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Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells #1
Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells, Volume 1
Abruptly catapulted into a fantasy world, Mimori Touka and his classmates have been summoned by the world's resident goddess to serve as heroes. Luckily, most of the students display amazing skills upon arrival—except for Mimori, whose abilities bottom out at a measly E-rank. With no further use for him, the goddess banishes Mimori to a dungeon from which no one has ever returned alive. Yet, as it turns out, Mimori's skills aren't so much worthless as they are abnormal. Abnormally powerful, even. If Mimori can only claw his way back to the surface, nothing will stand in his way from getting revenge.
273 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 25, 2018
245 people are currently reading
508 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
September 30, 2021
Absolute ridiculous fun. Mimori and class are summoned to another world to fight a Demon King, everyone is assigned stats and of course Mimori's are the lowest. Everyone looks down on him because of this, except perhaps one cute girl in class. The sketchy summoning Entity decides to dispose of this low level worthless 'hero'. Of course Mimori and his skills aren't quite as useless as everyone thought and somehow manages to make his way out of the dungeon at a DRASTICALLY higher level than could be expected otherwise. He of course saves a beautiful woman from being captured....
Wait, you've read this before? Well of course you have. But I still had to give it four stars because it was so easy for me to read and I enjoyed it. Is it fluff? Yes. Is it good fluff? Honestly, it's not that amazing, but was fun. How is it different -- well, this one really feels like revenge fantasy.
Anyhow, I'll be picking up volume 2 right quick.
Wait, you've read this before? Well of course you have. But I still had to give it four stars because it was so easy for me to read and I enjoyed it. Is it fluff? Yes. Is it good fluff? Honestly, it's not that amazing, but was fun. How is it different -- well, this one really feels like revenge fantasy.
Anyhow, I'll be picking up volume 2 right quick.
December 13, 2020
This book follows the relatively new craze of making Isekai protagonists start from a position of being completely outcast and spurned by their peers. (Examples, Shield Hero or Arifureta.) However, this book makes no attempt to make any of the character motivations in any way belieavable/relatable. As a satire or self-parody, that might work, but this book tries to take itself seriously.
I was hesitant to give a 1 star review, since I almost never do that unless a book is truly bad in many objective ways. But considering the many light novels I have at 2 star, I really had to go lower for this one.
I was hesitant to give a 1 star review, since I almost never do that unless a book is truly bad in many objective ways. But considering the many light novels I have at 2 star, I really had to go lower for this one.
January 25, 2021
This was a surprise - when it started, I fully expected it to be more of the standard revenge fantasy nonsense with the usual heaping dose of misogyny. As you may have guessed, it's not. Shinozaki has taken time to really think about character motivations and how the politics of the high school classroom would play out in a much more realistic (yet brutal) way in the isekai genre, and I think I may actually give this a second volume, if only to support a revenge series that doesn't hate one gender or the other.
November 15, 2022
This was exactly what I was looking for to scratch my isekai/gamelit itch. While there's not much new here, there is a quality to Japanese Lite Novels that the American counterparts lack. Probably quality and editing.
Character - 7/10, Plot - 7/10, Setting/Game Mechanics - 7/10, Writing - 8/10, Enjoyment - 8/10
There's a lot of tropiness to the characters, but the MC has another level to him compared to the tropiness of many American lite novels. Maybe I just get bored with my own cultural influences and take them for granted because I'm saturated by them every day, but I just enjoy the differences that foreign authors bring to things. While so many American characters and typical Gary Stu white knight types, there's an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with a lot of foreign characters. With Japanese characters specifically, there tends to be the idea of chafing under a system that forces you to behave properly. So rather than a generic white knight character, you get a hybrid white knight/merciless antihero that just reads a little more honest to me. This more than makes up for the fact that most of the supporting cast are just one-dimensional.
The plot is following the path that Arifureta and Tsukimichi paved (and others likely before that). I honestly don't mind. I came into this wanting something familiar to scratch an itch I had and this fit the bill. It gave me what I came for.
