The Rising of the Shield Hero, Volume 1
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-02 14:56:02
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Aneko Yusagi
- ISBN：1935548727
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Naofumi Iwatani， an uncharismatic Otaku who spends his days on games and manga， suddenly finds himself summoned to a parallel universe！ He discovers he is one of four heroes equipped with legendary weapons and tasked with saving the world from its prophesied destruction。 As the Shield Hero， the weakest of the heroes， all is not as it seems。 Naofumi is soon alone， penniless， and betrayed。 With no one to turn to， and nowhere to run， he is left with only his shield。 Now， Naofumi must rise to become the legendary Shield Hero and save the world！
Reviews
George Wininger
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Very well written。 Great story telling， along with being descriptive in most details。 Recommend for fans if the manga and anime。
Tom
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Pretty easy read， but sometimes it was difficult to figure out who was saying what。
Hawraa Hellani
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 The story is insightful and interesting。 Being betrayed and deceived by the community， he surely can’t trust anyone， anymore。 The scar “bitch” left was severe。 Yet， Raphtalia appeared to be his guardian and savior at the end of the day。 Glad to see him putting trust in people close to him again。
LG （A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions）
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Naofumi Iwatani is an otaku college student。 His life， up to this point， has been pretty easy - his parents haven't put much pressure on him， and his otaku interests actually managed to keep his brother from becoming a full-blown delinquent。 He's in the library one day when he spots a book call The Records of the Four Holy Weapons， which mentions four different heroes: the Sword Hero， Spear Hero， Bow Hero， and Shield Hero。 Shortly after finding this book， Naofumi is magically summoned to another Naofumi Iwatani is an otaku college student。 His life， up to this point， has been pretty easy - his parents haven't put much pressure on him， and his otaku interests actually managed to keep his brother from becoming a full-blown delinquent。 He's in the library one day when he spots a book call The Records of the Four Holy Weapons， which mentions four different heroes: the Sword Hero， Spear Hero， Bow Hero， and Shield Hero。 Shortly after finding this book， Naofumi is magically summoned to another world where he is one of those four heroes。。。the worst and most useless one， the Shield Hero。 He can only defend， not attack， and his magical shield won't permit him to carry any additional weapons。 He can't even team up with any of the other three heroes， because their weapons cancel each other out。Because he's so weak and knows even less about this new world than the other heroes， he has trouble getting anyone to join his party， and what help he does receive turns out to be a trap。 Is there no one in this horrible world that he can trust？ Somehow he has to survive the waves of enemies that he and the other heroes have been summoned to fight， so that he can hopefully figure out a way to return home。This was my first experience with this series， although I've read about some of the controversies surrounding the anime。 I found this first light novel volume at a used bookstore a while back and figured I'd finally read it and see what the series was like for myself。Hoo boy， is misogyny baked pretty deeply into this。 Just as he's getting started in his new life， Naofumi is betrayed by an attractive woman who robs him blind and then falsely accuses him of rape。 Everyone instantly believes her and casts him out， while she teams up with the Spear Hero， a ladies' man who ended up in this new world after one of the many women he was dating killed him in a fit of jealousy。Rather than just being angry specifically at the woman who betrayed him or more generally at the royal family that summoned him only to set him up for failure， Naofumi instead began to hate all women。 One woman betrayed him， so the entire gender was evil。 Never mind that the other heroes， who also turned on him at the drop of a hat， were male。Although his defensive capabilities were high enough that he could fall asleep with monsters chewing on him and not feel a thing， he had zero attack capabilities。 He couldn't afford to hire anyone， and even if he had the money， he didn't trust other people。 So he turned to slave ownership。 It took him no time at all to justify this move as a perfectly fine and correct one。 Slavery was legal in this country， and magical contracts made it impossible for slaves to harm or betray their masters - if they tried， they'd die。 He couldn't afford much， so he ended up selecting Raphtalia， a sickly raccoon-type demi-human child。 He needed someone who could fight in his place， so he had to take reasonably good care of her， but his hatred of women was such that he figured he'd be fine with it if she died， since it would be like getting to see the woman who betrayed him dying。 I think readers were supposed to see the things Naofumi did for Raphtalia， like feeding her decent meals and giving her a ball to play with， as signs that he was really a decent guy at heart。 But if that's supposed to be what a "good guy" is like， that's a very， very low bar to clear。 Good for him for。。。actually feeding his child slave and not beating or raping her。 He still had zero qualms about buying her in the first place， and it never once bothered him that he had the power to kill or harm her at any time （in fact he considered that a plus， since it meant she couldn't turn on him）。 She was a tool that he treated well primarily because it would have cost him precious time and money to replace her。When Raphtalia could have chosen freedom， she instead ran back to Naofumi's side and offered to do the magical slavery contract with him again， if that's what it would take for him to be able to trust her。 She even considered the contract that bound her to be a good thing - it forced her to fight when otherwise she would have been too scared to do so。 I assume readers were supposed to find all of this heartwarming and wonderful - Naofumi had finally found someone truly loyal， who trusted him so much that she'd literally put her life in his hands。 By becoming his happy slave。 Again。 And there was no "what am I doing/what have I done？" moment on Naofumi's part， no realization that he'd become a horrible person who'd decided that slavery was fine， actually。While I was reading， I found myself thinking that I'd encountered something a little like this book before - Fuyumi Ono's The Twelve Kindgoms: Sea of Shadow， another isekai fantasy in which the main character is forcibly transported to another world to fulfill an important role， only to find themselves betrayed to the point that it's difficult for them to trust anyone。 Except that Yoko didn't hate an entire gender after she was betrayed， and there was no romanticized slavery。 Yoko's version of Raphtalia， Rakushun， didn't have anything binding him to her。 Becoming closer to him and being friends with him involved taking risk and allowing herself to be a little vulnerable。This could potentially be a decent series if Naofumi， like Yoko， eventually grew and became a better， stronger person。 Unfortunately this first volume， at least， shows no evidence the series might go in that direction。 Naofumi wallows in his hatred of women （it probably doesn't help that the betrayal somehow literally took his sense of taste away）， and it takes him a mere 20 pages after being betrayed to turn to slavery as a solution to his problems。 Judging by other things I've read about the anime and reviews of some of the later light novel volumes， there's worse to come。 Despite my mild curiosity about the sorts of shield abilities Naofumi will discover， I'm probably better off stopping here， so I'm glad this is the only volume I own。Extras:Three full-color illustrations， and several black and white illustrations throughout。 Also， character design sketches for both Naofumi and Raphtalia， and a couple bonus stories。 The first bonus story focuses on the Spear Hero， who's so sure of his appeal with the ladies and overall knowledge of this world that he doesn't even realize that the same person who betrayed Naofumi is now using him。 The second bonus story focuses on Raphtalia and tells readers her entire horrible backstory， including the bit where one of her owners paid for her and another girl just so that he could get his kicks by beating the two of them every day。 I suppose I should be happy there was no rape （or there was and I blanked it out - Raphtalia's story was awful enough， even with Yusagi's amateurish writing， that I opted to skim most of it）。（Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions。） 。。。more
Ariel Vernaza
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From zero to heroSeen everything from the eyes of naufumi is interesting， he has a lot said after how low he has been treated at the story begin， he become nothing more like a criminal， but he is a true hero he will rise
Ivan Labombarbe
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I really enjoyed the Light Novel and the fantasy concept。
Hariprasad KC
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Good Read even if you watched the AnimeI have watched the Anime， but LN gives some intricate details that were not in the Anime like Sharpening Shield， more bonding moments between R & N， Moto's Dungeon Raid。The Translation was bit a strange at some places， but it still is a good read。 Good Read even if you watched the AnimeI have watched the Anime， but LN gives some intricate details that were not in the Anime like Sharpening Shield， more bonding moments between R & N， Moto's Dungeon Raid。The Translation was bit a strange at some places， but it still is a good read。 。。。more
Jervis Basco
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 The rising of shield hero
Mateus Perboni Rodrigues
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IdeaOk。 So， someone is summoned into another world as a Hero， then falsely accused of rape， ripped of all honor and status。After that it is expected that he will help save the world together with other 3 "Heroes"。It sounds interesting。 Let's see where and how it goes。Execution MacroIn terms of story development， I would say it was very fast。When I compare with Log Horizon， I can clearly see how fast it goes， which can deteriorate the story details。Execution MicroWell， since the main story develo IdeaOk。 So， someone is summoned into another world as a Hero， then falsely accused of rape， ripped of all honor and status。After that it is expected that he will help save the world together with other 3 "Heroes"。It sounds interesting。 Let's see where and how it goes。Execution MacroIn terms of story development， I would say it was very fast。When I compare with Log Horizon， I can clearly see how fast it goes， which can deteriorate the story details。Execution MicroWell， since the main story developed very fast， we can see that not so many details were thrown into it。Sometimes the explanations are a bit short or not very developed to give more interaction， to bring the reader closer to the character and story。The extra chapters give more depth to the characters。 More explanations = more possibilities of expansion。All-in-AllI will definitely keep on reading it， because I like the genre and this seems like a good one。But I also expect more details to come: characters， scenery and background could have more work done to improve。 。。。more
R。E。D。 Richardson
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It's better if you have already watched the anime。 It's better if you have already watched the anime。 。。。more
Blak Rayne
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Love the anime， so I purchased the novel series。 I have the first 18 volumes。 But I believe there will be more。 This is a light novel， so it made for a fast， enjoyable read。 This dark fantasy （isekai） is very much character driven， the setting wonderful， and all the magic and abilities straight out of an RPG。 There are also beautifully drawn images， which help to cement the look and feel of the characters and their world。 Naofumi and Raphtalia really make a great pair。
AJ Sherbinow
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First off， English release gets a 2/5 because the translation is honestly terrible。 I feel bad for the author， Aneko Yusagi， because a lot of people here in the States have probably given up on the series because of the way it was translated， myself included。That being said， the story itself was very enjoyable。 Yes， it's another Isekai story， but it does do a pretty good job at being different。 I liked Naofumi and how he wasn't a generic "I wanna save the world！" protag， but instead was this bro First off， English release gets a 2/5 because the translation is honestly terrible。 I feel bad for the author， Aneko Yusagi， because a lot of people here in the States have probably given up on the series because of the way it was translated， myself included。That being said， the story itself was very enjoyable。 Yes， it's another Isekai story， but it does do a pretty good job at being different。 I liked Naofumi and how he wasn't a generic "I wanna save the world！" protag， but instead was this broken man who， if he could， would set the whole world on fire。 There were times were I disliked him for how he treated Raphtalia early on。 But the final few chapters blew me out of the water， and got me excited for the next volume。 。。。more
Milo Pan
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 It was a fun fantasy book
Ryan Richards
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Interest Level: mediumReading Level: 13 and upThis is really good book if you are already interested in the genre。 It definitely tailors to a young adult audience， and has plenty of action and adventure that kick start the imagination。 The tale of a young man who gets teleported to a different world （with magic） and has to work his way up from the bottom makes for an excellent fantasy underdog story。 Warnings for the faint of heart: mild language， violence
Zahra
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why did i love this in middle school
Caroline
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After watching the Anime then the Manga， the slight difference from them and the explanations made me love the journey more <3
Liz H {Redd's Reads}
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There were some grammatical errors throughout and sometimes the dialogue didn’t have any tags or indicators， but I really like the story。 Having watched the anime when it released， I was happy to see they stuck with the original story as well as making some changes that made sense visually。 I especially enjoyed the bonus chapters at the end。 There was one for the Spear Hero， which makes me want to read his spin-off series just to see if he ever gets less dumb。 And the other bonus chapter was fro There were some grammatical errors throughout and sometimes the dialogue didn’t have any tags or indicators， but I really like the story。 Having watched the anime when it released， I was happy to see they stuck with the original story as well as making some changes that made sense visually。 I especially enjoyed the bonus chapters at the end。 There was one for the Spear Hero， which makes me want to read his spin-off series just to see if he ever gets less dumb。 And the other bonus chapter was from Raphtalia’s POV from when she lost her parents through when the Shield Hero purchases her。 I look forward to reading more volumes in this series and watching the second season of the anime！ 。。。more
Alex
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Este es el que más disfruté de las novelas ligeras que leí en japonés este año。 Narración bastante sencilla y vocabulario no muy complicado， tuvo un tono más serio pero con moderación que todas las que leí antes este año。 Tiene momentos de tristeza pero no abusa del recurso， lo que es muy raro en producciones japonesas。Lo leí usando el audiolibro， lo que me ayudo a comprender mejor lo que leía porque eran diferentes las voces por personaje， se me hubiera hecho muy difícil al momento de leerlo po Este es el que más disfruté de las novelas ligeras que leí en japonés este año。 Narración bastante sencilla y vocabulario no muy complicado， tuvo un tono más serio pero con moderación que todas las que leí antes este año。 Tiene momentos de tristeza pero no abusa del recurso， lo que es muy raro en producciones japonesas。Lo leí usando el audiolibro， lo que me ayudo a comprender mejor lo que leía porque eran diferentes las voces por personaje， se me hubiera hecho muy difícil al momento de leerlo porque no lo señala el texto。 。。。more
Ridho Febriansa
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enjoyed my 2nd trip reading light novel， I'd like to come again in the future。reminds me that this volume has a great representative cover that contains major story on this volume。to put it short， Shield Hero is a story of a man living his normal life suddenly moved into isekai （fantasy） world。 Even it's not his own desire to move into isekai world， but looks like the whole isekai world hates him。 and then the story become more interesting from that point。personally it has strong emotional feeli enjoyed my 2nd trip reading light novel， I'd like to come again in the future。reminds me that this volume has a great representative cover that contains major story on this volume。to put it short， Shield Hero is a story of a man living his normal life suddenly moved into isekai （fantasy） world。 Even it's not his own desire to move into isekai world， but looks like the whole isekai world hates him。 and then the story become more interesting from that point。personally it has strong emotional feeling on its first volume， so I'm looking forward to other volume。 。。。more
Halcyon Uncoil
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I think a lot of the flack this series gets is based on the specific 'anti-me-too' sentiments people have given the story。 It's a fun read， and honesty I don't think it deserves the hatred it gets at times。 It's basically an 'everyone against the MC' story and it's overall an easy， fun read。 I think a lot of the flack this series gets is based on the specific 'anti-me-too' sentiments people have given the story。 It's a fun read， and honesty I don't think it deserves the hatred it gets at times。 It's basically an 'everyone against the MC' story and it's overall an easy， fun read。 。。。more
Donte McNeal
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Man oh man， I’ve been wanting to read this light novel ever since I finished the first season of the anime。 The anime was so good， that I couldn’t help but want to check out its source material。 I’m glad I did because you get learn a little more background info not in the anime。The Rising of the Shield Hero follows Naofumi Iwatani， a college age otaku who loves has a pretty decent life。 He decides to read a book that was clearly on the wrong section at the library and ends up transported to a di Man oh man， I’ve been wanting to read this light novel ever since I finished the first season of the anime。 The anime was so good， that I couldn’t help but want to check out its source material。 I’m glad I did because you get learn a little more background info not in the anime。The Rising of the Shield Hero follows Naofumi Iwatani， a college age otaku who loves has a pretty decent life。 He decides to read a book that was clearly on the wrong section at the library and ends up transported to a different world （known as the Isekai genre）。 I might be new to the light novel sphere， but I’ve seen my fair share of Isekai anime， so I knew what I was in for。Or so I thought。 Shield Hero starts off as every other generic Isekai story does: MC is one of the chosen ones summoned or reborn in another world， with amazing OP skills that make everything super easy。 That brings with a boring storyline because nothing is ever a struggle for the MC in this new world because that have more than enough power to overcome even the strongest of obstacles。 That’s where ROTSH stands apart。 Naofumi is summoned as the Shield Hero， and little does he know it’s considered the weakest （and ultimately most useless） class of the four types of heroes。 There’s the Sword Hero， Spear Hero， Bow Hero and Shield Hero。 Each of the other heroes seem to know quite a bit about the world they’ve all been summoned to， due to them being similar to games they’ve all played。 Our boy Naofumi however， is completely clueless about the new world， and somehow， word gets out about this fact。 So when the time comes for them to form the parties they’ll use to fight the monthly “Waves，” that bring monsters from another dimension raining down on the world， no one wants to join a clueless Hero on a journey to save the world。 Save for one adventurer: Myne。 Naofumi lucks out when Myne steps up and volunteers to join his party。 She teaches him a little of how the world works， and things he’ll need to know going forward。 But after a short time of adventuring together， things take a turn for the worst。 Betrayed， vilified and ostracized， Naofumi sets out to level up and live in a world that seems to hate him without any evidence proving the false claims against him。 To watch the world he’s been tasked with protecting turn against him and look down on him as he risks life to save theirs？ Man you can’t help but feel for the guy。 I’ve seen reviews state that they didn’t like Naofumi’s attitude and actions in the book， but I wholeheartedly disagree with those reviews。 I understand exactly why Naofumi makes the decisions he makes， and while he can be rude at times， it’s warranted due to what he’s been through。 Is that an excuse for him？ Absolutely not， but to make him a villain when he’s truly done nothing wrong， and he’s just following the laws of the land， well it really grinds my gears。 Still， watching him mature to the point he comes to at the end of the novel， as well seeing the growth in Raphtalia， the Demi-human who Naofumi purchased as a slave， is great。 And reading what transpired in the anime gave me a different appreciation for the characters， apart from the characters I love to hate （looking at you Myne and Spear Hero）。 。。。more
Rebekah Smith
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I told myself I would never read this series or watch the show and here I am absolutely in love with the story and everything that is going on。 I'm so glad I picked up this book even though I said I wouldn't！Book 2 here I come！ I told myself I would never read this series or watch the show and here I am absolutely in love with the story and everything that is going on。 I'm so glad I picked up this book even though I said I wouldn't！Book 2 here I come！ 。。。more
Miran
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Very bad translation with writing errors。 Its often hard to distinguish between characters during dialogue as there is no way to differentiate people by the way they speak， in English。Example:"Okay""Yes""Right on"Want to guess who these 3 different people are？ Neither do i。This is not an issue in japanese， which the translator has forgotten to take into consideration。With that out of the way; I love the story a lot， making it worth trudging through the horrible translation for。 Very bad translation with writing errors。 Its often hard to distinguish between characters during dialogue as there is no way to differentiate people by the way they speak， in English。Example:"Okay""Yes""Right on"Want to guess who these 3 different people are？ Neither do i。This is not an issue in japanese， which the translator has forgotten to take into consideration。With that out of the way; I love the story a lot， making it worth trudging through the horrible translation for。 。。。more
Jackie Zboran
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This is an amazing book series about a young man named Naofumi Iwatani， who is considered an Otaku who enjoyes games and manga。 While looking for a book to read， a stack of books falls on him from the shelf and as he is picking them up one of them sucks him into a parallel universe。 In this new universe he becomes on of the four heroes equipped with legendary weapons and tasked with saving the world from its prophesied destruction。 However， out of the four heros， Naofumi is treated as an outcast This is an amazing book series about a young man named Naofumi Iwatani， who is considered an Otaku who enjoyes games and manga。 While looking for a book to read， a stack of books falls on him from the shelf and as he is picking them up one of them sucks him into a parallel universe。 In this new universe he becomes on of the four heroes equipped with legendary weapons and tasked with saving the world from its prophesied destruction。 However， out of the four heros， Naofumi is treated as an outcast and is even hated in that world。 。。。more
Ilya
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The premise with isekai and MMORPG world isn't new， but the canvas is big enough to fit yet another adventure， and that might be a comfort food for some people。My issue with this novel is how author tries very very hard to justify slavery， abuse， misogyny， and some other topics。 And I don't mean to portray them just to show how in the end they're bad， no。 Everything is constantly being drilled in as a necessity and an acceptable mean to the end。Oh and also there's a very questionable point about The premise with isekai and MMORPG world isn't new， but the canvas is big enough to fit yet another adventure， and that might be a comfort food for some people。My issue with this novel is how author tries very very hard to justify slavery， abuse， misogyny， and some other topics。 And I don't mean to portray them just to show how in the end they're bad， no。 Everything is constantly being drilled in as a necessity and an acceptable mean to the end。Oh and also there's a very questionable point about how mc's slave "matures" from a 10 year old body to a 17 year old body， with a flippant comment how it doesn't really matter that her mind is still that of a child。 I don't think I really want to know where _that_ one leads in later installments。All in all， this really dumps on the enjoyment of the world building and adventures it describes。 。。。more
~Lala~
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3 STARS。 My first light novel YAY！ I’ve already watched the anime for this， but since I had access to it I thought I’d try this。 There were good and bad things about it。 Overall， it say it was fine。I didn’t like the unnecessary amount of language， plus this book had lots of typos and I’m pretty sure the translator switched a few times。 I think just having an extra editor pass would have done a lot for it。 Also， I’m not sure if it’s just the translation but Naufumi seems a lot stupider/dense in t 3 STARS。 My first light novel YAY！ I’ve already watched the anime for this， but since I had access to it I thought I’d try this。 There were good and bad things about it。 Overall， it say it was fine。I didn’t like the unnecessary amount of language， plus this book had lots of typos and I’m pretty sure the translator switched a few times。 I think just having an extra editor pass would have done a lot for it。 Also， I’m not sure if it’s just the translation but Naufumi seems a lot stupider/dense in this than the anime lol。 But whatever。I did really like the action and how the story was told。 I REALLY appreciate the to-the-point way of writing in light novels。 That was cool。 :） 。。。more
Renee
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This is definitely about to become my guilty pleasure series。 The writing isn't great， but that can happen in a lot of light novels due to translation issues， so I'm not too upset。 I believe it was also a web novel initially which didn't spark the most confidence， however I'm not disappointed at all。 I'm also very glad I picked up the light novel instead of the manga， from what I've heard the adaptation is lacking a lot in character development。That said， the character development here is just k This is definitely about to become my guilty pleasure series。 The writing isn't great， but that can happen in a lot of light novels due to translation issues， so I'm not too upset。 I believe it was also a web novel initially which didn't spark the most confidence， however I'm not disappointed at all。 I'm also very glad I picked up the light novel instead of the manga， from what I've heard the adaptation is lacking a lot in character development。That said， the character development here is just kinda basic。 It's about as interesting as you'd think it is for a semi-generic isekai， though I was interested by background characters in this which is a notable change。 We don't get to see a lot of the characters other than Naofumi， but the ones we do catch here and there are intriguing to me for some reason。 We do definitely have unreliable narrator syndrome， at least I hope we do， considering some descriptions。All in all， not the perfect series？ But fun as hell and something I'm gonna be continuing。 。。。more
Eevee Rambeau-Dameron
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Amazing story， it made me mad， it made me cry。 Naofumi is a true hero， Raphtalia a waifu。 I'm eager to continue😍 Amazing story， it made me mad， it made me cry。 Naofumi is a true hero， Raphtalia a waifu。 I'm eager to continue😍 。。。more
Ni
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I dislike the spear hero so much。
Jaynee Goines
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