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Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki Light Novel #1
弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.1
これが人生(クソゲー)攻略の最前線!
人生はクソゲー。このありふれたフレーズは、残念ながら真実だ。
だって、人生には美しくシンプルなルールがない。あるのは理不尽と不平等だけ。自由度が高いなんてのは強者の言い分で、弱者には圧倒的に不利な仕様でしかない。
だから、クソゲー。
あまたのゲームに触れ、それらを極めてきた日本屈指のゲーマーである俺が言うんだから間違いない。
――だけどそいつは、俺と同じくらいゲームを極めてなお、「人生は神ゲー」と言いきった。
生まれついての強キャラ、学園のパーフェクトヒロインこと日南葵。
しかも、「この人生(ゲーム)のルールを教えてあげる」だって?
……普通は、そんなの信じない。
だけど日南葵は、普通なんて枠にはまったく嵌まらないやつだったんだ!
第10回小学館ライトノベル大賞優秀賞受賞作。弱キャラが挑む人生攻略論ただし美少女指南つき!
人生はクソゲー。このありふれたフレーズは、残念ながら真実だ。
だって、人生には美しくシンプルなルールがない。あるのは理不尽と不平等だけ。自由度が高いなんてのは強者の言い分で、弱者には圧倒的に不利な仕様でしかない。
だから、クソゲー。
あまたのゲームに触れ、それらを極めてきた日本屈指のゲーマーである俺が言うんだから間違いない。
――だけどそいつは、俺と同じくらいゲームを極めてなお、「人生は神ゲー」と言いきった。
生まれついての強キャラ、学園のパーフェクトヒロインこと日南葵。
しかも、「この人生(ゲーム)のルールを教えてあげる」だって?
……普通は、そんなの信じない。
だけど日南葵は、普通なんて枠にはまったく嵌まらないやつだったんだ!
第10回小学館ライトノベル大賞優秀賞受賞作。弱キャラが挑む人生攻略論ただし美少女指南つき!
337 pages, Paperback
First published May 18, 2016
73 people are currently reading
420 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
January 25, 2023
Coming back to the first volume after finishing volume 8.5 (the tenth volume of the Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun series), my perspective on the Tomozaki series has changed staunchly from when I started it. I’m not going to go back and show the review I made at the time – all I’ll say is that it was highly critical. Second time around, with the foresight I have now, my perception of this volume (and series) is vastly different. Is it one of the best things I've ever read? Definitely not, but Tomozaki has generally surprised me with well thought out it is–at least, compared to other light novel series. Not the toughest competition, I know. Anyways, what is the Tomozaki series about? Is it worth reading? Or are you better off just watching the anime adaptation?
Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun (Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki) is a romantic comedy light novel series about Fumiya Tomozaki, who is, as the title suggests, a self-described ‘bottom-tier character’. Being a gamer, Tomozaki is mentally unable to think of things in non-gamer terms. Therefore, life is a ‘shit-tier game’ that ‘isn’t worth playing’. Tomozaki, in his second year of high school, spends his days playing Attack Families (shortened to Atafami), this universe’s version of Super Smash Bros. Tomozaki isn’t a loser at everything though! Under the pseudonym ‘nanashi’, Tomozaki has established himself as the best online Atafami player in Japan. That's all he has, considering that he's written off the society around him–that is, until he meets the number two Atafami player in Japan–someone who was hiding in plain sight, and someone who thinks they can teach our dear main character a thing or two about this game of life.
After playing an online match against ‘NO NAME’, the second-ranked Atafami player in Japan, they invite Tomozaki to an offline meetup in order to ‘talk and have a rematch’. Coincidentally they both live in the same region of Japan. Our main character is taken aback when he finds out that ‘NO NAME’ is actually Aoi Hinami, his classmate and a ‘genius at life’. It turns out that Hinami isn’t only a star athlete and a top performer at school, but she’s also a savant at Atafami! The only thing more surprising to Tomozaki is how rude she is, calling him ‘a loser who’s going nowhere in life', and berating him for the lack of effort he gives in anything outside of Atafami. By turning off her ‘perfect girl’ filter, Hinami lets her mask slip and shows Tomozaki who she really is: a cynic who devotes every iota of her day to improving her standing at the high school totem pole. To Tomozaki, it’s amazing that someone who he describes as the ‘ideal Japanese girl’ would be so good at Atafami (and also be such a prick), but to Hinami, it’s severely disappointing that the one person she looked up to is actually ‘garbage without the slightest spark of ambition’.
After some more bickering, Hinami ends up promising Tomozaki that she’ll show him ‘the rules of this game (life) one by one’. Reluctantly, Tomozaki accepts, mostly due to her explaining details in gamer lingo, language that he can understand. Despite having opposite lives, the two do think in similar ways. By 'gamifying' life, Hinami can explain situations like 'talking to people you don't know' as 'grinding experience'. If the whole ‘analyzing simple social cues and the society around them in gaming terms’ thing is especially annoying to you, then I'm gonna go ahead and say you won't care for this series.
In order to lift Tomozaki up from being ‘bottom-tier’, Hinami comes up with goals, both short and medium-term, in order for Tomozaki to ‘gain exp’. These goals can be as simple as ‘talk to three girls at school’, or as daunting as ‘obtain a girlfriend by the start of the next school year’. She also puts an emphasis on Tomozaki’s outward appearance, helping improve it in simple ways such as dressing more stylishly, walking more confidently, and having a non-gamer posture. The real challenge, and what makes the Tomozaki series interesting, is the bizarre assignments she gives him, such as wearing a mask and smiling under it in order to ‘train his facial muscles’. And that's nothing compared to ‘memorizing conversation topics’, where Hinami insists that Tomozaki use flashcards in order to always have topics he can bring up in conversation, just like she does. There’s also the voice recorder Hinami gives Tomozaki with the recording of a conversation they just had, which she wants him to use to ‘review’ said conversation. Obviously, this is insane behavior, but it’s part of how Hinami got to where she is today. If it worked for her, it can work for Tomozaki too, right?
When I first read this series, I made a comparison of Hinami’s teachings to those of PUAs (pick-up artists)–mainly in regard to Hinami’s machiavellian mindset when it comes to social dynamics. There’s a moment in this volume where she decides on who Tomozaki’s ‘main love interest' is going to be, after analyzing several conversations that Tomozaki has had with girls in his class (who Hinami ordered him to talk to). She makes this decision for Tomozaki without any input from him, not asking him even if he’s interested in her in the first place. Tomozaki, being a gentleman, refuses to play around with the feelings of girls, even if it hinders his 'leveling up'.
Ethics aside, Hinami is what makes the Tomozaki series worth reading. Her attention to detail, from memorizing every classmate’s seat to knowing where each classmate’s train stop is, is nothing short of incredible (and creepy). She single-handedly has risen to the top of athletics, academics, AND the school hierarchy, while even having enough time to grind and become a pro at Atafami. Knowing that she’s done it due to self-interest, and not because she wants to (or was forced to) is honestly fascinating to me. Hinami is one of the only characters in a light novel that I’ve read that’s a straight-up psychopath. If Power from Chainsaw Man's personality is inspired by Eric Cartman from South Park and Walter from The Big Lewbowski, then Aoi Hinami's personality (or lack of one) is inspired by Patrick Bateman (from the movie, not the memes) and Nick Saban (from West Virginia, but resides in Tuscaloosa).
The setting and characters themselves are generic for a light novel series. Other characters of note include: Shuji Nakamura, a hot-head who's as into Atafami as he is into sports, Yuzu Izumi, a classmate Tomozaki sits next to in class and uses often to 'level up', Minami Nanami (often referred to as Mimimi), a bright and cheerful classmate who 'smiles through it all', Hanabi Natsubayashi (often referred to as Tama-chan (against her wishes)), Mimimi's good friend and a fellow socially stunted high schooler, and Fuka Kikuchi, another classmate Tomozaki sits near to and uses to 'level up'. A great thing about this series is that it contains no wish fulfillment (well, other than having someone as mighty as Aoi Hinami try to unfuck your life). What I mean by that is that Tomozaki doesn't randomly get popular with girls for no reason other than because he's the main character. Not in this volume at least. It also shows that it doesn’t take that much change in order to glow up and be more sociable. It's a lesson that might be useful for those who read Tomozaki and find themselves in a similar situation to him.
The main drawback, to me at least, is the misutilization of Atafami. Atafami is a major plot point, don’t get me wrong, but you’d think that the best online player in Japan would have at least some interest in capitalizing financially on his talent. There’s no mention of professional play anywhere in the book. For all intents and purposes, eSports might as well not exist in the world of Tomozaki. I know it’s a small thing, but you would think that someone as anti-social as Tomozaki would relish the opportunity to get paid to beat people at Atafami. Then again, maybe he just has anxiety about signing up for tournaments. Perhaps Tomozaki doesn’t care about the profit motive and purely plays for the challenge. Or maybe he just doesn't want to smell other Atafami players' BO (Atafami is a Smash derivative, lest we forget). I find those reasons unrealistic, but then again, it's small potatoes in comparison to the overarching plot.
It wasn’t that much of an issue to me, but the way that Tomozaki and Hinami talk to each other can be grating to most. It’s one thing for Tomozaki to think about everything in gaming terms, but the book really pushes it when Hinami AND Tomozaki both speak about life as an RPG. One example: After Tomozaki successfully is able to have a girl invite him over to her house (for Atafami training), Hinami’s explanation for his success is “The sword you were carrying just happened to work against the boss’s elemental weakness, and the shield you had just happened to resist the elements she used. A miracle, I’d say.” As a friend once said about a different series, 'No one speaks like this!'. Bringing back PUAs, the way the two speak about life and society reminds me of those dreaded bastards. Don't worry though, this series isn't secretly the biggest hit in the PUA community since The Game. 'The game of life' in this case is a race to the top of the light novel high school social ladder, not to see how many women you can seduce and elope with.
Tomozaki ultimately is interesting enough to keep up with. Even when I thrashed the series the first time I read it, I kept reading because I was interested in Tomozaki's journey. This novel ended rather weak in my opinion, but in its defense, it wrapped up a plot point that had served its purpose. The Tomozaki series is unique in the world of light novels – it’s one of the few light novel series where the main character gets nothing without effort, as compared to a more standard light novel where the main character gets everything with no effort. The worst thing a light novel can be is boring, and Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun definitely isn’t that. It’s silly, sometimes annoying, and sometimes fascinating. If you're into rom-coms, I think you should give it a read. Or perhaps check out the anime if you aren't that much of a reader. Light novels only take a few hours to read though, so it isn't that much of a challenge.
Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun (Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki) is a romantic comedy light novel series about Fumiya Tomozaki, who is, as the title suggests, a self-described ‘bottom-tier character’. Being a gamer, Tomozaki is mentally unable to think of things in non-gamer terms. Therefore, life is a ‘shit-tier game’ that ‘isn’t worth playing’. Tomozaki, in his second year of high school, spends his days playing Attack Families (shortened to Atafami), this universe’s version of Super Smash Bros. Tomozaki isn’t a loser at everything though! Under the pseudonym ‘nanashi’, Tomozaki has established himself as the best online Atafami player in Japan. That's all he has, considering that he's written off the society around him–that is, until he meets the number two Atafami player in Japan–someone who was hiding in plain sight, and someone who thinks they can teach our dear main character a thing or two about this game of life.