The setting and mechanics are pretty typical for a LN, but they tend to be a step up from their American counterparts. Maybe because these authors are drinking from the cultural source while many in America are then a step removed, but these lite novels tend to be generic but consistent. This one is a bit interesting from the standpoint of the MC using status effect spells rather than other more traditionally offensive offerings. It keeps things interesting.
The writing is pretty solid. Invisible for the most part, which is what prose for a lite novel should be imo. It's just a vehicle for the story. Any time I stop to think about the prose instead of the story is a moment of failure for this type of story, so the writing suits the form. There aren't any grammar or proofreading mistakes that have jumped out at me.
This was a fun story that I enjoyed since it was what I was in the mood for. There are a few similar stories that have done the same a little better, so I can't help but subtract a star. But at the end of the day, this story delivers exactly what it promised.
Character - 7/10, Plot - 7/10, Setting/Game Mechanics - 7/10, Writing - 8/10, Enjoyment - 8/10
There's a lot of tropiness to the characters, but the MC has another level to him compared to the tropiness of many American lite novels. Maybe I just get bored with my own cultural influences and take them for granted because I'm saturated by them every day, but I just enjoy the differences that foreign authors bring to things. While so many American characters and typical Gary Stu white knight types, there's an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with a lot of foreign characters. With Japanese characters specifically, there tends to be the idea of chafing under a system that forces you to behave properly. So rather than a generic white knight character, you get a hybrid white knight/merciless antihero that just reads a little more honest to me. This more than makes up for the fact that most of the supporting cast are just one-dimensional.
The plot is following the path that Arifureta and Tsukimichi paved (and others likely before that). I honestly don't mind. I came into this wanting something familiar to scratch an itch I had and this fit the bill. It gave me what I came for.
The setting and mechanics are pretty typical for a LN, but they tend to be a step up from their American counterparts. Maybe because these authors are drinking from the cultural source while many in America are then a step removed, but these lite novels tend to be generic but consistent. This one is a bit interesting from the standpoint of the MC using status effect spells rather than other more traditionally offensive offerings. It keeps things interesting.
The writing is pretty solid. Invisible for the most part, which is what prose for a lite novel should be imo. It's just a vehicle for the story. Any time I stop to think about the prose instead of the story is a moment of failure for this type of story, so the writing suits the form. There aren't any grammar or proofreading mistakes that have jumped out at me.
This was a fun story that I enjoyed since it was what I was in the mood for. There are a few similar stories that have done the same a little better, so I can't help but subtract a star. But at the end of the day, this story delivers exactly what it promised.
April 3, 2025
Book is amazing. Cover speaks for itself
October 2, 2022
Well this was shite, huh?
Everyone is a screaming asshole, no motivations make any fucking rational sense, the way the humans act is less believable than the fucking magic, and the magic is daft.
And the translation is utter garbage.
Everyone is a screaming asshole, no motivations make any fucking rational sense, the way the humans act is less believable than the fucking magic, and the magic is daft.
And the translation is utter garbage.
October 30, 2022
The first chapter in this book is 75 pages long, and it's the best part of the book. It was virtually all new, when compared to the manga. After that, though, it was pretty downhill.
I read the manga first and I loved the main character and was rooting for him. It was easy to understand his motivations and sympathize with him. But in the novel he came across as totally nuts. There's a lot of his backstory, about the severe abuse his parents put him through, and there's a lot of him telling the reader he's a full-blown psychopath and hides it well. But he contradicts himself when he has mercy on innocents. His characterization was better-done in the manga.
What I really didn't like about the novelization was that it was written in first-person perspective. It made for some really difficult reading, because the main character was either talking aloud to himself or thinking to himself the entire time, and would alternate between the two constantly. So you'd have half a page written in italics, then one phrase in quotes, then the other half of the page in italics. I hope you like reading italics if you pick this up, because most of the book is italicized. I was never bothered by italics before, but now I feel like if I see one more word italicized I'm going to gouge my eyes out.
It was so strange to be written in first-person POV, too, because the perspective would switch to another character and that segment would be written in third-person. Switching back and forth was odd, especially when the first-person POV was almost entirely italicized. And even when it was the main character's perspective, he somehow knew exactly what all the other characters were thinking and planning. It just should have been written in third, is what I'm saying. lol
I'll continue. I love the manga up to now and I'm really interested in seeing some of the other characters and situations. I just wish the main character were as likeable in the novel as he is in the manga.
I read the manga first and I loved the main character and was rooting for him. It was easy to understand his motivations and sympathize with him. But in the novel he came across as totally nuts. There's a lot of his backstory, about the severe abuse his parents put him through, and there's a lot of him telling the reader he's a full-blown psychopath and hides it well. But he contradicts himself when he has mercy on innocents. His characterization was better-done in the manga.
What I really didn't like about the novelization was that it was written in first-person perspective. It made for some really difficult reading, because the main character was either talking aloud to himself or thinking to himself the entire time, and would alternate between the two constantly. So you'd have half a page written in italics, then one phrase in quotes, then the other half of the page in italics. I hope you like reading italics if you pick this up, because most of the book is italicized. I was never bothered by italics before, but now I feel like if I see one more word italicized I'm going to gouge my eyes out.
It was so strange to be written in first-person POV, too, because the perspective would switch to another character and that segment would be written in third-person. Switching back and forth was odd, especially when the first-person POV was almost entirely italicized. And even when it was the main character's perspective, he somehow knew exactly what all the other characters were thinking and planning. It just should have been written in third, is what I'm saying. lol
I'll continue. I love the manga up to now and I'm really interested in seeing some of the other characters and situations. I just wish the main character were as likeable in the novel as he is in the manga.
December 19, 2020
If the premise of this light novel sounds familiar, and it should if you've spent any signigicant time reading light novels, you would be right to think that it sounds like a rip off of another series that has been going on for longer, at least here in the west. The first 1/3 to 1/2 off the book does read extremely derivative and I almost put it down a few times. But I am a stubborn bloke and by the time the time the main character amples out of the "dungeon" where's he's been dumped the larger world opens up just long enough to make you curious about how this story is ultimately going to diverge from the other light novel it reminds me of. While it was a rather boring read for a good chunk of the story, the latter half of the book presented me with enough information that it made me curious enough to want to pick up the next volume when it's available. Let's hope volume 2 has more meat on its bones.
June 30, 2022
Where everybody is a psycho.
The first volume in this serie brings a story with a not so oroginal idea. But where other similar books shines this one dissapoints. The main character seems to be just a psycho, he regrets and have remorse killing monster but doesn't hesitate killing other humans. Everybody, except for a few characters are just evil, trying to kill the mc or take advantage of others, to be hinest, there is not a single likable character. The mc just get an overkill skill from the get go, being able to kill powerful creatures without breaking a sweat, and this is a big problem, to be honest, we don't see any strugles and all the fights are the same, paralyze, poison, sleep, all of them, no exception. A disappointing first volume, hopefully the author will improve in the next volume.
The first volume in this serie brings a story with a not so oroginal idea. But where other similar books shines this one dissapoints. The main character seems to be just a psycho, he regrets and have remorse killing monster but doesn't hesitate killing other humans. Everybody, except for a few characters are just evil, trying to kill the mc or take advantage of others, to be hinest, there is not a single likable character. The mc just get an overkill skill from the get go, being able to kill powerful creatures without breaking a sweat, and this is a big problem, to be honest, we don't see any strugles and all the fights are the same, paralyze, poison, sleep, all of them, no exception. A disappointing first volume, hopefully the author will improve in the next volume.
September 3, 2025
I was curious about Japan's system of entertainment: Light Novel > Manga > Anime > Live Action. In each, adherence to the source material is seen as critical to the success of the latter.
As far as basic Isekai is concerned, there's nothing particularly new here. But it does seem like everyone is an asshole, and the MC is genre-savvy and reasonably capable of reasoning and bending rules. There's quite a bit of internal monologuing, and a lot of mind-games that come across as cringe but have an element of four-dimensional chess. The worldbuilding is deeper than the Litrpg trash it's derived from. All in all, a pleasant surprise.
That said, it's a bit of a mixed bag that's held back by the sex appeal of the cover. Also, pretty much every character is just an animal. Morals are a lost cause. I know some will claim misogyny, but neither the men nor the women are presented in decent light, and the former are universally sexual predators. It's uh... definitely an acquired taste.
As far as basic Isekai is concerned, there's nothing particularly new here. But it does seem like everyone is an asshole, and the MC is genre-savvy and reasonably capable of reasoning and bending rules. There's quite a bit of internal monologuing, and a lot of mind-games that come across as cringe but have an element of four-dimensional chess. The worldbuilding is deeper than the Litrpg trash it's derived from. All in all, a pleasant surprise.
That said, it's a bit of a mixed bag that's held back by the sex appeal of the cover. Also, pretty much every character is just an animal. Morals are a lost cause. I know some will claim misogyny, but neither the men nor the women are presented in decent light, and the former are universally sexual predators. It's uh... definitely an acquired taste.
September 9, 2025
This one came after the hit Anime. Liked the Anime so much I went looking for the Light Novel. Mimori Touka and his class are taken away to another world from a class trip. When they arrive they meet a "Goddess" that informs the class they are now Heroes. They will have powers that need to be activated by her. After going thru the class, Mimori finds his powers to be useless according to the Goddess. What she then does defines this series. Mimori is thrown away to a dungeon. The Dungeon of Disposal. Mimori soon finds out why its called that. He also discovers his skill might be useless for most but turns out he has never misses, 100% status effects. One more thing his skill makes them stronger then they should be. Now mate that with the Dungeon of Disposal and you get real power.
This is going to be a fun series.
This is going to be a fun series.
May 15, 2021
Disappointed
For some reason going into this book I had high expectations especially with the high dollar price, they gave all sorts of background information on a whole bunch of side characters that you only hear in passing after they abandoned the MC It just seemed unrealistic to me that the would be all for even cheering for the banishment/ death sentence of the supposed weakest member of their group to their deaths with only 1 person objecting, and the ending was so abrupt I didn't even know the book was over until it took me to the kindle store after I turned it that last page.
I think I will give book two a try before I completely possibly give up on the series
For some reason going into this book I had high expectations especially with the high dollar price, they gave all sorts of background information on a whole bunch of side characters that you only hear in passing after they abandoned the MC It just seemed unrealistic to me that the would be all for even cheering for the banishment/ death sentence of the supposed weakest member of their group to their deaths with only 1 person objecting, and the ending was so abrupt I didn't even know the book was over until it took me to the kindle store after I turned it that last page.
I think I will give book two a try before I completely possibly give up on the series
April 12, 2023
A nice little twist on the summoned heroes trope.
What if we were part of a group of students summoned to another world as heros? Then, what if you were deemed, "unworthy and useless" and banished to a deep dungeon they used to get rid of others also deemed so? And what if the "pitiful" skills you had turned out to be quite powerful, enabling you to defeat the high level monsters in the dungeon?
After you escaped the unescapeable dungeon, what would you plan to do to the one who sent you down there to be killed?
What if we were part of a group of students summoned to another world as heros? Then, what if you were deemed, "unworthy and useless" and banished to a deep dungeon they used to get rid of others also deemed so? And what if the "pitiful" skills you had turned out to be quite powerful, enabling you to defeat the high level monsters in the dungeon?
After you escaped the unescapeable dungeon, what would you plan to do to the one who sent you down there to be killed?
July 4, 2024
Fun and revenge themed
It really worries me when there are so many bullies in one place. What did this author go through!?
Anyway, A fascinating story of a kind teenager who is abandoned by everyone and viewed as trash who steps up and takes on the world for revenge.
Main character is not overpowered like so many isekai, but he apparently has skills that are horribly misunderstood and has almost no defense.
Five stars would have been given if the author provided more info on the skills and the skill tree. But it was never truly mentioned again.
Have fun!!
It really worries me when there are so many bullies in one place. What did this author go through!?
Anyway, A fascinating story of a kind teenager who is abandoned by everyone and viewed as trash who steps up and takes on the world for revenge.
Main character is not overpowered like so many isekai, but he apparently has skills that are horribly misunderstood and has almost no defense.
Five stars would have been given if the author provided more info on the skills and the skill tree. But it was never truly mentioned again.
Have fun!!
January 3, 2021
Yep
This is definitely a cliched story. Not a suprise since this genre is played out. That being said it's still good, guess it's a common cliche because people still like it. If so I am no exception.
I would reccomend this to anyone who still can enjoy the same tropes and premise of a well worn story. While my review doesn't sound great I really did like it and will be following this story. Hopefully you will as well.
This is definitely a cliched story. Not a suprise since this genre is played out. That being said it's still good, guess it's a common cliche because people still like it. If so I am no exception.
I would reccomend this to anyone who still can enjoy the same tropes and premise of a well worn story. While my review doesn't sound great I really did like it and will be following this story. Hopefully you will as well.
February 7, 2022
This was a cheap and cheerful book that, even if I didn't think the plot, world or characters were well built in, was entertaining every step of the way. I enjoyed reading about Mimori's power trip and how the dungeon in this first book worked.
Was it almost unbearably edgey? Yes. Was it way darker than I expected from the artwork and easy to get through writing style? Hell yes. Will I pick up another? Maybe. Despite the edgey, tortured protagonist this isn't weirdly misogynistic which is refreshing and the setting does seem really interesting - but I get the feeling the big showdown between Mimori and his classmates will be baited out for another few books and that's all I really want.
Was it almost unbearably edgey? Yes. Was it way darker than I expected from the artwork and easy to get through writing style? Hell yes. Will I pick up another? Maybe. Despite the edgey, tortured protagonist this isn't weirdly misogynistic which is refreshing and the setting does seem really interesting - but I get the feeling the big showdown between Mimori and his classmates will be baited out for another few books and that's all I really want.
October 25, 2023
ok
I seemed like a good start but by the end I noticed the level and stats/attributes don’t mean anything. You’d think 1600+ levels would make you stronger. But no. Only the skills seem to mean something. When the skill leveled it gave more options. I don’t think I’ll read the rest. The story was too short for the cost and nothing really important happened to the MC, growth wise.
I seemed like a good start but by the end I noticed the level and stats/attributes don’t mean anything. You’d think 1600+ levels would make you stronger. But no. Only the skills seem to mean something. When the skill leveled it gave more options. I don’t think I’ll read the rest. The story was too short for the cost and nothing really important happened to the MC, growth wise.
January 8, 2021
A Fun Read, Decent Pace
The author strikes a decent balance between the amount of detail and the speed of plot advancement.
The illustrations are all fanservice which is annoying and it feels like the background details could have been made more clear.
Despite those short comings I enjoyed the volume and look forward to reading more
The author strikes a decent balance between the amount of detail and the speed of plot advancement.
The illustrations are all fanservice which is annoying and it feels like the background details could have been made more clear.
Despite those short comings I enjoyed the volume and look forward to reading more
February 2, 2021
Good Read
This book took me by suprise. I know and have been in these kinds of things. Well done portraying that kind of pain well. I am excited for the next installment. Please don’t make it too dark. I understand though if you do go that route. The story might necessitate it. I read it regardless.
This book took me by suprise. I know and have been in these kinds of things. Well done portraying that kind of pain well. I am excited for the next installment. Please don’t make it too dark. I understand though if you do go that route. The story might necessitate it. I read it regardless.
April 3, 2021
Failure Frame is another mediocre isekai in a niche already crowded with mediocrity. There is no real world or magic building. The arbitrary gamification of stats feels rather meaningless as the single time it should matter, it turns out it doesn’t. Given the lack of variety, the author might have, at the very least, spent time delving the spell pages of 5th edition D&D or Pathfinder to inspire a more nuanced status effect skill tree for our protagonist rather than the lather, rinse, repeat tedium of encounter management he settles on. And, while I appreciate the attempts to create a personality and history for our main character, the whole summoned to an adventuring world feels more believable than that superficial tragedy porn backstory... good grief.
Read
January 22, 2022Unreadable rubbish.
I would normally suspect that maybe it is a faulty translation but, in this case it seems clear that it was garbage in and garbage out.
I am aghast that anyone published this.
It's so incoherent that I am not even sure that I am reviewing the right book.
Absolutely no stars at all.
I would normally suspect that maybe it is a faulty translation but, in this case it seems clear that it was garbage in and garbage out.
I am aghast that anyone published this.
It's so incoherent that I am not even sure that I am reviewing the right book.
Absolutely no stars at all.
September 18, 2022
Too many bad guys
The writing is OK. The characters and story are not great. The characters are one dimensional, and 90% are psychos, including the MC? I just felt bad and full of tension The whole time. I won't be paying for and reading another. Better off sticking with KU. I'm angry I payed so much for this, and did not enjoy my time. But no revenge quest for me!
The writing is OK. The characters and story are not great. The characters are one dimensional, and 90% are psychos, including the MC? I just felt bad and full of tension The whole time. I won't be paying for and reading another. Better off sticking with KU. I'm angry I payed so much for this, and did not enjoy my time. But no revenge quest for me!
March 1, 2023
Well, this is not my first time I read this kind of story. The first volume always great, but let see the next volumes 🤣
A hero summoned in Another World, a trash Ability, but everyone overlooked this simple and small Ability for sure. Every skill has it's own benefit, especially when the main character used it 🤣
A hero summoned in Another World, a trash Ability, but everyone overlooked this simple and small Ability for sure. Every skill has it's own benefit, especially when the main character used it 🤣
July 22, 2024
Your standard LitRPG isekai in which the social bottom-feeder gets betrayed by his peers and now seeks revenge. It was fine but nothing really happened in this volume outside of establishing premise and characters. There is the initial meeting of what I assume her the two lead characters, but will have to read further to see where it goes.
October 23, 2024
The Isekai trope for summoning a class to another world. I have only seen it twice and both follow a similar pattern. It's the differences between the stories that make it exceptional. Having an abused child as the protagonist, who is secretly more twisted and darker than anyone else. From the offset. This is a good choice from the author,
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2022
Failure Frame starts off as your generic basic isekai trash but somehow manages to build an interesting world with characters that you can’t help but want to learn more about. It’s a basic revenge plot, and although the MC is pretty generic I still enjoyed his dialogues and his conversations with himself. The only problem I had with the story was the fact that literally every male character who is not the MC are literally some of the scummiest characters I’ve ever read about. Hopefully we can get some nice male characters later in the story. Other then that I’m definitely interested to see where the story unfolds from here !
January 21, 2022
Despite what the cover looks like it isn't one of those softcore adult novels but a thrilling isekai about revenge and change. Though you will probably not care about the side characters i.e. his classmates who are always on the border of grapes of wrath or goblin slayer level of violence.
March 4, 2022
Volume 1 reminds me of Naofumi's character building (shield hero) and if you enjoy that kind of betrayal and vengeance you should give this novel a try. I thoroughly enjoyed this volume - really long and enjoyable character building process before the story takes off in the next volume.
May 17, 2022
good story
The concept is far from original but the characters make it very enjoyable. Am overpowered mc makes the challenges seem too easy but the rest of the story makes up for it,
The concept is far from original but the characters make it very enjoyable. Am overpowered mc makes the challenges seem too easy but the rest of the story makes up for it,
March 16, 2023
Bland garbage. This series also suffers from the eight deadly words -- "I don't care what happens to these people." None of the side characters are interesting, and they act in absurd and irrational ways. Find something better to read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews