Ryota becomes like unto a god, Eve wants a carrot, Emily hammers her point home, and Erza wins only to lose. All this and me tossing the series off my reading pile in one cataclysmic volume!
I knew this volume was in trouble from the get-go. The first section is all about Eve and somewhat about Ryota’s growing stat pool from farming drops that only he can get. But it’s really about showing Eve in her ridiculous outfit in as many unwieldy poses as the artist can dream up.
Between Eve’s posturing and Erza’s breasts practically leaping into frame a second after she does, the T&A in this one moves into Tiresome & Annoying really fast. At least most books of this ilk would come up with a tortured reason for all this. Here it’s just ‘Eve is standing so she must be in a preposterous pose for posterity’.
I’m not judging if you truly like that sort of thing and I’m definitely reading some books that are worse in that department, but the way it’s presented in this series is particularly ham-fisted to me.
All that great work about becoming a family and building a better life? Nowhere near as good here when it does come back. They add a new wrinkle to Emily’s character that makes for one of the most embarrassingly written chapters of anything I’ve read in a while. Just... so dumb.
The group has an encounter with a group in a dungeon emulating Ryota’s toxic work culture to a tee and it feels like it should be saying something but... it just doesn’t work at all. I don’t know if it’s a cultural difference or just because we’ve seen this already but it lands with a thud (the ostensible bad guy is so boringly generic that you can’t figure out why anybody would listen to him anyway).
By the time, mild spoilers ahead, Ryota has punched out the fantasy version of King Kong and gotten his hands on a handgun and supply of bullets this book has fervently abandoned any goodwill it had. I think they presaged the gun in volume 1, but it’s still really dumb and pointless when your hero is so strong nothing affects him anyway.
What I’m left with is an annoying power fantasy with nowhere near the heart of the first volume and a bunch of boobery around it. Typical isekai and typically boring. If there’s no threat there’s no conflict and that makes for a dull story.
2 stars. Art’s not as good, characters are worse, they can’t even be bothered to integrate the fan service in the story. I thank the series for giving me a very enjoyable first volume, but I have a really hard go with isekai at the best of times and this one doesn’t pass muster. I think if you like these sorts of isekai you’ll be happier with it than me (I mean, you’d have to be).
I decided to just also read the second volume as I was curious what was next for Ryota and Emily! Still not sure about bunnygirl (she is quite annoying at times), but I did like seeing what was in the dungeon, see him and Emily be together, eat meals and take care of each other, though Emily was quite terrifying when there is a cockroach involved. There is meeting other people (not all so good), see Ryota get even more OP (I mean, it was a bit ridiculous but I didn't mind it because it fitted the story), I do hope that he learns to relax a bit more. See the world. Get to know more people. Because he is doing a lot of the things he did back in the real world. Overworking. Going on until he is beaten and tired. I would just like to see a chapter with him just going to the beach or whatever relaxation there is in this world.
On the fence here. Like all manga, fast read but I’m finding Ryota’s character and overall story line pretty lacking. Erza has boobs that keep getting bigger and bouncier, but really she has absolutely no reason to be literally throwing herself at Ryota… who is fairly boring. Just let him be firmly with Emily is all I’m saying. That is where it’s at.
I’m happy Emily is back in the dungeon with him, even though she’s acting pretty much like a housewife, still.
On the other hand,
*I really don’t care for the gun (so dumb to put it in), plus I read isekai for magic and swords~~ *ryota is getting TOO overpowered *there aren’t any real villains to fight because he wins so easily after getting his stats up *Bunny girl and erza are more annoying than cute. 😑 I dread every scene they show up. *I totally don’t get Japanese business person lifestyle. I mean, why?
I will probably pick up the last volume in this humble bundle set and then drop this series. For me this is enough of a preview to know it isn’t really my thing. Yeah, sometimes manga takes a while to get to the good bits of the story line, but by two novels in we should be making more progress than this!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I gave it 2 stars because of the price. The price went up three dollars so will not be buying the rest of the series. It's a shame to start at one price and then raise it.