After playing an online match against ‘NO NAME’, the second-ranked Atafami player in Japan, they invite Tomozaki to an offline meetup in order to ‘talk and have a rematch’. Coincidentally they both live in the same region of Japan. Our main character is taken aback when he finds out that ‘NO NAME’ is actually Aoi Hinami, his classmate and a ‘genius at life’. It turns out that Hinami isn’t only a star athlete and a top performer at school, but she’s also a savant at Atafami! The only thing more surprising to Tomozaki is how rude she is, calling him ‘a loser who’s going nowhere in life', and berating him for the lack of effort he gives in anything outside of Atafami. By turning off her ‘perfect girl’ filter, Hinami lets her mask slip and shows Tomozaki who she really is: a cynic who devotes every iota of her day to improving her standing at the high school totem pole. To Tomozaki, it’s amazing that someone who he describes as the ‘ideal Japanese girl’ would be so good at Atafami (and also be such a prick), but to Hinami, it’s severely disappointing that the one person she looked up to is actually ‘garbage without the slightest spark of ambition’.
After some more bickering, Hinami ends up promising Tomozaki that she’ll show him ‘the rules of this game (life) one by one’. Reluctantly, Tomozaki accepts, mostly due to her explaining details in gamer lingo, language that he can understand. Despite having opposite lives, the two do think in similar ways. By 'gamifying' life, Hinami can explain situations like 'talking to people you don't know' as 'grinding experience'. If the whole ‘analyzing simple social cues and the society around them in gaming terms’ thing is especially annoying to you, then I'm gonna go ahead and say you won't care for this series.
In order to lift Tomozaki up from being ‘bottom-tier’, Hinami comes up with goals, both short and medium-term, in order for Tomozaki to ‘gain exp’. These goals can be as simple as ‘talk to three girls at school’, or as daunting as ‘obtain a girlfriend by the start of the next school year’. She also puts an emphasis on Tomozaki’s outward appearance, helping improve it in simple ways such as dressing more stylishly, walking more confidently, and having a non-gamer posture. The real challenge, and what makes the Tomozaki series interesting, is the bizarre assignments she gives him, such as wearing a mask and smiling under it in order to ‘train his facial muscles’. And that's nothing compared to ‘memorizing conversation topics’, where Hinami insists that Tomozaki use flashcards in order to always have topics he can bring up in conversation, just like she does. There’s also the voice recorder Hinami gives Tomozaki with the recording of a conversation they just had, which she wants him to use to ‘review’ said conversation. Obviously, this is insane behavior, but it’s part of how Hinami got to where she is today. If it worked for her, it can work for Tomozaki too, right?
When I first read this series, I made a comparison of Hinami’s teachings to those of PUAs (pick-up artists)–mainly in regard to Hinami’s machiavellian mindset when it comes to social dynamics. There’s a moment in this volume where she decides on who Tomozaki’s ‘main love interest' is going to be, after analyzing several conversations that Tomozaki has had with girls in his class (who Hinami ordered him to talk to). She makes this decision for Tomozaki without any input from him, not asking him even if he’s interested in her in the first place. Tomozaki, being a gentleman, refuses to play around with the feelings of girls, even if it hinders his 'leveling up'.
Ethics aside, Hinami is what makes the Tomozaki series worth reading. Her attention to detail, from memorizing every classmate’s seat to knowing where each classmate’s train stop is, is nothing short of incredible (and creepy). She single-handedly has risen to the top of athletics, academics, AND the school hierarchy, while even having enough time to grind and become a pro at Atafami. Knowing that she’s done it due to self-interest, and not because she wants to (or was forced to) is honestly fascinating to me. Hinami is one of the only characters in a light novel that I’ve read that’s a straight-up psychopath. If Power from Chainsaw Man's personality is inspired by Eric Cartman from South Park and Walter from The Big Lewbowski, then Aoi Hinami's personality (or lack of one) is inspired by Patrick Bateman (from the movie, not the memes) and Nick Saban (from West Virginia, but resides in Tuscaloosa).
The setting and characters themselves are generic for a light novel series. Other characters of note include: Shuji Nakamura, a hot-head who's as into Atafami as he is into sports, Yuzu Izumi, a classmate Tomozaki sits next to in class and uses often to 'level up', Minami Nanami (often referred to as Mimimi), a bright and cheerful classmate who 'smiles through it all', Hanabi Natsubayashi (often referred to as Tama-chan (against her wishes)), Mimimi's good friend and a fellow socially stunted high schooler, and Fuka Kikuchi, another classmate Tomozaki sits near to and uses to 'level up'. A great thing about this series is that it contains no wish fulfillment (well, other than having someone as mighty as Aoi Hinami try to unfuck your life). What I mean by that is that Tomozaki doesn't randomly get popular with girls for no reason other than because he's the main character. Not in this volume at least. It also shows that it doesn’t take that much change in order to glow up and be more sociable. It's a lesson that might be useful for those who read Tomozaki and find themselves in a similar situation to him.
The main drawback, to me at least, is the misutilization of Atafami. Atafami is a major plot point, don’t get me wrong, but you’d think that the best online player in Japan would have at least some interest in capitalizing financially on his talent. There’s no mention of professional play anywhere in the book. For all intents and purposes, eSports might as well not exist in the world of Tomozaki. I know it’s a small thing, but you would think that someone as anti-social as Tomozaki would relish the opportunity to get paid to beat people at Atafami. Then again, maybe he just has anxiety about signing up for tournaments. Perhaps Tomozaki doesn’t care about the profit motive and purely plays for the challenge. Or maybe he just doesn't want to smell other Atafami players' BO (Atafami is a Smash derivative, lest we forget). I find those reasons unrealistic, but then again, it's small potatoes in comparison to the overarching plot.
