Jan 08, 2025
Pros: Fun (exciting when it has to be, emotive when it feels right, and about the right level of exposition to get things across without feeling excessive).
Dumb (mostly popcorn fodder action with just nice sprinkling of meaning to be a little less gratuitous black lagoon pop-philosophy).
Neatly packaged (everyone's a nice semi-predictable archetype, you can visualise the whole thing as an anime in your mind, and although some of the references are a touch on the nose they're never unwelcome).
Cons: Setting up Sprout (could have done with some more specific references to the archives and stuff Sprout was using to get into human culture at the start, or little asides when she makes non-neki references during the text, as they come in after the first quarter kinda outta nowhere and without enough explanation than just "human innit").
Pacing (It was a bit whack... don't know how to describe it. A blistering pace is fine, that makes sense with a singular ongoing chase, but it felt a little too much like a waltz. 1-2-3, step-up, bridge, end, repeat every three chapters. Not bad, just too uniform in progression for me).
Overview: Would still wholeheartedly recommend it and would very much like to see Furry Road get an adaptation. Very glad to see Stew be able to switch styles from reading like a classic sci-fi author to doing more brain off lightnovel prose. Still a touch of it in there around characters, but that's all gravy to me. Really enjoyed NNN, only downside is wanting more... and being longer would probably sort my two gripes anyway, letting everything breathe more~
