Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 1 (light novel) (Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody (light novel))

So I'm currently on book 5, and as far as the plot goes, nothing is really happening. There's not really a concrete narrative to the story beyond "I dunno, I'm traveling for fun I guess". Even the setting isn't really fleshed out all that much (probably because the pace is so slow they're not actually GETTING anywhere). The main character is incredibly strong, and there's usually some crisis at the end of each book where he needs to use that strength, but it almost always feels like that's because the author feels like they have to do it. You just have to take it for what it truly is: main guy is a tourist in a fantasy world and if you're really expecting much more than that, you need to find something else.It's also the type of book where every single meal is described in detail. Any time they kill a new kind of monster, there has to be a scene where they taste it and brainstorm what kind of dishes they can make with it.The books also have a bit of a character problem, in that there are way too many in the MC's party and the only purpose for existing is for the main character to use his abilities to show off. There is a single other character with any real backstory or personality, but it's put on the backburner because there are 6 other characters that take up space in the narrative but don't really contribute anything to it. There are three pets posing as people, a MacGuffin character subject to an escort quest, a wallflower who barely exists, and a robot with a funny speech pattern. And those are just the (so far) constant ones. Each book usually has a few more tertiary companions that leave at the end of the book, so the main cast gets even less narrative.The worst part is I can't even call it bad. It's just kind of mediocre. There's not really anything egregious that stands out as terrible. It's just that nothing happens. So much time is spent describing food, or inane conversations with the massive cast, or describing how to use fantasy magic to recreate Japanese appliances that there's not really any room left for a story.I could get into the main character's personality, but despite everyone else praising it, he's just kind of normal. I see people praising him for his attitude towards girls, but it's really the same old story of avoiding relationships like every LN does. The only difference is instead of it being because he's indecisive or oblivious, it's because he's mentally 30 years old and everybody he travels with is a child, so instead he just visits brothels in the middle of the night. The end result is the same though. That said, he does travel with all girl children (one of which is like him, an adult woman in a child body which is the source of a lot of problematic scenes) and it's treated in a very Japanese LN manner, so if weird lolicon jokes aren't for you, I'd probably skip this one.

This is a fun entry in the so-called *Isekai* - or summoned to/trapped in another world - genre. A computer programmer named Ichiro is enduring a "death march" at his company working on games that are on a deadline and must be finished. Meaning work till you finish the task by said deadline, thus the term "death march". As he is dealing with the last-minute changes and fixes to games, made all the harder by another employee quitting suddenly, he falls asleep.He is surprised to find himself in the most wondrous dream imaginable. He is in a world with such vivid views and the RPG mechanics similar to the games he was working on are in play. Granted, the dream kinda sucked at first as he was being attacked by these lizardmen-type of creatures and the wounds hurt. But once he won that fight, things took a turn for the better.He meets some cool people, including a young woman named Zena. Of course, Zena's affection for him is awkward since while his dream self is 15, his real age is 29. He also is really high-level and basically stronger than the equivalent of Superman in this dream. In fact, fans have jokingly called him "fantasy-Saitama" and *One-Punch Man* fans will get the reference. He goes on to enjoy his time in this fun dream world when the truth eventually hits him.This *ISN'T* a dream. He really truly *is* in another world. Of course, once he realizes this, he has so much to consider. How did he get here? How does he get home? *Can* he even get home? He doesn't know the answers to these questions, but he resolves to a) find the answers, and b) calmly live his life here in this world until he can find the answer. If worse comes to worse and he is stuck in this other world, he will simply do his best to live his life out as happily as possible.And that's the basic tenor of the story. I mean, yes, there is action, quite a bit in fact, but this gentle and outright just *fun* tone is the norm (and continues to be, from what I've read online). He meets and helps save folks, but the emphasis is on the heartwarming aspects of the story. Camaraderie, kindness, redemption, so forth. *THESE* are the crux of the tale. I mean, he saves some persecuted slave girls that become *not* his love interests, but his children basically.This certainly is a unique take on things, not so much in the bare bones of the plot, which is fairly common in such *Isekai* stories, but in the emphasis being on the heartwarming and the fun travelogue types of stuff. I really enjoyed it.To add to the really "awwww" moments is some really lovely art, especially in the color page inserts. The hues and the bright colors and such are just wonderful. More so, the skin tones and the details on the characters look more "real" than much other art. Truly great stuff. The inside illustrations are not as good as the absence of the colors takes away something from from the charm.Whether it be Satou (the name Ichiro adopts), Zena, the slaves they save (persecuted peoples who are abused unfortunately in this slave-holding culture), the inn staff, and such, there is a decent amount of characterization for each person introduced. Given how very important characterization is to me, this is only a plus.In many stories, the camaraderie is a key thing to my personal enjoyment, and the characters' in this story having such heartwarming moments, love for each other, so on, makes it a must-read. I Highly Recommend it.Rating: 5/5 Stars.

