- #1
I'm rating this harshly, maybe more so than usual, because it's a light novel instead of an unpolished web novel, the beginning of the series set my expectations pretty high, and this series has pissed me off so much that it's the first one I'm dropping because I literally cannot stand this author instead of simply being bored by the content. The only reason this isn't 1 star for me is that the first volume is at least decent, but it's all downhill from there.
I started reading this series since the manga sold me, but I'm now just too tired of pretending I don't hate this series. It like the author is hell-bent on forcing plot points that will piss off the reader for no reason. Maybe this author somehow has a vendetta and thinks that plots should never have satisfying resolutions. The protagonist is literally never happy. Whatever he does, whatever he achieves, and no matter if he achieved his goal or not, he will always get f*cked over in the end because the author has decided beforehand. He takes a beating for no reason when he's perfectly capable of avoiding them and also dealing them back in turn. He gets handed a plateful of sh*t and then proceeds to ask for a spoon and a bib. It's like the author couldn't decide what kind of protagonist to have: the ruthless and strong type you'd see in weak-to-strong series or the jokester and weak type you'd see in lighthearted comedy series. Somehow this MC is the worst of both worlds. This smooth-brained little sh*t of an MC dares to complain about his situation when he literally has all the power in the world in the form of Luxon and then just doesn't use it in some cases, which I'm guessing is entirely due to the author not thinking before writing at all. It's incomprehensible how he hasn't either crushed the kingdom or deserted it to live on his own. This thoughtlessly put together plot would be bad for the series at the web novel state, but somehow it made it to the light novel state.
The worthlessness of the protagonist isn't even the beginning of the series' issues. It's ok for a drama series to have a protagonist that's initially worthless, but you need strong supporting characters that actually whip their ass into shape over time. There are literally none in this series, and the protagonist only ever gets the illusion of growth without really ever going anywhere. Livia is too busy dealing with her own internal sh*t to have an effect anywhere else. Her character is likable, but she will never do anything to affect the major plot points except as a deus ex-machina when the author feels like it. The author even points out how unimpactful she is and then proceeds to not fix it as if spitting in the reader's face. Anjelica has the right idea most of the time, and then never follows through in whipping the protagonist's ass into following that idea for some unknown reason even though it'll only hurt him in the end. The author keeps introducing other love interests for the harem without giving any reason for why this person isn't also complete scum like just about every other female character in the series. Dear writer, is it that hard to recognize that the very setting you chose mandates you justify why some characters deserve to be potential love interests? All we ever see are rare moments of them being cute or emotional. For a series focused on how badly male characters are treated in otome games, does the author really not feel like a complete hypocrite with how they've characterized the female love interests?
Even worse than the love interests are the rest of the cast. Who in their right mind would willingly keep these pieces of sh*t around even if it were to just keep up appearances? Why does the author keep giving Marie and the princes so much attention in the first place? Rather than a proper nemesis, b*tchmouto and her f*ckboi squad feel like the weekly villains in a shounen series that have somehow been given the main recurring villain role. How are they supposed to feel threatening when they are literally incompetent? Why do they deserve our pity when there are clearly characters in much worse circumstances? In fact, why are they still in the story at all, when they should have disappeared at the end of the first novel? Why has the protagonist continued to associate with them, when he openly hates them with a vengeance? If you say it's because the protagonist needs to work with them to save the kingdom, why does he want to do so in the first place when he constantly complains about how sh*t of a place it is WHILE having complete personal security in the form of Luxon? It'd be easy for him to just save those he cared about and leave the rest to their fate. In the first place, why oh why would this author push so hard for us to care about this kingdom potentially falling into destruction when it's literally hammered into us how sh*t of a place it is? And for f*cks sake can we stop introducing corrupt noble after corrupt noble as the "villain of the week"? B*tchmouto and the f*ckboi five are insufferable enough, do we seriously need even more low-quality villains that are even more cliche and forgettable? Is five even the correct number of f*ckbois in b*tchmouto's reverse harem? I can't even f*cking remember. That's how forgettable they are. Seriously, the most relatable character is Luxon. I'd be trying to "exterminate all humans" too if I had to live in that world.
Does this author understand at all that it's painful to read something like this? It like not even the author knew what kind of series this was, so they carelessly threw all the ingredients into the pot without looking and then served the reader a fresh steaming bowl of sh*t soup with a smile. It might look pretty appetizing, but that sh*t taste in your mouth will only get worse the further you get through it. The comedy doesn't make you laugh. The drama only makes you cringe. The sci-fi elements would feel shallow if it weren't for the even shallower magic system. The action is your cliche mecha action with no creativity, and I'm convinced this author doesn't understand the meaning of "adventure." At this point, I'd kill for literally any satisfying development, but villains always just "disappear" having been given their comeuppance off-screen, and those who brought them to justice only get meaningless rewards which sometimes literally hurt them.
I'm sure this author is a nice person and was just trying their best. I really wanted to like this series too. I tried my hardest to just grin and bear it. I wanted to stay convinced that it'll get better in just a few chapters, that the characters are acting dumb for a reason, that the ending will make it all worth it. Reality is harsh.
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