This manga’s intriguing premise and art style got my attention. But from day one it avoids focusing on world-building and writing believable characters with understandable motivations. There is little the plot can do to save you from the consequences of this. It starts to eat at you until you just give up on it.

Here are some examples:

Why is MC so useless? He has no standout personality, he’s curious about nothing and never seems to think until it's convenient for the plot. His life before getting isekaid into this world is somehow forgotten and has no impact on who he is.

Why are all of the heroes except the shield hero conveniently useless? In fact, why are all male characters conveniently treacherous, stupid or useless? I know it’s a harem but make it believable.

Everything is too convenient. Random characters like the merchant are conveniently nice to MC in ways that make no sense. Every female is somehow drawn to this lacklustre MC. The only challenge MC gets is when the plot decides he needs a reason to look good, so random characters become nuisances for stupid reasons as a result.

Why are all characters one-dimensional? Every character seems to be a plot device, they have no individuality except to be a tool to make MC look good and advance the plot to an unknown direction.

The princess’ motivations for sabotaging everything are never made known. She’s presented as some evil idiot but somehow she sabotages the hero endlessly - it makes no sense.

Why does the world need heroes? In fighting the waves the hero’s harem/party members do the majority of the work, making me think why do they need the hero then? It’s never made clear what limitations the people of this world have such that they can’t fight off waves by themselves.

In the past, i thought this was worth a 10/10, however rereading it now, i dont think it is a 10/10
its a 7, or an 7.5 at best, the story interesting, but mc is literally so shit, like he does not stick to his morals.

Overall this manga is not that intricate, there are two sides in this manga, good and bad. There is no in between, whenever a character switches sides, they make sure they emulate the pinnical of the other side, so if a good guy turns bad, they make it so apparent he is bad like he kicks puppies or something, when they make a bad guy good, they have to overexaggerate, like sure he killed people, but look he being nice to old lady after his leaf changed (turning over new leaf)
I would not recommend this really, its ok, but you will definitly find yourself asking why did they put this into the story.

Below here are examples of what i mean, so be wary of spoilers:
in one chapter the mc is asked by the heros to help them against a church, and he does after bringing up all the shit he has been through because of them.
The queen was also not that great, like she was so easily willing to throw her husband and daughter under the bus.
The king and daughter were not that well written.like i dont understand why the princess would do those things, she literally had nothing to gain, she is a princess, i understand the religion of the three saints, but i do not believe that is strong enough motive to fuck mc over, like sure he was chosen by the sheild, but that does not mean necessary he is bad, the way he interacted with her was nice, so she must have second thoughts or something
Mc also forgive people who were trying to kill him because he said if he was in their situation, he would do the same. And the people who were trying to kill him have not really great motivations, they have something to protect. While that is a good motivation, just saying that is ur motivation is not something that is good enough to be considered

... Last updated on March 7th, 2023, 8:30am

an anti-hero... and it's just thrown out the window. Boring. Relies on cheap betrayals and petty injustices that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. The plot is so irrational it makes my eyes bleed. It might work on a teenager, I guess, but anyone with any real intelligence will notice how cheap the plot is. This shit is for kids.

Due to its slow monthly releases, this one hasn't aged well.

... Last updated on October 12th, 2020, 10:17am

s I was reading the first chapter, I was thinking, Is this just a typical seinen manga (I am reading tate no yuusha no nariagari manga) about some random person travelling to another world? But boy, was I wrong about this one. It illustrated the meaning of how it was to be downgraded by society but with the essence of fantasy in a different world.

I was captivated by the story. It started with a simple cliché, that somehow lead into something much greater that makes me love this manga so much. It demonstrated the meaning of betrayal and what it meant to be isolated and hated by others, and the meaning of warmth, strength and love, all in a few chapters.

The art is beautifully illustrated to capture most of what is showcased in this manga, but I believe it doesn`t really capture a true battle scene. However, it was able to fully illustrate the characters emotions and feelings; in all aspects. Like Raphtalia`s loyalty and respect towards Naofumi, and Naofumi`s depression and lack of love in the world; for he was being hated by many around him.

As Naofumi started as an ordinary person and has now evolved into the new person he is, I believe he went through massive events that helped change his character throughout the story. He was betrayed and played by a thief and degraded by those around him, and that rendered him unable to see and enjoy the beauty of life. But that all changed as he met Rapthalia, who later becomes his slave, as he is unable to wield weapons other than his shield.

After the harsh life Raphtalia has lead so far, she was bought by Naofumi, the shield hero. She was afraid of killing monsters at first, but she learned to trust Naofumi and feel needed as she was not treated so before. She tries her best to become of good use to Naofumi, as she learns that he will be the one to protect the people during the Calamity. She goes under a giant growth spurt, and because of that attracts danger to Naofumi but that allows him to be able to experience and see the beauty of the world.

I, personally enjoyed this manga, and those hoping to read the manga, I will tell you this manga has its ups and downs but its REALLY worth it. Even with 8 chapters translated so far, it really surpassed some seinen mangas with more than 20 chapters out there.

As always these stories are quite good and allow the reader to escape a bit. I enjoy the plot and the characters.

The issue is that in this story the author doesn't really give the main character any choice in any matter. It ends up that he just gets pulled along, and thus it doesn't feel like he's actually doing anything himself. Might as well just have jumped to the end of the story and said "the hero did as everyone else forced him to and ended up saving stuff, the end"

... Last updated on March 29th, 2018, 1:25pm

At present, I have 9 of the light novels (all that are out in English) and read the manga up to date of this posting.

I enjoy fun reads like this. The whole 'summoned to another world' thing is carefree entertainment. This, however, distinguishes itself significantly in two ways.

First are the character depth. The main character is very entertaining. More annoyed most of the time than heroic. So far he has demonstrated a lot of growth (growth as in he isn't the same person at current point in story as he was in the beginning, and the reader is very aware of why the growth occurs). Additionally, and worth mention, is Filo. I won't say much other than main character and Filo interactions (including carriages) crack me up to no end.

Second is the volume and length. Too many stories aren't finished or have abrupt endings. Moreover they take on the aspect of bizarre turns (which clearly come off as writing dragging on a good thing). Not the case here. The story is complete for the main character (I believe now spin offs from other characters point of views are coming out) and there is a good chunk. Around 20 volumes. As of Volume 9, the plot is well formed with clear objectives and intrigue and I get the impression the pacing is great for a fully formed ending (no loose ends).

This was a Web Novel turned Light Novel turned Manga. At time of posting, 10 volumes are available on Amazon.com and I believe all of the Light Novel is translated and online for free.

... Last updated on January 30th, 2018, 9:15pm

The flaws mentioned have been downright overblown.

No motivation my ass.The main charcter is put in a constant state of agency.From the very start he had to deal with being accused of stuff he didn't do.The world has a timer on the waves of challenges he has to face.Just cause he is the implied savior that doesn't mean everyone else has to bend over backwards
.There are people who hate him but there are also people who are neutral towards him.The whole world is not so evil towards him.Half the time is spent travelling to different places.

Wish fulfillment.That word has been overused by hipsters.Just because you don't like what you see doesn't make it bad writing.Take your virtue signalling and shove it.The story does show his strength and limitations.He couldn't barely even hurt a beginner monster at the start lol.Every fight had some measure of teamwork and strategy.

And complaining about his short temper.Frankly he is unique.I'm tired of these messiah do gooder shonen protagonists who win solely cause the plot.

And that girl has true character development.You feel that she is a main character in her own right rather than just his harem member.The series has almost nonexistent fanservice.I don't want to spoil too much.

Maybe the villains appear over the top, but their motivations have enough foreshadowing and buildup to make sense.There are people in real life that can behave like that.

... Last updated on July 4th, 2017, 6:06pm

Nobody in this manga has any motivation for anything they do. Every key plot point or illusory bit of character development is quickly forgotten to make way for the next contrived bit of emotional torture porn. The protagonist knows nothing about anything, has no interests or personal history, and is bereft of any curiosity about the world he's in unless the plot needs him to suddenly think for a panel or two. Antagonists are all 2-D cutouts who torment him without mercy for no reason beyond plot-induced stupidity and sadism, despite their survival explicitly resting on his personal success.

None of the support cast seem remotely intelligent, and I'm reminded of the maxim that a character can't be smarter than it's writer. Since no one in the manga has a memory that extends beyond 2 chapters, the plot has a distinct feel of being made up on the fly. Character design is uninspired, and combat is pointless because no rules are ever defined. The manga is best summed up when the protagonist purchases his PG-rated slave. He explicitly requests a cheap, combat oriented male, then walks past a bunch of monstrous ones that the hack illustrator wouldn't have been able to draw during action scenes to purchase a generically cute little girl with raccoon ears because of course he does.

In a genre already bloated with derivative, cliched wish fulfillment, this half-assed shounen revenge fantasy does not rise about flotsam.

Honestly that's the only part of this manga that I don't like. The other heroes look down on him saying that being a tank is for beginners, but from my experience it's always the damage heroes everyone wants to be and thus attracts beginners. Being a tank is hard, and Naofumi embodies that more and more. And he's a healer to boot! Love this manga, just wish is wasn't so game-centered.

... Last updated on March 22nd, 2017, 6:15pm

When I first saw this or even heard of it, I thought it just a normal "Going to a Game-Like world".

The first chapter was... okay but my god did it change the whole feeling in the next chapter. It was surprising plot-twist that change how you just felt about Naofumi (Protagonist) and how you wish something good will happen for Naofumi.

By time goes by you see Naofumi trying to stronger and better but always been stop by a someone who betrayed Naofumi.
The emotional effort that Naofumi and his friends that they are achieving. Really hook you on the story and shuff