Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou (WN)

Description

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Seventeen-year-old Hajime Nagumo is your average, everyday otaku. However, his simple life of pulling all-nighters and sleeping in school is suddenly turned upside down when he, along with the rest of his class, is summoned to a fantasy world!

They’re treated like heroes and tasked with the duty of saving the human race from utter extinction.

But what should have been any otaku’s wet dream quickly turns into Hajime’s nightmare? While the rest of his class are blessed with godlike powers, Hajime’s job, Synergist, only has a single transmutation skill. Ridiculed and bullied by his classmates for being weak, he soon finds himself in despair.

Will he be able to survive in this dangerous world of monsters and demons with only a glorified blacksmith’s level of strength?

Associated Names
One entry per line
From Common Job Class to the Strongest in the World
ありふれた職業で世界最強
平凡职业成就世界最强
Related Series
Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou (LN) (Light Novel)
Recommendations
Konjiki no Moji Tsukai (WN) (6)
Suterareta Yuusha no Eiyuutan (6)
Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (WN) (5)
Blessing from the Goddess and Transfer to Another World! ~No Thanks, I Don’t Need a Special Ability~ (4)
The Dungeon Seeker (3)
I Became the Strongest With The Failure Frame【Abnormal State Skill】As I Devastated Everything (3)
Recommendation Lists
  1. ALLJP+
  2. Isekai Fantasy | #1
  3. Enjoyable read
  4. Novels I read and liked
  5. Things I've Read pt 2

Latest Release

Date Group Release
04/07/24 bakapervert c490
03/11/24 bakapervert c489
03/04/24 bakapervert c488
02/25/24 bakapervert c487
02/18/24 bakapervert c486
02/11/24 bakapervert c485
02/05/24 bakapervert c484
01/28/24 bakapervert c483
01/21/24 bakapervert c482
01/14/24 bakapervert c481
12/25/23 bakapervert c480
12/17/23 bakapervert c479
12/10/23 bakapervert c478
12/03/23 bakapervert c477
11/26/23 bakapervert c476
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MagneticMagnet
MagneticMagnet rated it
August 9, 2019
Status: c95
Arifureta has the questionable honour of being the novel I think of first when the worst novel on the site comes up. It's not just bad, it's offensively bad. To call it tr*sh would be praise since tr*sh can be burned for electricity and can be useful in some way. This... Thing is not. The only reason it got even one star is because it's the lowest we can give.

Let's start with the "good":

-The first arc was passable. Betrayal and revenge is not really my cup of tea but I... more>> can see how it could make a worthwhile story.

-It's technically a novel.

And that's honestly all the positives I can think of. As for the bad: Everything else. Well, that is not very useful so let's have some examples.

-Awful plotting.
Spoiler

The MC having lost an arm and dying alone on the floor full of monsters built a railgun out of whatever he could gather from the enviroment with the justification of magic. You know, out of rock, stone and condensed water because he could use and apply a skill he gained perfectly from the get-go. I was willing to overlook this since it's just how these stories go. The magic motorcycle and car likewise. But later on he pulls a lavaproof submarine out of his pocket he somehow built just in case he needed it, without ever having done anything related to navigation or naval engineering. That's where I had to draw the line. So essentially the author needed a way to resolve a situation and pulled a deus ex machina.

[collapse]

-Awful characters. I managed to drudge through half of the main story and at that point I didn't care about any of the characters at that point.

The MC can't seem to decide whether he is an antihero or a hero. The author seems to have tried to make him a cool badass but ended up with a rebellious teenager. "I don't care about anyone else!" Saves a city from rampaging monsters. "Human filth like you should just die!" Fires rubber bullets so they don't die. "And those classmates of mine who left me to die should be killed by the monsters in the same dungeon they left me in!" Goes to save the classmates from the monsters in the dungeon they left him in. That, and he generally is an unlikeable jerk.

His harem isn't much better. The first waifu has a plausible reason to follow him but the rest not so much. Second waifu: "I will come with you!" MC: "No." Kicks her off. Second waifu: "I love you! I will follow you until you love me!" First waifu: "Let her in." MC: "Fine." That's the level of romance we're looking at. Oh, and because the harem has the MC, they can do whatever they want. At one point some guys were asking the harem if they wanted to go have some fun on a primary street and the response? A kick straight to the c*otch, just like any decent person. Of course, being a civilized major city, there is no public order and the harem just walks away after assaulting some men. Somehow the author even managed to make a dragon I didn't like, and those are on the top of my world order. I read pretty much any story with main cast dragons in it and this is the first and only case where I didn't like one, and that's an achievement.

Of course the other characters are there just to make the MC look better. Other men are there to throw envious gazes at MC's harem and fail to solve any issues so the MC can save everyone while the girls are swooned. You know the deal. The same with villains. They can't stand the MC being better than them so they resort to nasty plots to get back at him, or are generic villains-r-us guys like evil s*ave dealers or some such.

-The world is a bog standard dungeons and skills world. The world itself isn't bad in particular - nothing special either, but the people are incompetent to make the MC shine. The skill system brings the same issues as always. That is, it easily turns into "a character can now do this", which only reinforces the handwavium presented in this novel.

