Seeing as I've read 750 more chapters, I think I'll give a slightly more in-depth review, starting with the cons.
- The "translation" is machine translation with poor editing. Machine Sliced Bread does better on some other novels, but for this one if you want to read just search the japanese title on google and read it at the original site.
- The harem is large. You might go a hundred chapters without seeing your favorite character much because Andy doesn't drag everyone with him everywhere all the time.
- It's a little repetitive at points. If you just read a few chapters a day it shouldn't be too noticeable, but if you binge read a hundred chapters in a day like I did, you'll see some lines repeated and similar h-scenes.
- The early heroines fall in love really easily. Later on there'll be a variety of reasons for women to join the harem, but it will mostly not be because they got to know him and fell in love with his personality.
- Don't think too deeply about why the miraculous healing waters are available to everyone and not monopolized by royalty.
Still with me? Good. Because this is one of the best protagonists I've seen. He's a Good Guy, but he doesn't let people walk all over him. He's a friendly, sociable person who gets along with anyone. He's not hypocritical, either - his idea of a good ending includes saving the villains too.
Even men. But if it's in the middle of battle he's not reluctant to kill, either. He's honest with his feelings and proactive in relationships and adventures alike. Aside from all this, he has other strengths and weaknesses and overall comes off as a real person. He grows in a lot of ways over the course of the story.
The side characters are also extremely well-done. Even with a cast of easily 60 recurring characters, each one has a strong personality and is memorable. That includes both the harem and side male characters. I'm not good with names, but not only can I remember the names of 40 harem members, I can remember their personalities and s*xual preferences and why they decided to become s*aves.
The s*ave harem itself is amazing. First of all, it's the only s*ave harem I know of without magical s*ave collars that force obedience. Second, everyone knows it's wrong. Andy knows it's wrong and feels immoral about it. The s*aves (mostly) know it's wrong but don't care how society sees them (most of them are masochists and enjoy being s*aves). The normal people around Andy heavily disapprove of it and hide their daughters and sisters from him. Third, Andy treats his s*aves as s*aves. A revolutionary idea for a s*ave harem. Fourth, they all have strong personalities. There's 40 s*aves and each one is unique in more than just appearance.
The story itself is good. I'd classify it as slice of life, but it's a fairly exciting life in many ways. The author splits the story pretty evenly between plot and p*rn, but the p*rn supports the plot and the plot supports the p*rn. There's a lot of world-building and character growth during the travels, though the harem members mostly grow in le*d directions. The p*rn does slow down the adventure but it's indispensable for getting to know the characters. The first few chapters throw girls at Andy who fall in love too easily IMO, but what happens after that makes sense as long as you understand that Andy is a pe*vert with a strong sense of justice, and the kind of woman who would get close to a guy with s*x s*aves is...
The world is interesting and I look forward to seeing what kind of incident will occur in the next city/country Andy visits, and what kind of women he'll meet.
Harem as of c853:
Spoiler
Main harem: Diane + s*aves: 11 elves, 7 dark elves, 7 dragons, 7 catgirls, 4 half-elves, 2 humans, 1 dwarf. A unicorn. Side harem members: The women from two dragon palaces. A catgirl village. Dark elf maids serving Diane's father. On the waiting list to join the main harem: Two humans and a dark elf.
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