It wasn’t that much of an issue to me, but the way that Tomozaki and Hinami talk to each other can be grating to most. It’s one thing for Tomozaki to think about everything in gaming terms, but the book really pushes it when Hinami AND Tomozaki both speak about life as an RPG. One example: After Tomozaki successfully is able to have a girl invite him over to her house (for Atafami training), Hinami’s explanation for his success is “The sword you were carrying just happened to work against the boss’s elemental weakness, and the shield you had just happened to resist the elements she used. A miracle, I’d say.” As a friend once said about a different series, 'No one speaks like this!'. Bringing back PUAs, the way the two speak about life and society reminds me of those dreaded bastards. Don't worry though, this series isn't secretly the biggest hit in the PUA community since The Game. 'The game of life' in this case is a race to the top of the light novel high school social ladder, not to see how many women you can seduce and elope with.
Tomozaki ultimately is interesting enough to keep up with. Even when I thrashed the series the first time I read it, I kept reading because I was interested in Tomozaki's journey. This novel ended rather weak in my opinion, but in its defense, it wrapped up a plot point that had served its purpose. The Tomozaki series is unique in the world of light novels – it’s one of the few light novel series where the main character gets nothing without effort, as compared to a more standard light novel where the main character gets everything with no effort. The worst thing a light novel can be is boring, and Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun definitely isn’t that. It’s silly, sometimes annoying, and sometimes fascinating. If you're into rom-coms, I think you should give it a read. Or perhaps check out the anime if you aren't that much of a reader. Light novels only take a few hours to read though, so it isn't that much of a challenge.
January 28, 2020
3.5 stars
January 29, 2020
I have seen this series being compared to Wataru Watari's My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong As I Expected aka OreGairu. Yuhi Yaki even invites this comparison when he in this volume writes a few lines comparing Saitama and Chiba, Wataru Watari's popular rom-com being set in Chiba while Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki is set in Saitama. And while these certainly are some similarities between the two, the main character is the most obvious one, OreGairu is much more of a slice of life series than this one. This story felt more focused and was better at holding my attention than OreGairu. I'll definitely be picking up the next volume, too bad Yen Press takes forever translating their licenses.
August 19, 2025
At the start of this I wasn’t enjoying it too much, but as I kept reading I actually started to like the different girls and their personalities and the way Hinami thinks is very interesting, and the development of the friendship with Tomozaki and Hinami from a love of Atafami and her own mission to get Tomozaki to get that life is actually the greatest game of all is very sweet! Tomozaki’s journey and character development is pretty cool to see too, plus as I read along I actually found myself relating to him in a way especially when it comes to interacting with others! So, I’d say to give this series a try and maybe you’ll be surprised to find yourself enjoying it like me! I will be continuing this!
May 13, 2024
qué estoy leyendo por dios JAJAJAJAJAJJAAJJAJAAJJAJAJA
April 17, 2025
I haven’t read a book this engaging in a long time since I read Hakomari. This book is not perfect by any mean, but I absolutely love the content and the message the author tried to convey. As other have said, this is like a self-help book, and oh, what a perfect and cute helper Hanami is. She really make me want to work harder.
December 15, 2019
This isn’t the first time I’ll say that I don’t like factoring relatability into quality, and it won’t be the last. And despite how much I can relate to the titular character of Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki (published in English by Yen Press), I will absolutely not factor it into the final score of this series. Well, assuming I even finish it, since there are a billion things out there right now..
Fumiya Tomozaki views life itself as the Dark Souls of… life itself (great analogy there)? Basically, he ranks humans in tiers, with higher tiers given an unfair advantage over bottom-tiers like himself. And as such, he just plays videogames, which make more sense to him. However, all of this changes when he meets a tough online opponent IRL, who turns out to be top-tier girl Aoi Hinami. After a serious argument, she convinces him to let her give him the “tutorial” for the game that is life, so that he can pick himself up and not be a piece of crap.
As someone who’s content as an introvert, this premise immediately made me uncomfortable on a personal level. While I don’t entirely agree with Tomozaki’s attitude, his viewpoints of life are undoubtedly true; after all, there are some individuals who have more net worth than entire nations in this world. But what bothers me the most is that whenever we have an introverted main character, they are forcibly put through the social wringer until they become an extrovert. I get that there wouldn’t be much of a narrative without the goal of making friends, that at least 99% of the human race actively seeks out relationships, and that Japan is really hypersocial, but the nature of the situation in Tomozaki really irks me.
But like I said, I’m not factoring all that personal-schmersonal crap into the score, no matter what.
The writing in Tomozaki is better than I expected. With the titular character as the narrator, you get a lot of videogame terminology lumped into aspects of everyday life. It’s not very descriptive, but it’s set in the real world, you can just picture where they are based on intuition.
Since this is technically a rom-com, the characters are gonna be the bread and butter. Unfortunately, they don’t give off a good first impression. Tomozaki is pretty passive; because of his situation, he just ends up getting strung along by Hinami every step of the way. He’s also treated like an idiot because he seriously knows NOTHING about social interactions, not even what one could glean from basic intuition (and I relate to him- Nice job giving yourself a good reputation, Mack). Hinami seems to be the Best Girl, because she is literally the best at almost everything. She has a funny quirk where she minces the word “exactly” and acts like nothing happened, but I see it becoming an old meme quick, especially when the anime airs. Although the interactions between Hinami and Tomozaki are where the series is at its best, the former sometimes comes off as a real b**** to me. The other characters aren’t even worth talking about yet; they are very one-dimensional, and some of them are kinda a**holes.
The art is pretty unremarkable. It’s a nice, tame style for a rom-com, but it’s not my cup of tea. It’s probably still more presentable than the anime will be.
