Title: Kuro No Shoukanshi Other Titles: Author: Gin Amou, Tofu Mayoi
Main Character: Kelvin Gender: Male Cheat: absurd exp gathering skills Transport: won a raffle
Summary: A young man wakes up in the middle of a field with no memory of how he got there or, really, any memory at all. He only knows his name is "Kelvin" when a mysterious voice instructs him to open up his status screen. According to the same voice, he won a raffle of some sort to come here, and, in exchange for his memories, got the ability to gain EXP at an extraordinary rate not normally found in this fantasy world. Without much to really go on, Kelvin decides that all he can really do is put his skills to work... as an adventurer.
Pros: manipulative battle junkie protag, fun side characters
Quite a few of the side characters in this series cheerfully mock and tease the MC as a "battle junkie" and, honestly, they're not wrong. His character shines at its brightest when he's faced with the potential of a strong enemy, or when thinking over how to shore up his own combat capability with either other skills, equipment, or companions. One of the high points of this series' art style is the look of vicious and manic glee that takes over the MC when he's in the middle of an interesting fight. However, he's not wholly foolish about it. Quite the opposite. If it's in the name of getting a better fight, he's not above manipulating an event to put himself right in the line of fire, or when to hold off if it would interfere with his desire for a life of freedom. It's an interesting bit of cleverness in contrast with the clear passion he views battles.
Surrounding him are also a bunch of fun and interesting side characters, as well. Each of them has their own notable backstory that could lead to further interesting scenarios or scenes down the line, from the possessed armor who wishes vengeance for a country long gone or the apparent antagonist who says he wants to devour another demon so that he can rule the world. It definitely leans into the harem genre side of things, with a ratio of more women to men surrounding the MC, but still.
Cons: amnesia, no skill build up, no depth
Unfortunately... So far, the series feels somewhat shallow, and doesn't really lean into its strengths. Right now, it feels as though we're just leaning into a check list of getting the MC some relations with other characters (notably his growing harem of course) with no real focus on any particular 'arc' or story. Even when the MC uses a new skill or ability, it doesn't feel like it was really something we could look forward to with instead it being just a thing he pulled out of nowhere.
Additionally, this almost feels as though it doesn't exactly need to be an isekai in some aspects, although I will admit that there are some things that it couldn't do without being in that genre. The MC's amnesia so far doesn't seem like it's really played an important role in any way. One of the charming points of isekai for me is seeing how a character's connection to their original world influences their personality or actions in the new world, such as skills they can bring that change society or just base goals for themselves such as getting back creature comforts such as delicious food. However, with the MC being amnesiac, that sort of connection is automatically cut off from him, and we don't even get to see any consequences or results from this issue. He doesn't seem to be worried about it, and there's no hints it will affect the story in any way. Perhaps it's fitting that it doesn't affect the MC, because we're told that he himself is the reason for this, with how he traded his memories away in order to get a cheat. That doesn't absolve it from not being satisfying as a story element.
This series' strong trait so far really does seem to be its MC's battle junkie nature, and I think it would feel an improvement if it leaned into that some more. Watching the MC get into fights or instruct others on how to better fight has been the highlights of my read. If his progress had been drawn out a little more and we could see more of his manipulative and clever nature come to light, I think the series would have benefited.
We're still only 28 chapters into this series, so there's a chance that perhaps it will get a boost up, especially since things seem to be getting a little more far-reaching in recent chapters. Only time will tell.
General Warnings: mild gore, child death backstory, fantasy racism
Slavery: Yes Fanservice: 4 - fanservice clothing, boobs and butt shots, implication that the MC slept with one character, anime nudity, characters sleeping in the same bad as the MC... Harem: Yes
Kuro No Shoukanshi
Title: Kuro No Shoukanshi
Other Titles:
Author: Gin Amou, Tofu Mayoi
Main Character: Kelvin
Gender: Male
Cheat: absurd exp gathering skills
Transport: won a raffle
Summary: A young man wakes up in the middle of a field with no memory of how he got there or, really, any memory at all. He only knows his name is "Kelvin" when a mysterious voice instructs him to open up his status screen. According to the same voice, he won a raffle of some sort to come here, and, in exchange for his memories, got the ability to gain EXP at an extraordinary rate not normally found in this fantasy world. Without much to really go on, Kelvin decides that all he can really do is put his skills to work... as an adventurer.
Pros: manipulative battle junkie protag, fun side characters
Quite a few of the side characters in this series cheerfully mock and tease the MC as a "battle junkie" and, honestly, they're not wrong. His character shines at its brightest when he's faced with the potential of a strong enemy, or when thinking over how to shore up his own combat capability with either other skills, equipment, or companions. One of the high points of this series' art style is the look of vicious and manic glee that takes over the MC when he's in the middle of an interesting fight. However, he's not wholly foolish about it. Quite the opposite. If it's in the name of getting a better fight, he's not above manipulating an event to put himself right in the line of fire, or when to hold off if it would interfere with his desire for a life of freedom. It's an interesting bit of cleverness in contrast with the clear passion he views battles.
Surrounding him are also a bunch of fun and interesting side characters, as well. Each of them has their own notable backstory that could lead to further interesting scenarios or scenes down the line, from the possessed armor who wishes vengeance for a country long gone or the apparent antagonist who says he wants to devour another demon so that he can rule the world. It definitely leans into the harem genre side of things, with a ratio of more women to men surrounding the MC, but still.
Cons: amnesia, no skill build up, no depth
Unfortunately... So far, the series feels somewhat shallow, and doesn't really lean into its strengths. Right now, it feels as though we're just leaning into a check list of getting the MC some relations with other characters (notably his growing harem of course) with no real focus on any particular 'arc' or story. Even when the MC uses a new skill or ability, it doesn't feel like it was really something we could look forward to with instead it being just a thing he pulled out of nowhere.
Additionally, this almost feels as though it doesn't exactly need to be an isekai in some aspects, although I will admit that there are some things that it couldn't do without being in that genre. The MC's amnesia so far doesn't seem like it's really played an important role in any way. One of the charming points of isekai for me is seeing how a character's connection to their original world influences their personality or actions in the new world, such as skills they can bring that change society or just base goals for themselves such as getting back creature comforts such as delicious food. However, with the MC being amnesiac, that sort of connection is automatically cut off from him, and we don't even get to see any consequences or results from this issue. He doesn't seem to be worried about it, and there's no hints it will affect the story in any way. Perhaps it's fitting that it doesn't affect the MC, because we're told that he himself is the reason for this, with how he traded his memories away in order to get a cheat. That doesn't absolve it from not being satisfying as a story element.
This series' strong trait so far really does seem to be its MC's battle junkie nature, and I think it would feel an improvement if it leaned into that some more. Watching the MC get into fights or instruct others on how to better fight has been the highlights of my read. If his progress had been drawn out a little more and we could see more of his manipulative and clever nature come to light, I think the series would have benefited.
We're still only 28 chapters into this series, so there's a chance that perhaps it will get a boost up, especially since things seem to be getting a little more far-reaching in recent chapters. Only time will tell.
General Warnings: mild gore, child death backstory, fantasy racism
Slavery: Yes
Fanservice: 4 - fanservice clothing, boobs and butt shots, implication that the MC slept with one character, anime nudity, characters sleeping in the same bad as the MC...
Harem: Yes