Midweek discussions - Hook, Line and Sinker in c/[email protected]

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Rather than just say "X book did it best" I thought I'd go through some of the LNs in my collection and see how they handle the first line.

The False Hero

"I'm sorry, please forgive me," a gentle voice pleads.

I know that it's kind of a common trope to have an isekai start with a random voice saying something vague but impactful, but at the time I first read this I was pretty engaged. Who are they? Why had they had to apologize? Why couldn't they say more? How did this relate to the title, "The False Hero." Etc.

Sure it could have been better, but it wasn't so cliche as to turn you off from the book nor was it so generic as "I was doing X and then I was suddenly in Y world" or "I got hit by truck-kun"

6/10

Reincarnated as a Sword

The very first thing that came to mind when I opened my eyes was how dark it was. "Hm. Is it night?"

Okay so this is one of my absolute favorite LNs but this first line is BOOOOORING. Oh, someone woke up and it's dark and they're wondering if it's night. You know, something SUPER normal and mundane. Wake-up starts are cliche as well. Sure it picks up later on but this is a horrible start.

1/10

The Villainess is an SS+ Rank Adventurer

The orchard within the Royal Villa was my home within a home. Undaunted by the tall shadows cast by the walls, the blossoming apple trees and flowering shrubs sung a song of springtime as they gently woke me from my afternoon nap.

Okay, we get a little bit of scene building here and a tiny taste of some personality of the narrator seeing that they like to nap in an orchard, but this opening is even less exciting than the described afternoon nap.

3/10

Failure Frame

We were on a school trip when it happened.

Surprisingly good intro here. It's concise and yet it tells several big things. The narrator is a school student. Something noteworthy happened that they are now going to tell you about. And other people were part of the aforementioned incident. All that in nine words. Sure it's not mind-blowing or a huge attention grabber but it doesn't have to be. It just has to get you to keep reading and it does that.

8/10

Solo-Leveling

[The daily quest has arrived.]

It introduces this as LitRPG but you pretty much could have gathered that from the title-alone. Still, if you aren't familiar with the genre it does an okay job of setting up expectations.

2/10

But this is in an unbelievably short Chapter 0. It doesn't even count as a prologue. And all it does is say "Hey this is LitRPG." So to be a bit more fair, lets look at the real start of the novel on Chapter 1.

E-rank hunter Jinwoo Sung. That title followed him around everywhere.

Now we're talking. This is a great start. We can infer that "E-rank" is a very low rank yet this person is our protagonist. We wonder what a hunter is and does. And finally, we know that Jinwoo Sung has a reputation of being E-rank and therefore weak. How is the weakest person the main character? Well, probably from Solo-Leveling! Lets keep reading!

9/10

Trapped in a Dating Sim

Ideas like good and evil are relative and differ based on point of view.

Based on the title, this LN is clearly a wacky isekai. So why is the narrator waxing poetic? I think it does a good job of subverting the reader's expectations and making them want to read at least a bit more to figure out what's going on here.

7/10

Ascendance of a Bookworm

Urano Motosu loved books.

At first glance this seems like a terrible intro. We already know that the protagonist loves books from the Bookworm title. And yet, I think this is a pretty great opener. Of all the ways this could start, it tells you something that should be obvious. THAT is how much this person loves books. That even putting it in the title is not enough to convey their love.

Also we get the protagonists name here. However, this is an isekai and it's surprising that we get their pre-isekai name first (although the reader doesn't know that yet). A lot of novels start with the main character not remembering their name or something making their past life not particularly relevant. However their name is the first thing you read, implying that the fact they're from another world will play a big part in the story.

7/10

So based on my arbitrary scoring system, Solo-Leveling has the best start!

What light novel(s) have you read last week, and what do you think about it? [March 31 - April 06] in c/[email protected]

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You know, frequently I avoid side-stories because they're frequently low-effort cash grabs but Miya Kazuki has shown time and time again that her side-stories are fun, unique, and worthwhile so I might have to check them out.

