So I'm a Spider, So What?, Vol. 4

So I'm a Spider, So What? Light Novel #4

by Okina Baba, Tsukasa Kiryu (Contributor), Jenny McKeon (Contributor)

A girl can escape the labyrinth but not her mother!

I 've fiiinally gotten out of the Great Elroe Labyrinth! Now there's nothing left between me and the surface's all-I-can-eat buffet of fruits, sweets, and water wyrms! The only things that may be problematic are the humans already living here...and Mother, who won't stop following me! Right when I thought I had managed to move out, the absolutely massive spider that is stronger than any dragon just invites herself over without so much as a warning, leaving nothing but craters and rubble wherever she goes! If all my spells, traps, and the dungeon itself can't stop Mother, what can...?

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Fiction, Comedy, Adventure, Action, Magic

260 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2016

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The spider makes her way to the outside world, and gains the Immortality skill (because of course she does). Shun and co. teleport to the unnamed elf village to help defend it from the rapidly approaching imperial forces led by Hugo, and meet up with some familiar, and new, faces.

This was the first Spider volume that I read as a paper book rather than an ebook. At first, the one-sentence paragraphs and overall net novel style were kind of dissonant with a format that's better suited for professional publications*, but I became accustomed to it just a chapter or two in.

*that said, this author is being paid for their work, and is therefore, by definition, professional.

One thing that makes books like this fun to read is bickering with them. For some reason, I'm compelled to pick nits on books that are pretty defenseless to this kind of scrutiny. Here are some examples of thoughts that went through my mind as I read this volume of Spider:

"What accounts for all these god-awful shonen light novel tropes showing up in Shun's section, when such content was absent in the first three volumes?"

We've got Fei gaining the powers of transforming into humanoid form, and immediately after that idea is introduced, there's a sequence where Fei "must" cling onto Shun, and Katia becomes jealous. Fei needing to take off her clothes to transform into a dragon, and Shun having to turn around so as to not peek at her, all the while thinking "but I'm a healthy young man!" The reincarnated boys in Shun's class not feeling like they can easily communicate with Katia, because boobs...

Honestly, Baba should stick to writing about monsters, whose sections are always fun and inventive, and completely lacking cringe-y nonsense like this.

"Some of these concepts aren't thought through very well..."

About midway through the book, it's stated that the only skills that people or monsters can earn are battle skills. This isn't too out of the ordinary in older RPGs, but it doesn't translate all that well into a novel. For example, why wouldn't the admins create a set of more pacifistic skills, such as farming, cooking, tailoring, etc.? In a world where the gods objectively value nothing but the destruction of life, how would human culture evolve differently than it has on our world? As often happens in this series, an interesting idea is thrown out there somewhat haphazardly--probably as the author happened to think about it--and not followed up on.

"...and some of them are overthought."

As mentioned earlier, the spider gains the power of immortality. This leads to some of this volume's funniest moments, which I won't spoil for you. :) The spider spends some time mulling over how exactly immortality would work. Does her ruined body retrieve the individual bits and pieces that comprised it as it heals? What happens when individual molecules are broken down, i.e. by digestion if another monster eats some of her flesh?

Interesting questions, but come down to it... it's magic! What difference does it make? You can blast dark energy, fly in the air, teleport (SFF fans have speculated for decades what it might mean for "the soul" if a teleport machine breaks a body into component atoms on one end, and reassembles it on the other!), heal yourself by thinking about it, send your spirit off to do battle with your mother while your main body does other things, etc. etc. There's no real reason to second-guess this ability in particular.

In any case, for whatever reason, it's fun to bicker away with Spider like this, on top of the enjoyment I have with it as a fun, mysterious adventure. :D I hope that our author has the fan service out of their system now, but we'll see.

A review or two I read said that things start coming together in this volume. In my opinion, that's disputable. Shun's sections are given near-equal weight to the spider's (unfortunately), and we get a better idea of the timeline both in the text of the volume, and in a literal timeline between the story and the author's afterword. Other than that, just as before, we're moving towards what is promising to be an interesting conflict, and an eventual merging of the timelines, but it's pretty evident now that we're nowhere close to that, and won't be for quite some time.