-Action goes about as well you might imagine having a guy with railguns face off with fantasy people. The MC blazes in on his magic motorcycle dualwielding railguns, headshotting monsters while doing backflips with a waifu on his backseat, explosions going on in the background and an angel choir scattering flower petals. He clears the threat while muttering something like "You fools can't even take care of this much" to the incompetent humans who were fighting for their lives, scoffs and drives away. The peanut gallery keeps whispering how cool the MC was and the guys are soooo envious of the cute harem.

Well, I think you got the point. The characters can do things because the author says so and some scenes would have not changed the least bit if it had been replaced with "a wizard did it!". Honestly the whole thing feels insulting as a reader. Apparently the slice of life after story is better but those only work if you care about the cast. And do you really want wade through 179 chapters of worthlesness to get to it?

You don't need a psychology degree to see the author was relieving his frustrations into writing here. That, or he watched "Terrible writing advice" on Youtube and didn't get the joke.

Do not bother with this waste of internet unless you like dumpster fires or want reaffirmation that the novel you're writing isn't actually that bad since this somehow got published and animated. How that happened will be forever a mystery to me. <<less
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LAOG
LAOG rated it
January 23, 2017
Status: c153
Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou for better or worse is a story that fails to live up to the quality and potential it displayed in the first volume. The premise and concept that were seen in the first volume actually made it seem different from the various "transported to another world" light novels that have recently plagued the market as of late.

The first volume presents us a story about a boy who had been betrayed and left for dead. A boy who's very essence of his humanity was destroyed.... more>> He drastically changes in order to survive the extreme dangers that he faces around his environment. So far the premise of the story sounds good, and the potential that we'll see a dark story filled with psychological conflicts of his humanity all seem to be in place, but nope that's as far as this story goes. The first volume ends with him being introduced to the first heroine of his official harem...

And that's where the story completely goes down the drain and as if the author waged his tail at the sign of $$$ the author decided to completely ruin his own story by falling back into typical, generic tropes that all other similar light novels have.

It becomes another edgy, angst, cliche, harem story where the MC consistently complains and has awkward moments with his harem. The girls themselves aren't anything special and they fall to the typical tropes of a loli, oppai, demi-human, etc. They add nothing to the story other than to emphasis how great the MC is. The other characters in the story are completely useless and are only added to the story to help support the idea that the MC is amazing. From the second volume and on nothing ever really threatens the MC because he can easily overpower them with his deus ex machina that the author will consistently write in the story just for the sake of it.

At this point I'm merely still reading this story simply because I'm too stubborn to drop something at this point.

Story: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Originality: 2/5
Overall: 2/5

Read the first volume and then proceed to drop this harder than the bass at a night club. <<less
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Poppukko
Poppukko rated it
February 4, 2018
Status: c303
First of all, to those who expect this to be a story where MC goes 'hurr durr, I'm gonna kill you all after obtaining all these powers for muh revenge', kindly avert yourself from reading this and read Sutaretara Yuusha no Eiyuutan or Legendary Shield Hero instead since that's what you are looking for. Despite the premise where our cunning yet weak MC getting indirectly mu*dered (which doesn't succeed) by his own classmate might makes it look like we're gonna have a revenge themed story, this is not it.

Like the... more>> synopsis, our MC: Nagumo Hajime is your everyday mediocre Otaku who gets bullied a lot due to a popular girl in the class trying to get close to him sincerely out of seeing his kindness and quirks. After getting summoned to the other world, he who has a weakass job and stat alongside his classmates found themselves in a pretty pickly situation where a certain jealous classmate doing s*upid sh*t and ended up in him falling down into the abyss, costing him an arm (left), an eye (right), hair color, and almost making him a mu*derous barbarian if it isn't for the female lead.