Pros: characters have depth, makes for some relaxed and no-stress reading.Cons: there's a lot of "down time" where nothing really important happens, and WAY too much time spent on food and other culinary aspects, and the whole "harem situations all the time but not a harem novel" thing can get frustrating when the protagonist refuses to make any kind of move whatsoever on his extremely attractive party.I loved most aspects of this novel, but the author clearly wants to steer readers away from thinking this novel is a harem novel. The protagonist is surrounded by every possible type of woman (and all of them are drop-dead gorgeous), but refuses every single advance, keeping most women in the series at an emotional arms-length. Some of these female characters are practically throwing themselves at him at times, but the main protagonist refuses to walk the harem path (or ANY romantic path), which might get frustrating at times.Overall, the characters are well-built and have distinct personalities and quirks, which keeps the story interesting. The lead male protagonist feels like an extremely laid-back vacationer most of the time: he spends most of his waking hours thinking about where he wants to visit next, and the different kinds of food he can eat. Because he's essentially a cheat character with maxed stats and mountains of money, there is no real feel of urgency at all, even during fights and battles. I gave this novel 4 out of 5 stars because although I feel attached to the characters, there are too many points in the book where there's not a lot going on, as well as having too many parts focused on food. I would much rather read about character development or plot than how a bowl of soup tastes (the soup tastes good; I GET IT SO MOVE ON).

I decided to read this light novel after watching the anime. Now I found the story in the anime had promise- but was put off by some of the blatant fan service.So far reading the light novel has been a better experience - although it does still have a bit of the fan service I find annoying.It remains to be seen if further volumes will continue this trend - I'll find out as I'm already digging in to volume 2.3.5 out of 5.

I want to applaud all those that were involved in this project; author; translator; editor and anyone else that made a web novel that can presumably have a sub par fan translation into a work of adventure that was easy to read and in hand envelop me into the story.This is the first time I read a light novel that was skimmed to a pure gemstone compares to other overbearing novels that provide too much detail but that is not the main problem of description, it's the execution of a description that actually gives information and pushes the story forward.Another thing that got on my nerves when I read other poorly translated novels was that the logic of characters were muddled and were really reaching to make sense and thus created a vacuum for poorly written pieces. However this was not the case for this novel as I fully comprehended the logic and motivations of the character which provided a foundation to properly understanding the character the writer has brought to life.I just want to thank the editors and translators especially because from what I understand this novel was a work of an amateur which is prone to scrutiny as the words in the book just flow so magically and freely that I cannot believe that this was done by just the author. Again, props to everyone.

as a reader of the web novel i love this story so brought this to show my support to author.my review is more of a spoiler free comparison of the LN and WNthis has different set up to the WN but has its own charms, i personally prefer WN version but this is just my view point that doesn't mean the LN start is bad, however it feels like they made the MC more sympathetic which i personally don't feel was necessary.i would say the LN is far more clean in story telling and has a great translation however it is a little bit more of the standard story losing a little of the charm and going for tropes at some points which wasn't the case in the WN (at least for those events).also in making the MC more sympathetic it actually effects the character growth as in the WN MC starts more cold but with a good reason for it where as in the LN he is more a standard protag but with more brains.I don't feel it changes to much in terms of enjoyment but as i say i started with the WN so i will naturally prefer that, the main facts don't change to much (barring a few characters who are alive in one and dead in the other) and it is still a great read just be warned if you come of the WN it is not really possible to skip any of the LN as its almost like a different story with the same characters and mostly same evens which effects the story later on. (or if you read LN and go to read WN).overall a slow story which builds upon itself and gets increasingly interesting as you continue to read all the books.

Reading the english translation of the web comic for about the third time, and bought this because several reviewers said the story was updated. I was not disappointed, the light novel includes significant new material, and also I think shows the author's experience gained and lessons learned from writing the web novel. Well worth the small investment in money, for the pleasure of accessing the firat volume of the LN!

Pretty good start to a series. Interesting MC as well as good supporting characters. MC could definitely use his abilities better but at the same time it is quite undetectable as he's just learning about the world as he goes.