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THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS

At the time of writing this review, I have finished reading the first 6 volumes

What I liked :

1) World building is decent, it's easy to grasp the geography - it's just one big continent surrounded by (very few) smaller ones as well as some islands, so you don't get a plethora of kingdoms. Most of the story occurs on the main continent and its kingdoms. There are fewer kingdoms compared to Earth's history, each kingdom has a few cities.

I guess the reason that the author didn't want to introduce more than a certain number of kingdoms was to allow him to ... keep things simpler for the reader - too many kingdoms equals too many characters and sub-plots.

I tend to appreciate this because you don't need an intensive revision of all the places/people that have been introduced in the previous volumes if you happen to take a break from reading this series. The lore presented in this new world is also interesting and devoid of any complexities, with many references to similar things from earth.

2) Lack of tsundere characters (so far). I despise most of such characters. Especially the loli tsundere trope.

3) Slight mystery element : Why was the MC really summoned, what's his real purpose? Who is this demon lord, does he even exist? Why did the demons show up? Why is this new world so similar to Earth, yet so different? MC also tries to figure out why or how magic works in this new world, since most others take it for granted - "It's magic. It just exists", and he tries to combine his knowledge from earth with magic in this new world to come up with creative ideas that aren't well explored but seem fun in the context of the series (giving it a SoL feel)

4) The side characters : Funny how their quality stands out more than the main characters despite getting lesser time. It probably shows that the author runs out of steam when given more time with characters than he knows what to do with.

What I disliked :

1) Main characters : There's not a single character that I genuinely liked.

Protag : Extremely unrealistically written and consistently exhibits cringe-worthy behavior, yet is considered very normal in the context of the series. For e.g., he's just a university student under 20 years of age, but even when he is summoned in this whole new world for the first time, he doesn't panic. He's able to keep a calm mind and even takes over the throne right away when he is asked to, and gets to work. There was a bit of tension (positive) at the start of the series when he becomes the king, due to opposition from top military leaders, but even that is proven to be just a ploy to weed out some corrupt nobles. He comes up with flawless plans which are successfully implemented, the public falls in love with him, all the talented personnel he hires are loyal despite MC being so young. He's shown to have wisdom unnatural of someone his age (despite being from a modern world he adapts to his new role as a king in this world flawlessly, outwitting the best of minds/rulers in this world). Despite this he's unable to think of something simple like birth control (condoms have existed in one form or the other on earth for centuries) so he avoids sleeping with anyone since he doesn't want to have a kid until things are more stable (but finally gives in when he decides it's safe to have a kid - and now she's pregnant. There are several volumes to go but one of his wives is already pregnant. MC is just 20 years old by this point). Everything he does or says when it comes to his harem is cheesy. Like not realizing why a girl fell for him despite changing her life and accepting her when no one else would, and saying things like "I just did this and that. I wonder what made her fall for me" or "I'm sure I will fall in love with her" - Concept of love in this series is just another joke.

He's never been with a girl before, yet acts nonchalantly around his harem, but then tends to feel pretty embarrassed when he's flirting. But just to mess up the character even more, the author makes him do things like patting girls heads to comfort them, suddenly hugging them, or even humming some "anime song from my world" (fml) when he's around them without any hint of awkwardness. Plus almost no one hates him, and those who do eventually come to like him and at times even devote themselves to him.

I used to think that the Isekai Smartphone MC was boring, but no, this guy takes the cake.

The harem : When each one is introduced things seem like they might get exciting, but not a single one of them so far has made me feel even a hint of interest in them after their initial appearance. Once they fall for MC, they are just pushed aside to make way for new members. This is also typical of many harem LNs, but I feel something like Arifureta handles the harem element much better since there's actual progress for each character.

They have bland, cliche personalities (a dignified princess, a gluttonous warrior princess, one with the mature aura, one with the imouto aura, a shut-in, and so on), and even though they have some unique skills of their own, they just come across as "his harem" and nothing more. As another review has stated, there's hardly any jealousy, and there's no conflict between them - they just get along extremely well as if being pre-programmed to be the best support possible for the MC.

2) The art : Poor. Even the characters' faces are boring. Every other LN I have read has had much better art than this one. The art depicts the characters like some kind of mannequins (just look at the abominations they call hands and fingers), and there's hardly any background shown (as if they are standing in someone's dream). But this aspect isn't that important to me, so it doesn't weigh in much for the overall score.