Comment I couldn't think of another place to put: I like how the spider deals with humans, offering help to those in need as long as they don't attack her. It's rather endearing, and it gives me hope for further interactions between spider and human that don't just involve murder.

I'm looking forward to reading more of this series, and continuing to grumble at it some more. :D

[Sean O'Hara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series started Better Than You'd Think from the Title and has steadily improved since. This volume avoids the flaws of the previous books -- we only get a handful of status screens, and most of them are telling us how bad-ass her opponent is, rather than what new skills she's unlocked; Shun's story is finally cranking along; and Spider-chan's storyline is starting to intersect the other characters. And on top of that, most of the mysteries have been cleared up, with tantalizing new ones introduced in their place.

[Kayla Frost · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been buddy-reading this series with my husband, and it's a great series to buddy-read. It's light, not super deep, and has zany characters that keep you entertained. I think of it like popcorn... just a little reading snack. The YA-ness of the human sections was a bit melodramatic for my taste, but that was easily forgiven with the many spider battles driving the plot forward.

However, the redundancy of the rehashing and rehashing and rehashing (multiply by infinity) of details from the previous and even the present book was way too much this time. I still enjoyed the spider sections and still thought the human sections were meh, but I am really hoping that the next in the series is better than this one when it comes to redundancy. Please, for the sake of the wonderful spider, let there be less redundancy!

Still good == three stars.

[Gain Lã · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nhờ sự xuất hiện của thanh niên Tà thần mà giờ đỡ hay hơn hẳn.

Rồi về sau ngày càng khó hiểu, hên là tập 5 ra rồi chứ ko ngồi đợi chắc quạu thiệt sự.

[taddythaddaeus · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the main highlights in this volume is  Spider MCs battle with the head honcho her mom.She has no chance of beating mother dearest and running away is her only option.She gets a taste of how criminals feel when they are on the run as the spider police mercilessly pursue her.But despite all of that she realizes that she has to face mother eventually or she'll never see the light of day literally.To add insult to injury another enemy shows up ,the demon lord who is also taretec spider and the head honcho of the head honcho . Meaning she's above mother spider and mother spider is under her  wings. Under her protection. Anyways she's humanoid, her form that is  and her designs are cute so it's hard to see the terror from her overall form but as always with anime ISH characters ...I mean look at Demon lord Milim Nava from TENSEI SHITARA SLIME DATTA KEN like yeah who would have guessed that such a cute girl like her was a demon lord. Anyways same thing here and just like Milim she's crazy Powerful.  So yeah where was I oh yeah ,right ..... the demon lord being the demon lord easily kills spider MC at least she thinks she does but apparently spider MC head is left and due to her immortality skill she doesn't really die.....woo hooo

It's kinda sad and funny though. I mean Spider MC went through all the trouble of getting out of the Great Elroe Labyrinth in the previous volumes and I thought volume 4 would be  food focussed you know,where spider MC discovers a whole bunch of foods but unfortunately she still hasn't found a single damn tasty thing to eat! And on top of that she has to face overpowered beings she has no chance of winning against.like the demon lord and  her mother .They’ve totally ruined her dreams of a happy-go-lucky outside life I mean, she wanted to make it outside for so long, and now that she's finally there, what does she get? Haha yeah a super-stressful life on the run! Which is just not fair. Based on her original schedule, she should be enjoying a nice, relaxing sightseeing trip by now. Scenic forest and mountain views!But the threat of imminent death follows her wherever she goes. Not to mention that if she stops for even a minute, the Demon Lord might catch up to her. Yeah the Demon lord realized that spider MC was not dead since the mental attacks on Mother Spider do not cease. Yeah even in death the daughter still haunts her mum well not really, well she's not dead.The daughter is immortal after all, but that doesn't mean she can't die I mean as per the encyclopedia of how to kill an immortal one of the ways being burying them in concrete and dropping them in the bottom of the ocean(source spider MC).( Kinda reminds you of a certain Vampire diaries{not the vampires in Volume 5}, (but how those brothers got locked into a coffin and got thrown to the bottom of the lake or was it a river anyways  they looped between death and life right yeah a continuous suffering.)Anyways back to spider MC (sorry for the tangent) but yeah my point is she can't relax in light of what's going on. Yeah light I forgot to mention that spider MC upon going outside got the sweet strength of being exposed to the sun she's literally superman at this point gaining strength and all from the sun. (Well we get Vitamin D so I guess we are all supermen well I guess that's not how that works any who.....)

