There were a few needlessly longwinded exposition sections in the middle of this volume. It got quite repetitive in a few places. I skipped entire pages without feeling like I missed anything. Like when it was going on about how the soldiers are valiant and steadfast despite being powerless. Or elaborating on the king's self loathing. Many other smaller sections as well.

@Pomelo said in Fake Saint of the Year Vol. 2 Discussion!:

Curious about everyone’s favourite character(s) so far. Mine’s Supple!

Eterna, I guess, since she's the most reasonable, even though she has almost no screen time. And real-world Niito. Though I'm not much of a fan of any of them really.

I kinda hate the protagonist, EllizeNiito, since he's continually lying to the reader. and actions conflict with alleged long term goals. Makes it frustrating to read, even though I like the overarching plot otherwise.

@Outinthegardener said in D-Genesis Vol. 5 Discussion:

Whiskey though, my policy is never to spend less than your age in dollars.

Thinking back to what I was purchasing at the corner liquor store in Chicago in my thirties...lets just say I'd have a hard time looking you in the eyes.
It was Canadian Mist, so maybe not technically whiskey, and I mixed it with lemonade...
It was purely to get sloshed.

@Hylebos said in D-Genesis Vol. 5 Discussion:

I uh...don't drink wine myself so I just stole whatever red wine was in the bota box on the counter to make the sauce.

'Wine in a Box' is just fine for cooking with, much of the time.

I just finished the volume and it feels like I read 10 pages worth of plot. It was especially aggravating when we were at the climax of the volume and the author decided it was a good time to talk about poker.
I still think the story is worth reading but sometimes I wonder how long I will last and if, given the pacing, we will ever reach a conclusion. Author said we aren't at the halfway point which means we have at least another 8 or 10 years but given we just defeated Lupis (and she's even still around) I wouldn't be surprised if it's going to take much longer for the ending.

@mlindner given how different the various versions of this story are catching upto the wn is not much of an issue really.

The WN is quite different from the LN which is different from the Manga which is different from the Anime.

It's quite possible that if the Anime has gotten a second season that he's working on the script for that, as I'm pretty much sure I remember reading them say that the anime is now there preferred start to the story.

I liked this one much more than I was expecting. The protagonist is cool, strong, fun and is not afraid to touch a woman. The girls are nice, including the ones that were introduced as antagonists. The story seems interesting and there was enough action to keep a good pacing. Only complain I have so far is the age plot device the author introduced to keep the protagonist from becoming physical with the heroines. I hope the author will be able to keep writing until the story reaches its conclusion.

Just noticed I hadn't read the last section, just as the volume was released.
So I got that and the bonus story at the same time.

Maybe a little too much sugar at once.

@Geezer-Weasalopes said in The Fake Hero Crashes the Party Vol. 1 Discussion!:

How those who speak for the Goddess would react could be quite the different matter; that she granted him the role of Fake Hero and set him down that path seems to have escaped them.
That he's now a seemingly 'free agent' in a world where such don't exist would disturb them if they were capable of independent thought...
I'm not a fan of the Church Hierarchy.

What's actually going on between the Goddess and the Demon King is your usual good question.

Aside from having the gall to still be alive, Foyle has stolen the Saint, who belongs to the hero’s party.

Got around to finishing this volume. Definitely a lighter tone.

Think the collateral damage where she basically wrote a horror film for an entire family to get revenge on one person was a bit too much and probably turned me off from reading every week. But this volume mostly stayed away from that. I'm not against revenge but she basically had that knight kill his mother and little sister who is pretty much same age as this girl she just adopted. Hopefully motherhood will mellow her out a bit.

Even if Forto was single and a commoner I’m not sure if Lucia would’ve gone for him, her feelings really do seem to be “I like this person as a mentor/coworker,” not romantic and I think Lucia would recognize that that’s not the kind of feelings Forto would want in a relationship (plus the age gap still, dunno how Lucia would feel about that even if Forto wasn’t a nobleman)

As always this has been an enjoyable read. It was a simple yet touching story with some supernatural elements. The fourth-wall breaks were an interesting ploy to make us let down our guard with regards to how the story develops.

Things I learnt from this volume:

WW2 bombings of Kyoto which was probably obscured by popular Hollywood depiction of history more Kyoto desserts that I should try the next time I get to visit tea ceremony history and trivia

"Wrenched away" is interesting wording. I've long suspected that Theresa didn't leave him voluntarily.

I assume 10 is the last chapter, that was a fun first volume. The anime was great bc of the yokai art but I do enjoy the genre smashup of "sage from old Japan in a vaguley Western fantasy RPG" 😅 that is well executed here. Looking forward to going beyond the anime plot.

@Alifanfaron - Yumiella's delusion is like Woof Woof Story where Routa is always trying to convince the world and himself that he's an adorable widdle puppy with button eyes and a cute face.

Reality: He's a Fenrir with an intense aura, razor sharp fangs and a terrifying face. Only his family is somehow oblivious.

Here’s where I realize we still haven’t seen the ultimate dungeon defense in the title

@Damon-Cavalchini Yeah, don't worry. I won't sue or cancel my subscription if they're late.

JNC is really finicky about date commitments, but all I'm usually interested in is a rough order of magnitude - 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, several years, etc. I agree that a quality job is more important than a quick release, but with the caveat that my interest will wane if they're too slow. Right now I'm particularly looking forward to Adorable Dungeon Master and Unruly Summon. But I'm not confident I will still be as invested 12+ months from now.

I guess I'd like the contest to be a success, but I'm not willing to commit to buying any more than the excerpts I "hearted" during the voting period (that said, I'm willing to make a hard commitment - if a preorder were available I'd do so today).

@Geezer-Weasalopes said in Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon Vol. 1 Discussion:

@Windsagio said in Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon Vol. 1 Discussion:

The characterization of the 'bad guys' is incredibly poor and unbelievable

Kinda sorta maybe... not?

If, and this is a major if, the occasional human shows up with a 'gift' that places them at the top of the hierarchy, something that makes them a 'master', wouldn't you want to make sure they don't hate your guts due to how they were treated before the value of their gift was confirmed?
Given that the social structure is such that humans are the reviled scum of creation, for a human to not have a severe negative attitude by the time their gift is identified is going to take careful handling.
Which is where groups such as the Concord of the Tribes come in.
Carefully selected by the rulers of each of their races, coached and trained such that they can more than repress the instinctive loathing they feel for human scum, they take in those pathetic dirt grubbers, befriend them, nurture them, make them believe that there are those of the other races who truly believe that humans too have value... and if it turns out that the human does have value, some of them, of the proper sex, are forced to mate with them [gag! retch! Bestiality?!] to bring their gift into the genome of their species.

And if the human turns out to be the usual trash?
Dispose of them.
Do it such that their cover isn't blown, so no witnesses; you don't want to force any more of the better species to behave in such a nauseating manner toward human scum than you have to, so no one can see them drop the act... except for the trash being disposed of.

And... hey, maybe they're onto something.

Because it turns out that Light did believe their feelings were real.
And if they'd figured out the true details of his 'gift', they'd have had him eating out of the palm of their hands.
But his 'gift' requires ambient mana, and he never had the opportunity to use it someplace with very much of that, so all that showed up was trash.
So the orders came down to eliminate him, and the Concord of the Tribes just couldn't resist the chance to rub his nose in how thoroughly they'd deceived him, rather than just kill him with no warning... resulting in his survival, and arrival someplace with the most ambient mana around.

So now Light is precisely what the Concord of the Tribes was supposed to have prevented occurring, an human with Power who has reason to want to take all of the races down.

So I'd say the characterization was actually spot on.
And that there was ample reason for the deception and reveal.
He's the first time gloating and rubbing the human's face in the ground backfired, in how many thousand years?
Because I'm going to say this has been going on for a very long time indeed.

Will the story live up to all the world-building that went into the initial premise?
We'll find out.

@topgnu this is because this is a character driven series that focus entirely on the characters' madness, depression, weak will, and broken minds. And wherher or not these characters can find happiness or not at the end of their path of self destruction.
You'll continue to find the characters stoop into new lows until they arrive at the destination of their lives.
The author also have pessimistic outlook on human nature. For example, the author believes it is just wishful thinking to expect human being to learn from their mistake by experiencing just one or two traumatic failures in their lives. The author believe only after making repeated mistake again and again and again that human being will begin to understand and start making slight progress on becoming a better person.
So yeah, expect Kanami to constantly take two steps back whenever he thought he made a step forward in his life.

In short, this series is more of a presentation of author's philosophy rather than an entertainment.
Author out right stated that this story is written because the author cannot find a story he or she likes 100%, as there is always something that he or she disagree with. So the author end up writing this story as the story that he or she can like 100% which reflects the author's belief system entirely.

I must be greedy, but I would have kept the money for myself instead of helping out complete strangers and another business in town that had nothing to do with me.

@Pieta said in Earl and Fairy Vol. 6 Discussion!:

As usual, I'm struck by how well every volume weaves together stories that are very supernatural and stories that are very down to earth, without either side feeling too overwhelming or dominant.

For a romantic heroine, it's notable how Lydia never gets sidelined. She always has something to do, something beyond just being the expert on the fey, and is perfectly capable of getting into trouble, and out of some of it, herself. She's a woman of action who's definitely not a woman of violence, a good if somewhat rare combination.

The thing that at the same time fascinates and worries me is the romance part. Edgar's upbringing has given him his tools - a superficial charm, a quick wit, and limitless audacity - but he seems utterly lost in situations where those do not suffice, such as honestly wooing a woman. It remains to be seen whether the books will see fit for Lydia to see through Edgar using completely wrong means to realize his actual feelings, or whether he will make the realization that to pursue Lydia, he has to abandon all he was taught to be. I'd very much prefer the latter, by the way, because Edgar successfully pursuing Lydia in the way he currently does feels more than a little wrong to me. There's just a bit too much of not taking no for an answer in his behaviour, and not listening when she says something he doesn't want to hear. He's trying his best but also failing badly, a victim and a victimizer, one who has both the potential and the motivation to do better, but still stumbles more than he walks.

What makes this different from the countless romances out there that have a dominant man walk into a woman's life and treat it like the most romantic thing ever no matter what she thinks of the idea, is that we get to see Edgar's side too, and who he is and what he does hurts him, too. He's not happy in his life, and just as he thinks of others as tools to use, he treats himself as a means to an end, too. We've seen some movement in a good direction in this volume, though.

Still, the romance part is not for everybody, for sure.

Finally, a shout-out to Kelpie and Ermine, who remain very entertaining side characters. I especially like that we've seen Ermine take on an active and more independent role lately.

What a wonderful way to sum up the romance! You've put into words a lot of thoughts I've had that I've struggled to explain myself.

I also find Ermine's part of the story very engaging too. Maybe we will see some development for Raven going forward too? :3

@grobinson2k1 said in [Peddler in Another World Vol. 8

I’ve read too many times in light novels that the antagonist manipulates monsters to attack.

Not only that. It takes a while to visit all villages, so it is highly suspect that after a few days the last village is attacked by ogres almost at the same time as Kilpa's village.

Sounds definately planned. 2nd hint, this is the end of the volume...