There's a difference between being cautious and being paranoid. This protagonist is so paranoid he assumes that normal farmers are actually monsters pretending to be human. If a young girl gives him a flower, it has to be cursed.

Story: A world is terrorized by a Demon Lord, and so the beautiful Goddess summons a hero (from Japan, obviously) to save it. Wow, how original... The hero is very careful and paranoid but still manages to deal with any problem that shows up when fighting the Generals of the Demon Army. Now let's follow his path to saving the world.

Honestly, I thought it was gonna be a good story with lots of humor. But the Hero is so paranoid he needs to destroy the ashes from killed enemies. He needs to completely evaporate the moist in the air when killing slimes etc. It's so exaggerated it completely stagnates the story. But the worst thing of all is that there's no logical reason for him to be so overpowered. He stays in a room for a while and trains, and then he's suddenly leveled up a lot. It feels really weak and rushed like the author didn't even bother to create a training arc.

Art: The art is actually surprisingly good. The color pages are beautiful and the character designs are pretty nice most of the time. Even the black'n white illustrations are looking good. Unfortunately, the story didn't share the same high quality.

Characters: *sigh* A Goddess with huge tits, blond hair, and an inflated ego, along with a paranoid Hero. Frankly, it's very hard to like these characters because they are so flawed, but that's probably the point. If feels like the author tried doing a KonoSuba, but failed spectacularly. So instead of being funny, it's awkward. The important Demons so far has been evil and sadistic, which is at least what you would expect.

Overall, I did not enjoy this novel series. And that's not because I hated the Hero. It's because of the silly speed-leveling that happens way too early in the story. And unlike Kirito, this hero doesn't really do anything. He gets stronger prison-style, training in a locked room, yet he becomes the strongest in the world in but a few days.

So with the art being the only slightly impressive thing about this story, I honestly can't see how they got an anime adaption. Maybe it's a bit funnier to see it rather than simply reading it?

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The Hero is Overpowered but overly Cautious is a very entertaining read for those looking for something a little different in Isekai. The story is told from the perspective of the Goddess who summons the hero and comedy thrives from this point of view. Instead of taking the typical path of joining the adventurers guild or hunting monsters to level up, the hero betrays both the readers' and Goddess' expectations and does his training in private in the Goddess' room. The Goddess and subsequently the reader do not always know what the hero is capable of, and that is how the comedy in this show is developed. This novel has also been a well-appreciated break from all the Isekais bloated with harems.

If this broad description sounded intriguing to you, I encourage you to read a sample or pick up the light novel yourself.

I have read the first 5 volumes. The first two volumes, also known as the Gaeabrande Arc, introduce us to the our main two characters and we learn a great deal about their personalities. The first volume is filled with wonderful comedic moments while the second volume takes a sharp tonal shift near the end. With the way that it's written, there is a good deal of foreshadowing and the "twist" doesn't feel awkward. Elulu and Mash are also wonderful supporting characters and the story feels rather lighthearted.

For the Gaeabrande Arc, I would give an 8/10 for my deep enjoyment and satisfying emotional investment.

Volumes 3-5, the Ixphoria Arc, deviate greatly from the light and occasionally serious mood of the prior arc. The world described by the authors in this arc is extremely dark and would definitely be rated R if adapted into anime. There are the usual comedic moments between Seiya and Rista in these volumes, but they often feel uncomfortable given the circumstances they are put in. I also believe that the supporting cast is much weaker, consisting of strange yet unintriguing characters.

Volume 3 has this bizarre revelation at the beginning, only to be nullified, and then restored 'halfway'. The reasoning and outcome of these events feel inexplicably confusing but did not heavily impact my enjoyment of the novel. The grim setting of Ixphoria is really pushed by how Seiya also treats other humans worse (knocking old women unconscious) than he did in the first arc (threatening shopkeepers). I will commend several emotional scenes for not feeling forced or out of place.

The reason the darker theme for Ixphoria arc overall doesn't work well is because the struggles feel less meaningful. In the Gaeabrande arc, Seiya would rarely struggle because, well he's 'overpowered'. As a result, whenever he struggled there was a lot of tension. In the Ixphoria arc he is ALWAYS 'struggling', and it doesn't invoke the same emotional tension.

In volume 4 especially, all the tension is obviously fake. The story in this volume particularly feels like a playthrough of Fire Emblem where the characters barely move and they are just turtle-ing to finish every level. This is very much an in-character strategy for Seiya, but there is much less enjoyment to be had.

edit: the following portion of my review has been rewritten after reading volume 5

The structure of volume 5 is very reminiscent of volume 2 with how Seiya takes a very active role in saving the world and contains an emotional plot twist near the end. Unfortunately the foreshadowing for this twist is lackluster and left me dissatisfied upon reading it. However, I do like how the author used the plot twist to give greater emotional tension to the situation (I like how it was used, not how it was set up). Volume 5 also concludes the Ixphoria arc on a satisfying note and setups the next one rather well.

For volumes 3, 4, 5 I would give a 6.8/10 largely due to the theming issue I mentioned previously but the fifth volume redeeming the arc.

Another thing I would like to discuss about this light novel is HOW it is written. The author very effectively keeps the characters moving between locations at a good pace. There isn't a massive amount of time used to describe intricate details and there is never too much dialogue on one page. For example, you are never told what "Atomic Split Slash" or "Maximum Inferno" do, but you can easily assume just based off the names what kind of skill they are. You also aren't bogged down with stats like attack, defense, hp, etc. particularly in later volumes.

Essentially, this light novel is a pleasurable read and prioritizes progression over information appropriately.

All in all, I would give this Light Novel a 7/10 for its wonderful first arc but a somewhat bumpy second arc.

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