~~~~~
Verdict: 7.5/10
Sorry, but this is the score I’m giving volume 1, even when I’m not factoring personal input. A lot of people on social media have hyped this thing to be an amazing masterpiece. But so far, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki is a generic “degenerate boy meets perfect girl, who helps him become an upstanding person whether he wants to or not” but with videogame jargon thrown in for what seems like further pandering. It’s a solid rom-com for someone who’s been in Tomozaki’s position (and of course, wants wish fulfillment).
Fumiya Tomozaki views life itself as the Dark Souls of… life itself (great analogy there)? Basically, he ranks humans in tiers, with higher tiers given an unfair advantage over bottom-tiers like himself. And as such, he just plays videogames, which make more sense to him. However, all of this changes when he meets a tough online opponent IRL, who turns out to be top-tier girl Aoi Hinami. After a serious argument, she convinces him to let her give him the “tutorial” for the game that is life, so that he can pick himself up and not be a piece of crap.
As someone who’s content as an introvert, this premise immediately made me uncomfortable on a personal level. While I don’t entirely agree with Tomozaki’s attitude, his viewpoints of life are undoubtedly true; after all, there are some individuals who have more net worth than entire nations in this world. But what bothers me the most is that whenever we have an introverted main character, they are forcibly put through the social wringer until they become an extrovert. I get that there wouldn’t be much of a narrative without the goal of making friends, that at least 99% of the human race actively seeks out relationships, and that Japan is really hypersocial, but the nature of the situation in Tomozaki really irks me.
But like I said, I’m not factoring all that personal-schmersonal crap into the score, no matter what.
The writing in Tomozaki is better than I expected. With the titular character as the narrator, you get a lot of videogame terminology lumped into aspects of everyday life. It’s not very descriptive, but it’s set in the real world, you can just picture where they are based on intuition.
Since this is technically a rom-com, the characters are gonna be the bread and butter. Unfortunately, they don’t give off a good first impression. Tomozaki is pretty passive; because of his situation, he just ends up getting strung along by Hinami every step of the way. He’s also treated like an idiot because he seriously knows NOTHING about social interactions, not even what one could glean from basic intuition (and I relate to him- Nice job giving yourself a good reputation, Mack). Hinami seems to be the Best Girl, because she is literally the best at almost everything. She has a funny quirk where she minces the word “exactly” and acts like nothing happened, but I see it becoming an old meme quick, especially when the anime airs. Although the interactions between Hinami and Tomozaki are where the series is at its best, the former sometimes comes off as a real b**** to me. The other characters aren’t even worth talking about yet; they are very one-dimensional, and some of them are kinda a**holes.
The art is pretty unremarkable. It’s a nice, tame style for a rom-com, but it’s not my cup of tea. It’s probably still more presentable than the anime will be.
~~~~~
Verdict: 7.5/10
Sorry, but this is the score I’m giving volume 1, even when I’m not factoring personal input. A lot of people on social media have hyped this thing to be an amazing masterpiece. But so far, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki is a generic “degenerate boy meets perfect girl, who helps him become an upstanding person whether he wants to or not” but with videogame jargon thrown in for what seems like further pandering. It’s a solid rom-com for someone who’s been in Tomozaki’s position (and of course, wants wish fulfillment).
November 30, 2021
Tomozaki-san was a decent read with some pretty promising side characters. unfortunately the mc is pretty cringy and unbearable at times, but there is signs that he will (hopefully) improve in the volumes to come. Worth a read if you’re looking for an interesting SoL novel, hopefully more romance will happen in later volumes !!
July 27, 2020
Let me just say, I rate books on how much I enjoyed reading them. If I were to be doing a critical analysis of Bottom-tier I'd likely find a lot to be desired. But that's not what this is. It is not a lit class. It is just my reaction to a light novel. And I enjoyed it. Imensely.
If it sounds a bit defensive, it's probably because I tire of people railing on things because they aren't perfect or "high literature". Look, I've read Twilight and I can promise you it is trash. But that hasn't stopped MILLIONS of people from finding something in it to admire. I've also read a Pullizter prize winning biography and found it to be one of the dullest pieces of history I've ever encountered.
This book is FUN.
It starts with a very reclusive Tomozaki who just thinks life is a crummy game and he's been given a really crappy spot in it. But meeting someone else who has a different opinion he starts to consider it and works at it. I really enjoyed the changes Tomozaki started to see by the end of the book and am really curious to see where volume 2 is headed.
The references to gaming may be a bit off putting to some. Especially if you are not a gamer. You may not get them, you may not like them, whatever. But if you're interested in seeing where these characters can go -- don't let them dissuade you.
Verdict: Light and easy to read but still has a solid meaning if you're willing to accept the framing of life as a game. Worth the read.
If it sounds a bit defensive, it's probably because I tire of people railing on things because they aren't perfect or "high literature". Look, I've read Twilight and I can promise you it is trash. But that hasn't stopped MILLIONS of people from finding something in it to admire. I've also read a Pullizter prize winning biography and found it to be one of the dullest pieces of history I've ever encountered.
This book is FUN.
It starts with a very reclusive Tomozaki who just thinks life is a crummy game and he's been given a really crappy spot in it. But meeting someone else who has a different opinion he starts to consider it and works at it. I really enjoyed the changes Tomozaki started to see by the end of the book and am really curious to see where volume 2 is headed.
The references to gaming may be a bit off putting to some. Especially if you are not a gamer. You may not get them, you may not like them, whatever. But if you're interested in seeing where these characters can go -- don't let them dissuade you.
Verdict: Light and easy to read but still has a solid meaning if you're willing to accept the framing of life as a game. Worth the read.
March 26, 2020
A solid 4/5 stars from me.
I was once again roped into reading a light novel from positive reviews and such, and I feel the hype was worth it.
