Isekai Mahou wa Okureteru!
The Magic in this Other World Is Too Far Behind!

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An interesting take on the summoned to another world non-rpg isekai. One of the three people summoned to be the demon king turns out to not want to fight. It also turns out that SPOILER.....he already knows magic....SPOILER END.

The MC looks to be OP, but with a disinclination to fight.

The pacing is good, the art is good, and the characters are more defined than in blander 6/10 Isekai.

Only 5 chapters are translated as of March 9 2018. Worth it if you're looking for a quick read if you don't mind that there's not much in the way of material.

When you want to rate something, usually you read it more than once, because the first read through is as a pure reader: Man I've never seen this, I can't wait for what this Manga/Book has in store for me. But then you have the second read either because you liked it a lot, want to see what you missed, or you're trying to critique it.

My first read-through (up to date) was pretty jaded. I enjoyed it, I thought the main character was cool, strong (but not that stupid "I'm at the level of god" strong). level-headed and down to earth, and an enjoyable person, ... to a degree. I didn't dwell on any plot holes, or weird turns, I just took in what Hitsuji Gamei gave us. Which I enjoyed. It hit straight 8's across the board.
My second read through however didn't mirror those sentiments. I caught trope after trope, error after error. "Character from another world goes to an adventurers guild takes a test... Can you guess what happens?" Yeah... You can. HOWEVER, I liked it a lot. They didn't go into some crazy 3rd or 4th adventure, currently the story is still mostly linear, and staying on track with the story.

Story: 7/10
I liked some of the unique twists on an already abused and wrung out genre like Isekai. They covered up some plot points like "Why is someone strong from another world" or "Why does one protagonist not want to join a war for the summoners." And while not all of it is cleared right away, it's logical how Suimei defends his reasoning.
The story doesn't stray off often, and while its setting up for some comical harem, you can enjoy the story without having it shoved down your throat.
All that said, it still is lacking in a bunch of areas and could be ironed out.

Art 8/10:
The artwork is more or less impressive. It doesn't feel like anything incredibly unique, however each panel is drawn well and utilizes the imagination of the writer well. I would not say that it's lacking much other than originality and that special something that separates a great piece of art, from a phenomenal one.

Characters: 7.5/10
The characters truly make a story, more so than any other elements in Isekai. You don't read/watch Konosuba for the world, you do it for the characters. Suimei is a very easy to follow lead. He mostly uses "logic" for his actions, and doesn't fall to many of the bottom-tier Isekai trope traits that many do. Is he some what overpowered? Yes. But he does struggle and isn't some kind of one man vs the world super weapon.
You don't really get a feel for many of the other characters, Stingray is... Like a loyal dog, cute and lovable, Suimei's2 friends are.. At the moment super one-dimensional. And Lefille seems to have a great chance at developing.

Enjoyment: 7/10
So far I'm enjoying this, the long waits between releases leaves some anxious feelings, however at the end of the day it's a more unique spin on the "Summoned From Modern Japan" and I can get behind that. I never felt like my time was being wasted while reading.

Overall 7/10:
I can see myself continuing to read this, as of the date I wrote this, there was about 28 chapters out. I reread it 3 times, and still enjoyed the story and art each time. I do recommend you read it. if you can stomach the usual Isekai nonsense.

The story alone is a cool idea, even though there are some plot holes. At first it's slightly confusing because a lot isn't explained, but if you stay with it it works itself out. After about 10 chapters, the story begins to go downhill. What I felt like a structured plot, goes off the rails when the main character chooses to go off in a sort of, adventure style story now. It went from what feels like a action, fantasy story to adding slice of life to that.

The art is good. It has some cool art when magic begins, but other then that it's pretty ... much the same as most well drawn mangas.

Characters are pretty cliche, there's a mysterious character, a good hearted character, and a couple whatever-characters.

The enjoyment of the story diminishes over the chapters, as the structure and plot begins to become muddy, and the plot becomes very loose.

Overall, I actually dropped this manga after the 16th chapter. Some things become confusing, like certain characters actions that don't get explained but have significant effects on the plot. Also, the straw that broke the camel's back for me was the straight ridiculous "curse" one of the characters has. By chapter 16, you'll understand who I'm talking about. It was just too... idk, it was a useless thing to add to the story and the crumbling of the story and pacing just backed it and I lost interest.

Isekai Mahou wa Okureteru is your typical slightly subversive Isekai power fantasy story that dips occasionally into interesting territory with its world-building and magic systems. Perhaps out of all the Isekai mangas and animes that I've had the pleasure and displeasure of reading, this one, in particular, has the most fleshed out and interesting magic system somewhat reminiscent of the nasuverse (though honestly lacking in depth compared to it - then again, the nasuverse system is such a messy sprawl of fascinating ideas that I sometimes don't even know whether they show up or are explained in fate or other media with such detail).

The ... magic here is not just a simple vague evocation of the spirits or mana or perhaps just a simplistic feeling or emotion, but there are obscure processes, techniques and other influences that require research and learning to allow users to fully utilise magic to the full potential. To top it all off, it seems consistent. Honestly, I can't be bothered to explain how the systems precisely work, because I probably don't fully understand it myself (not that the story did not explain, just that I would probably need to read the manga again much more precisely) but I suppose if this ever gets popular, somebody will eventually make a wiki page for it.

Narrative wise, however, while it begins promising enough with an intriguing enough hook of a seemingly intelligent, sensible and productive main protagonist who is summoned to another world alongside his friend who is the real hero. The protagonist rejects helping the otherworld kingdom for he has no obligation to help them and instead works toward returning to his own world. There is a slight The Eminence in Shadow vibe going on here where the protagonist is a powerful figure with a low key presence. Still, unlike Eminence, where its brilliance lies in its blatant parody of the genre, the story here takes itself too seriously. Maybe to a painful extent at times. It is ultimately a conventional power fantasy narrative.

While the initial narrative hook was subversive, the facade of subversion eventually fades to pave way for a more conventional power fantasy where the protagonist grows to have a more conventional 'protect my friends' kind of attitude and slowly builds his harem of females. Now, power fantasy can be great fun to read, but my enjoyment here was hampered by the relatively poor pacing. Powerful enemies had already popped up early into the story without appropriate set-up, giving a sense that the story was rushed to meet beats rather than consistently maintain the illusion of a story. Still, I have to give credit where credit is due, the protagonist though eventually rendered rather predictable with his rather naive desires to protect his loved ones and all, he has been developed to a satisfying extent, hiding within him appears to be some backstory that has yet to be told, but if it's done well, it can really make for a more interesting characterisation. Also, despite my slight issue toward the change in his characterisation, it remains remarkably consistent, with the story nicely balancing his initial cynicism and sensibility with his eventually revealed sentimentality.

All in all, Isekai Mahou wa Okureteru is an enjoyable Isekai power fantasy that though won't break grounds in the genre, subverts things just enough to be enjoyable. While it does have some issues, I have no doubt that it will probably eventually find an anime adaptation.