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Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: November 15th, 2024
  • Mercuri@ani.socialtoLightNovels@ani.social•What light novel(s) have you read last week, and what do you think about it? [December 15 - December 21]English
    3·
    17 days ago

    <Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life!> Volumes 7 - 10. Kinda surprised that there are so many volumes about a perfectly ordinary, normal, average girl.

    Who am I kidding. Mile is a ditz gremlin. And everyone around her just rolls with it. Right now the scenes that stick out the most in my mind are with Faleel.

    Faleel Shenanigans

    When Mile walks into that in and sees the catgirl and is immediately like “WE HAVE TO STAY HERE! ACTUALLY, LETS LIVE HERE FOREVER!” Hilarious. Especially when she’s trying to treat the catgirl like an actual cat with catnip and cat toys and the father is like “She’s not a cat!” but it’s implied that he tried to use cat toys on her too.

    And I LOVED how when they were finally leaving the in, FIVE voices called out… because Mile and Reina were trying to leave with Faleel.

    And now every time they check into a new inn and there’s no catgirl Mile is bummed. That’s SOOO like Mile. A++

    I will say that FUNA’s writing structure is a bit unique. Like, you’ll be in the middle of one plot arc and then a “Side Story” chapter will come up. Usually when that happens, the side story is something that happens around the same time as the main arc but isn’t relevant to the main arc. Like maybe in the main arc they’re trying to cross an ocean on a boat, but the side story will be about them going to the beach while they’re there. That sorta thing.

    It feels like FUNA just goes “I had an idea for a side story so I’m just going to SLAM it right here in the middle of the book whether it belongs there or not.” I mean, other authors usually put all their side stories that don’t cleanly fit anywhere at the end of the book. FUNA does that too, but not always. It can be a little jarring because it’s like “oh, we’re in this country? Oh… now we’re back in Tils? AAAANNNDD… back in the first country.”

    And some of the side stories are really, REALLY wacky and out there. You read them and you’re almost like “wait, that’s not canon, is it?” That’s just FUNA for you. I remember in Potion Isekai how the MC abused the “the potion bottle can be anything I want” clause of her powers to make absolutely ridiculous potion bottles that were swords or horse-drawn carriages. So, basically it’s like “yup, that’s FUNA.”

    Back to the plot of Average Abilities

    I like how there are now hints that maybe Mile’s super abilities were on purpose and not a cosmic misunderstanding. Like, if the world she was reincarnated in was REALLY abandoned by the Gods, why send Mile there at all? Surely there were better options available.

    We also see that Mabel, Adele’s mother, was also airheaded and wild just like Mile. It makes you wonder if maybe Mile’s that way because she inherited it from her isekai mother or because Misato was also that way and the God’s just picked a suitable mother. It’s implied that Mile’s personality is a mashup of Adele and Misato so I’m leaning towards the former explanation but it’s probably a blend of both.

    Also, Mile assumed she was pretty because her face was an “average” of everyone’s face and therefore a “universal beauty.” However, she looks EXACTLY like Mabel so that can’t possibly be the case. And when you think about it, she has white hair too which isn’t an average of anything. This ties back to the idea that she wasn’t truly “average” on purpose. The god purposely took “average” to the limit for plausible deniability.

    And we keep things being slightly and subtly wrong. First the Elder Dragons looking for the ancient civilization. Then the Scavengers operating a mostly broken and abandoned ancient facility. The cultists trying to summon “Gods” from another world. And then the orcs and ogres from another world.

    And FINALLY the Nanos are becoming their own character, but it’s still nothing like the anime.

    Interestingly, I am still not tired on the ongoing gag of “there’s a bunch of young rookie adventurers. They’re probably weak. OMG NOPE!” so YUNA is definitely doing something right.

  • Mercuri@ani.socialtoLightNovels@ani.social•Anime Season Winter 2026English
    3·
    20 days ago

    “the story leading the author” type of writing.

    Yeah, the author gets an idea for a premise and they think if they just roll with it everything will fall into place but then it DOESN’T and then you have to take major steering changes so the boat doesn’t sink.

    Isekai Smartphone is one of the worst offenders from the top my head.

    Dear God, that stupid show. I thought Season 1 of the anime was okay for what it was. Like I knew it was trash but it was still kinda fun and silly. But the Smartphone went bye-bye almost immediately and it just became a “the MC is so all powerful that this is stupid.” Then Season 2 rolls around and introduce an enemy that’s as expressionless as a doormat and about as threatening as a poodle and a flying island fetch quest. I never finished it because I was just bored out of my mind.

    On the other hand it really shows when a series follows a clear outlined path and gets only better with each new volume (Bookworm, Silent Witch).

    Haven’t read Silent Witch yet (but I probably will based on everything you’ve said) but OH MY GOD did Bookworm deliver in that regard. Not ONCE in 33 Books did I ever have to go “wait, what?” Everything fit smoothly together.

  • Mercuri@ani.socialtoLightNovels@ani.social•Anime Season Winter 2026English
    3·
    20 days ago

    Oh… I do live Frieren and Oshi No Ko. I agree, Oshi No Ko has some AMAZINGLY beautiful sequences that are iconic and memorable. Sometimes I load up an episode and just watch Aqua ask Mem-cho to join B Komachi or a similar epic moment (white glowstick, anyone?)

    Time for Torture has been on my “to watch” list so I should probably get around to that. Haven’t really heard about these other ones so I’ll have to give them a look.

    I ended up dropping this manga eventually, but liked the earlier portions a lot

    I feel like a lot of anime and LNs are like this. They start out really strong with a unique idea and then the author realizes they really didn’t think of an endgame or sometimes even a midgame and it falls flat.

    SAO and Promised Neverland are like that. Crazy good opening arcs, then degenerates into garbage. It’s REALLY obvious the author had an idea for an arc, and then after the arc was like “whelp… now what? Oh, I know, I’ll put Kirito into a coma for the whole season and then have a character that’s practically a direct rip-off of Sabre from Fate!” or “Okay, lets turn this from a cool psychological horror thriller into running from explosions for 12 episodes… yay!”

  • Mercuri@ani.socialtoLightNovels@ani.social•Anime Season Winter 2026English
    4·
    21 days ago

    I have no idea how anyone could ever think that’s weak but it’s a light novel so just deal with it.

    What do you mean your ability is instant-death to anything just by thinking about it? You can’t carry our bags with that! You’re banned from the party of Sages!

    I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too … The LN is something of a hate-read for me.

    I remember you talking about it a while back. The anime was also SO bad. Like, I saw episode 1 and was like “oh, this is different” because he gets his “inheritance” in the other world and can freely travel between the two. Like Making 80000 Gold In Another World but with more serious vibes. And then the story just trips and faceplants HARD. Like, it actively TRIED to avoid making any kind of sense or doing anything fun and unique with the premise and simply devolved into “Lets make this as stupid and boring as possible.” The glow-up is lame, especially when compared to something like Lookism, and the Isekai is about as generic as you can get.

    Anyway, I don’t know why, but I’m Fated out. Fate/Stay Night is bad. Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works is good. Fate/Zero was… not terrible. Fate/Grand Order was an obvious cash-grab tie-in for the gacha game that I wouldn’t touch with a 40-foot pole. Do we really need to wring more money out of that franchise? I think there’s only so many twists you can do with “haha, the grail isn’t actually an all-powerful wish giving thing and heroes can come from the future too!” Maybe I’ll see the reviews, but I feel they’re going to be inflated because “OMG MORE FATE” even if it sucks.

    I’ll probably end up watching most of these. Cheat Skill I might watch just to see if it’s as bad as a I remember, but probably not…

    Isekai Office Worker: The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter

    This one sounds similar to “Headhunted to Another World, from Office Worker to Big Four”. I actually liked the premise of a totally normal human working for the demon lord because those were EXACTLY the skills the Demon Lord needed. I also liked how a literally DEMON LORD was a better boss than the black companies of Japan. But by the 6th episode I got tired of the gimmick of “oh no, bureaucracy problem! Lets think about it in the mind-bar… and now the problem is solved!” I’ll definitely give this one a try and see if it accomplishes what Big Four couldn’t.

    Comment below and don’t forget to like and subscribe and ring the bell. And don’t forget to use my NordVPN code #guillible2025 for 10% off a 25 year plan. ;)

    Really? I can pay 2-3 times the typical market rate of other VPNs with lies about how if I send my data through MORE endpoints somehow my ping defies the laws of physics and is magically better? Thanks NordVPN!

  • Mercuri@ani.socialtoLightNovels@ani.social•What light novel(s) have you read last week, and what do you think about it? [December 01 - December 07]English
    3·
    1 month ago

    What volume 11? There is no volume 11. It never existed.

    lol. You’re right.

    White and Ariel are great together.

    Really some of the best moments. I could gush forever on those two.

    If you want another wild mc, Mile from Average Abilities is your girl.

    I think I remember you recommending it in a Midweek question a month or so back so that’s why it’s on my radar. I even enjoyed the low-production quality anime because of Mile’s wacky antics.

    I miss White, Ariel, Sofia, puppet spider sisters and even D.

    White turning the puppet spiders into actual characters was NOT something I saw coming. Ronandt has also grown on me a lot so when Ronandt and the puppet spiders get into it that was great.

  • Mercuri@ani.socialtoLightNovels@ani.social•What light novel(s) have you read last week, and what do you think about it? [December 01 - December 07]English
    3·
    1 month ago

    <So I’m a Spider, So What> Volumes 9 - 14. Okay, let me just say that Volume 11 sucked. I mean, not the worst thing I’ve ever read but I really didn’t enjoy it. The ENTIRE book is from the perspective of side characters. Sure, we get some insight into the happenings going on with these characters but we already know what’s going to happen to them so it reads like filler. I will say that there is one piece of information that ends up being quite telling after we get some new information in Volume 12 but damn, I feel like I could’ve skipped that whole volume and been totally fine.

    Worse, the bits of actually GOOD story from Sophia’s perspective were only a page or two in length. I would have LOVED to see more of Sophia’s story. Sure, we get a basic summary of what happened in later volumes but having that in Volume 11 would’ve made it much easier to get through.

    Alright, anyway, where was I?

    Right, even though Volume 11 sucked the rest of the books were like OMFG THIS IS AMAZING! Like, I already had one twist spoiled for me from looking at the fan wiki but it was like, the smallest twist. And the reveals JUST KEPT COMING! Alright, there’s like way too many spoilers so I’m going to reference everything in this spoiler tag and then later on I’ll be like [Spoiler 1] and you’ll know what I’m talking about if you look at the spoiler, okay? okay.

    Numbered Spoilers

    1. Timeskip

    2. Kumoko’s Deification

    3. Kumoko being a spider that was in the classroom / D being the real Hiiro Wakaba

    4. Hyrince being a clone of Guli-Guli

    5. White being the mastermind behind all the happenings to Shun… mostly

    Oh, and it seems I was totally correct about the story continuing from before [Spoiler 1] until it meets back up after [Spoiler 1].

    I knew from the wiki that [Spoiler 2] happens but I seriously thought that would be something that happens more towards the end of the series, not in Volume 10! Then again I thought the form we see her in at the end of the anime / Volume 5 was an evolution past Arachne. Speaking of Arachne, drunk White is best White.

    [Spoiler 3] was also spoiled for me from the wiki, but I still LOVED seeing it unfold in the LN. How cool is it that you can still be going “OMFG!” at a reveal that’s already been spoiled for you? TOO COOL! And it really gives such strong meaning for why White is helping Oka and the other reincarnations.

    Spoiler about Oka's skill as it relates to White

    Also, I originally thought the reason Oka thought Wakaba was dead was because Wakaba was D and D wasn’t a reincarnation. But no, it’s because White became a God and therefore was booted from the System. Since Oka’s skill only works within the System it couldn’t see White any more and removed it from the [Student Roster] which made Oka think Wakaba was dead. We also learn in Volume 14 or so that the [n% I = W] skill puts the souls into the normal cycle of reincarnation rather than keep them trapped on the planet like the natives. So really when [Student Roster] shows a blank spot it’s because the soul isn’t part of the System any more. But Oka falsely thought that blank spots meant the reincarnation had died, which is only one method that a soul would not be part of the System.