The characters were interesting for the intro of a series. The MC didn't feel like a Mary Sue, but a very hardy sort that was determined to stay the same before letting go of his stubborn notions and accepting an offer from his frenemy on a whim. Aoi is a very knowledgeable character, and I think, from my perspective, that we'll see more of her background and why she came to be who she is later in the series. As for the others, I've seen a good amount to say that they give enough to the story so far that they're great, but I wasn't a fan much of the "service" provided by Mimimi. Of course, we'll probably see more of that in the future....
The pacing of the story was good. I feel like days went by in a blink, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing from my view. The settings were well and all, which fits in nicely with this type of story.
The one thing I'm sticking around for is the "self-help" aspect of this series. Many people, especially the youth of this generation, can take away a lot from the lessons Aoi gives the MC. Much of it was helpful, and while I agreed more with the MC in terms of logic or reasoning, it only goes to show how much potential BTCT has. Not just in terms of learning how to better yourself, but the hurtles the youth in the story has to overcome to be where they are currently or where they want to go. The first book has given a little taste of the struggles all high-schoolers come face to face with eventually, and thankfully also gives some hints as to how to approach those situations.
I definitely want to read more to see where the narration goes and how much "self-help" the author has to give. In the mean time, I recommend this series for the older teens (yes, there is cursing in this book from time to time and some references to different "things"), especially those who could learn a thing or two about the little things like posture and expression.
I was once again roped into reading a light novel from positive reviews and such, and I feel the hype was worth it.
The characters were interesting for the intro of a series. The MC didn't feel like a Mary Sue, but a very hardy sort that was determined to stay the same before letting go of his stubborn notions and accepting an offer from his frenemy on a whim. Aoi is a very knowledgeable character, and I think, from my perspective, that we'll see more of her background and why she came to be who she is later in the series. As for the others, I've seen a good amount to say that they give enough to the story so far that they're great, but I wasn't a fan much of the "service" provided by Mimimi. Of course, we'll probably see more of that in the future....
The pacing of the story was good. I feel like days went by in a blink, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing from my view. The settings were well and all, which fits in nicely with this type of story.
The one thing I'm sticking around for is the "self-help" aspect of this series. Many people, especially the youth of this generation, can take away a lot from the lessons Aoi gives the MC. Much of it was helpful, and while I agreed more with the MC in terms of logic or reasoning, it only goes to show how much potential BTCT has. Not just in terms of learning how to better yourself, but the hurtles the youth in the story has to overcome to be where they are currently or where they want to go. The first book has given a little taste of the struggles all high-schoolers come face to face with eventually, and thankfully also gives some hints as to how to approach those situations.
I definitely want to read more to see where the narration goes and how much "self-help" the author has to give. In the mean time, I recommend this series for the older teens (yes, there is cursing in this book from time to time and some references to different "things"), especially those who could learn a thing or two about the little things like posture and expression.
November 11, 2024
As many others has pointed this book especially the first half of it is written much like self-help book written in the form of a story. It works surprisingly well. At the very least this book has gotten me to be more self aware about my posture. Maybe that's just speaks to how easily influenced I am especially when a cute anime girl tells me to do something. Regardless, the concept works pretty well as a story.
I think the ideas of this book presents is somewhat reductive and simplistic. The world is an unfair place but at the same time as someone who plays a decent amount of video games I do agree that even when you lose because of luck it is important to continue to think about how you personally could have done better.
The dialogue can be a bit cringe at times specifically some of the gaming lingo and the usage of the term "normies". Some of the intentional cringeness is quite well written I have to say. When Tomozaki says something stupid or fails to read social ques in his narration I definitely related and empathized to it.
Out of the 5 female characters introduced in the story the main character really only has chemistry with arguably 2 of them. That being said based on the setup of this volume I am interested to learn more about these characters as individuals.
I was quite invested in seeing the main character grow as I read the story. The final scene in the epilogue was simple yet I found it to be such a cute and satisfying conclusion to the book. I'm interested to see how the main character continues to grow as an individual which is something I rarely feel when it comes to manga/light novel romcoms.
I think the ideas of this book presents is somewhat reductive and simplistic. The world is an unfair place but at the same time as someone who plays a decent amount of video games I do agree that even when you lose because of luck it is important to continue to think about how you personally could have done better.
The dialogue can be a bit cringe at times specifically some of the gaming lingo and the usage of the term "normies". Some of the intentional cringeness is quite well written I have to say. When Tomozaki says something stupid or fails to read social ques in his narration I definitely related and empathized to it.
Out of the 5 female characters introduced in the story the main character really only has chemistry with arguably 2 of them. That being said based on the setup of this volume I am interested to learn more about these characters as individuals.
I was quite invested in seeing the main character grow as I read the story. The final scene in the epilogue was simple yet I found it to be such a cute and satisfying conclusion to the book. I'm interested to see how the main character continues to grow as an individual which is something I rarely feel when it comes to manga/light novel romcoms.
June 22, 2020
Surprisingly Good
Not gonna lie, I have seen this title pop up several times and I always glance at it and think "nope". Well, this time after searching forever for anything to read and coming up empty I decided "why not" worse case I don't like it. You probably already know what happend next based on my five stars... Hate to admit but it was actually pretty good lol.
The story is about a nerd... I mean "gamer" who is socially achward, shy and a loner. Surprising right?
Jokes aside he needs help and help is what he gets from an unlikely place. After being told life is a game with complicated rules he decides to give it a shot. The down side is that life is more convoluted than complicated, it's a similar word but with big differences. I won't give anything away but you will get what I mean once you read this story if not guess from your own experiences.
In any case this is definitely a slice of life novel series with some humor thrown in as this boy levels up to beat the game of life. Thank heavens he has a little help because he definitely needs it.
This light novel is appropriate for all ages and would recommend it to anyone who wants to give it a whirl. I promise you it will be a fun kind of dizzy, not a sickly one and I hope you have as much joy as I did reading it.
