Its very easy to disregard the light novel genre completely as it is responsible for the creation of quite a number of unoriginal, bad and shameless pandering anime in recent years. However there still are worthwhile stories within the genre. They are just a little less known.
Mushoku Tensei
Description: A 34-year-old NEET otaku was chased out from his house by his family. This virgin, plump, unattractive, and penniless nice guy found that his life was heading towards a dead end. He recalled that his life could actually become much better if he can get over the dark history of his life. Just when he was at the point of regret, he saw a truck moving at a high speed with 3 high school students in its path. Mustering all his strength, he saves them but ended up getting run over by the truck, which kills him. The next time he opens his eyes, he had reincarnated to a world of swords and magic, as Rudeus Greyrat. Born to a new world and a new life, Rudeus declared, “This time, I’ll really live my life to the fullest with no regrets!” Thus begins the journey of a newly made man.
The good: This is pretty perfect wish fulfillment. This book is of a genre that has recently popped up and for now I just refer to it as the reincarnation gerne. It normally details a character getting reincarnated/thrown into a new world and focuses on him grow steadily stronger. This starts the main as a child and the writer has the patience to let him grow slowly and not overpower him from the get go. Unlike many of this genre which the mains undergo what I would like to refer to as “kiritoization” where they become overpowered behemoths whom every girl wants. Take note that this story really does follow his life. Going from boyhood to teenager and adult. Even as far as marriage and parenting. It has a large cast of dynamic characters who while are not particularly deep are still fairly likeable. Honestly there are few stories like this and in my opinion this is so far the best written of its kind. It also follows very little of the traditional light novel formula.
The bad: The protagonist truly starts as the scum of the earth. In the beginning he is highly unlikeable with some of this thoughts raising an eyebrow or two. If you are easily offended then this is not the novel for you. There are a few insulted individuals who mislabel this a “lolicons dream fantasy” even though the content wouldn’t be very titillating for that questionable fanbase. He does grow into a much more respectable character and it is the development that is the main driving force behind the plot. But still those beginning volumes might turn people away. It is also very long at currently 21 volumes and the story is the very definition of a slow burn.
Recommendation level: 75%
Current number of translated volumes: 21, It also has a manga but due to how much story is cut out its not recommended.
Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari
Description: Iwatani Naofumi was summoned into a parallel world along with 3 other people to become the world’s Heroes. Each of the heroes were respectively equipped with their own legendary equipment when summoned. Naofumi coincidentally received the Legendary Shield as his weapon. Due to Naofumi’s lack of charisma and experience, he ended up with only a single teammate while others have several. Unfortunately, on his third day Naofumi was betrayed, falsely accused, and robbed by the said teammate. Shunned by everyone from king to peasants, Naofumi’s thoughts were filled with nothing but vengeance and hatred. Thus, his destiny in a parallel World begins…
The good: The rising of the shield hero is a bit of an odd duck. Reading it is somewhat a masochistic experience. This is a story that will make you filled to the brim with righteous indignation. I make no joke when I say one chapter managed to make me literally red with anger. But because of this the moments where the villains get well deserved comeuppance is incredibly sweet and satisfying. Its human nature to root for the underdog. So to see the shield hero get stronger and put others in their place is a fun read
The bad: Despite saying how these villains rile you up I will say they are very one dimensional. They are designed with the intent to anger the reader but because of this they have to be made very stupid and ignorant to make it work. They are not well written characters, no matter how much they make you wish for their suffering. The other characters are passable but not standout. But the big strike against it is that at the end of the fourth volume it has what I can only see as an endgame climax. All issues are more or less resolved and the only thing left is the battle against some faceless rpg endboss. It was also disappointing to see harem elements become more apparent. The first four novel had foreboding signs but it at least managed to avoid them becoming too featured in the story. I found my motivation for continuing to be lacking. While not bad per say the content after volume four just felt like an extended epilogue.
