April Catchups Are No Joke!
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It doesn't matter. People are buying it because it holds. Maybe not for you but you don't go 10 or 20 volumes without selling well.
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@Geezer-Weasalopes said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
@Travis-Butler said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
@HarmlessDave said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
@Geezer-Weasalopes said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
I must admit I'd never even cracked the cover of Smartphone, nor looked at the back cover blurb, to use print media references.
Having just completed part 5 of volume 1, it's not bad for an OP MC Isekai.
I must admit to questioning the sanity of the locals in that they've been very accepting of what they are aware of his OPness, which is so far beyond what anyone else in their recorded history has been capable of.
It seems well written and the story builds upon itself in an acceptable manner.
There are constraints concerning what he can do with various abilities that make sense even in an OP MC story.All of that. One thing I like, and that the anime failed to convey properly, is that he spends a lot of time working on his skills and crafting before he needs them.
It isn't the lazy anime / LN trope of learning a new skill or finishing move just in time for the current battle.
That said, the author can only keep it up for so long. It wore out its welcome for me around volume 10.
That's the major question, at what point does it cease holding interest.
There was a dud volume for me here and there (like the racing volume) but aside from those I thought it was pretty good up through volume...15? which resolved all of the main arcs.
We've then had 10+ volumes of after story some of which I've enjoyed, many of which were better than staring at the wall. I haven't gotten around to reading the last 3-4 yet.
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The best thing about Smartphone is that there are several self-contained adventures per volume. Even if there's one that not very interesting to you, just skim over it to the next one.
Plus there's no overly long dialogs, battles that drag on for way too long or pointless monologues about random topics that are barely related to the plot. It really feels like you get your money's worth when buying the books.
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@JRPG-Nation said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
It doesn't matter. People are buying it because it holds. Maybe not for you but you don't go 10 or 20 volumes without selling well.
Um.
Excuse me?!I'm not discussing whether others should read it, I'm discussing whether I'll continue finding it of interest.
My tastes differ from a great many.
A couple of the top selling LN series out there...I wouldn't line a bird cage with because it'd harm the bird; clearly others feel differently, as is their right.
Wondering if it will continue to hold my interest very much matters to me.
It's a reasonable thing to ponder upon in discussion with others. -
@Geezer-Weasalopes said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
@Travis-Butler said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
@HarmlessDave said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
@Geezer-Weasalopes said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
I must admit I'd never even cracked the cover of Smartphone, nor looked at the back cover blurb, to use print media references.
Having just completed part 5 of volume 1, it's not bad for an OP MC Isekai.
I must admit to questioning the sanity of the locals in that they've been very accepting of what they are aware of his OPness, which is so far beyond what anyone else in their recorded history has been capable of.
It seems well written and the story builds upon itself in an acceptable manner.
There are constraints concerning what he can do with various abilities that make sense even in an OP MC story.All of that. One thing I like, and that the anime failed to convey properly, is that he spends a lot of time working on his skills and crafting before he needs them.
It isn't the lazy anime / LN trope of learning a new skill or finishing move just in time for the current battle.
That said, the author can only keep it up for so long. It wore out its welcome for me around volume 10.
That's the major question, at what point does it cease holding interest.
I think it depends on your tolerance for Marty Stu antics. He does indeed work to develop his Cool Stuff instead of having it pop up out of nowhere... but the dice are loaded so far in his favor that just about everything he tries works after a little bit of tinkering, and usually with very OP results. Fun at first, especially when you see him being creative, but it wears thin after a while. Worse, just about everyone but the Super Evil Bad Guys loves him and gives him VIP treatment on first sight; again, it's the sort of thing that was OK at first, but I got tired of after a while.
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@Geezer-Weasalopes said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
I'm not discussing whether others should read it, I'm discussing whether I'll continue finding it of interest.
My tastes differ from a great many.
A couple of the top selling LN series out there...I wouldn't line a bird cage with because it'd harm the bird; clearly others feel differently, as is their right.Yep, tastes are different, especially for humor.
I barely made it through 1 volume of Last Dungeon Boonies, and not even that far into Overly Cautious and KonoSuba. On the other hand, Loner Life is one of my favorite reads.
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@Geezer-Weasalopes I didn't direct that at you in particular. It was commentary on the tone of the conversation I was reading.
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Hello,
Let’s all dial it back a bit. It is starting to get a bit too hot in this topic.