Spider MC realizes that she has to do something about the Demon Lord and her Mother if she wants to survive,not to mention live happily from there on out. She is tired of running away.When she was born as a spider, she ran away from her Mother and  siblings’ bloodbath.She made a home, only to have to run away when humans burned it down.The humans chased her until she fell into the Lower Stratum   And then she ran away again, this time from Araba.  She ran away from the terror of the Lower Stratum by escaping into the Middle Stratum Once she got back to the Upper Stratum, she was thrilled to finally not have to run away all the time    But once she got outside, her life consisted of running away from her Mother and the Demon Lord. Haha. In retrospect, most of her life as a spider consisted of running away from things.She didn’t want to run away though she wanted more than anything to get strong enough that she wouldn’t have to run anymore.   But despite her hopes, she still spent her whole life on the run. In her defence she wanted to keep on living and didn’t want to die. So she kept running away from anything that could kill her. She stood her ground only when she had nowhere else to run or when she knew she stood a chance of winning. She never knowingly went into a truly hopeless battle of her own free will. She was always on the defensive, never starting a fight she knew she couldn’t win Even when she fought the Dragon Araba, she made careful preparations and challenged it only when she was confident she could win But she neglected those preparations this time round

She charges at her weakened mother teleporting to her location only to be caught in a trap,her mother's web. She's stuck unable to move and just when her Mother is about to land the finishing blow she cuts away her limbs making a narrow escape . Her mother charges in relentlessly determined to put out the flames of her daughter's life. At this point Spider MC is on the brink of death, on her last rope haha but  her parallel minds which had been attacking her mothers soul return having stolen some of her mother's powers and with this new found power ,the tables turn in her favor and she succeeds in overthrowing her.Yaay... in the closing scene she pays tribute to her wounded mother who's  lying frailly on the ground ,her legs unable to bare the weight of her own body. She  acknowledges that her mom was amazing and such an overwhelming force,her stats impressive, but what she found more amazing was how her mom was able to corner her despite  her weakened state.  She pledges to never again  let her guard down just  because an opponent seems weaker than her. She's grateful for this first and last lesson she learns from her mother. 

Other than spider Mc showdown with her mom and the demon lord alot of mysteries were unwrapped.

For one we learn alot of things about the mysterious Evil God D.We learn that he was a member in spider MC's class but is reluctant to reveal his name .He is also an administrator who created the system on earth but he is an outsider and only supplied the system but due to the absence of Earths administrator he takes obligation to to re-examine the entire system of earth which hadn't been done since it was created after the system was destroyed due to a certain rampage of certain beings.
We learn how Spider MC got reincarnated.So the previous hero and demon lord were remarkable beings with extraordinary magic powers.Their magic was able to cross borders between worlds destroying the Ma Field and earth's entire system.They allegedly ran rampant trying to kill D but ended up killing spider MC entire class and dragging them into the system.Being partially responsible Evil God D tried to help them out as the systems creator. So he took care of the souls of the people who were killed by that attack since leaving those souls to their own devices would have led to their disintegration.So those souls got regurgitated into this worlds current system and D took matters into his own hands giving  them the ‘n% I = W’ skill.With this skill, they would be able to keep the strength, memories, and such of their souls. Then D gave each of them a free skill based on their aptitude and generously ensured that they would be reborn into species with a similar wavelength to their original souls.

Yeah thats alot to chew but D seems like an easy going simple guy. His goal is still simple he is only in this for his amusement .He is an outsider though in the world that spider MC is in at present but still interferes with that world by giving spider MC a bunch of skills.  In short that whole incident occurred because D the highest administrator of the system, was in that classroom and that's why he takes partial responsibility and interfered with Spider MC current world out of a sense of obligation giving Spider MC the Wisdom skill which allows her to max out Taboo, learning about the fate of the world Spider MC is thus given the option of saving the world.

Back on the humans side ,Shun the hero's side.Their party is still on the run  and end up going through the great elroe Labyrinth on their way to the elf Village where they uncover other mysteries from the elves history.

So according to the elves history. In this world, the more you fight, the more your levels, stats, and skills improve. And if you lose a fight, you die. The more battles there are, the more deaths there are.And when a living thing dies, the power it’s built up until then is collected…by the administrators.

The administrators force people to fight in order to gain more power for themselves. That is why humans and demons are pitted against each other. And why they have designated representatives in the form of the hero and the Demon Lord .

Reincarnations have powerful skills and a large amount of skill points from birth. This gives them an advantage in that they can  get stronger way faster than the people from that world and when one of the reincarnation dies the administrators steal all their power.

The elves fear this and are against the reincarnations amassing so much power. So they have  been gathering the reincarnations and keeping them isolated so that they don’t train leveling up their skills and stats.

The  elves’ aim is to overthrow the administrators. To that end, they intended to stop the war between humans and demons, then mediate a better relationship between the two races. Without war, people won’t fight, and they won’t need to raise their skills and stats. Which means that the power the administrators gain would also be weakened.

This sounds like a drawn-out plan to humans, but since elves live much longer, they have the time and patience to carry it out. In fact, they were able to stop the battle between the previous hero and Demon Lord.

Shuns party later on meets the reincarnations in the elf village.There's alot of excitement as they reunited with old friends, renewing their bonds.They learn that most of the reincarnations have been living sufficiently in isolation.They grow vegetables in the field and raise livestock for meat.If they need something that they can’t get , the elves will give it to them, but for the most part, they take care of things themselves.

Most of them were brought to the village when they were babies or otherwise too young to be aware of the world around them .At that age, the elves took care of them, but their presence gradually lessened, and now they rarely make contact outside of surveillance and providing supplies.

As this reunion is going on the Demon lord marches on set to destroy the elf village wiping them off the face of the earth. 

[Ray M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Idk what to say... just more of the same ig....

I watched the anime so I still know what happened but it's nice to get a more detailed story so.... onto the next one!!!

I also like how the author didn't do too much skill info dumping in this novel so it 100% makes it better than vol 3.

[Caleb Engelhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of us have wondered what it would be like to live in a fantasy world, or as some other kind of animal. Okina Baba illustrates both masterfully together, writing how a girl, with knowledge and memories from our world, would react and act if put into a classical fantasy world as a giant spider. With so much detail, it was easy to imagine every moment described, and the story flows easily from moment to moment, chapter to chapter, even with the special chapters following her other classmate’s lives. As the story moves on, it becomes more and more apparent that she has become rather comfortable, and with every detail gradually getting to that point, we as readers can see ourselves doing the same in her position.
This has been by far my favorite book series, and the fact that it’s still going has me hyped almost as much as finding out that it is getting turned into a TV show! I love the characters, I love the world, I love the lore, and I am excited to see them move from words on the page to pictures on the page, to a fully animated show. Any of you monster fans, this is for you!

[Hex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still dislike the multiple viewpoints from multiple different timelines.

Spider plot is good, but others are not.

[Brian Wilkerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 4

It's safe to say that I am a major fan of this series by now. Okina Baba writes an amazing voice for "Komoko", but the way the story is structured is also amazing. It's like there are two stories that, when taken together, create a larger narrative, and thus a composite third story. For instance, this volume has Komoko's ongoing war with Mother, the Queen Taratect who laid her egg, as the first story. The second story is Shun's group traveling to the Elf Village. The composite story between them is the experience of the Great Elroe Labyrinth, and how it is effectively a microcosmos of the word itself.

First, let's talk about Komoko's story. She is engaged in conflict with her mother, a Queen Taratect. She feels that Mother is a threat to her existence because of the influence that Mother has on her mind through Kin Control. It is this influence that led Komoko to finish off Fire Dragon Rend after Mother had weakened him. Komoko doesn't want to be a solider in Mother's army, so she sent her Parallel Minds to eat away at Mother's soul. She knows that she doesn't stand a chance against Mother in straight-forward combat, so she's taking this long-distance damage-over-time approach. As long as she stays alive long enough, her trio of Parallel Minds will eventually consume all of Mother's soul, killing her.

Of course, Mother isn't going to let that happen. She knows all about tricks, traps and ambushes, and is far more experienced with them than her wayward daughter. She can monitor Komoko's position through Kin Control, and send out her army of taratects to move Komoko into vulnerable positions. And if that isn't enough, she can call in her own mother.

Thus begins a game of cat-and-mouse to determine the superior taratect. It is super fun. There are many twists and turns, and not artificially so either. I've watched shows where there is a shifting of advantage every five seconds, as predictable as a pendulum, so that it becomes exhausting and trite, not clever. This is clever. It is based on established skills and traits.

Second, let's talk about Shun's story. In this volume, Shun and his party are traveling to the Elf Village. Hugo seeks to destroy it out of petty vengeance on Mis. Oka, so Shun's party is going there to reinforce it and ideally settle their score with Hugo. This trip leads to a lot of character development. This is Shun's first outing as the official Hero, and so he has a lot of learning to do about what that means in practice. He gets advice from older veterans, and experience fighting monsters in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.

Yes, the only way his party can travel to the Elf Village is through the Great Elroe Labyrinth, where Komoko was born and raised. We get an extensive look at what it is like for non-natives to travel through this place. It is dangerous. Even for competent warriors with a knowledgeable guide, it is dangerous. The perpetually dark and seemingly timeless environment causes a kind of psychological affliction that wears humans out. In addition to normal monsters, The Nightmare of the Labyrinth and its Remnants are one of the labyrinth's hazards, and they are one of the most feared of all, due to their dangerous abilities and their strange behavior. This is one of the elements that create the larger narrative. In Komoko's time, for instance, the prevailing advice was "burn any webs you see as a matter of course", and in Shun's time that advice has changed to "whatever you do, do NOT burn any webs."

We also get to see how all the reincarnations have been doing. Since early on, Miss. Oka has been talking about how her village has been sheltering the reincarnations in this dangerous new world. Now we see that the situation is not quite so simple. This is what leads to the composite storyline.

The third storyline is the Great Elroe Labyrinth. Both stories involve traveling through and surviving in this underground den of monsters. We see it from the perspective of the monsters who live here, killing and eating each other to survive. We see it from the perspective of humans traveling through it, avoiding conflict when possible and killing monsters when necessary. When viewed through the "Dark Secrets of the Other World" (chapter title), one sees that the Great Elroe Labyrinth is not exceptional in the world. It is fundamentally the same as the rest of the world. This shouldn't be too surprising, after all, the head administrator for this world is a self-proclaimed "evil god".

Trickster Eric Novels gives So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 4 an A+

[Donte McNeal · Rating 5 out of 5]

After what seems like years (well, it might actually be years), our little spider finally gets to see the big blue sky outside the labyrinth. But her elation and wonder are cut short as her mother, the queen taratect bursts from the labyrinth in pursuit of her. Imagine her surprise! she was under the impression that the colossal monster wouldn’t be able to exit the labyrinth; though, we we knew that it could leave as it had appeared on the battlefield Julius, the previous Hero lost his life on. Still I felt really bsda once she was attacked by her mom, because after fighting for her life for so long and aiming to escape the labyrinth, it turns out that she can’t even enjoy finally achieving that feat.

So, despite now finally being free of the labyrinth, she’s unable to do much except run from her mother, and ultimately head back into the place she was born as a result. But, there are surprises waiting for her back inside, and soon enough, nowhere is safe for gher. Not only that, but there is another, even more dangerous enemy on her trail. One who is hell bent on destroying her. The Demon Lord.

Spider-chan’s reunion with her mother isn’t the only reunion happening this go round. On the human side of things, we see things nearly coming to a head. We see new suspicions arise, we see reunions between some of the other reincarnations. After what is a harrowing journey through the labyrinth, Shun, Katia, Fei and co finally make it to their destination: the elf village. Once there, or rather before setting out in the first place, we get some more info from Ms. Oka, the teacher who was reincarnated alongside the former students, about the world at large. We learn more about the administrators, the role in everything, and what the reincarnations are capable of. Some of this should be taken with a grain of salt, as a lot of the info has been passed down throughout generations of the elves, so Shun and his friends aren’t too sure where the elves possibly biased history begins and the truth ends. Though, the two may be too intertwined to fully separate the two. Still, getting to learn more about the world these characters have been reborn in was welcome.

And that’s not the only chance we get to learn about this world. Spider-chan gets to ask one of the administrators a bunch of questions, shedding some light on why her and her former classmates were killed and reincarnated in this world. While the information is welcome as well, it only confuses me further, but that’s mainly due to the non-linear stories happening. The humans’ stories aren’t happening at the same time as our spider’s so trying to figure out the timeline for everything is bit of a task (even with the handy little timeline of the kingdom’s history the author provided at the back of this volume). Having that to look at definitely helps you line things up, but maybe I’m just too dumb to understand the way everything plays out, time-wise.

That’s beside the point. Things have finally heated up to the point where some of the major power players are coming out of the woodwork personally, so I’m excited to see what comes next. I’m sure it’ll only get better from here on out, especially with the way the last chapter of this one ended. Actually, now that I think about it, the final chapter puts things in line for me easier than I previously thought, if what I’m thinking is correct. More on that next time though. Man am I having a blast with this series!

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It feels like a lot happened in this volume and yet at the same time nothing much at all. It was a slog really and for me a big part of that was Shun taking up half the chapters.

I'm finding it really difficult to like him even a little bit and I'm honestly hoping it's intentional and he'll just die from hubris at some point. He's really starting to feel like your average isekaid horny teenager playing at the hero just because he was told to. His chapters were full of fanservice, horny thoughts, and comments like "it makes sense the girls react that way". I mean, come on, the dragon Fei is flying them through a swarm of monsters on their way to fight a war and he's sitting there thinking "oh my god I'm riding a girl's back". Get the fuck outta here dude.

The only saving grace in his chapters are Katia's astute suspicions towards Oka and this world in general. But sadly more often than not Katia is put to the wayside as comedy relief through her love-sick frustrations (why the hell does she even like Shun?) or when new characters find out she was Kanata (a boy) before. She could be such a badass and complex character if she was given the chance.

As for our true protagonist - who knew escaping the labyrinth didn't mean actually escaping the labyrinth? I was excited at the end of the last novel that we'd finally see our spider interacting with the outside world but most of this volume she spent... in the labyrinth. Sure fighting Mother and meeting the Demon Lord are exciting events in their own right but it mostly felt like filler since a lot of time was spent just repeating how strong and terrifying they are.

Oh, but we did finally get a timeline of events. Would have preferred it actually told through the story but at least we got it at all. I have to say though IT TOOK FEI 8 YEARS TO HATCH? Even for a wyrm that seems pretty ridiculous. I feel it would have made more sense if she hatched around the same time Shun was born. I'd say it was just a device to ensure she doesn't overpower our protag but, until things got dicey for Shun, Fei wasn't even interested in leveling up past what was necessary to increase her longevity so the late start isn't actually needed in that case.

I guess at least we finally know everyone is about 15-16 years of age and that that is generally the space of time between the two timelines we're reading.

My hopes for the next volume is that Shun gets slapped into oblivion and our spider finally starts interacting with the world. Fingers crossed.

[Tarl · Rating 4 out of 5]

So the story continues and honestly, it's been interesting.
Now, I've seen the anime, which encompasses this book, though as always the novels include a lot more than the anime does, which is nice. You also get to hear a lot more about what the protagonist is thinking, as well as her male classmate as he deals with issues within the kingdom.
I like the introduction of the demon lord, and just how overpowered they are. I think the author did right by making her appearance one of just showing what she can do. It sets up a lot in the future and makes any potential conflicts feel threatening to our protagonist, something you don't get with over powered isekai stories.
We also get the culmination of the protagonist's battle with her mother, something a lot of readers have probably been waiting for as this series has gone on. I am glad the author didn't drag it on further, as this felt like the perfect spot to have it happen. Not only does it sort of close a chapter, but it also opens up for the next antagonist.
So at this point I have to say, I am not a fan of the portions of the story involving the male protagonist. While I understand this plays a part in everything and is setting up some stuff, I can't help but get bored when I read them. Sure, they help with the world building and introducing the reader to other elements our spider can't introduce us to, but still, they are just... meh.
In the end, I enjoyed this book and am already on the 5th volume. I seem to be reading this faster than other light novels I am reading, so that says something. Now to see what happens...

[Kakuzō Akutagawa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thoughts on "So I'm a Spider, So What?" (蜘蛛ですが、なにか?) Vol 4

Written by Okina Baba
Art by Kiryu Tsukasa

Already halfway through all volumes released in English, really? (as of March 8, 2020)

The story:
What can I say, it's very good.
This volume was a very good one (as all the other ones), this volume was about Spider MC exploring the outside world and fighting a very big deal, defeating eve monsters that at first seemed impossible to defeat.

On the hero MC story, this volume is about how he travels to the elf village and meets with his fellow reincarnated friends. I really liked this idk but it somehow reminded me of the first book of LOTR. The story was very good on both sides.

Enjoyment:
Plot twists, epic fights, very incredible revelations, and spider MC getting to levels of OPness that shouldn't be possible this volume was just as fun to read as the others and I really enjoyed the fights on this volume.

The verdict:
I can definitely state that this series is rapidly becoming an all-time-favorite to me. I love everything about this series and would definitely recommend it to anyone without thinking twice about it. Also, the end of this book was incredible. 9.5/10

[Diego · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In my previous life, I was an honorary shut-in who left the house only to go to school(I don'treally remember going anywhere else, anyway). But this time around, I'm a gealthy young spider who enjoys the outdoors!"

The quote above is one that best captures the essence of this volume. Our intrepid spider protagonist has finally escaped the Great Elroe Labyrinth and begins her journey in the outside world.... until things get complicated.

This issue was a bit of a step down from the previous in terms of enjoyment for me. Kumoko is still as fun as ever, and I have begun to enjoy the Shun plot, but the situation she found herself on was just not as engaging as Volume 3's one. It is still a well crafted adventure, but I felt like I saw where all the threads were going with each chapter. Nevertheless, it continues to be one of my favorite interpretations of the genre. Can't wait to read the next volume.

[Glasdow Teacosy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I keep coming back to this series because it intrigues me. I’d been told this series improves with volume #4, and they were right. There was so much less level up stat dumping in this volume. Instead, Okina Baba focused on weaving his two different narratives closer together. More information of the gods was revealed, including their intrigue across time. What I found most interesting was the afterward in the back where Okina Baba revealed that the novels have diverged from the web serialization. Rewritten, expanded, and improved. I can’t recommend you start with this volume, but if you hate the LitRPG elements of the earlier volumes, you’ll be pleased with this volume. If only the unnamed spider sounded less like a gamer dude.

[Elaine]

Realizing that the different POVs in this series are actually often in different timelines was both a bit mindblowing and also a bit frustrating. If there had just been years attached to the POV switches from the beginning, I would've been less confused and more intrigued from the beginning. I enjoy this series a lot, but it really highlights some of the pitfalls of web/light novels (author, when you edited it for print, why didn't you make some different choices??) I really rec the manga for most of the spider POV through about this book. Cute art and I'm not sure if I would've enjoyed the novel as much without the understanding of the plot I already had from there.

[Niquie · Rating 4 out of 5]

More answers are revealed, two of three suspects who possibly could be future NS can be crossed off narrowing it down to one, there’s even a nifty historical chronology at the end, and we meet even more reincarnations.

The best part for me was the realization that a certain scary strong character was not a reincarnator, refreshing!

Still feel bad for the Demon Lord’s assistant. His life sucks.

Wish these books came out faster than every 4 months. I want to know what’ll happen next, what’s going on, and who future NS is already~

[Willie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing volume

This series is still my favorite Isekai. In this volume more of the big picture is revealed. I'll try not spoil it but I really like the way that this story is told. How the author jumps around in time when describing events, but doesn't really make it clear that is what's happening. At the end of this volume there is a handy time line to help clarify the events.

All in all this is a really great series. If you're read the first three and liked them, then you'll definitely like this one too

[Cat T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still liked it but...

I won't complain about the totally new story arc or anything, those happen when something goes from web-novel to professional publication. But I do have something to complain about.

Too many side-stories! It was ever other chapter which meant I had to slog through way to much stuff about Shun, who, I'm afraid to say I honestly don't care about, just to get the treaty bits with Kumoko.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of the same in a good way. Our spider protagonist continues growing in the strength while keeping us and herself entertained with her narration. Much about the reincarnations and the old outside the labyrinth is revealed. She get meaningfully stronger while the world still manages to throw new challenges her way. The hero's perspective feels very close to converging with the spider's even if they're still separated by a huge time gap. Old mysteries and paid off satisfyingly and new ones are set up. I enjoyed the previous installments and enjoyed this one just as much.

[Liban Samatar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun read. The catharsis from seeing our little spider gaining skills and levels is still there, and is still good.

Guessing how certain threads in the past led to events in the future has been quite enjoyable. Though, personally, I'm still iffy with how I feel about Shun. He's still too much of a Isekai protag for my taste, hopefully he'll change in later volumes.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story has really started to pick up but I was a little annoyed with the constant jumping back and forth between multiple POVs and timelines. My favorite story is Nameless essentially leveling up and I get annoyed with the other stories, but I understand they are necessary for the story progression and world building. All in all I'm loving this series more and more with each installation! <3

[Benz Latthanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

เล่มนี้เรื่อย ๆ เหมือนมีการคลายปมที่ผูกไว้ในเล่มก่อน ๆ และเริ่มผูกปมใหม่ ซึ่งทำออกมาได้น่าสนใจ มีการปะทะกันระหว่างตัวเอก ? และตัวร้ายของเรื่อง ซึ่งทำออกมาได้สนุกเลย
เล่มนี้เหมือนเป็นการโหมโรงก่อนการต่อสู้ครั้งใหญ่ แต่ก็ทำได้ดีในเนื้อเรื่อง คิดว่าเล่มต่อ ๆ ไปน่าจะเดือดขึ้นเรื่อย ๆ มีอะไรหลายอย่างให้เล่า และดูน่าติดตามมาก

[Estefany CI Glar · Rating 4 out of 5]

La historia sigue siendo tan atrapante, sin mencionar que la parte de los humanos se pone cada vez más interesante y también al ver que casi todos los reencarnados nos son revelados. Por la parte de kumo nos deja la gran interrogante de cómo superará esta vez a ese enemigo muy superior que se presentó.

[William Moses Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things are getting really good now. I can't believe how excellent the pace is for such relatively short books. I'm definitely getting vibes of being on a rollercoaster that I don't want to get off of. Also, I'm really enjoying how they're building up the characters and their personalities and the interactions between them.

[james j cooney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t want her to become a Arachne

Other than that issue it was a good book. Though the author did drop some hints before about the time line I felt it was a unnecessary if she can grow that much in 1-2years it would not be a stretch that she became an administrator by 10 years.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost all new content for the light novel expanding about one web novel update into a full book. It's largely all stuff referenced in the web novel version, but it definitely helps sell mother's threat level and the conflict with the demon lord.

[Gregory James Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plot development

Unlike most light novels were it takes several books to advance the plot a little these books have been advancing the plot quite a bit in each one so far. Looking forward to were the next one takes us.

[damien dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and adventurous light novel.

I stared watching the anime and was hooked on the story. The light novel is even better. Such a fun and exciting read. Action packed the whole way. I can't wait to see what happens next.. A great way to pass a rainy or a relaxing sunny day.

[Pumpkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the story has me entirely hooked, I’m still not too fond of the writing style. It’s very choppy and doesn’t really flow well at all. I wish I knew if the translation was keeping the authors original style, or if it’s just poor translation ruining the flow.