Recommendation level: 60%
Current number of translated volumes: 4, through the translations continue to cover the ongoing light novel and are at chapter 197 currently. The translation speed is also lightning fast. There is also a manga and it is adapted faithfully so far. Though the novel is much further along if you are willing to accept some dodgy translation.
Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria
Description: Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria, or The Empty Box and The Zeroth Maria, tells the story of Kazuki Hoshino, who is almost madly attached to his everyday life, and his antagonist Aya Otonashi, who suddenly transfers into his class at the end of the school year—for no less than the 13,118th time. Without hesitation, she announces her intent to “break” him. Kazuki’s struggle to defend his everyday life begins, and the many secrets it is built on start to come to light.
The good: Highly original concept with good execution. Characters have interesting dark sides and the “box”s monkeys paw nature is belovedly twisted. To those who saw Kokoro Connect and thought heartseed was a villain too good for the show, “0” is that style of character given justice. There are no magic superpowers to speak of. The only weapon these characters have is their mind.
The bad: The first novel is confusing with an endless eight/groundhog day scenario. It also doesn’t help that some characters have similar names, making it hard to understand whos who. Characters tend to talk in a manner that is heavily logical. Think bakemonogatari, but the long winded ramblings actually being connected to the plot.
Recommendation level: 90%
Current number of translated volumes: 6, with the next being confirmed as the last.
Rakuin no Monshou
Description: The countries of Mephius and Garbera have been waging a war for ten years and are trying to put an end to this long fight through a political marriage between the two royal families. Orba, who was driven from his home because of the war and was forced to become a gladiator, looks exactly like the crown prince of Mephius, and it has been decided he will be substituting him during the wedding ceremony. On the other hand, Vileena, the princess of Garbera, has secretly decided to ensnare the crown prince for her own country’s interests.
The good: The main character is Batman-esque with his handling of his alter egos. Its fantastic seeing maintain the facade of an incompetent prince while secretly planning for victory. I am reminded of code geass though with much better writing and a more high fantasy setting. The first two volumes are excellent and from what I hear the story has an ending at 7 volumes.
The bad: Very slow translation. If theres anyone with more time and can translate Japanese then implore you to work on this. Or better yet get an anime studio working on it. The story is hard to get into at first as it takes a while to grasp the setting.
Recommendation level: 95%
Current number of translated volumes: 2
If you thought the first 4 volumes of Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari was bad, wait until you get further and then he starts buying slaves enmasse for his personal slave army. I have decided to rechristen this book “The Rising of the Fantasy Slave Plantation Hero”.
Now that I think about it, I am actually surprised that you commented on Mushoku Tensei’s effect on easily offended people, but didn’t mention the problematic subtext of slavery as a benefit to the enslaved because of the altruistic nature of their master. Most Americans would probably want to destroy this book for that reason alone.
I am guessing you mean Tate no Yuusha’s subtext of slavery as I don’t remember it being featured that prominently in Mushoku. Personally I didn’t pay it that much heed as it’s mainly there be the main has trust issues and for the slave stats bonuses. For the most part it seems irrelevant as many of the slaves seem to disregard the contract completely and treat Naofoumi however they like. If he was reinforcing the slave seal all the time to show ownership you may have a point but for the most part there’s nothing different from being part of a large scale project and having an easygoing boss.
“Most Americans would probably want to destroy this book for that reason alone.”
Well America was built on slavery. I don’t think it’s fair to damn a story just because it has an inkling of something they are uncomfortable with.
Sorry, I meant you mentioned how Mushoku was slightly offensive, but then didnt mention Tate’s subtext as being offensive. Also, he used the slave seal a few times to shut people up and when they disagree with him they start to get hurt. So no, they can’t disregard it.
As for the comment that america was built on slavery, I don’t know how this is a defense. If anything, it would be worse as it means now America is fine if slavery made a comeback as long as the slave owner was the right one. That is the line of reasoning some people put forth for how the white slave owners were doing their duty to take care of the black slaves and that it was a symbiotic relationship.