3) The tangents : There's only one other review that points this out, and it's the biggest issue I have with this series - MC (and at times the others) go off on a tangent to explain things, thus taking the steam out of the current situation every single time. These explanations go on for several pages, are usually pointless and add almost nothing of value to the plot or understanding of the plot. They are extremely tedious to get through too; after the first 2 volumes I started skimming through them to get back to the conversation between the characters.

One example from vol.6 : By this point it had been established thoroughly that the MC had an ability that allowed him to interpret this new world's language(s) just as naturally as he could interpret Japanese. In vol.6, he hears a mysterious voice that he is able to understand but his companion is not. Yet it takes someone else to point out the possibility to him that it's his ability that might have allowed him to understand the meaning behind the words. Only then our "greatest king" seems to realize it, and then the author goes off on a tangent for 2-3 paragraphs explaining that ability all over again. With examples. Only after that he gets back to the conversation (Also, this felt like the author intentionally dumbed down the ever-so-smart MC just so that the side character would have a chance to say something meaningful.)

And this brings us to the wasted potential of this LN. As the title would have you expect, things are about rebuilding the kingdom in the beginning, thanks to MC's unique knowledge from earth (social reforms, variety of foods, etc.)

He takes some excerpts from Machiavelli's writings and also "The art of war" to explain certain things to the other characters in the series as well as the readers, which in the beginning fits well with the rebuilding aspects, but after the first few references, it just comes across as pompous.

And after this initial development, it's a lot about irrelevant sub-plots. Broadcasting idol shows? Broadcasting kids education shows? I don't want to read through tons of pages just to know how he set this up and which people he hired, why he hired them, etc. Are there no other problems in the kingdom? They became a superpower in a year? What about conflicts with other kingdoms? Kingdoms eyeing their rapid progress? Where's the tension from the invasion by demons? How about looking for some dungeons (since they seem to have a lot of mysteries about ancient technology that helps his kingdom)?

Everything of any significance is handled so easily that I don't even know anymore what this LN is trying to do. It is becoming increasingly boring and frustrating to read it compared to the first volume. At present it just comes across as the author writing about his ideal version of a non-combat isekai hero, someone who's cool, calm and collected in most situations, yet easily surprised/flustered when it comes to the antics of the girls in his harem. Wiser but also younger than most other characters (rulers or people in high positions, some having lived for hundreds of years). Someone who wants to "protect his family". A character that always amazes the rest of them with his wisdom and quick-thinking, and then shows humility when showered with their praise. Everyone supports him. Destined to be the savior from the beginning.

This feels more like a kids novel. The author even gives away information about the future (e.g. "years later there would be stories about so and so incident"), so you have a guarantee that everything is going to turn out alright.

I still enjoy bits and pieces of the volumes, but the enjoyment factor is rapidly going down. The amount I'm skimming through makes it feel like work instead. The only reason I am continuing to read it (though I might just drop this LN and move on) is because of the aforementioned mystery elements after already having put so much time into reading it.

Overall : 5/10

Thought I'd write a review for this since there are none: The premise is pretty straightforward - MC dies and gets reincarnated in another world.

As the title implies, he gets a special ability that allows him to gain XP at a much higher rate. There are of course other aspects to his abilities which could be said are even more interesting than just the high XP gain, and these are revealed as the plot moves forward.

There is very little art, just the cover pages, so mostly one has to imagine the various looks of new characters that might not have gotten any space on ... the cover.

The story is narrated from the MC's POV, while it also includes side stories in between that are relevant to the plot; these are narrated from a 3rd person POV. The author felt like a troll for some time - the main story, narrated by the MC, is mostly slow-moving SoL, while the side stories, though just a few, contain the actual mysteries and excitement relevant to the plot, and these don't come up often enough initially.

This gets tedious at times, because the side stories can regularly make the main story seem irrelevant and silly, even boring, yet the series is mostly about this main story. But the stories merge after a while, and things have gone back to SoL (for now).

Since it's the MC's POV, the focus is mostly on him. His monologues can get a bit too long to read at times, but are funny at some other times. He isn't the smartest but also not stupid or naive.

Character development is very minor, MC changes his view on certain things early on, and the side characters (basically, his harem + some friends he makes) get focus from MC's POV majority of the time, like when he converses with them or when he observes their expressions and reactions.

(MC has a younger sister in his original world (earth), how she plays a part in this story is also enjoyable)

The relationship development is very quick, there isn't a lot of romance but MC and his main girl engage in other acts early on, which I have hardly seen in many harem novels. As typical of a harem series these days, the girls fall for him quickly, and fortunately there aren't any annoying tsundere characters so far. There're no "beat him up because he saw us naked by accident" incidents either, which is a big relief. MC also seems open to multiple love interests.

No strong cliche character tropes (yet), and almost all conflicts with enemies get resolved without too much drama, thanks to MC's unique abilities.

Overall a light and decent read if you are reading/watching other things, there's hardly any excessive tension which keeps things simple, but it's not something I could binge-read. Fan translation is fairly quick and of good quality as well.

Story: 7/10
Art: 6/10
Character: 6/10
Enjoyment: 7.5/10

Overall: 7.5/10

This is my first review for a light novel series (and it's divided into volumes, so I am not sure what number of "chapters" I should enter as "read", but I have read 3 volumes so far)

What sets this series apart from typical Fantasy/Magic/Supernatural LNs is that the MC starts off as overpowered.

You don't have to wait for him to get stronger, you don't see the overused "try-fail-improve" trope, instead the author has focused on other elements like the way the "Summoners' Battle" are carried out, the complex rules, and how your achievements as a summoner don't matter much; experience counts to some extent, ... but the rules of the battle create an even playing field. Anyone can be beaten, everyone has access to the same set of tools. The summoners don't engage in physical battle themselves (although there are times when such battles are presented to a small extent). So, focus is more on strategy - including use of the environment in which the fights are carried out, as well as quick wits to counter the strategies used by opponents. And this is where the MC shines, because he has the ability to stay calm and focused even in the worst situations presented to him.

But as good as the MC is, he's hopeless without a vessel, who/which is needed to carry out the battle. On top of that, he's someone who can't ignore a cry for help due to his past, nor does he let people get too close to him, because the story is not all about MC battling with other summoners with vessels and thwarting evil, but how everything is connected to the biggest thorn in his life - the White Queen, a psychotic, immeasurable, incomprehensible power from an unknown world who claims she is in love with the MC. She toys with him ruthlessly at will, only so that he'd "love her back", but his past has taught him better.

You are sometimes led to believe that the MC has figured everything out, that no one can truly outsmart him, but then steps up the Queen, an all-powerful, unpredictable yandere, and when some of the answers are laid out at the end of each volume (it's usually one major arc per volume), it takes you by surprise and also generates a curiosity as to what she'd do next to gain MC's attention.

There is a bit of art presented which seems generic like "Devil is a part timer", and new characters are introduced at regular intervals, but the author does a great job of not letting them overwhelm you by keeping the focus majorly on MC and the Queen's relationship. Some characters seem stereotypical, you could even call it a generic harem - a bold one, a shy one, the little sister figure, and so on. Some of these characters are also used to provide comic relief from time to time. But nothing can come between the Queen's obsession with the MC, and she makes it known with her actions quite a few times, like how she easily gets angry if the MC mentions another girl in her presence or ignores her - she'd happily annihilate everything in existence on a whim if MC upsets her too much.

One might think that such an over-bearing entity would easily dominate the plot, but the rules presented by the author make sure she doesn't appear all the time. The plot in each volume starts off slow, and picks up pace around the middle. So, despite being the second main character, we only see her when the plot thickens, but the wait makes it worth it, because we see how she's connected to all of it, and that's what drives the series forward.

Overall, a must read if are into supernatural action coupled with some really good story. There's a bit of tragedy regarding MC's fate because no matter how smart he is or how hard he tries, he can't completely stop someone like the Queen. He doesn't give up while she keeps coming back to haunt him, and that's what makes it so exciting.

(Updated in April 2021)

Story : 7/10

This story is a bit different compared to typical high school rom-coms because the relationship starts off very early. It's funny, light and somewhat reminds me of Hollywood sex-coms. It's not thought provoking or complex, but it fits perfectly with what the author is aiming for : adolescence sex comedy

Art : 7

It's simple and clean. Apparently it's also the author's first serialization, so it's impressive considering that.

... Character : 7

I haven't seen any silly nosebleeds in this one yet. I haven't seen "accidental" situations that lead to the female getting violent unnecessarily beating up the male. MC's insecurities are targeted well, he's not the "knight in shining armor", but still has positives about him that eventually make you want to root for him; he's a bit timid, a bit clueless too, but the female lead makes up for it with her aggressiveness.

The other characters so far (mostly female) have been okay. Nothing extraordinary but not boring either. MC's friends provide comic relief or some other plot help at regular intervals to keep it fresh, but there's no diving into their lives so far.

Enjoyment : 8

The premise, plus how quickly things take off make this series pretty enjoyable. The pacing is good, there are hints of drama at good intervals. It's never a drag to read any chapter, easy to binge through as well.

Overall: 7