The main theme of this novel is about a guy who got betrayed and faced with harsh reality in the other world where your life is always in constant danger with either an as*hole god making you a pawn of his game or the monster trying to kill you. Here, our MC, in his traumatized state after the sh*t he's forced to go through in the abyss, reverts to all human's basic instinct: Survival which made him a ruthless man to everyone but his troupe or innocent people which is pretty realistic since let's be real, every human would think of surviving the ordeal where their life is on the line first instead of instantly wanting to mu*der the one causing them into such predicament. And even after that, he doesn't think much of a revenge against that as*hole classmate of his. Why? Cause he's a typical Jap MC? Nope, he set his priority straight of trying to get back to his world with all the Cheat he got after losing many things in the abyss instead of indulging himself in a petty revenge that would waste the time he needs to find a way home. Collecting harem and helping almost everyone in a pinch? Reminder that Yue and his harem members are acting as his moral compass to prevent him from becoming a mere mu*derous monster just because he got the power to destroy anything. So, in the end, the story is not about revenge, but more of the line about a guy who wants to go home while making merry friend along his search for that way and breaking common sense while doing it all. I'd rate it 4.5/5 for the main story while 5/5 for the after story which is hilarious as hell. <<less
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Parpaing
Parpaing rated it
September 24, 2017
Status: v6c5
This story starts off with the protagonist getting betrayed and thrown into some impossibly hard dungeon, he has only 1 goal, and that is, to survive. But then the dungeon gets easy and he forgets everything that happened, becoming careless, carefree. The revenge plot ? Nope, he's too cool for that, he used to care only about surviving, but now he doesn't care about anything. His hair turns white and all of his equipment is black and of course he has a trench coat. The MC gets bored and decides... more>> to conquer all of the great dungeons, even though he asks for a reason to help anyone (but then accepts whatever bullsh*t reason to save them, then acting like a melodramatic teen in the process spewing sh*t about never accepting help from anyone or something and helps them more than is needed) and of course he gets a harem because girls fall in lvoe with him left and right, even though he's an apathetic douche with no personnality whatsoever, and even though he's supposed to be this really cool dude, he's basically walking through supposedly impossibly hard dungeons having carefree conversations with his harem, there's absolutely no tension. Oh and then he meets his classmates, and even though he said he didn't care about them, he actually does and instead of ignoring them, he gets really shocked when he sees them. Urgh, this whole novels stinks of SOA, a novel which is only a symptom, not even the cause. Japan's light novel readers (most of them anyway) have no taste and have only read one or two novels in their lives, never tasting actual quality while the authors are made to sh*t out as many low-quality novels as possible that stroke our lowest instincts, because they're easy to write. <<less
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Kiritsuna
Kiritsuna rated it
February 1, 2021
Status: c398
Short version: It's a great WN to pass the time, it's hilarious to read, with all the descriptions, comparisons, metaphores, and tsukkomi's. And those get even better in the after stories. If you want to read the WN because you want an interesting story, to open your mind, and make you think about serious topics, this isn't for y'all.

Yeah, come at me with everything you want, I give 0 f's, I think it's amazing 5/5 would read again

Of all the Isekai I read/watched this is by far my favorite.

Translation and writing:
The translator/s have the translation done a day after it's officially released, and personally I love the writing, and I'm not talking about the story or character development, for me, it's really fun to read, I don't know if it's the author, or the translators work, but I think the comedy is gold.

Story:
The story itself is pretty normal, it's starts with a weak ass MC that becomes OP, who hates everyone, and wants to take revenge on everyone, losing his humanity. At the second third of the story, it does become mostly cliché'd but it's still nice to read.
The moment it shines, is in the After stories, at least for me, just then you get explained more about the world, and even if it's not as "tense" as the original story, it's more interesting for me.

Harem:
I realized... I hate harems (normally) but for this one, it never really bothered me, I even thought it was well done
- Every girl had their tome to develop the relationship with the MC
- The harem doesn't get jealous, and there aren't catfights (except Yue, and Kaori)
- They get on well with each other
- The MC isn't dense when it comes to his harem, and knows what to do
- Even if it's huge, it doesn't feel like it opaques anything
- All in all, the development of their relationships doesn't feel forced

Characters:
The MC was a normal does everything he needs to survive, and after metting more people, and interacting more, he "returns" to his "normal" self. Tbh, I don't see anything wrong with that, I don't know why it recieves so much hate. It's not like he became a goody-two-shoes who helps everyone at any given ocation. All he does is with one objective in mind, going back to earth, and protecting everyone important to him, or his companions. If something/one threatens one of those two things, they get erradicated.
Most characters have their own important development on the main story (Hajime's Harem), for some it may not be that extense (classmates), but it gets the job done. Others barely have any (some of the classmates).
I can never get enough of the army of chuuni broken rabbits, each time they appear, you know it's going to be good. Appart from them, you have 3 more chuuni characters which are scarred by their past:
Spoiler

Hajime, his father, and Endou (the assassin classmate who is invisible).

[collapse]
So you can guess what kind of stuff happens.
In the After Stories, all the characters improved a lot, and each chapter has me laughing (not grinning, not smiling). You get some really nice additions to the cast, which makes the quantity, and quality of the comedy to improve by a lot, you get to know other characters more, like Endou, or Kouki, and their harem.
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DeusUltimus
DeusUltimus
March 29, 2021
Status: c401
I don't get all the hate that the series, and Hajime in particular, gets.

Hajime was one of the better developed characters in isekai. What was so wrong about him becoming a better man, or rather trying to create a happier future for his loved ones. What was so wrong about considering what comes after his battles? I really don't get why people are so fixated on sociopaths and glorifying them.

Anyway, the series itself is a great read. The plot was consistent, it wasn't dragged on, we knew where the author... more>> wanted to take the series from the start. It might have been clichéd, but the author was able to squeeze a lot of substance from it as well as adding relevant depth and subtlety to it to keep me engaged all the way through.

The characters were diverse and well developed, I don't where one reviewer pulled his conclusion out of saying the characters were 2D, apart from Yue, the main cast were properly fleshed out, Yue was more or less a finished character when Hajime found him but she was still developed a bit near the end of the series. The villain himself had his backstory and motives even if he wasn't completely fleshed out.

The world-building was great and there was good attention to detail, the plot is consistent with the world-building and the characters took part in it. The lore is well developed as well, along with its own series Arifureta Zero.

Although, the writing, in a sense, can use some refinement, it's still good and it's more or less what you'd expect from a WN. I would greatly recommend the LN of a more refined and detailed iteration of the series as the LN stood true to its source.

I rated it 5/5 on the site rating to compensate for the nonsensical low ratings it recieved. At the very leadt the series is a 4-4.5, it's not Fullmetal Alchemist, but it's no slouch either. Just don't let the sociopath glorifying reviews stop you from reading this gem. It's worth the read. <<less
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Phrosty
Phrosty rated it
July 17, 2021
Status: c180+
Alright, hear me out. I'm about to simp the sh*t out of this BUT my blinders are off.

Disclaimer: some light spoilers

I absolutely love this WN (though the LN is also great and I honestly prefer it) even though it is truly 'peak shit'. If you are at all familiar with the 'Isekai' genre then I can promise you there is nothing particularly unique in this story.

It is chock full of wish-fulfillment and ego-stroking - and that's why I f*cking love it. Even more so in how shameless it goes about... more>> it too. In my opinion the author was well aware of what he was writing and wasn't aiming for any type of 'masterpiece'. Dude basically laid his stroke sessions out in novel for for us to enjoy B) what a lad.

Quick warning - the following review, in homage to the author, is a bit of a stroke session itself. I really like this sh*t but I think I'm fair in my assessment. I'm well aware of why a lot of people have issues with this and don't like it/rate it well. Their thoughts are valid and if you're trying to determine whether to invest time in this or not consider those opinions too.

So as many have stated the beginning does a great job of setting the hook and drawing you in. The end of the first volume establishes our chuuni anti-hero MC loaded with venom and bad-assery and our lovely lead heroine leaving you excited for more.

It's here where popular opinion seems to split pretty hard and understandably so. Not too long after telling us our MC is gonna kill anyone he does like or tries to force his hand he almost immediately back tracks on it since a wild waifu appears - Shia. Shia is largely why opinion splits here as not only does the MC walk his character back a bit but Shia herself has a lot of anti-fans.

I'm not a big fan of the 'sun' archtype characters in harems (I think a good parallel here would be Kushieda Minori from ToraDora for example). That being said I don't mind Shia that much but that may be due to the fact I was introduced to her character from the Manga/WN first. I didn't see the anime until later and that's where I saw the 'Aqua' parallel.

I've seen a lot of KonoSuba references with those who watched the anime first who feel that Shia and Tio are basically 'downgraded' versions of Aqua and Darkness. After seeing the anime I understand that comparison but I do feel the characters are different enough that I didn't really notice it until it was pointed out to me (though Tio is a bit of an exception but that's more a consequence of 'M' characters in harems I think :/ maybe it's just me).

I've talked a lot about the characters and not a lot about the plot at this point but to be honest that's because that's not only where the novel really focuses itself but, in my opinion, where it shines anyways. The plot really isn't unique or otherwise but it is well paced and generally well executed. There are certainly a number of flaws and the one that bothered me the most was inaccuracy in the timeline where Hajime was in the labyrinth.

Spoiler

It said he was down there for 2 months before they cleared it and then 2 months in the mansion. In 'After Story' Hajime said he was on that floor for 'about 10 days' but it indicated he spent 'weeks' developing his first gun Donner. I don't know if it was a translation discrepancy or not but since the general timeline of him not getting to the surface until 4 months passed seems consistent through all versions I just don't f*cking know anymore. Rant over.

[collapse]

Honestly, my favorite part of all of this was the development of the harem. The concept of it and it's execution left a lot to be desired but the way it developed overall was really unexpected for me. Seeing an MC devote himself to a love interest early on and hard reject the other girls was really refreshing. It made it more rewarding (in some cases) when the girls had their love reciprocated since it didn't come until towards the end. Some of the characters, as is common with harems, don't get enough 'screen time' and so they don't feel as developed *cough*Remia*cough* (or really developed at all in her case. I want to like her more, I really do, but like... when did Hajime even fall in love with her? Wasn't it just 'she's Myuu's mom so I gotta'?)

Also Yue, who was presented as a Yandere, sharing her man for the reason of 'getting more important things' is just some f*cking weak-sauce. I would have much preferred if he had emphasized her fear of not being able to always be by Hajime's side to decide to share him so if something happens to her he won't break. Makes way more sense to me but nah, effort. f*ck it.

So even though this is one of my favorite aspects of the story it's loaded with flaws, just like everything else in it.

This whole story, setting world and all the characters exist to make the MC look badass and glorify him. His is given ridiculous abilities, doesn't shake or falter nor faces any real challenges until the end. There's no real significant plot twists as everything is fairly predictable.I love it - for me, this novel is 'junk food'. Premium junk food. The sh*t you binge when you're in a 'mood' or have a certain craving. It scratches all those itches and makes it feel so good.

If you actually read to this point let me offer a 'thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed it/found it helpful'.

I'll say it again - this is no 'masterpiece'. It is, unabashedly, the ultimate wish-fulfillment story. I recommend reading this if you aren't looking to take something very seriously. There's not a lot of 'drama' or otherwise but what this novel does I think it does well. There's a lot of this kind of stuff with that 'Isekai' genre. Enough stories like this create a mountain of shit.

