- #1
This would be a pretty interesting read, if not for the protagonist and the inherently illogical nature of the setting.Premise:The MC was your typical, cookie-cutter average Japanese guy. His little sister practically blackmailed him into playing an otome game, because its gameplay portions were simply too hard for her. He completes the game, even going as far to buy P2W cheats in the in-game cash shop to progress, but then he dies of what is implied to be overwork, only to be reincarnated as a background character in the otome game he was playing.Setting:As others have pointed out, the biggest issue of this story is the completely self-contradictory setting. Apparently, because "this is an otome game", women are held in the same regard as men were in a feudal society... except not really. The narration repeatedly insists on that women hold all the power, and men are considered to be second class citizens, except it's still a kingdom with a king, men hold and inherit all the noble titles, men are in charge of the military, and all the important authority figures shown are men too. In other words, the "twist" of the setting exists for the sole reason to justify some girls and women being b*tchy and treating the MC like dirt without any consequences.As for the metaphysics, the story is incredibly vague about them. There is no detailed magic system, nor are the floating islands, airships, or mechs explained; any details about them are just hand-waved as "this was a game", even though it obviously isn't anymore. The closest we get to proper world-building is when the MC discovers the location of the stash where the cheat items he bought from the cash shop are stored, and it is mentioned that the "old human civilization", which included an actual Japan, was destroyed by the "new humans" who had magic, but then the whole thread is dropped and never brought up again.Characters:The MC is inconsistent. He is a young man who has an overpowered mech, airship, and AI that can destroy countries, yet his primary worry is about not getting married to an old woman in a political marriage. He is a shit-stirrer who picks fights with powerful people and dresses them down at any chance he gets, but at the same time he is an absolute pushover. He is suave to the point he practically seduces the queen of the country over a misunderstanding, but at the same time he is incredibly dense and cannot get a clue about the signals the two pretty girls he finds cute are sending him, because "he is just a mob" and decides he doesn't have a chance with them. In other words, he is your typical, annoying pushover JP MC who gets really irritating on the long run.The side-characters are okay. The female leads forming the MC's harem are all decently likable, the MC's reincarnated sister and his reverse-harem of the original capture targets are decently unlikable, but there really isn't anything to write home about them.Plot:There isn't much, to be honest. The MC has no long-term goals aside of his compulsive drive of finding someone to marry in the academy (ha-ha, because that's what young women would do, and this is a reverse word, so it's the guys doing it, ha-ha, real funny.../s). He is constantly jerked around by the circumstances, and since nobody in power seems to care the slightest about his overpowered equipment, most of the story revolving around petty school life drama instead. This might later change, as I have read stray comments about a war later, but I sincerely doubt the MC would become any more proactive.Final verdict:This had potential either as an absurd comedy, or a deconstruction of some otome game tropes. It's neither, instead it's just an inconsistent story with a pretty bad and borderline unlikable MC. It's not terrible, but not exactly good either. I would score it around 2.7/5.