<So I’m a Spider, So What> Volumes 1-8 - True to my word from last week, I decided to read Spider Isekai instead of continuing The Magic In This World Is Too Far Behind and I don’t regret it in the slightest (in case you couldn’t tell from me reading a whole 8 books in a week). I loved the anime, which covers the first five volumes, and I would say the anime gets about 95% of it right. In fact, I love how the anime changes some minor points to express Kumoko’s feelings with motion rather than text or narration. For instance, Kumoko’s home/nest getting burned is a huge plot point and source of motivation in the book. She brings it up a lot. In the anime, they just have to show Kumoko being super happy with her home and the viewer gets it:

The book also handles the

quite well so even though I already knew about it from the anime, it was still nice to pick through the details and see how the author gives subtle hints about it. I HATE it when an author pulls a fast one and just deus ex machina’s a twist out of nowhere and just blindsides the reader. But if the author throws in hints with very specific wording. It makes you exclaim, “wait, that can’t be right, can it?” and then later on there’s this explanation it’s just like “wow, so cool!” I will say that after volume 5 where this particular reveal happens, the author hasn’t revisited it.

Still, the author puts in other secrets and twists that it’s still very though provoking and doesn’t get boring.

Speaking of things the author does really well, I like how the story can switch to different characters and perspectives each chapter. The author keeps it manageable by prefacing each chapter number with a letter signifying which perspective you’re reading from. So chapter “S1” would be from Shun’s perspective, “O1” would be from Oka, and a plain “1” is our protagonist Kumoko. There are also “Interlude” chapters from one-off perspectives just to give extra context. Even better, the writing/narration style takes a huge shift depending on the perspective which keeps things fresh as you read. It’s all really well done so it doesn’t get confusing.

Considering the mid-week question from last week, So I’m a Spider does have a decent amount of inner monologue. While there are occasional bits where it gets a little silly, the author does a good job of NOT letting it turn into Flung into a New World? Time to Lift the 200-Year Curse! levels of terrible. Most of it is self-reflection and/or callback jokes and any action sequences are NOT done through inner monologue. In fact, given the differing perspectives it’s pretty great. Since Kumoko is a monster but also a reincarnation, her actions seem baffling to an outsider’s perspective. But then we see her inner monologue and get the reasoning and it all makes sense and comes together. We even get a few instances of people reading too much into things which makes for some interesting twists. Even better, it turns out our protagonist is actually REALLY shy so when she finally meets up with other people in Volume 6, seeing the difference from her super talkative inner monologue to her reserved barely-speaks-at-all outer dialog is particularly crazy and fun.

One final thing… the art in these books is AMAZING! Apparently the author got an artist known for their depiction of monsters so it works out very well for this fantasy setting. But even the non-monster art is fantastic and dripping with style and purpose.

Anyway, yeah, I’m going to keep reading Spider Isekai. Don’t be surprised if I’m almost done with the whole series by next week.

<The Amazing Village Creator: Slow Living with the Village Building Cheat Skill> Volume 1 - Very simplistic in every regard, but since Anno 117 is constantly crashing on me and Easigoing Territory Defense is stuck in the War arc, I need to get my city-building fix from somewhere. There is some off-putting part in the beginning with two girls thirsting for 12-year-old MC, but luckily that particular plot point is dropped after a while (for the most part) once there is more happening in the village.

<Zilbagias the Demon Prince: How the Seventh Prince Brought Down the Kingdom> Volume 5 - Conceptually, this is still the most interesting series I know. The dark tone and subject matter aren’t my usual kind of thing, but the struggle of the main character here is so interesting that I’m waiting for the next volume anyway. Reminds me a little of how Subaru in Re: Zero slowly degrades mentally, but without the silly slapstick humor.

<Flung into a New World? Time to Lift the 200-Year Curse!> Volume 2 - See this post

<The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects> Volume 11 - Dias befriends another race. This time, it’s a bit confusing, though, since they are called “goblins” even though they are shark-demi-humans. Every time I read the word “goblin” I have a completely different picture in mind than what is written. Good volume otherwise.

<Victoria of Many Faces> Vol. 3 - Okay-ish volume. The spy-centric parts of the first two volumes take a backseat to the generic parenting parts. Towards the end, it gets spy-y again.

<The Isle of Paramounts: Reborn into a Slow Life Among the Strongest in the World> Volume 1 - You know the guy from the meme? That’s basically the protagonist here, who gets his extremely blatantly basic wish fulfillment harem isekai. Complete with becoming the most powerful being in the entire world and the usual slew of underage girls of all races that fall in love with him. The only positive thing is a vampire loli-hag that just gets off on messing around with everyone to get rom-com emotions out of them (she feeds on emotions instead of blood and is extremely bored). I thought she was entertaining, and though she looks like a loli, she didn’t become a harem member.