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As a fellow connoisseur of the generic LN harem, my issue with this series is how dishonest it feels. When the concept of LP is introduced, Noir goes straight for the sexual approach even though he is explicitly told a wide range of experiences could refuel his power source.

It makes him look like a sleazy opportunist because he ignores all his options to string along girls interested in him out of expediency. Except the story tries to spin it as if he is actually this really great guy with everyone's best interests at heart.

If the author wanted to write a salacious harem story, fine. Be upfront about it. Don't dress it up in the flimsy pretense of an underdog overcoming classism in a rise to power when everything underneath screams it is actually about a lecher being rewarded for taking the path of least resistance.

I prefer something like Maou Gakuen where the author straight-up explains that the main character has no other way to use magic than engaging in sexual activity with his harem, and they all understand that when signing up. They are also as thirsty, if not thirstier than he is, which makes him come off as less of a hypocrite. It doesn't pretend to be deep by having simple stakes to justify frequent magic battles that inevitably lead to fanservice.

Even something like Isekai Meikyuu de Harem wo is better because it doesn't pretend to be about anything other than a guy buying a harem for his own gratification.

I know that isn't going to matter to everyone, and if someone likes Hidden Dungeon more power to them. I just feel like there is higher quality trash out there.

At the point I’m at in the LN Noir does tell some of the girls about his powers and how he increases his LP. I think the blonde girl Emma finds out really early on and doesn’t really mind doing those sort of activities. But it’s also obvious she had a crush on him for a while so meh. Also iirc he flat out tells two of the other girls the various options he can use to increase his LP and they were like “Shit Ight” more or less, and without getting too heavy into spoilers they help him compete in a certain “competition”. So I understand your point but it’s also not the case that the girls have absolutely no idea why Noir is doing those things with them. I could be mistaken though since I’m quickly reading through the LN in preparation for the anime so I’ll know if the anime skipped content or changed it. Absolutely hate it when an anime does that, unless the source material is bad and changing it is for the better.

topgun97 wrote:

At the point I’m at in the LN Noir does tell some of the girls about his powers and how he increases his LP. I think the blonde girl Emma finds out really early on and doesn’t really mind doing those sort of activities. But it’s also obvious she had a crush on him for a while so meh. Also iirc he flat out tells two of the other girls the various options he can use to increase his LP and they were like “Shit Ight” more or less, and without getting too heavy into spoilers they help him compete in a certain “competition”. So I understand your point but it’s also not the case that the girls have absolutely no idea why Noir is doing those things with them. I could be mistaken though since I’m quickly reading through the LN in preparation for the anime so I’ll know if the anime skipped content or changed it. Absolutely hate it when an anime does that, unless the source material is bad and changing it is for the better.

Alright, I'll take your word for that since I quit this novel early. It just really rubbed me the wrong way by starting off on the wrong foot. Had Noir been immediately honest with Emma I probably would have rolled with it, but it felt like he was taking advantage of her crush even before he found the dungeon.

I think I only made it until the third girl was introduced when finally reaching my limit. There are so many other things I could be doing, so I tend to drop anything the moment my irritation outstrips my enjoyment. Although I doubt my issues with the classism aspect will improve.

By the way, you may want to read ANN's interview with the anime's director. According to him, they changed Noir into another potato.

I stopped stressing out over anime cutting content from LNs because it nearly always happens. There are very few anime based on LNs that I think match their source material in quality as a result of that. Instead, I focus on the advantages unique to anime such as visual presentation and sound bringing key scenes to life in a way I could never imagine.