Oct 03, 2025
And as promised, I finished this within the week. I'm going to echo the thoughts of others with this review. First off, it's nice to have an isekai deal with the escapism not actually leading to a better life, and I liked how you illustrated some of the darker and more morbid elements with it. I also liked how you were gutsy to have a moment where a character isn't saved by the heroes. Any other isekai and that guy would have been recruited to the party next chapter. However, as many have pointed out, Eshu was the weak link.
As Kaze mentioned, Eshu was here from the beginning. If she debuted here and not chapter 1, the sequel bait wouldn't have left such a sour taste. But this is a character who's been here since the beginning and sorely lacked character development. It's fine if she doesn't get too developed and remains a side character, but since she's a main character and one that'll seemingly have a major impact on the story, I feel her arc should have been the big finale for the volume.
I get you want to hype up a volume 2, but Eshu becoming interesting in the last few chapters with the story ending before she can fully be expanded upon left a sour taste. When she first started glitching out, I thought the final arc would focus on her, and complete the perfect trio for act 1: Sek, act 2: Ko, and then act 3: Eshu. Instead we got a stampede arc. I really think you should have tried to squeeze in Eshu's arc here instead of the stampede, maybe even cut out Mike entirely to make room for it as Eshu's plotline not being resolved is the biggest negative with the story for me.
Eshu rant over, you've definitely got some strong points with this story, notably the drones. I really liked their self-awareness and how deranged they could be. A far cry from some of the typical mindless enemies you find in typical isekais. Overall, I'd say your work is solid, but could have been better if you managed to squeeze Eshu's story in here. Congratulations on finishing and good luck with the contest.