***
Caution: Will also admit that it didn't fully pull me in till around half way through but once it did I knew I would be continuing the series.
Not gonna lie, I have seen this title pop up several times and I always glance at it and think "nope". Well, this time after searching forever for anything to read and coming up empty I decided "why not" worse case I don't like it. You probably already know what happend next based on my five stars... Hate to admit but it was actually pretty good lol.
The story is about a nerd... I mean "gamer" who is socially achward, shy and a loner. Surprising right?
Jokes aside he needs help and help is what he gets from an unlikely place. After being told life is a game with complicated rules he decides to give it a shot. The down side is that life is more convoluted than complicated, it's a similar word but with big differences. I won't give anything away but you will get what I mean once you read this story if not guess from your own experiences.
In any case this is definitely a slice of life novel series with some humor thrown in as this boy levels up to beat the game of life. Thank heavens he has a little help because he definitely needs it.
This light novel is appropriate for all ages and would recommend it to anyone who wants to give it a whirl. I promise you it will be a fun kind of dizzy, not a sickly one and I hope you have as much joy as I did reading it.
***
Caution: Will also admit that it didn't fully pull me in till around half way through but once it did I knew I would be continuing the series.
November 18, 2020
While it took me a couple chapters to really get roped in, I really enjoyed this first volume. I think the main character, Tomozaki, is someone a lot of people can relate to and see part of themselves in. I certainly do. He's a high school loner who sees life as a game rigged against him. After some events early on, he starts being mentored by Aoi Hinami, current popular girl who was in a similar situation at one point and changed herself for the better. The various ways he goes about starting to change make sense and I really like their dynamic. I assume further down the line one will develop feelings for the other to some extent, but thus far there's no real sign of that.
One thing which stuck with me was the idea that while you may have had help accomplishing goals to better your life, you still had to be the one willing to put in the time and effort to make that change happen. That's where the story got me, and I'm excited to see what else is down the line. Interesting characters with more depth to them than the average first LN volume, a plot which feels very genuine, and an MC who is relatable. I'm down for more.
One thing which stuck with me was the idea that while you may have had help accomplishing goals to better your life, you still had to be the one willing to put in the time and effort to make that change happen. That's where the story got me, and I'm excited to see what else is down the line. Interesting characters with more depth to them than the average first LN volume, a plot which feels very genuine, and an MC who is relatable. I'm down for more.
September 28, 2020
Like most light novels, this book has a gimmick: god-tier gamer Tomozaki plays life like a game to become a normie. He is assisted on his quest by Hinami, a god-tier normie who is second only in games to Tomozaki. She assigns him tasks to level up his life skills, and Tomozaki learns more about himself and his abilities as he plays the game of life.
As far as premises go, this is a fun one, although the first half of the book read like it was patterned after a book like "Socializing for Dummies". At times it was dry, but began to break from is formulaic narrative in the second half. Hinami is a bit much, though. She's a national achieving academic, a cross country champion, fashionable, gorgeous, masterful at socializing, popular, and also a gaming whiz. All while only being 16 years old.
Fortunately, Tomozaki is grounded and keeps the story real. His awkward attempts at socializing are humorous, and although you know he's going to get the girl in the end, the story is taking a slow path towards that conclusion. He is still a caterpillar in this volume. We are far off from his transformation into social butterfly.
As far as premises go, this is a fun one, although the first half of the book read like it was patterned after a book like "Socializing for Dummies". At times it was dry, but began to break from is formulaic narrative in the second half. Hinami is a bit much, though. She's a national achieving academic, a cross country champion, fashionable, gorgeous, masterful at socializing, popular, and also a gaming whiz. All while only being 16 years old.
Fortunately, Tomozaki is grounded and keeps the story real. His awkward attempts at socializing are humorous, and although you know he's going to get the girl in the end, the story is taking a slow path towards that conclusion. He is still a caterpillar in this volume. We are far off from his transformation into social butterfly.
Read
February 9, 2020Bottom tier character, top tier book
Are you a lonely nerdy misfit? Do you think real life is a bad game and you pulled a poor character in a selection screen you don’t even remember? Do you lose yourself in alternate worlds like computer gaming? Then you, too, may be a protagonist in a story like this one (in your dreams)...
But in *this* story, the protagonist gets a mentor in the Game of Life - and, amazingly, it’s high-spec, all-round school darling and rising star Aoi Hinami, who decides, almost on a whim, to train our hapless hero in Real Life. So this book is full of some possibly genuinely useful life advice and a huge amount of charm and good hearted ness, plus humour and just enough drama to keep you hooked throughout. It’s strong debut by Yuki Yaku and the second volume is just as good. This is a series I will definitely be following.
Are you a lonely nerdy misfit? Do you think real life is a bad game and you pulled a poor character in a selection screen you don’t even remember? Do you lose yourself in alternate worlds like computer gaming? Then you, too, may be a protagonist in a story like this one (in your dreams)...
But in *this* story, the protagonist gets a mentor in the Game of Life - and, amazingly, it’s high-spec, all-round school darling and rising star Aoi Hinami, who decides, almost on a whim, to train our hapless hero in Real Life. So this book is full of some possibly genuinely useful life advice and a huge amount of charm and good hearted ness, plus humour and just enough drama to keep you hooked throughout. It’s strong debut by Yuki Yaku and the second volume is just as good. This is a series I will definitely be following.
September 22, 2020
This is a fictional work with various non-fiction factoids on proper body language and communication skills. I can definitely see the appeal of this on our younger audience who have not yet been exposed to the myriad (and somewhat dry) non-fictions works on body language and communication skills.
The story itself is relatively interesting, and we see our protagonist apply the lessons he's learned from his attractive female mentor who has mastered this particular art.
