Kuzu to Kinka no Qualidea
Qualidea of Scum And a Gold Coin

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So entirely honest: I wanted to give this a 10 but I restrained myself to a 9 for the sake of objectivity. The authors do an amazing job, effectively making me interested in a plot with (initially) extremely hateable characters and somehow getting me to like them by the end of the first (of hopefully many!) volume.

Notice I said authors. Two authors write from the alternating perspectives of two characters with worldviews that can best be described as hilariously twisted. If you are looking for something outside of the "guy falls into video game world and gathers harem" genre then look no further.

I don't usually ... do reviews but seeing that this awesome series didn't even have one broke my heart.


Story: 8
The genre can be described mostly as Mystery/Comedy (though certainly not slapstick, and not so dark as to be called black). "Romance" is present in the mix, but frankly calling what this novel did "romance" is misleading to the extreme. A Horror plot is implied in the background but does not really influence the overall feel of the novel (if there was a genre called Foreboding it would fit perfectly). There is also something like a backdrop plot happening at the same time as the primary plot of the novel that is sure to be elaborated on in later volumes, but as of now does not play much of a role.
Giving literally anymore would be a spoiler and one of the strong points of the plot is definitely it's ability to surprise you in humorous ways.

Art: 8?
Frankly, I am not sure how to rate Art in a light novel. That said the pictures that do exist are good by manga standards, so I guess I'll put down an 8 with a grain of salt.

Character: 10
The two main characters are this novel's main strength for sure. More important than that is the fact that the characters are portrayed so skillfully that the revelation of their unique personalities is itself part of the plot and a constant surprise for the reader. However, the cast of characters is actually quite small, and the two main characters take the spotlight to such an extent that even recurring characters feel rather unimportant (this in contrast to many other stories where even minor characters get a backstory or even in depth characterization, such as My Teenage Love Comedy SNAFU by one of the authors who wrote this novel). That said I can't say any of this really worked against the novel overall.

Enjoyment: 10
Thankfully, this part is subjective and I can say my honest feelings. I actually laughed multiple times by myself while reading this and have recommended it to multiple friends. The overall feel of the novel was fantastic as well. I loved that I actually couldn't anticipate the story, and not because it didn't make sense. The creativity and craftsmanship behind the settings and characters completely grabbed my attention and I happily give my endorsement to pretty much anybody.

Overall: 9
I think this is fair enough given that these numbers feel pretty arbitrary anyways. For me enjoyment is key, so I almost want to give it a 10 but on the grand scale of things giving it a 10 is probably not quite right. So here's my 9, if you disagree write your own review. Frankly, I liked this too much so this review is almost certainly biased upward, but I can't give it a lower score than this.

I'm kind of surprised this novel is so unpopular, given that a half of it is written by the mastermind behind Oregairu, Wataru Watari. And Oregairu is, well, known pretty widely. Since there was a long delay before volume 12, I expected at least some people would give it a try.

The most interesting thing here is, probably, the way the story is told: having two completely different opinions on literally each event is refreshing as it is and since both perspectives are written by different authors, main characters really feel like two different people with unique views. Sadly, this novel doesn't have anything more to ... offer.

Is it supposed to be story-centered? Then it fails, because there are plot holes everywhere and there isn't much of a plot anyway.
Is it supposed to be character-centered? It still fails, because characters are pretty shallow and there is pretty much no character development.
Is it supposed to be dialogue-centered? Maybe. And in that field, it delivers. Maybe, the dialogue is not too smart, but it does what it can in being a "funny witty word-fight" for the whole length of the novel to make the experience good enough.

Oh yeah, a couple of words about illustrations and whatnot. They are here, and they just exist. Actually, the whole novel is like this: it's not too bad, not too good, but it was just good enough for me to have fun. Especially since it's so hard to find anything with this "witty word-fight" "genre" and with a good enough main character.

I wouldn't say Kuzu to Kinka no Qualidea is a waste of time. It doesn't even last long enough to be considered as such. But if you are going to read it expecting something outstanding, you would be disappointed.