[Hemisphere]

Just finished reading 聖剣使いの禁呪詠唱〈ワールドブレイク〉's volume 1, by GA Bunko!

Spoiler:

It's an 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ shounen fantasy story, with a premise that's identical to Hagure Yuusha, by the same author behind あるいは現在進行形の黒歴史 (my guilty pleasure series, after moving on from Date A Live). Only it's not about people who have traveled from other worlds, but people who were powerful in their past lives. They're being gathered in a school to prepare them to fight strange monsters (and of course they spend just as much time with in-fighting as per the norm) against which their only advantage is their sheer numbers, and they are called Savers ＜救世者＞ (talk about humility). There are two types of classes and powers that exist. Fighter classes are known as Shirogane and use Prana, while magic-users are called Kuroma and utilize Mana. Haimura Moroha, the protagonist, is the current incarnation of both the strongest swordsman AND sorcerer, in a world where people can only exist as one or the other.

The sequence of events as we follow Moroha's school life even follows Hagure Yuusha's almost identically, except that I liked the writing in this one more. For starters, the lead isn't obscenely overpowered; he's just given an initiative over the rest, but he still has to train to make full use of himself. Putting it in RPG terms, it's not like starting a new game with a max-levelled character right off the bat; he already has the skills unlocked (or can easily unlock them later on), but he still has to level up in order to actually make full use of them. Personally speaking, I like that the lead actually has to expend effort, because I'm just not very fond of stories where the leads are obscenely overpowered but refuse to show some degree of effort while fighting because of silly arbitrary reasons (LOOK HOW COOL I AM BY NOT FIGHTING WITH FULL POWER). That and I find him more sympathetic than the other male leads in 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ stories, who come off as insufferable (at the least). He's not a try-hard lone wolf character who never has to exert any effort to be good (I'm not kidding, some 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ stories are exactly like this), and he's not exactly the kind of 正義の味方/ally of justice person as well. He's got a more down-to-earth feel to him, with his only priority being the repayment of his gratitude to the people who raised him after his parents died by sending them money in return.

While the story's premise is interesting (past lives being the key to providing power for your current self), the story at its core is nothing entirely original or hasn't seen before. But I do like the author's writing style, especially the touch of restraint with which he crafts this story with its 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ theme. There are only two main heroines vying for his affection (which is a nice break from all the dime-a-dozen harem series out there, seriously) coming from his past lives, and I'm thankful that there are two, because CHRIST I HATE THE (supposed) IMOUTO HEROINE. She is just insufferable. Shizuno, the other heroine is by far the best choice, and I hope she gets more focus later on (especially since she was his wife in one of his past lives). The story also has a chuuni feel to it with its chants, name of skills, and description of skills, but coming from the author of あるいは現在進行形の黒歴史, this comes as no surprise. It's more amusing (and invigorating in certain scenes) than it is frustrating, as the story doesn't play the chuuniness extremely straight in hand with the shounen elements. I find the balance of chuuni and shounen nicely done.

The mystery surrounding the Metaphysicals ＜異端者＞ (the unknown monsters), the nature of the school itself, and the characters are what this title has to try and lure in readers for its future installments. For me, I can say that it worked quite well, even though I wasn't too pleased when Moroha broke the balance of the story on its back in the last chapter. But considering the story's theme and genre, I was resigned to seeing deus ex machina in the form of powerlevels saving the day - at least it was the "idk wtf I just did but yay I saved the day" kind of deus ex machina, and not the "HA I WAS HOLDING BACK MY POWERLEVELS THE ENTIRE TIME NOW BEHOLD IS MY REAL POWER" kind.

Similar to あるいは現在進行形の黒歴史 (considering that it's the same author), the level of kanji proficiency needed to read through this isn't that demanding. He does throw in some unorthodox ones every now and then, but nothing that comes with furigana so they can be understood easier. He also likes to use some slangs around, but none that are too unheard of. The author likes to repeat certain lines as well as parallel certain scenes to build up the dramatic tension for that moment or event, and in most cases it works.

Also, don't be too surprised if you realize that applying RPG logic makes the story more entertaining. In a sense, this title and 千の魔剣と盾の乙女 have that in common; I find it adds to the enjoyment, however.

I'd say it's worth a look if you're into an 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ story that's not too cookie-cutter, but still follows the formula. Me, I want to read more about Shizuno. Thankfully, I have Volume 2 sitting right here.