Dec 14, 2021
Ho-ho this is an intriguing one. Love the clever use of the cookie set-up and having Netiera be the one to actually find the key's location.
However as an aside, you reminded me in your last comment that this is labelled as something of a deconstruction, which got me thinking a-bit.
I'm not a professional anything but I've been publicly writing reviews in my free time for well over a year and a particular area with-in anime that I find really fascinating is genre fiction, which of course leads to deconstructionism.
What I'm trying to get at is when this book is though of through that lens it sort of losses some of its luster.
Is your angle that it's deconstructive on its premise - Ergo TOAL rescue isekie'd people? And if so how is that actually a deconstruction?
Maybe I'm coming off as a bit asinine here and I admit I'm just spit-ball musing but I think on future drafts it migth be worth keeping in mind that alot of the 'deconstruction' in this text is just pointing out a troop. You point out the absurdity of skill systems and how they could be abused or the bizare culture and of course the regular suspect hero prophecy's but what are you actually saying with that?
People hate it but 'School Days' is maybe the ultimate example of a deconstruction. The girls actually sleeping with the protag in that show cause a series of increasingly more dramatic events to unfold, in the process breaking down the mental state of both the average rom-com characters And most importantly the mind-set of the audience itself.
My point is I think you are coming around to that and I'm looking forward to how it plays out by the end of the book but it's taken a long road to get there.
There's alot of just 'stuff' in here. Athryim does things that aren't really in aid (so far atleast) of any grander theme or message but rather are simply pointing out some troop or other, while also not having enough of an impact on his character to justify there length.
Of course stories arnt required to be deep, they can just be fun but I feel like your getting at something more then that here(otherwise you could of just written one of those same 'fun' generic isekai with some minor mystery twists).
Kinda like if 'Madoka Magica' had all the dark twists but without the message that beneth it all, no matter how dark - Magical girl culture is about spreading hope and encouraging self-confidence primarily in young girls.
By that logic when this book ends will you have broken down the genre to the degree that we gain a better understanding (a positive one like Madoka, or a depressing one like School-Days) of the isekai genre?
Will I feel like I've seen the compentents of the genre torn away to reveal the workings underneath in some insightful fashion?
Whatever the case, those are just my thougths here at the half-way point. I'm excited to see how it goes.
If this came across as overly harsh then my apologies, I have a tendancy to ramble once I start to get into something. Feel free to harshly critic my book for revenge if you want😂😂😂😂.