So I disagree that the story only involves “an inkling” of slavery.
I remember he used it on Firo because she was getting unruly and wasn’t listening to him. Though in that case it was fairly justified as she was being unreasonable. I remember him using it against Atlas because she kept sneaking into his bed but giving up because it didn’t really effect her. I don’t really remember a case where he used it in bad taste. Really I think you are making a mountain out of molehill here.
Sorry it’s just that hearing Americans condemning something for slavery when taking into account their history, it does seem rather hypocritical. It’s not really a defense of Tate no Yuusha, it just sort of bugged me. Hell, I don’t think that highly of this light novel and was sort of on the fence about putting it here. However the slave seal in Tate never came across as abusive. Pretty sure that Naofumi pointed out that anyone is free to leave if they wish. I don’t really see a Pro slavery message as there isn’t really a resemblance to actual slavery. You could have changed it to Naofumi hiring them with money and very little would change.
It is indeed true that if you changed it to them being hired mercenaries, not very much would change. But then why didn’t he do that? Because he wanted total control of them. Though he says that they can leave at any time, that has not yet been put to the test. Indeed, all the other examples of the other heroes with their hired hands was depicted as inferior to the shield heroes slavery system. Basically, if you read it on a surface level wish fulfillment, it isn’t too bad. But think about it at all, and the horrible implications become obvious and ceases to become a wish fulfillment. In a wish fulfillment, you would want to be that character and a petty, sexist character who keeps slaves for total obedience is not someone I would wish to be. As thus, the book falls flat for me.
Also, americans criticizing something with slavery as being hypocritical is like saying germans can’t criticize neo nazi books (they exist). It is precisely because of their history that it is important for them to criticize it, lest it becomes legitimized.
A good example occurs in film. “A Birth of a Nation” was a revolutionary filmographic work, with groundbreaking style that set the tone for all future films. It is criticized for its story but praised for its introduction of the basic grammar of film. On the surface, the second part was about certain bad former slaves who wanted to rape women. But what it argues is that black people, being inferior, can never integrate with white people successfully. It is now up to the heroic KKK to get society back in order. Is it hypocritical to criticize this movie even though america owned slaves in the past?
Its worth dropping a little extra fact in here invinciblegod that Birth of a nation would disturbingly enough, ended up for a time being used as a recruitment video for the KKK.
Again, that’s just looking too much into it. He makes them slaves because of the bonus and that he does not want to be betrayed due to his trauma. The other heroes companions were portrayed as inferior not because of them not being slave. It was made pretty clear that it was poor management. The heroes were just focused on themselves and didn’t pay their companions any heed. And…sexist? Really? Never seen him care about whether the ones fighting for him were boys or girls. Sure, I find the harem element stupid as hell and I suppose that’s sexist.
Mate, I am talking about overreaction with ignorance. To criticize and be aware of history is one thing. Though I was thinking of someone who shows outrage at hints of something uncomfortable yet is unaware of his own countries dark history with it. That would be hypocritical.
“It is precisely because of their history that it is important for them to criticize it, lest it becomes legitimized.”
I think we don’t need a captain obvious to point out that bad things are bad. Just because something isn’t criticized as bad does not mean it isn’t recognized as bad.
I remember that the problem I had with Rakuin no Monshou was that even though it seems to be about the 2 sides prince and princess trying to defend their kingdom, the princess seemed to be incompetent while the prince seemed to be able to win with supposed brilliant plans that came off to me as not that brilliant and everyone else just acting stupidly. I can say that I forgot almost all of it so that seems to suggest how memorable that story seems to be. I think I read through volume 6 or so.
I’ve read most of these already :I, except the last one. I guess we have similar taste.
Oregairu light novel is pretty decent. The light novel progress way past the first season and fleshes out the cast more. It shows how they change individually and how their relationships with each other change. The next volume is going to be translated soon and I can’t wait. I liked the anime and am looking forward to the second season.
first season of the anime.(not to confuse people)
i like the character design of Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria