- #1
I'd want to give this a 2.75 but I'll round this up to a 3. Overall, a somewhat plain and normal escapist fantasy of an extraordinarily weak isekai protagonist making full use of his few strengths to an extreme degree. While it's billed as a clever protag situation he isn't really all that clever. Some points that can serve as pros/cons:
- The protag truly is weak and does have a rather extreme specialization. Unfortunately, he doesn't really get to use it as a crafty person would. It's more like in certain environments he can juice his power to an insane degree and become an extremely strong water mage, not as if he actually does interesting things with his power.
- The protag is unfortunately the tried and true, cut board, done 1 trillion times dense Japanese protag. He's unassuming both personality and looks wise, wants to be unassuming, is somehow repulsed by female attention and never changes as a character nearly 200 chapters in. He does possess an isekai skill that specifically says it's designed to make him not lose composure (and it does work) but the author simply fails completely and utterly to make the MC into someone interesting. He's just a vehicle for girls to argue over.
- The harem is justified well in-universe. It's executed with a slightly better than average hand but that's honestly not saying much. Unfortunately again, due to the author's incredibly stubborn insistence with keeping with Japanese tradition the protag must be immune to lust, romance, flirting, s*x and anything remotely hinting at it. That is, truly unfortunately, not an exaggeration; he won't complement the girls, flirt with them playfully, try to kiss them, etc. He literally has Z E R O s*xual drive. The girls themselves clearly aren't allergic and they're very forward about it, but the author simply writes in interruptions that prevent the harem from taking a step past first base.
- Perhaps the only element that I won't make sound incredibly negative are the goddesses and how they're frequently part of the story. He is in constant touch with his patron as well as other divine elements and it's both amusing and a nice touch on the world itself how invested and involved they are as characters.