    Yeah, I really didn’t like Volume 11, but when I found out about [Spoiler 4], that was completely new information to me. I kind of wish I had known about [Spoiler 4] before reading Volume 11 because then I might have been able to read more into it. As it stands I basically just powered through to get back to White’s story.

    Speaking of White’s story, it was so cool to some things that happened in Volume 5 from a different perspective!

    Spoilers talking about later volumes' handling of [Spoiler 1] and [Spoiler 5]

    Back in Volumes 1-5, the Shun chapters were the only ones happening in the future. Now that White’s caught up to that timeline we got to see those events from her perspective.

    I think my favorite thing was when we saw the Nightmare Vestiges talk to Shun. They were all cryptic and mysterious and made you really wonder what secrets would be revealed later. But when we see it from White’s perspective, they were all like, “We did the thing!” because they were purposely being all dramatic for laughs.

    Likewise, when Ronandt (who somehow looks like Gandalf in my mind despite there being art and anime depictions of him) fights Shun from the roof of the castle in Analeit, it initially seems like he was there as part of some master plan. But when we see those same events unfold from White’s perspective she’s like “what is he doing here?!” And even though Ronandt can tell that something weird is happening in the castle he just dismisses it like, “Eh, I’m sure it’s fine” much to White’s exasperation.

    Finally we see that Sophia always cryptically refers to White as “Master” because it’s a curse placed on her by White as punishment for her unruly behavior. In Volumes 1-5 and in the anime it’s always a really big mystery who Sophia’s master could be and while we have some suspicions, it’s not revealed until the final moments. I just like that there’s a legitimate reason for it and not just that the author was trying to be mysterious.

    That doesn’t mean the author isn’t mysterious though. In Volume 3 there’s a chapter called “???” or something which is an exchange between two unknown characters. In Volume 12 or 13 it’s revealed that those characters were White and Hyrince when they more-or-less have the exact same conversation. It might just be an addition that was made when the web novel was made into a LN but it’s still really cool to see inserts like that when they come full circle.

    It’s so great that all these events we see have explanations behind them but they’re NOTHING like what we would normally expect! And the backstories are amazing too. It’s also great to see how White and Ariel went from enemies to friends. When Ariel wraps White up in a blanket of thread and tells her to get some sleep because she looked tired, my heart melted.

    Volume 14 spoilers

    My favorite thing about Volume 14 is we can see the events that lead to the creation of the system and the origin of Dustin, Potimas, and Ariel. We also get to finally see Sariel before she became part of the System and Guli-Guli before he became an administrator. I had always wondered why Guli-Guli was the only true dragon left on the planet and we get a thorough explanation. We also see how Potimas is an even bigger dirtbag than we were led to believe. And of course, White gets to do White things and be awesome.

    Oh, and Potimas getting absolutely WRECKED and then reduced to such a pathetic state was the cherry on top.

    What I find crazy is that there’s still two more books and we’ve already hit a major event at the end of Volume 14. It really has me excited for what happens next as I have NO idea what to expect! Right now the biggest question I have is how Ariel became a Divine Beast. Based on the backstory given to us in Volume 14 it seems my original assumption can’t possible be true.

    Ariel Backstory Spoilers

    I had originally assumed that Ariel was a spider monster that evolved into a human form. This is also how I originally thought Kumoko was going to get her human form. But it turns out Ariel was always humanoid. And the reason her body is tiny like that of a child is because she was sickly. And we know that Sariel became part of the System. So where did the idea that the Goddess had a pet spider divine beast come from in the Kingdom of Sariella’s religion? Maybe it had something to do with the origin of the Kingdom of Sariella, which shares the name with the Sariella foundation. Regardless, I’m curious if it’ll ever be explained!

    Whew… well, that’s a lot of text and rambling. I think I’ll stop it here for now and get back to reading.

    On a side note, anyone have any recommendations for what to read next? I’m thinking either Slime Iseaki, Average Abilities Isekai, or Overlord Isekai but feel free to recommend whatever.