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Merxamers
Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 720
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 11:16 am
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While i haven't read this one, i did read another work by this author- Her Majesty's Swarm, which was a poorly written and sadistic dollar-store version of Overlord. This work doesn't sound very appealing to me; it seems like maybe they wanted to capitalize on The Saga of Tanya the Evil, but that work doesn't pretend Tanya is a good person or one who's success we should root for.
I think there are much, much better "villainess" works out there.
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JR-1
Joined: 02 Oct 2012
Posts: 70
Location: Southeast Asia
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 11:19 am
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Yeah I kinda like this one but it's in a similar way to I like watching trainwrecks of isekai revenge manga (how low they can go?).
This feels like the umpteenth iteration of tropes where authors who don't actually know or appreciate the originator of the genre itself (otome games) tries their hand on making an iteration and the result is closer to another genre altogether. See also The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs where the game world is closer to galge but with the gender reversed instead of any otome game.
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heavyweather
Joined: 29 Aug 2008
Posts: 97
Location: Fargo, ND
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 12:50 pm
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Good grief, reading this book sounds miserable. I'm sorry that you had to go through that, Caitlin.
(I'm also surprised that it didn't warrant any F grades, but that's neither here nor there. The text is more than enough to keep me away.)
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andramus
Joined: 19 Apr 2020
Posts: 192
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 3:49 pm
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I feel like most of the light novel reviews I read on this site are by Rebecca. As I was reading this review I thought it sounded more negative than I'm used to from Rebecca only to realise it wasn't her reviewing it.
I'm enjoying this so far and I'm curious to see how the main character ends up where we see her at the start of the novel. The suggestion so far is that her downfall is a product of her walking the wrong path of her own choosing. However I'll be interested to see if some external factors come into play later on so that things aren't as clear cut. Someone had a theory that the opening scene was actually a fantasy sequence that never actually comes to pass.
I was looking forward to reading a review of this novel on this site because I've been enjoying it as something a bit different for the genre. It's disappointing that Caitlin didn't find much to like about it but that's the way things go sometimes.
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Minos_Kurumada
Joined: 04 Nov 2015
Posts: 1181
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 9:26 pm
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I understand not liking Naofumi (I don't like nor dislike him) but compare him to Keyaru or this girl it's way, way too much and kinda feels parodic of the hate boner some people have for Shield Hero.
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all-tsun-and-no-dere
ANN Reviewer
Joined: 06 Jul 2015
Posts: 648
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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 11:25 pm
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Minos_Kurumada wrote: | I understand not liking Naofumi (I don't like nor dislike him) but compare him to Keyaru or this girl it's way, way too much and kinda feels parodic of the hate boner some people have for Shield Hero. |
Naofumi tortures children and everyone he dislikes is written as malicious, incompetent, or both.
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Minos_Kurumada
Joined: 04 Nov 2015
Posts: 1181
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 12:16 am
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all-tsun-and-no-dere wrote: |
Minos_Kurumada wrote: | I understand not liking Naofumi (I don't like nor dislike him) but compare him to Keyaru or this girl it's way, way too much and kinda feels parodic of the hate boner some people have for Shield Hero. |
Naofumi tortures children and everyone he dislikes is written as malicious, incompetent, or both. |
If you think that's equivalent to Keyaru's crimes I quite frankly don't know what to tell you.
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Lin Liren
Joined: 11 Dec 2018
Posts: 78
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 1:15 am
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Ah, with a hero as unapologetically cruel and cynical as their beloved never-growing, never changing misanthropic child-killing lannisters and sopranos, this would be THE perfect Isekai Light Novel for Anime-hating hbo fans, who with a sarcastic yawn LOVE to dismiss REAL Heroes who actually Grow and Develop their Humanity and TRY to make the World a Kinder & Gentler Place as “nice happy people.”
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Ashabel
Joined: 16 Feb 2010
Posts: 351
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 1:42 am
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Minos_Kurumada wrote: |
all-tsun-and-no-dere wrote: |
Minos_Kurumada wrote: | I understand not liking Naofumi (I don't like nor dislike him) but compare him to Keyaru or this girl it's way, way too much and kinda feels parodic of the hate boner some people have for Shield Hero. |
Naofumi tortures children and everyone he dislikes is written as malicious, incompetent, or both. |
If you think that's equivalent to Keyaru's crimes I quite frankly don't know what to tell you. |
It's probably worth noting that the Rising of Shield Hero has two versions, the original web novel one that was posted online and translated many years ago, and the light novel that is currently still in publication and neither the Japanese nor English fanbase know where it's going because it abandoned the original direction of the story somewhere around volume 4.
The original web novel had such pearls as Naofumi sitting down with popcorn so he can watch a 4-hour recording of Myne being sexually assaulted to death, as well as an entire chapter of him presiding over a mass execution of everyone an antagonist cared about, including women and children, complete with graphic descriptions of multiple deaths.
Yes, it's easy to pretend that Shield Hero's reputation as obnoxious edgelord bullshit is overblown and falsified, but believe me, the original web novel made even the more grotesque content of Redo of Healer look like footage of kittens rolling around in a basket.
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Minos_Kurumada
Joined: 04 Nov 2015
Posts: 1181
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 3:20 am
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Please realice the link in the review redirects you to the LN-Manga-Anime version of SH not the WN.
If the reviewer wants to draw a parallelism, then the fact that the WN version of Naofumi is the one being referenced must be addressed on the review, because the average reader is going to wonder when did Naofumi did something as bad a gender-bend a guy to be gangrap3d in a building in flames.
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Punch Drunk Marc
Joined: 04 Oct 2013
Posts: 1750
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 5:18 am
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Ashabel wrote: |
It's probably worth noting that the Rising of Shield Hero has two versions, the original web novel one that was posted online and translated many years ago, and the light novel that is currently still in publication and neither the Japanese nor English fanbase know where it's going because it abandoned the original direction of the story somewhere around volume 4.
The original web novel had such pearls as Naofumi sitting down with popcorn so he can watch a 4-hour recording of Myne being sexually assaulted to death, as well as an entire chapter of him presiding over a mass execution of everyone an antagonist cared about, including women and children, complete with graphic descriptions of multiple deaths.
Yes, it's easy to pretend that Shield Hero's reputation as obnoxious edgelord bullshit is overblown and falsified, but believe me, the original web novel made even the more grotesque content of Redo of Healer look like footage of kittens rolling around in a basket. |
This just sounds like the author of RoH read that web novel and said "Oh I wanna do this!".
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spegasaur
Joined: 01 Mar 2020
Posts: 10
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 7:08 am
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To go back to Villainess: Reloaded!, I feel the review is, perhaps, a touch harsh. The opening scene is shocking, yes, but it serves a valuable purpose: If it turns you off, stop reading. If you carry on, I imagine your response will be very similar to the reviewer's. It is also worth pointing out, though, that it isn't clear how canonical the opening is; we're given no context to the slaughter, and the story immediately jumps back to Astrid as a pre-school child. In the "past" (the rest of the story's present), Astrid does nothing (ok, very little) that's morally suspect. Her mental commentary is something else; but again, if you get through the opening scene, it's not going to phase you. I'm also going to question how reliable a narrator Astrid is - this is someone who's doing experimental brain surgery on herself, after all.
As for the complaint that Astrid is brilliant at everything and everyone loves her... I'm pretty sure this can be levelled at 90% of isekai. Probably more. This isn't to say that it isn't a flaw - it very much is - but if you're reading this genre, it isn't likely to be a fatal one.
The other complaint in the review that's repeated is that the writing is poor. I'm not necessarily going to disagree - but I don't think the writing (or translation? It can be tricky to separate the two) ever really dropped below average? It might be worthwhile including an example of the poor writing, if it was such a turn-off for the reviewer.
And finally... no positives? At all? At the very least, the novel is trying to play with different tropes (and a very different protagonist) than pretty much any other isekai I've read. As with most evolutionary experiments, this one is probably destined to be niche success (at best), but it is at least different. And in Isekai, is this not something to be treasured?
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Casval Rem Deikun
Joined: 24 Feb 2021
Posts: 270
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 10:21 am
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spegasaur wrote: | To go back to Villainess: Reloaded!, I feel the review is, perhaps, a touch harsh. The opening scene is shocking, yes, but it serves a valuable purpose: If it turns you off, stop reading. If you carry on, I imagine your response will be very similar to the reviewer's. It is also worth pointing out, though, that it isn't clear how canonical the opening is; we're given no context to the slaughter, and the story immediately jumps back to Astrid as a pre-school child. In the "past" (the rest of the story's present), Astrid does nothing (ok, very little) that's morally suspect. Her mental commentary is something else; but again, if you get through the opening scene, it's not going to phase you. I'm also going to question how reliable a narrator Astrid is - this is someone who's doing experimental brain surgery on herself, after all.
As for the complaint that Astrid is brilliant at everything and everyone loves her... I'm pretty sure this can be levelled at 90% of isekai. Probably more. This isn't to say that it isn't a flaw - it very much is - but if you're reading this genre, it isn't likely to be a fatal one.
The other complaint in the review that's repeated is that the writing is poor. I'm not necessarily going to disagree - but I don't think the writing (or translation? It can be tricky to separate the two) ever really dropped below average? It might be worthwhile including an example of the poor writing, if it was such a turn-off for the reviewer.
And finally... no positives? At all? At the very least, the novel is trying to play with different tropes (and a very different protagonist) than pretty much any other isekai I've read. As with most evolutionary experiments, this one is probably destined to be niche success (at best), but it is at least different. And in Isekai, is this not something to be treasured? |
Well said. I was just reading the review and honestly would have liked to have seen some examples too. The people at J Novel for the most do a really nice job at translating.
The fact that not a single positive was given really indicates that this was more of a personal opinion and not a real review of a work. With reviews you need to separate how you feel and analyze what is present and not let your personality mix in with it. That's what separates great reviews from just... standard reviews.
I'm more inclined to check this series out now though. Despite the tropes and following series like Redo and Shield, I do enjoy a overtop take on the the isekai/villainess series. It just sounds like mindless fun. What it seems it succeeded at.
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar
Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 16963
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 2:38 pm
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Had to do some cleanup to get rid of the off topic debate on what is or is not a review. Especially since several of you wanted to be rather passive aggressive and snarky over it. Stick to the actual topic.
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all-tsun-and-no-dere
ANN Reviewer
Joined: 06 Jul 2015
Posts: 648
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 4:09 pm
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Quote: | the way she casts herself as a victim while admitting to bullying the heroine reads, to my American eyes, like a mass shooter's manifesto as she revels in the death and destruction she has caused |
I figured I'd catch some heat for this so I'm ready to contextualize a little further.
Some samples of the text that led me to make this comparison:
Quote: |
“Do you not even have love for your own country?” the old man asked.
“Hmm. Guess not. My only concern right now is the total annihilation of my enemies. Though I would prefer it if the people of my homeland welcomed that.”
Love for my country? Why would anyone love a country that banishes a duke’s family over nothing more than the heroine getting bullied a bit? |
Quote: | “Blau. Was that every enemy?” I asked with the hot muzzle of my gun pointed toward the sky.
“There are no more, Master,” my fairy Blau replied. “But are you sure about this? You didn’t have to go this far...”
“It’s necessary, Blau. The enemy takes me too lightly. I have to make them all experience true fear. And I want to collect field data.” Gotta admit, my real motivation for all this is that field data though. Tee hee. |
Now, I included the phrase "to my American eyes" because my reading of that scene is at least partially informed by my cultural context, which I share with the majority of ANN's readership. In Japan, where guns aren't easily available, enacting a mass shooting like that is only slightly more plausible than writing people's names in a Death Note for most people. However, for us, it's a regular occurrence. That will change the scene's effect on a lot of people, and how we interpret it. I wanted to point out that context because I know to people in many other countries, it's nowhere near as immediate or visceral a concern.[/quote]
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