That being said, just like with any mountain, there's absolutely loads of bottom-tier sh*t that forms the base. The peak can only be home to a few though and, in my most humble opinion, Arifureta is absolutely 'Peak Shit' of that mountain. Give it a go. <<less
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Rampaging Dragon
Rampaging Dragon rated it
April 23, 2021
Status: c403
For all intents and purposes, Arifureta is a rollercoaster ride in my personal opinion. It starts as a 5 star classic in the first two volumes, falls into a 2-3 star novel in the middle parts, and ends as a 4-star novel. But the main story of this novel for me is not the best part of it. That novelty belongs to the side stories without a doubt. Shirakome created a vast number of interesting characters with their own crazy and hilarious quirks and puts them in situations that allow... more>> them to shine as characters. Almost all of the side characters gets their own time to shine and most of them end up being memorable even after their time is over.

Even so, some of the wives of Hajime like Aiko and Lily were unnecessary in my opinion and should have remained as they were but other than that, the novel is solid. In any case, read the main story to get a scope on who each character is and then read the side stories to enjoy the hilarity that ensues. <<less
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LunarEclipse77
LunarEclipse77 rated it
October 23, 2020
Status: c230
So I started with the anime, which I watched twice.

Then I read the webnovel here, because the anime only went through the first four volumes' worth of the story.

After that I bought and read all of the officially translated light novels - several times. It's fair to say that I like the series.

... more>> I'm rating it five stars because of my own personal bias towards this series, and I admit it.

The Translation:

Frankly the translation of the webnovel in some areas is a little lacking - I speak Japanese and it was a big help, I often found myself translating sentences back into Japanese to actually understand them or even having to ignore entire sentences wholesale. At the same time, I'd say it wasn't all that big of a problem?

I'd rate it between 2 and 4 stars, depending on the translator? At least until the afterstory, which I'd give a solid 5 stars so far as I have read.

The Plot:

Overall this is another chuuni isekai power fantasy, and it leans into that. Our main character is dropped into the hell of the Orcus Great Labyrinth and there has his mindset, body, and soul completely reforged. People say this part is a revenge fantasy, but it's not, really - MC specifically says he throws all of that away, because he needs to to survive.

Volume 1's hook is really strong, but it's nowhere near the end of the series - Hajime changes a lot in the Great Orcus Labyrinth, but he changes just as much outside of it, largely due to the influence of other people, either indirectly (he does things because he cares about them) or directly (they point out the flaws of his ruthless mindset and he takes that seriously).

After Hajime becomes the strongest thing around and discovers a clue to getting home, he starts traveling around the continent and acquiring new, powerful magic and girls along the way, with the series basically continuing with that formula until the last volume of the main story.

The Harem... and other characters:

The way the harem starts expanding later in the story gets maybe a little out of hand - almost every developed female character ends up in it, but hey, this way everybody's favorite girl ends up with Hajime/their self-insert, so...

For me what's really good about Arifureta isn't the plot - which I find engaging, in that it drives forward through the actions of the characters, but the "isekai'd away to get super OP" trope is kind of played out - it's the characters themselves. I think Ryo Shirakome does a really good job of giving everybody clear personalities and having them act according to them, and also of having those characters change, learn, and grow. I'd say this is probably the most lasting reason why I like Arifureta so much.

The Chuuni:

I mean, the author's handle on Syosetsu is "ChuuniLover, " what do you expect? This series revels in chuunibyou, both playing it straight (harem, magic chants, literally everything about Hajime) and playing with it (people pointing out to Hajime how chuuni he looks causes him physical pain). It's part of how fun the series is.

The Afterstory:

I haven't read too much of it, but what I have read I really enjoyed. I mean, it's as long as the actual story proper. The translation is pretty good to boot.

Just the fact that there is an afterstory dealing with everybody's life back on Earth, taking more time to develop characters we didn't see much of before, compared to other stories that end relatively abruptly with the main antagonist's death (looking at you, Shield Hero) was really nice.

Overall:

Like I said, I've read it several times. I wouldn't call it a literary masterpiece, but I would say it's a very fun piece that deserves more credit than it gets. <<less
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wts.tiffany
wts.tiffany rated it
August 18, 2020
Status: --
If you're here after the manga or the anime but you're still hesitating to read this, I suggest you to at least read the prologue.

The prologue will make you ''understand'' why the class of Hajime (MC) hated him.... (not a valid reason but whatever)

If you just want to pass the part you already know =>

Manga chap.42 = Vol.3 chap.20

Anime (episode 13) = vol.3 chap.31
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Eldeus
Eldeus rated it
July 12, 2020
Status: c385
So, I am someone who has read every chapter from the very beginning to the last chapter out at the time of this writing, c385.

Hopefully I can truly explain the pros and cons of this novel.

First things first: I couldn't get through the first episode of the anime because of how horrendous it did this novel. If it were up to me, the first season alone would have depicted him climbing his way out of the first dungeon instead of jumping hoops through like 5 volumes.

Now that that's out of... more>> the way, the novel review.

The first dungeon is perhaps one of the best parts of the novel, as it shows our mc's tragedy, the betrayal, and his desperate and impossible challenge to escape. One thing people had trouble with was after he escaped. The MC seemed very edgy afterwards and his attitude sometimes changes on letting someone live. However, this is due in part to Yue and the soon-to-be bugged bunny. Without them, he really would have become a merciless killing machine without a soul.

The only really important parts afterwards that stick out to me is the introduction of his other harem members, the dungeons, and a few other characters (*cough*daughter*cough*). Also the scenes with Hajime's classmates.

After that, the only other part that was truly fun to read was probably the battle against the final boss. It was quite the spectacle.

The so-called "Hero" of the class may seem pretty bland on the surface, but that's only in the main story. He only truly redeems himself during the after story, in which case he actually becomes surprisingly a great character. In fact, many characters that we see in the main story become great characters during the after story phase.

In my honest opinion, the "Main Story" is just a prelude to the actual good story. If I were to go by rating the main story, it would be 2 stars. However, if I rated the After story alone, it would be 5. There is so much world building in the After story and such a hidden yet intriguing overarching plot behind everything that the main story actually seems like only a small portion of what the true story actually is.

My advice to those that are thinking of giving up on this novel - trudge on. Once the "Main Story" ends, that's when the true story begins. <<less
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Rort
Rort rated it
September 23, 2019
Status: --
If someone asks me "what is a generic isekai novel?" I'll gladly say this novel, it was one of the first novels I have read together with Mushoku Tensei and since that time I was aware thanks to this novel, the good and the bad of every genre.

I'll recommend this novel to newcomers of this site or novels in general, to see how bad some isekai novels are and to avoid them when they read a similar development in other novels.

I'm just expressing my reasons behind the 1-star rating, there... more>> are already a lot of detailed reviews expressing how bad this novel is. <<less
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Jinnai.l
Jinnai.l rated it
May 13, 2017
Status: c259
First thing First, yes the tone does change into light heart comedy after the first volume and the character is a bit shallow at some point but hey every thing have flaws and while their are few thing wrong, they did do something right

... more>>
Spoiler

I have to admit that Yue romance barely function (but it make sense, people would naturally find something to cling to in thier absolute rock bottom) and Shia start as a disaster. Let not mention the dragon, she a pe*vert no need for comment. Remus and Aiko still confuse me but given what MC did it understandable that it happen. However, Kaori and Shizuku romance make the later part of the story worth it and made up for the disaster that is Shia. One is about accepting change to the beloved as natural and be there to help him (bring him slowly back from absolute jerkassery). One is about accepting herself and her feeling. Shizuku's character development is done exceedingly well that it will make you wish that this arc happen 5 volume earlier.

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Now the main story, tragedy happen MC gone from weak to strong and get force into the Harem he eventually warm up to... not the worst thing in the world. Some of the best story often have simple structure.

For those yelling about the dark trope. Please don't take away my faith in humanity. Instead of using your narrow point of view and what could have been. Please judge something as it is.

Spoiler

KOUKI exist to be hate right from chapter two as a classic hero. So hate him

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this is a story about a nice guy who fell to hell and become a badass with heart of stone (something most reader will like because reader are total sad*st who like to only see MC struggle). And he he find somethings to love and slowly getting back that empathy of his (which the reader totally hate because it ruin that nice original setting

for soft and fluffy romance, guys read v14 the dark in the first volume Is continue here and lynch as an Aesop. The hero journey is not about dark for dark sake but fall and slow return to the light side (?) of an incompetent hero into a man he will be come.

4 star... minus one for the clunky romance but otherwise recommended read especially for the side stories. seriously those thing are so good. <<less
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Kurotsubaki
Kurotsubaki rated it
April 24, 2017
Status: c244
Many hate this novel because of the sudden turn on volume 1. But I'm a fan who read it until the afterstory so, im aware that this novel is out of norm and at the same time, following the norm

Some point needed to be known :

1. This isn't a dark story.
Many compare this to another masterpiece like shield hero. But the shield hero maintain its dark attribute until the middle story and become more mellow after his revenge are fulfilled and have a heroine to support him.
Arifureta have some dark traits, but the author limit it by adding "i want to go home" wish and adding a heroine at first part of the story to suppress the MC darkness. So don't expect any revenge story here as the goal of the MC is "to go home with his important thing" as his goal.

2. Have many turnaround.
At first, many concluded the MC are going dark.... But the heroine suppress this
Then the MC turn badass, but another heroine suppress this too.
And many reader disappointed, and many drop this novel from their reading list.
And the MC turn into someone who will always protect his beloved one and spoils them like a good husband.... (personal opinion)
Spoiler

what turn him to protect his surrounding is his teacher saying that "living with only you and your beloved surely a lonely way of live" and because the MC think that he can't live in modern live like that he save his surrounding as a coincidence

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calebra
calebra rated it
February 2, 2017
Status: c135
I don't really understand all the hate this series garners but it isn't that bad. I guess most people started reading this because of the dark themes in the first arc / volume. If you want those heavy, revenge centered plots, this isn't for you. It kind of becomes light hearted in the latter part. It still has action but the events of the story is definitely lighter compared to the beginning.

Also, for me, best girl is
Spoiler

Shizuku

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RpR1337
RpR1337 rated it
January 26, 2017
Status: c133
I'll be honest, and try to stick to being as diplomatic as possible. Just so that no one gets indigestion due to my standpoint.

First of all, I think this novel is good. The importance is on 'think' - and this is a shoutout to all the review writers that rated the novel low without even trying as far as writing 'I think' - since it's not a be all, end all, just an opinion. This one will be my opinion. I'll respect the fact that others have opinions, but I... more>> won't respect the actual opinions, unless they're adhering to some decent logic. End of first rant.

The series is a dark hero concept, which translates fairly well, because the actual dark hero isn't the usual extremity (like some other concepts), but a sort of apathetic dark hero. Psychologically speaking, the reason he shows only faint interests in most common flags of 'OMG it's gonna' happen' plot twists in the white horse, blonde prince style stories is that his capacity due to the events of Volume 1 amounts to that much only. Instead, we get a protagonist who's constantly dancing the fine line between being a dere housemat and a mad sociopath. And I find this concept much more interesting than either standard heroes, or standard dark heroes. Instead of focusing on one end of the spectrum, he shows a variety of extremities, which, coupled with his mature but mischievous character, creates a spectacle which is similar to a brat bully, but in fact isn't. So in my opinion, I find him a very good character, and enjoy that he's a stu. Maybe only Tatsuya from Mahouka was so close to my ideal MC, apart from Hajime.

As for the romance part, it's also an interesting and enjoyable perspective for me. Sorry that I like my novels 'happy and gay', but quite honestly, my belief is that if you want drama and tragedy, look out your window - consequentially, I can't understand people who actually enjoy tragedies. But that's also one way to look at things, so I won't condemn. End of second rant.
I personally prefer RomComs, and this one has a nice setting for me, with a little twist - having a harem situation while being a monogamous kind of person, which is also a novel (lol?) idea in my reading. I do like harem stories too, just so you know.
The 'pink space' power' of Yue, Shia's usual behaviour, Tio's entire being, and a certain closeted aspect of Kaori's all translate well to comic relief in my opinion. Overall, the RomCom aspect is a nice strike for my tastes.

The female characters are also nice representations of the standard archetypes of Japanese novel n' manga females. No actual fault there, I believe. I'll leave the rant related to this to later.

The story itself is sometimes a bit slow-paced - I actually didn't like the description of many combat scenes, as they sometimes suffer the illness of the "destruction of Namek", if some old-timers still remember that one. However, the description of feelings transmitted, ethics, morals, and some psychological aspects in the series are, albeit a bit iffy, rich and well-performed, I think. Also, I like my novels dense (as in Campione! level dense - text, descriptions, mostly related to feelings, less in the case of battles). That made it much better for me. Also, though I can think of a few examples off the top of my hat if I were to liken this series' plot to that of another (Konjiki, primarily), I still find it rather novel and interesting.

For the next part, those who can't take a bit of criticism, please don't open the spoiler tag, because it's mainly related to the justification of rants above. Those however, who can take it, and understand it without popping a vein, do read it, I recommend them to. If you still pop a vein, even if you were convinced you won't : well sorry, but just as I can disregard your opinion, you're free to do so to mine.

Spoiler

Now then, to illustrate some of my points, I'll just do some shoutouts again.

- To people rating this novel with 1 star, then justifying it with 'this novel is shit' multiple times, with a plethora of different sentence structures : if you do something, and whack up somewhere, are you interested in people pointing it out to you, and from their own perspective, no less? Yes, I'm pointing at you, LoL 'BG'-ers. You, "reviewers", are the same. In short: either review decently instead of an immature and uncivilised rant, or forget it.
- To people rating this novel with 1 star, then still recommending it : why are you even here? Why are you even reviewing?
- To people rating this novel with 1 star, then ranting it's clichéd, stereotypical, or not 'original' enough : why are you even reading Japanese fiction?
(Addition : Japanese entertainment has clichés. They work. Otherwise, the Shounen genre would've died out long ago. Instead, what do we have? Yes, ladies'n'gents, Shounen Jump. We have Shounen Jump. It's not specifically a problem for me if you don't enjoy somewhat 'clichéd' stories, but you really should switch to European or modern American literature in that case.)
- To people rating this novel with 1 star, when they read less than half the story : don't. Just don't. Self-sacrifice (actually reading something, and only after that, writing an opinion for other people to potentially reduce their wasted time out of the goodness of your heart) is different from su*cide (writing an opinion when your understanding goes only as far as 'this seems round, but not completely - is this an egg?').
- To people rating this novel with 1 star, then not giving any decent justification in general, and half of the anti-wall-of-text is "shit" : go get kicked by a horse and die. I have nothing more to say to you.

