Looking for Recs please, "Down with the system"
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I'm doing a reading challenge and one of the categories is 'down with the system': read a book in which a main plot revolves around disrupting a system - and for extra points, not a governmental system so I'm looking for light novels specifically that have this theme. Anyone got any ideas?
Also looking for space pirates if anyone has any suggestions for that?
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Any title that's set in a visual novel and the protagonist is trying to change the outcome would potentially work, I think, and there's no shortage of titles to choose from. Reincarnated Princess Skipping Routes, Endo and Kobayashi, and Goodbye Overtime are my favorites here.
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@saffire said in Looking for Recs please, "Down with the system":
Any title that's set in a visual novel and the protagonist is trying to change the outcome would potentially work, I think, and there's no shortage of titles to choose from. Reincarnated Princess Skipping Routes, Endo and Kobayashi, and Goodbye Overtime are my favorites here.
If "changing a 'fated' outcome" counts as a 'down with the system' theme, then I Refuse To Be Your Enemy would work as well.
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@Musereader - If you're willing to read a series and not a single novel, I'd say So I'm a spider, so what fits your criteria very strongly, but explaining why would be a spoiler. The "down with the system" bits don't really come until about halfway through the series, though. (Also, no space pirates.)
Spoiler-ish explanation:
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@Musereader That is actually a fairly common theme.
I May Be a Guild Receptionist, But I'll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time
Published by Yen Press
J-Novel Example:
EXP Is Golden
https://j-novel.club/series/exp-is-golden -
This one is mainly about a couple women taking down the male hierarchy in their society. If that's considered a system, then...
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@saffire
I was thinking of something where they are actually fighting to change a system rather than trying to avoid an outcome in the system. -
@rsog412 i can read a series, but i have 25 challenges and so i would like the down with the system element to be right upfront, like one of the other prompts is 'parent' and well 'No wife no problem: a mages life with his daughter' has it right in the title. I've got fashion where they make clothes so i'm doing 'maiden of the needle' knights 'Skeleton knight from another world'
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@pcj that sound like a good one thankyou
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@Musereader There is a Light Novel called "First Last Idol" (i think) and oddly enough I think it could fit into both of your catagories.
It's kind of weird but fun scifi. -
@Musereader I second @SeamstressAya's recommendation of Last and First Idol . It's a single volume collection of three short stories, so not a huge commitment .
The story gets gloriously weird, this a book described as "existential widescreen yuri baroque proletariat hard sci-fi idol story"The second story in the collection, Evolution Girls, also fits your criteria. Honestly, Evolution Girls is my favorite story of the collection.
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So this is one of those scenarios where the interpretation of the system flavors all that follows.
What is and is not the system very much changes - is it some overly powerful system, a game system or a status screen that ends up breaking. Or is it a fundamental system of reality where the person is so strong that they warp reality.
Or is it something like overturning the status quo and how the world is - changing how the political structure or the daily life of people living there.
The person that was given one skill and they used it to the extreme, or the person that carried some knowledge from the modern era that revolutionized everything.
I don't necessarily recommend any of these books, and some may be unpopular because they are already so popular/well known/overdone/boring etc.
In a more lighthearted sense, people that break the system in a good way that may lead to game designers crying:
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Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense
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A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life
When the person is so powerful due to seemingly a fluke or other gifted power where they begin to change the very world around them:
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In another world with my smartphone
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I Said Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life!
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Death march to the parallel world rhapsody
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Chillin' in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers
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Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers
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Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear
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Solo Leveling
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Someday Will I Be The Greatest Alchemist
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I Parry Everything What Do You Mean I’m the Strongest I’m Not Even an Adventurer yet
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Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill
When they actively realize that they are setting out to change the world:
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Maoyu : Archenemy and Hero
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Tokyo Ghoul
When the way things are set start going one way, and either their constitution or their friends help pull them through:
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A certain magical index
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After-School Dungeon Diver Level Grinding in Another World
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Have a Coffee After School, In Another World's Café
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Tsukimichi - Moonlit Fantasy
If you are okay with the idea that modern knowledge upsetting the apple cart:
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Knight's and Magic
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I Shall Survive Using Potions!
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Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord
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The Magician Who Rose From Failure
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Cooking with Wild Game
And technically a mix though your miles will definitely vary with this one, with realizing that I am NOT recommending this one for any school related project but 'broken system' fits this bill:
Loner Life in Another World
And this one is just an interesting space pirate premise.
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The Dorky NPC Mercenary Knows His Place
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I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!
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~Yes its a lot of suggestions, but it is also a lot of common suggestions. And anything anyone else suggests should likely be the better, diamond in the rough, version by getting these low hanging fruit out of the way.
Best of luck if you are still working on the project!
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Ascendance of a Bookworm
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@yumenokage can't, have already read it and has to be a new book read this year
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@fjordobordo, thankyou for that list, it's r/fantasy book bingo on reddit, 25 squares which runs from April 2025 to March 2026, so i've still got most of a year to read 24 books and one 'not a book' (there are so many anime to chose from). I have read 6 books already and have locked in most of the rest, got some interesting ones to look forward to - its my own choice to do a Japanese theme for this year's card, its just a personal challenge. I'm way past school age!
The description is literally what i put in the OP 'Read a book in which a main plot revolves around disrupting a system' they encourage you to find your own definitions and read a variety of speculative fiction. I was thinking something where they are deliberately trying to overthrow the system, i had not considered that they could break it just by having knowledge or being powerful, i'll have to see what they think.
Solo levelling is Korean, so that is out.
Maoyo is not translated so that's out
I've had Tsukimichi mentioned a few times from different places, that may be the one I go with.
Dorky NPC Mercenary is what i have pencilled in for pirates already.
