Title: A Returner's Magic Should Be Special Other Titles: Author:
Main Character: Desire Gender: Male Cheat: Future Knowledge Transport: Time Travel
Summary: Out of millions of people, only 7 survive in order to face off against a monstrous being that would destroy so much if left unchecked. Yet when they think they've won, things suddenly go horrible, and as they prepare themselves for death.... One of them wakes up, as a teenager, first getting ready for the entrance exam that lead him down this path. Only... he remembers everything that will come about in his future. With this knowledge, can he change the fate of himself and all his beloved comrades...?
Pros: Interesting Setting, Fighting Classism, Moral Greyness, Fun Fight Scenes
What's interesting about this series as an isekai is that's it's definitely not the traditional sort. The MC doesn't get pulled into an entirely different world that changes his life. Rather, his soul and mind somehow travel backwards in time, where he'll try to set things up so that a horrible event doesn't happen. Yet this series is still technically a sort of isekai, because transport to another world does happen. In fact... It's transportation to multiple words, all through one conduit, and this occurs regularly within the school that the MC once went to. This is explained within the very second chapter:
"[The Shadow World] is an extremely dangerous calamity that mankind has been faced with. One can view it as a parallel universe to this world... and it opens every year. Within the Shadow World, there are infinite amounts of different worlds within it as well. Some worlds might be relatively weak, but some other worlds might be extremely dangerous. These worlds are based on the past historic events that happened in the current world we live in today. Because these worlds are based on the past historic events, the magic society has been able to create 10 different levels of gauging the Shadow World. The higher these levels are, the higher the difficulty rises. The reason the Shadow World is a threat to mankind is because of the never-ending amount of shadows eating and corroding away the world we live in today. [...] And that is why it is crucial for us to clear the mission objectives in each world."
That's already a fascinating idea all on its own, and that's without the MC's main time travel dilemma.
The MC doesn't want to just change things on a personal level, however. He wants to upheave the system he grew up in completely. While the school is fantastical, it still falls prey to some of the same human follies as before. In this case, intense classism that makes "commoner" students waste away their potential with no proper teachers or even equipment. At one point, the MC reflects on this issue:
"If discrimination didn't exist in a place like this, then so many people in the Beta class could have been trained properly, and so many people wouldn't have died back then."
Hindsight is truly 20/20. From Chapter 1, the MC already shows awareness of what a rotten system he was placed into, but, now that he has so much future knowledge, he can see that it's not only foolish, but outright suicidal to quash down so many amazing talent just because of a ridiculous thing like money. It's an interesting obstacle for a story. Certainly, stopping the end of the world is the main thing... but before the MC can even think of tackling that, he has to deal with the discrimination that is right before him. It's an interesting challenge, and something I look forward to seeing the story deal with, although it can only really handle the issue within the isolated setting of the school for now.
This isn't an easy task, however, and it's made all the harder because some things aren't so clearly black and white. Saving the world, saving millions of lives, is a noble goal, but can you reach it with clean and noble methods? Are things even ever that simple? The story has yet to get that dark, but it has shown little glimpses of it: blackmail to get what one wants, the pain and rage of survivors, and sometimes just simple manipulation born from knowledge of people he's already had another life to get to know. There's some interesting depth to this series.
Of course, it's also mostly carried out by the interesting battle scenes that take place, utilizing mixtures of magic, swordsmanship, and simple tactics. Every scene is drawn quite excellent, and, even when I could guess the outcome, every fight left me on the edge of my seat. I was never left confused at what was happening, either, which is a bonus.
Cons: None
I'm enjoying things so far, and am eager to see how this series progresses!
General Warnings: Classism
Slavery: No Fanservice: 2 - There's some cleavage and suggestive shots, but nothing too heavy Harem: No
A Returner's Magic Should Be Special
Title: A Returner's Magic Should Be Special
Other Titles:
Author:
Main Character: Desire
Gender: Male
Cheat: Future Knowledge
Transport: Time Travel
Summary: Out of millions of people, only 7 survive in order to face off against a monstrous being that would destroy so much if left unchecked. Yet when they think they've won, things suddenly go horrible, and as they prepare themselves for death.... One of them wakes up, as a teenager, first getting ready for the entrance exam that lead him down this path. Only... he remembers everything that will come about in his future. With this knowledge, can he change the fate of himself and all his beloved comrades...?
Pros: Interesting Setting, Fighting Classism, Moral Greyness, Fun Fight Scenes
What's interesting about this series as an isekai is that's it's definitely not the traditional sort. The MC doesn't get pulled into an entirely different world that changes his life. Rather, his soul and mind somehow travel backwards in time, where he'll try to set things up so that a horrible event doesn't happen. Yet this series is still technically a sort of isekai, because transport to another world does happen. In fact... It's transportation to multiple words, all through one conduit, and this occurs regularly within the school that the MC once went to. This is explained within the very second chapter:
"[The Shadow World] is an extremely dangerous calamity that mankind has been faced with. One can view it as a parallel universe to this world... and it opens every year. Within the Shadow World, there are infinite amounts of different worlds within it as well. Some worlds might be relatively weak, but some other worlds might be extremely dangerous. These worlds are based on the past historic events that happened in the current world we live in today. Because these worlds are based on the past historic events, the magic society has been able to create 10 different levels of gauging the Shadow World. The higher these levels are, the higher the difficulty rises. The reason the Shadow World is a threat to mankind is because of the never-ending amount of shadows eating and corroding away the world we live in today. [...] And that is why it is crucial for us to clear the mission objectives in each world."
That's already a fascinating idea all on its own, and that's without the MC's main time travel dilemma.
The MC doesn't want to just change things on a personal level, however. He wants to upheave the system he grew up in completely. While the school is fantastical, it still falls prey to some of the same human follies as before. In this case, intense classism that makes "commoner" students waste away their potential with no proper teachers or even equipment. At one point, the MC reflects on this issue:
"If discrimination didn't exist in a place like this, then so many people in the Beta class could have been trained properly, and so many people wouldn't have died back then."
Hindsight is truly 20/20. From Chapter 1, the MC already shows awareness of what a rotten system he was placed into, but, now that he has so much future knowledge, he can see that it's not only foolish, but outright suicidal to quash down so many amazing talent just because of a ridiculous thing like money. It's an interesting obstacle for a story. Certainly, stopping the end of the world is the main thing... but before the MC can even think of tackling that, he has to deal with the discrimination that is right before him. It's an interesting challenge, and something I look forward to seeing the story deal with, although it can only really handle the issue within the isolated setting of the school for now.
This isn't an easy task, however, and it's made all the harder because some things aren't so clearly black and white. Saving the world, saving millions of lives, is a noble goal, but can you reach it with clean and noble methods? Are things even ever that simple? The story has yet to get that dark, but it has shown little glimpses of it: blackmail to get what one wants, the pain and rage of survivors, and sometimes just simple manipulation born from knowledge of people he's already had another life to get to know. There's some interesting depth to this series.
Of course, it's also mostly carried out by the interesting battle scenes that take place, utilizing mixtures of magic, swordsmanship, and simple tactics. Every scene is drawn quite excellent, and, even when I could guess the outcome, every fight left me on the edge of my seat. I was never left confused at what was happening, either, which is a bonus.
Cons: None
I'm enjoying things so far, and am eager to see how this series progresses!
General Warnings: Classism
Slavery: No
Fanservice: 2 - There's some cleavage and suggestive shots, but nothing too heavy
Harem: No