- #1
tl;dr is: If you can't stomach typical isekai harem shenanigans, this will probably be unbearable. If you like isekai and space-faring sci-fi, you might want to give this a shot. Personally, I'd recommend you read the manga as a start since it's more polished and certainly sells the setting much better, though there isn't much of it out yet.The description up top does a terrible job at setting your expectations, so here's the quick and dirty content breakdown: 40% sci-fi world-building, 30% space combat, 30% slice-of-life harem rom-com fluff. Expect a decent chunk of slice-of-life after every major plot development. (I'm starting to think the author calls "Stellar Online" SOL intentionally as a pun...) I think this series deserves 4.5 stars (which I'm rounding up) because it has good potential and is finally starting to realize it, but it certainly also isn't without its problems (though most of these are common isekai web novel issues). Since I want to end with what's good, let's start with what's not so good:[-] The series author really doesn't know how to write the beginning of a proper romance, so he cuts many corners in getting Hiro together with his love interests and it can come off as distasteful to some readers. It's pretty obvious there's some work that needs to be done when he gets together with two heroines in just over 20 chapters with the same basic plot device (girl somehow is in debt, he pays off debt, he invites her to join crew, girl misunderstands, and then they have some "shipmate bonding" mass-effect style). It seems that early on the chapter count priority was set on space combat and world-building, and the romance was rushed so the author could quickly set up the main cast and then write the lovey-dovey slice-of-life fluff that he seems to be better at. It's certainly not commendable, but it's passable for an isekai web novel.[-] Like any web novel where the author needs to pump out content on a many-chapters-per-week schedule, there's a decent bit of filler that probably wouldn't be there when it gets turned into a light novel. In this case, we get longer than usual slice-of-life breaks in-between world-building and combat, where the main characters live up the rich merc life. Occasionally, you also get a side-quest-like development after what would be a major conflict gets resolved (i.e. the flesh-eating worm outbreak where Hiro tests out his power armor) while the author figures out how to get to the next plot point.If you thought you liked the premise, but these problems bother you too much to continue, maybe give the official light novel translations a shot whenever those come out (or just read the manga...). However, there's plenty good about the series that sets it apart from other isekais:[+] The strongest aspect of the series is its science-fantasy setting (read as: Star Wars, but with elf waifus and shit). If you've read your fair share of isekais, I think you can probably outline their plot with most of your brain removed: guy wakes up in fantasy world, gets powers from god, has to defeat some demon king, becomes an adventurer, levels up and gets new skills, etc etc. While this apple doesn't fall too far from the isekai tree, at least it's recognizably different in many ways. The universe that the series is set in is one where nations are thoroughly space-fairing, their territories span multiple systems, and their conflicts are on a galactic scale. While the typical fantasy races are still there, they are treated as being among many other alien species that inhabit the universe, along with general artificial intelligences and true spaceborne aliens. Most citizens live in large orbital colonies and eating artificial food produced from algae and genetically engineered plants grown in automated factories, while real meat and living on a habitable planet is usually exclusive to the rich and powerful. A space navy patrols the nation against major threats, while mercenaries deal with smaller threats like piracy. If you read this series, you'll notice borrowed/familiar elements from Star Wars, Elite Dangerous, Stellaris, Mass Effect, Starcraft, and more. The worldbuilding is the main reason I stuck with this series.[+] We also get a break from overdone sword & magic style combat without encroaching on mecha cliches. Combat in this isekai isn't your "typical X character uses Y skill coupled with his superhuman Z stat to slay arbitrary monster/demon/villain whose actions are threatening [insert import person/place/thing here]." For the most part, Hiro fights flying the starship he woke up in, and the focus is placed on technology, piloting skills, and outsmarting the enemy. Hiro wins his fights with his game knowledge, his abilities trained from being able to freely die in the game before being isekaied, and his military-grade starship that he grinded to get in the game. For example, Spoiler
Hiro beats a rogue military fleet by sticking to the rear of a battleship while flying backward using a combination of the momentum of his earlier maneuver and thrust from reaction thrusters to prevent other cruisers from freely shooting at him without also incurring friendly fire, predicting how the battleship behind will move from radar while also dodging and targeting enemies in front of him.
[collapse] There's a feeling that Hiro earns his victories using his skills rather than victories being given to him because of a skill system (though his ship being military-grade certainly also helps). Regardless, the fact that this isn't your typical isekai combat system is a huge plus.[+] The protagonist actually follows through on the harem and the "fan-service" is decent. The protagonist here doesn't go down the typical route of "dense virg*n isekai man refuses to acknowledge his growing harem." While how he gets with his harem is shaky, the interactions afterward are decently written (for isekai standards). Opinions on this part will really differ person-to-person, but I find Hiro's assertiveness refreshing, and he does seem like he genuinely loves his love interests (yes that's not saying much... at least until you look at some of the other offenders in the isekai genre) and the author doesn't shy away from explicitly showing that.[+] The translations are high-quality (fluently English) and release frequently (1-2 days between chapters) with plenty of chapters out already. At the time of this review, there are 177 chapters covering 5 completed story arcs, with a 6th in progress. Even if you do feel that the series is slow (which was even true for me occasionally), the simple solution here is to skim until it gets interesting again, since there's no shortage of non-slice-of-life chapters. There's also a light novel adaptation (JP only) and a manga adaptation of that (translated) which can help you get a good idea of whether you'd like the series or not in a short amount of time.The bottom line here is that people who enjoy sci-fi content probably will enjoy this, even more so if they enjoy games set in space (the start of this web novel is literally just the scene after character creation in a space combat game, with some isekai sauce slathered on to make the main character more relatable). It's not perfect, but it's got more going for it than against it, and since there's not a lot of isekais set in space out there, it's certainly worth giving this a shot if you're into that kind of thing.