Feel free to discuss any negatives or positives you find in any of the series. If the conversion turns to excessive praise or condemnation we will address that.
Thank you
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I really liked Mapping. A shame that it didn't get to conclude, but I recommend it to anyone who is at least a little curious about it.
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I've got to say that this month's catch-ups are right up my alley. I've been wanting to try Housekeeping Mage. I liked the Mapping Light Novels (I was lucky enough that they were catch up series around when I finally joined.) I've been working on Smartphone, and am up to volume 8. I was buying a volume or two every payday for a little while, but I felt that it was getting a little bogged down. So I was prioritizing other series for a bit.
This and last month were really great for my tastes.
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The strength and weakness of Smartphone is that it knows exactly what it wants to be (a lighthearted OP romp with very little dramatic tension), and refuses to deviate from that one bit. The author basically admits to this in a few of the Afterwords. The only thing vaguely surprising about it is how far it's willing to go to push the OP part.
If you're in the mood for comfort food, it's a fun read. If you want actual character arcs and development ... maybe not so much.
I watched most of the 1st season of the anime last night, and it is an awful adaptation. It's like they decided to speedrun some of the "best of" plot points, but without any connective tissue whatsoever.
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@Blindside said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
I watched most of the 1st season of the anime last night, and it is an awful adaptation. It's like they decided to speedrun some of the "best of" plot points, but without any connective tissue whatsoever.
The Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear anime had the same problem -- instead of doing 2-3 volumes well like the Faraway Paladin anime, they did a 5-volume(!) speedrun of sports highlights, missing most of the cuteness, sweetness, and humor.
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I am reading the first volume of Housekeeper but not sure I will continue after the first Volume. I find it a bit longer than I expected. Not sure if that is due to longer parts than what I had become accustomed to reading Altina.
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I'm on volume 2 (April catchup), and one thing I'm anxious about is does Shiori's magic capacity ever grow? I know she's not likely to turn full combat mage, but it's almost a different type of Ascendance of a Bookworm whenever she casts any magic.
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@saffire publisher canceled?
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@isekai-geek
It's been a minute since I've read the first couple of volumes, but spoilers I guess: -
I'm now in volume 7 of Smartphone.
One thing I like very much is how Touya handles explaining how certain things work. A wizard did it, basically.
He knows it's wonky but is willing to go, "Hey, so long as it works, man."The reveal concerning part of why he's so OP worked.
The locals recognize his potential for ill as well as for good, but also grasp that he really isn't that kind of guy...well, except for when he's contemplating how to deal with someone who has threatened those he cares for, then he does go full "Dark Lord" on their sorry ass.
If by character growth one means a drastic change in character, no, doesn't happen.
Coming to accept things he initially resisted as being part and partial of his increased influence?
That happens.
Growth in the others in-story?
Kinda depends upon how you look at things.
Everyone has a selection of tropes associated with them; those tropes don't change.
But they do travel down the paths laid out by those tropes, I think?
They aren't static individuals, even if change is subtle.There does seem to be an overall plotline; I expect that this is a work that will have a decent ending rather than keeping going on forever long past the time it has any justification to do so; it's not an episodic mishmash.
Based upon others' comments I'm not sure I'll check out the anime; I remember the first episode of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear being such that I still haven't watched the second episode due to just how thoroughly they bolixed her background in regard to the whole "Bear" thing.
Had they read any of the source material?!?! -
@Geezer-Weasalopes said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
There does seem to be an overall plotline; I expect that this is a work that will have a decent ending rather than keeping going on forever long past the time it has any justification to do so; it's not an episodic mishmash.
It does both :)
It has a real ending around 15? I think that I thought was pretty good, then 10+ volumes of after story because the readers (, publisher, author's financial advisor ;) ) wanted it. The after stories are completely optional -- read them if they entertain you, skip them if they don't
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@HarmlessDave said in April Catchups Are No Joke!:
It has a real ending around 15?
I went to check (just in case) and I believe the main story ended with volume 21.
And if I recall correctly, around the time that part of the web novel was written, the author mentioned having written an epilogue, but being unsure of whether he should publish it or continue the story. In the end, he decided he wasn't ready to let go just yet, thus the story got its continuation (and the epilogue went unpublished).
Still, epilogue or no, volume 21 marks a good stopping point if someone doesn't have time to finish everything during catch-up; and the story doesn't feel incomplete in any way at that point.
