Aug 3, 2022
This is very much so run-of-the-mill isekai story. Which is not to say it is bad - within the genre there is plenty of much worse novels to be found. Maou-sama Retry is just an average representative of the genre.
This novel is part of the subgenre that has protagonist taking over bodies of evil overlords. Yes, at this point it’s a subgenre. This actuality is the bane of Demon Lord Retry – it might have been good if it weren’t done before. Unfortunately, in the context of other, older works existing, this novel feels not exactly original. I’d even say it feels very copypasted, as
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it doesn’t really bring any new idea on its own. Protagonist who is not actually really evil is perceived as evil character. Comedy stems from such misunderstanding. Coping with the misconception while having to stay in character for the subordinates the protagonist tries to improve living situation of the poor citizens but his attempts are misunderstood as evil plot. Sound familiar? I bet. And of course, don’t forget about protagonist being absurdly OP, one-shotting basically anything and pulling out invaluable magical items out of ass.
Beyond the story, the novel also has some pacing issues – but in way I didn’t expect. With LN series, I usually complain how so much time is wasted, how the volume count could have been reduced and so on. Retry has the opposite issue – the development of the story is way too rushed as the world setting is not given much chance to be developed, leaving the reader with less understanding of the context than would be ideal. Just the first volume alone feels like it contains multiple arcs in succession.
The art itself is also the generic light novel illustrations that unfortunately follows the trend of focusing on the girl characters mostly in fanservice situaions instead of giving us some panorama or anything that could serve us as a window to the fictional world. Well, drawing girls is easier than actually having to come up with some fantasy world design, I imagine.
Overall, as much as I’ve described plenty of flaws, this wasn’t annoying to read. Yes, it’s not good, but it functions as cheap entertainment. And if you’re just looking for anything that falls under the niche of “non-evil evil overlord”, then go on, have at it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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