What light novel(s) have you read last week, and what do you think about it? [March 31 - April 06] in c/[email protected]

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

That was a big "oh shit" moment for sure. I'm also starting to get some ideas on what "Gramps" in the library is...

Theorizing that contains Huge Spoilers

My current theory is that the statue of the Goddess of Wisdom is holding the REAL Grutrissheit and not just a facsimile.

The royals have not searched the Academy (and specifically the Academy Library) for the Grutrissheit nor would they have thought to since supposedly only lay and mednobles ever go there personally.
IIRC, Mestionora's shrine in the library is depicted holding the Grutrissheit
The Archnoble librarians who might have been privied to royal secrets were purged.
"Gramps" would mean something even older than the Schumils in the library and the only thing we really know of thus far that would be older than them is the Grutrissheit
When Rosemyne touches the Grutrissheit on the statue it sucks an enormous amount of mana from her
After the magic is sucked out nothing of note happens. The only other time a huge amount of magic being consumed without anything immediate happening is with mana offerings
The Schumils assume Rosemyne - as their owner - is royalty and therefore supplying the country with magic would be part of her duty

I also suspect that Ehrenfest's Foundation is located in the Temple bookroom behind the shelf with Mestionora on it. If Mestionora is responsible for giving the Grutrissheit to the first King then it would make sense that aspects of government would depict her. This would also explain Ehrenfest adopting prayers and other Temple customs into their culture when other duchys do no such thing. Further, Ehrenfest's Bible seems to be an extremely accurate version given that it has the extra magic circle and hidden messages, implying that Ehrenfest was originally founded with very strong ties to religion/the Temple.

Anyway, it's just a running theory for now but Miya Kazuki has not been one to "cheat" with big reveals so I'm fairly convinced she's been dropping clues this whole time.

What light novel(s) have you read last week, and what do you think about it? [March 31 - April 06] in c/[email protected]

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago (6 children)

OMG, what year is it? What the hell had I even reported on last time? Well, last month I briefly showed up to mention how the epilogue in Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3 Volume 5 started mid-way through the novel. Recently I finished Part 4 Volume 9 so I'm starting on Part 5 now.

Just wow. I understand why people love this LN so much. The writing has gotten so much more impactful and the art is SO much better than in previous volumes. Miya Kazuki has this expert ability to establish normality in a fantasy world and then flip everything on its head and subvert expectations.

I feel like I haven't talked about anything in forever so... heavy spoilers ahead!

Part 3 Spoilers

This was the first part that I read past the anime and it was such a trip getting into it. At the time I was somewhat overwhelmed by all the new sights and people once she got to be a noble. Looking back at it now, it has become the norm. I love that her fake family took her in right away and then so did her adoptive family. Yet even with two very welcoming families she still missed her commoner family.

The fact she becomes the High Bishop is SUPER cool and I love how that one tiny decision way back here continues to have profound effects all the way up to where I'm reading in part 5 volume 1. She also makes her juvere but right before she can use it to become a real girl again ANOTHER dastardly plot my the Former Veronica Faction poisons Rosemyne and forces her into her juvere... for two years. When she wakes up and you find out about the timeskip it blew my mind. Oh, and surprise, she's still not fully healed!

The side-stories were amazing too and set up Part 4 really well. Seeing how Wilfred and Charlotte view Rosemyne once they have to fill her shoes... I cannot describe how nuanced and amazing that was. And all these tiny things come together to form a story that is so incredibly deep and makes so much sense on such a fundamental level.

Part 4 brought the academy arc I was waiting for! And it delivered SO hard!

But before that, just, WOW... nine whole volumes. Anyway...

Part 4 Spoilers

The academy arc was everything I wanted and more. Right from the onset Rosemyne is already causing a ruckus despite her best efforts to be just an ordinary normal little girl with her only desire to be to go to the library. What I found really cool was that this didn't just feel like "Rosemyne goes to Hogwarts" and instead feels like something truly unique.

I mentioned this before when I was writing about Reincarnated as a Sword and Trapped in a Dating Sim that I love how the world's make sense. And when things don't make sense, an explanation comes up later that explains why things are the way they are. It shows that the author is thinking things through and not just pulling stuff out of their butt. Bookworm is no different.

More Part 4 Spoilers

A number of things didn't make sense in Part 2. The purge is a HUGE plot point but from a world standpoint it doesn't make much sense since it left the country so mana-starved in every capacity. But okay, that can just be attributed to war not making sense. But then we look at the Temple. Rosemyne is able to wield magic because she knows prayers so she understands magic to be divine intervention by the gods. However most nobles not only shun the Temple but also don't believe in the gods which seems illogical based on what we know.

But things start to come together when we the Royals and the Sovern Temple interact with each other in an antagonistic fashion. It can be implied from history that some kind of power struggle happened in the past resulting in a firm separation between church and state. Furthermore we can see that part of the reason Rosemyne is so amazing is because of her upbringing in the temple.

Through all the school shenanigans we also see Lady Georgina making moves with the Former Veronica Faction. But largely due to Rosemyne's compassion we see the children of the Veronica faction switch sides which helps lead to the Purge. Really good thrill-ride there.

And finally, I cannot mention Part 4 without talking about the huge and magnificent duo that is Rosemyne and Ferdinand. It is slowly revealed how much of a profound impact the two have had on each other. Rosemyne becomes powerful in noble society from Ferdinand's lessons and support and Ferdinand's heart heals from Rosemyne's compassion and love. This culminates in the second saddest scene in the series where Ferdinand leaves Ehrenfest and Rosemyne behind. I still get teary-eyed when I think about Ferdinand giving Rosemyne the key to his estate for her library. The estate which was given to him by his father. The estate given to Rosemyne to fulfill a promise he made to her when she was a blue shrine maiden.

And then Rosemyne's emotions explode again just like at the end of Part 1... except this time she's more in control and knows what she's doing. And she ends up giving a most beautiful and powerful blessing.

Considering what happened with Damuel at the end of Part 1 with her blessing, I'm curious what will happen with Ferdinand with this supercharged version of her blessing. I also love how everyone thought that at that moment she looked just like a Saint. Initially the "Saint of Ehrenfest" was just a publicity stunt but as time has gone by it has become more and more true to the point where I finally am starting to understand the "Ascendance" in the title... more than just ascendance to nobility, ascendance to sainthood and beyond.

Whew, that was a lot of typing.

Anyway, I am watching the Ascendance of a Bookworm anime with a friend who has never seen it before and she's thinks it's pretty silly how obsessed Myne is with books and feels like it's a fun little ride but the LN are definitely a lot deeper and pick up steam. And yet, nothing feel superfluous.

In your opinion, which anime has the most badass villains? in c/[email protected]

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Overlord. Ainz Ooal Gown is undoubtedly the villain.

What are your top three recommendations for someone new to anime? in c/[email protected]

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

This is a tough one. If I was recommending anime to someone brand new to anime then there are a few guidelines I'd follow:

Can't take too long to develop. So while things like Frieren are undoubtedly amazing, the slow start means I wouldn't recommend it to a Newbie.
Must be palitable for a wide range of audiences. Panty and Stocking, Elfen Lied, and Devilman Crybaby might be a great shows but they're pretty in-your-face and could be off-putting to people.
Must be easily digestible. One Piece might be a great anime but no one is going to want to start on a series with over a thousand episodes. Likewise stuff like Serial Experiments Lain and Evangelion are good but far too out there for a first timer.

To that end I usually start people with Your Name. It's movie length so easily digestible. The animation is beautiful. The plot is relatively unique while still being easy to understand. And pretty much anyone can enjoy the mix of slice-of-life and supernatural.

I've also had a lot of success with Ouran High School Host Club. Everyone can understand the concept of a school but then the inclusion of the wacky rich people makes it a fun time. Another school slice-of-life could work here too like Toradora or Azumanga Daioh.

Finally, back in the day I got a lot of people into anime with Beck. It's still pretty good even by today's standards but another anime about music or a band would also work since people tend to understand music or band dynamics in general. Possibilities include K-On or Your Lie in April.