Recommended for weeb-readers everywhere. If you're going to waste your time reading harem garbage, you might as well read this one and learn something that can be useful to you in your everyday life along the way.
The story itself is relatively interesting, and we see our protagonist apply the lessons he's learned from his attractive female mentor who has mastered this particular art.
Recommended for weeb-readers everywhere. If you're going to waste your time reading harem garbage, you might as well read this one and learn something that can be useful to you in your everyday life along the way.
March 7, 2024
4.5/5
This was good. Which means i now have to read 11 more books, as if i already don't have 2 more big book series going on in my life. I enjoyed the ground work it did for characters like mimimi and tama. I can forsee that hinami will have her world shattered at some point, tomozaki is doing great progress and I'm proud of my boy, staying true to himself and being honest. The friend who recommended it to me said I should begin the next one right away but nope, I'm staying away from this series at least till mid-year or the end of the year.
This was good. Which means i now have to read 11 more books, as if i already don't have 2 more big book series going on in my life. I enjoyed the ground work it did for characters like mimimi and tama. I can forsee that hinami will have her world shattered at some point, tomozaki is doing great progress and I'm proud of my boy, staying true to himself and being honest. The friend who recommended it to me said I should begin the next one right away but nope, I'm staying away from this series at least till mid-year or the end of the year.
February 23, 2020
Very different. MC thinks life is a shitty game and doesn't try bc he thinks his starting stats were bad bc he was born not very attractive. Meets a girl who tells him the best game is life and he shouldn't make excuses for not trying to improve. Does a great job of showing his improvements though life.
July 18, 2020
Best light novel i've read... it makes me want to learn japanese in order to catch up faster with the new volumes.
Is not a literary work, but i like how the novel addresses the simple -and at the same time- complicated issues of life.
Striving at something, finding meaning at something, this is a work that makes you wonder on those things and also makes you want to change... at lest for me
Is not a literary work, but i like how the novel addresses the simple -and at the same time- complicated issues of life.
Striving at something, finding meaning at something, this is a work that makes you wonder on those things and also makes you want to change... at lest for me
October 15, 2022
After watching the anime and hearing from my friend how entertaining the series is, I wanted to give it a try. I ended up really liking the light novel as it feels like I’m right there with the characters enjoying bantering with them and reveling in the “seriousness” of high school social interactions. I look forward to reading more!
October 11, 2020
This first volume came without any expectation of me but it became my favourite. I felt that the main character growth was getting real for each chapter and how each characters’s role helped this main Tomozaki to grow that much !
January 31, 2021
Light Novels can be full of cringe worthy clichés. I was pleasantly surprised by this light novel for it's clichés breaking combos. The MC is not oblivious, he speaks his mind, and with the help of the secondary character, does not get stuck behind tired Japanese social norms. I quite enjoyed it.
July 5, 2023
Surprisingly well thought out for what it is, and the ending of this first volume was pretty solid. Definitely not a great playbook for becoming a "normie" in real life, but fun enough as a fictionalization of the process.
January 1, 2020
The weebs manual to becoming a normie. For Slice of Life this is an amazing start to the series.
January 9, 2020
An otaku's journey into becoming a normie.
September 20, 2023
Buena historia.
Empieza bien. Espero los siguientes volúmenes sigan igual o mejor.
Empieza bien. Espero los siguientes volúmenes sigan igual o mejor.
September 21, 2024
1st season rewatched
June 29, 2025
i liked the initial premise on which the story started it kinda sucked me into it
November 22, 2019
There are books that lift can your mood and change the way one views the world. Surprisingly, this fun rom-com is one of them.
The story centers around a high school gamer geek who is lonely, at the bottom of the class social hierarchy and generally a sad misanthrope. However, he is secretly one of the best gamers in Japan and one day, after defeating the second best gamer in Japan, screen name:NO NAME, he agrees to a meet up to talk about the game. To their mutual shock NO NAME turns out to be a class mate of his, the beautiful, popular and very intelligent Aoi Hiname. Even more shocking is the two realize, after a short conversation, that they both think like each other and view the real world as a type of game.
Thereafter Aoi decides to prove to the hero that life is really a very fun game, not one to be unhappily endured as a MOB. Under her tutelage, the hero begins to change.
The book is a fun read, capturing the fears,concerns and angst of high school well. At the same time it's rather profound, because if one has ever read developmental psychology or behavioral economics, one can see a lot of depth in both the plot and character development.
Richard Thaler (who just won the Nobel Prize for his work in behavioral economics) would love this book.
Want to change your life? Make a plan, gain experience points ("in real life you only get xp from defeats" says Aoi), get skills and level up- small step by small step.
I can't wait for the next volume.
The story centers around a high school gamer geek who is lonely, at the bottom of the class social hierarchy and generally a sad misanthrope. However, he is secretly one of the best gamers in Japan and one day, after defeating the second best gamer in Japan, screen name:NO NAME, he agrees to a meet up to talk about the game. To their mutual shock NO NAME turns out to be a class mate of his, the beautiful, popular and very intelligent Aoi Hiname. Even more shocking is the two realize, after a short conversation, that they both think like each other and view the real world as a type of game.
Thereafter Aoi decides to prove to the hero that life is really a very fun game, not one to be unhappily endured as a MOB. Under her tutelage, the hero begins to change.
The book is a fun read, capturing the fears,concerns and angst of high school well. At the same time it's rather profound, because if one has ever read developmental psychology or behavioral economics, one can see a lot of depth in both the plot and character development.
Richard Thaler (who just won the Nobel Prize for his work in behavioral economics) would love this book.
Want to change your life? Make a plan, gain experience points ("in real life you only get xp from defeats" says Aoi), get skills and level up- small step by small step.
I can't wait for the next volume.
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