferred' into 'another world' and asked to do something with the 'company'. The main story itself doesn't really interesting for me.
I feel like the Author wanted to spread a message, that is giving a good lesson on living in multiracial place by comparing the another world and the present circumferences.
In another side, Author really good at making a 'moe' (cute) characters both their appearances and their behavior.
It's kind of similar to 'civilization' kind of story, but I don't think it gave deep civilization story-telling at the beginning.
Outbreak Company talks about a guy who 'transferred' into 'another world' and asked to do something with the 'company'. The main story itself doesn't really interesting for me.
I feel like the Author wanted to spread a message, that is giving a good lesson on living in multiracial place by comparing the another world and the present circumferences.
In another side, Author really good at making a 'moe' (cute) characters both their appearances and their behavior.
November 29, 2019
God the beginning of this was ANNOYING to get through. Yeah I get it, MC is a NEET, the MCs in these things are always Otaku, I get it. Once you get past it though, it's not a bad read, but I'm not sure I can recommend it due to the beginning.
October 13, 2020
it was ok, pretty fun at the end
September 1, 2021
This was pretty idiotic, but unfortunately the wrong kind of idiotic for me.
September 13, 2021
Having read volume 1, I'm amazed it has a run of 18 volumes.
August 31, 2024
it was ok, pretty fun at the end
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews