A salaryman suffers a heart attack and is reborn in another world as Ars Louvent, the child of an aristocratic house. Though lacking in physical strength, Ars has a unique "appraisal" skill that lets him see other people's stats and latent abilities. He puts this skill to the test by discovering a downtrodden young man with fearsome blade skills and a street urchin with a knack for magic. Has Ars found the diamonds in the rough that will help him secure his family's fortunes?
I took this book mostly to complain about the anime I watched one episode of before getting extremely annoyed that it was about the main character owning slaves AGAIN, but when I started reading, it occurred to me that I haven't actually seen this before. It's a startlingly similar scenario, though, other than Ars* isn't the one who's overpowered (except in as far as being able to see others' strengths and weaknesses).
It's not that I'm against slavery being in a series at ALL. The Heroic Legend of Arslan has slaves BUT Arslan is actively trying to free them all. Or, one of the very many other isekai titles I've read (which, the name escapes me or I'd link to it) where slaves are those who've committed extreme criminal acts, rather than just "the people of a conquered nation."
But the ones I've ragequitted are the ones where the filler characters talk to the main character and suggest, "Hey, you know what you need? SLAVES!" and the MC is all, "Yeah, ok" without challenging it. I mean, at least Naofumi took slaves 1. because he was betrayed and justifiably distrusted EVERYONE, 2. a slave literally cannot backstab him, and 3. the shitty isekai mechanics for that world gave a stat boost to "slaves" (even if it's Slavery in Name Only and he doesn't mistreat them by that point). Not the GREATEST pro-slavery argument, but at least it's not "Slaves are great, oppress others for fun and profit!"
Anyway, mostly surprised this wasn't what I was thinking of, but also kind of middling (even the anime, which looks like it follows the manga faithfully). Ars is a better person than the pro-slavery characters, but he's also not terribly interesting for it. I'm sure they're fine characters, but Penelope and Eckles is a slightly more interesting take on the "save a slave/untouchable who turns out to be overpowered" story—or, I'm more invested in that one because I've already read seven volumes of it while I'm only one book into this series.
Recommended for the usual isekai fans, I guess? Especially the ones who like trash isekai? Haha...
*"more like ARSE" he's not actually THAT bad, but his name is definitely pretty terrible
It’s an interesting premise with very weak execution so far. Ars was originally a salaryman, of course…and it goes through the usual “but I’m from peaceful Japan, how can I fight?” stereotype. It always annoys me when reincarnated characters have such a strong sense of their previous life if they were born here as a baby.
I’m not sure where his mom is, but his dad being a commoner that rose to baron because of his prowess…it sounds weird. Is the mom perhaps a noblewoman? Just like everyone being racist toward Rietz, but that changes instantly after one battle with the baron. And I notice that when they’re out in the town no one mentions that he’s of an “inferior” race. So the racism is basically just conveniently inserted for a plot point with zero nuance. It’s lazy world building.
It’s also strange to me that his town has only 1000 people, yet his family home is so lavish with so many servants and guards. That’s not normal at all. And why is Rietz accepted as a foot soldier, then proceeds to basically be a butler to Ars? Why is Ars so blatant in his appraisal of people?? It’s just…he acts so immature despite being supposedly a middle age man inside. It’s very hard to buy into this set up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I don't understand why people like this so much. The MC doesn't even really use the Appraisal skill in the later volumes. It's incredibly generic and stops being an isekai story quite quickly. It transitions into a shoddy political work where everyone just goes along with whatever the MC's camp says... for reasons...?
The MC pretty much immediately forgets he's a 40 year old salaryman, mentally-speaking, and weds a child. Dude is completely incompetent and relies on Appraisal to hard-carry him through vassal picks. They mentioned vassals could betray him and there has yet to be even an inkling of disloyalty. They're all gung-ho for Ars, who doesn't even really do much but sit in a chair and call himself a lord. The most that the MC does in this manga is react with a silly face to what everyone else is doing.
I kept reading for a bit because it's just so bad... can't go further than Volume 7. I can't believe stories like this get to run for such a long time when better quality works get axed on the first volume.
A salary man reincarnates as an aristocrat with the ability to see people's stats. Anticipating the empire's future turmoil, he sets about recruiting capable people to help him create an ideal domain. The characters were cute with some feels finding talent in strange places and gaining their loyalty. I don't mind isekai stories, but I would have liked his appraisal ability to be a little less game-like.
I enjoyed the story, but it's a bit predictable so far. The first volume is good, but not enough for me to buy the next volume, cuz I can pretty much guess what happens in at least the first part due to the standard cliffhanger at the end.
Well, I found out the new 2023 Kodansha light novel was good. It's in English and the stories was good this far. This series about war and the appraisal skill by the main character. With this appraisal skill, he could have many good retainers. As the title said, he would climb the social leader by using this skill.
Started out like your run of the mill isekai, but had more of a tactical stand point then others. So it had the potential to be really good. The first book itself is good enough to catch my interest to keep going.
I love the idea for this manga. Ars is naive, but it makes for a significant point, and I'm excited to read more to see his development. A fantastic first volume. It's great for teen manga collections.
This was great fun! As silly as it was, I really enjoyed watching Ars draw others closer to him by virtue of his kindness. It was also fun to watch Ars' companions show off their skills and show why they were so highly rated.
I'm a big fan of the anime that is currently airing. If you're also a fan and watching it, this one lines up with the first 2ish episodes. You recruit in your first character and almost finished recruiting your second character.
Funny, easy, light-hearted manga. It has fantasy, adventure, and a lot of humour packed in just the first volume. I can't wait to see what else will happen in the next volumes. I definitely recommend this if you're into fantasy and want to get into manga!
This one was a lot of fun! I like seeing him slowly build his band up from the ground floor. He’s also a very cute 3yo and I like that he’s so earnest.
This was very average in my opinion. Nothing exceptional jumped out to me as making this a series I need to read, its all very par for the course of isekai.
non ho letto il manga ma ho visto l'anime, che inizialmente appare avvincente e ben pensato, ma che infine devia sul buonismo noioso e scontatezza sconcertante. Da guardare giusto per stare in relax
Salaryman dies and reincarnates in a new world as a nobleman with a skill to appraise people's talents (basically he can see their skill potentials). He becomes OP at 3 years old and using his ability and protagonist plot shield is able to recruit a bunch of very useful vassals. These vassals become steadily more useful and that helps elevate his status.
It's pretty average, but it's nice to have things like these to read through once in a while~