Blast Off with July's Catchup Selection!

Kurzaa

@degeneratesock I'm still reading through the tournament arc of the first volume. But it sounds like the story is going to head in an entirely new direction before we get to volume 7.

TheGrimLich

@Kurzaa You're in the Princess and the Guillotine. Sock's talking about, IIRC, three arcs later. The directional change is less a change in direction and more a natural development given things we learn later in the story. Including the enemy's true nature...

rkkn

@Lily-Garden said in Blast Off with July's Catchup Selection!:

This is where I shamelessly insist that everyone read my favorite series on JNC, Tearmoon Empire. Not only is it expertly written, with wit and wordplay beyond anything I have ever seen in any other light novel, but it has amazing characters that go on actual arcs! A lot of LNs have static characterization but watching the main character and her friends grow and change is a treat. It’s a wonderful story of goofy misunderstandings with a solid heart, which at its core has the heartfelt beliefs in second chances and the goodness of people! And it has a snarky narrator, and how can you go wrong with that.

Join us in extolling the virtues of the Great Sage of the Empire!
Let Mia-itus reign supreme!

yes. well said. and I agree. It is my opinion that tearmoon is the best story on j-novel

marcus_atticus

Got the chance to read some black summoner. The narrative conflict from the get go of no-memories and I remember cultural references within the same volume is hard to ignore. After reading pass that, this series definitely falls under the generic isekai with all the tropes OP protagonist (not-Kirito), who doesn’t want to stand out with his overpowered abilities, harem babes from all races who are also OP, I’m gonna die (psyche!), the heroes became my apprentices, and much more! I’ll keep on reading to see what the fuss is about, but this will fall into the low brow section.

Campbella

@marcus_atticus I'm glad I read this. I was about to test it out since it doesn't have the harem tag but since it seems to have harem elements I'll just pass. I'm getting tired of harems in stories they're rarely ever done well imo

Angelus

@marcus_atticus, I only took a look at Black Summoner because the anime was just starting, and it really did seem utterly generic isekai at first. But reading it was kind of addictive somehow, and after just a few days I'm part way through volume 9.

marcus_atticus

@Campbella I’m glad it helped you out, unfortunately non-harem LN feels very sparse in my limited sampling of LN. Despite my limited exposure to LNs, I am not a fan of harem for harem’s sake. I could tolerate it if there’s a good organic narrative build up to it or used sparingly. LNs can’t be blamed though as it caters to a particular demographic.

marcus_atticus

@Angelus I could certainly see the appeal and I’ve come to endearingly adapt the terminology used in anime-viewers. The term is ‘Thrash isekai’ which is analogous to thrash TV. There is nothing more entertaining than reading a slightly different rehash of a familiar story to find the golden nugget that made it divergent from the tiredly overused tropes such as

spoiler

. I am probably going to continue to read it to see where it goes, but like I said before it is low brow entertainment for my personal taste.

marcus_atticus

A few words on the Der Wolf manga, the unique style reminds me of oversaturated photos and makes it physically exhausting to the eye. Other than the minor visual hindrance, the manga works well and got me excited to read the LN (it is now on my reading list). From my impression, the story itself borrows some generic isekai tropes, however it is used in a way that is grounded to the story and it’s own world. That is, if you remove the isekai trope elements it can still function as a contained standalone story. I’m looking forward to see where the story goes.

myskaros

Just a reminder that catchups will be changing next Monday! Better finish reading July's selection before they're gone!