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And for the last part, recommendations, hopefully a bit more balanced than about... well, most of the recommendations in other reviews:

- If you enjoy thrill, drama, tragedy, virtually on every page of a novel : I think you shouldn't try this to avoid the letdown after Vol. 1. Instead, either try some other novels with more descriptive tags, or go for western literature.
- If you enjoy a stable RomCom with some twists and turns : I think you should give this one a try. It's a bit non-conclusive for male-female relationships from the harem aspect, but goes to second base fairly quickly with how MC's a mono instead of a harem king, and is a steady, all-out castle siege afterwards. Also, lots of comedy, laughs and stuff.
- If you enjoy a typical shounen development curve for characters : MC is a stu, so I wouldn't recommend this series, since there's a fair chance you won't get the meaningful power-ups that often, which may dampen your enjoyment.
- If you enjoy a dense-worded story regardless of the content's weight, or use novel reading as a time sink mainly : you should give this a try in my opinion. Lots to read, with depressing parts, sometimes, you'll go "awwww" from the cuteness, sometimes you'll get thrilled, sometimes you'll laugh. It's quite the varied experience, if you don't expect Earth-shattering events every 2 pages.
- If you only enjoy out-of-the-box concepts from every angle, with no repetition, and this isn't your first Light/Web Novel : you should leave this one be, since it won't fulfil your expectations anyway. Refer to point one of recommendations.

To summarise: this story is semi-bland. I don't think that it's even close to being bad. Some originality in my opinion, some stereotypes - it's 'just another Web Novel'. I find it good, and if you're interested even after hearing it's semi-bland, you should try it. <<less
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rdawv
rdawv rated it
February 24, 2016
Status: --
I read this at the same time as Tate Yuusha (Shield Hero) and Death March and Re:Monster. Arifureta tries to differentiate itself by going down a darker path of power and revenge: taking the bitterness of Shield Hero’s MC, combine it with the JP novel tropes and harem of Death March and the ridiculous OPness of Re:Monster’s MC.

Initially the story was interesting, but it quickly went down the “I suffered this tragedy and got this power and so I’m entitled to do what I want because I can” way like... more>> Re:Monster. Meaning the author tries to justify whatever the MC does, because firstly how he had suffered and thus unable to easily trust others, and secondly because he has the strength to disregard the opinions of others.

If you liked Re:Monster, you will find much of it here. It is a little better written than Re:Monster and more translation effort is in it. The dialogue is a bit more colorful and the supporting cast are given ‘screentime’ and not just prop on**oles like in Re:Monster. The setting and the harem which is acknowledged but blatantly ignored by the MC who point blanks tells everyone he is only in love with one of them is what makes the story different than other harem novels.

It is the ultimate in wish-fulfillment fantasy, a self-serving story that serves to bend to the whims of the MC. It might be very difficult for some to empathize with the MC, but some readers will enjoy reading someone who was bullied and abandoned becoming all powerful and treating every one except for the main love interest as dirt. <<less
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clam
clam rated it
January 26, 2016
Status: --
rate 1/5 a waste of a good read first volume great he has a great transformation in personality then later on he just becomes a s*ave to his harem its rather annoying also he just doesn’t seem to know the word “no” it then just start to annoying you and you really start to hate the characters no like you really start to hate the characters.
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Mr.slowly
Mr.slowly
April 6, 2020
Status: --
I should probably start with the fact that I heartily enjoyed this series - that will let the hypocrites know to move on if it doesn’t jive with their own opinions.
So, again, I heartily enjoyed this series right up until the present - this includes everything after the first book and Zero / all of it.
in fact the only thing that turned me off of this excellent series are the reviews that I’ve read. Nice job ?? - what a bunch of sad little birds, stuck in their nests, crying for attention - or so the mental picture is formed whenever I read reviews in which it becomes increasingly apparent that there is yet another entire subsection of humans that mistakes reading a bunch of other’s ideas and works as having written their own. It makes me a bit shy to read them, much as when a young person overacts, trying to seem like an adult. There is usually a subtle understanding in the room and it’s often moments like these that people look back on and squirm a bit. Anyway,... just needed to get that out, and the following. The folks who say this series lacks depth.... maybe reread, and try to pronounce all the words this time? The harem ladies are one dimensional and lack depth..... huh? At some point I feel like these spots to write reviews must seem to be the places where normies get their chance to be authors! Well, despite quickly falling in love with our own words and poetically scathing those who have done the actual hard work, these truly are places to leave simple comments and thoughts. At any rate, falling into the same pit myself.
In regards to this series - good stuff. Wonderfully inventive, a shiteload of fun and humor,
and I personally feel the other characters get their fair shares of background and depth. In addition to that there is coherent world building that is definitely in sufficient supply should it be demanded by the reader, as it so often is - this being on odd trend in those drawn to pure fantasy, adventure, reincarnation genre. What I actually and truly appreciate and enjoy is the treatment of the evolving worldview/perspective of the MC. It is a subtle balancing of hard-wrought defense mechanism paired with a caring heart for those things which also strive to live until they die, rather than simply exist or give up slowly until the end. A bunch of assitude (op) and black humor is mixed in which works for me!

There are certainly small things that don’t add up here and there, or this and that with which I don’t agree, but those are personal to me - and I feel it would be silly and immature to slather it anywhere a new reader would end up getting it on their hands before they have a chance to approach something new. I personally feel it’s respectful to both the author and reader to sit down with a piece of work and treat it as it’s own thing, not nitpick from the get-go against the pantheon of everything else. Are you here to enjoy a story or have you brought your own fork and knife, ready to criticize the meal before its even served.

Stepping down from the podium, I would just caution everyone to lighten up. This person has worked hard to craft a deep tale. If you are seeking perfection so hard, look in the mirror and start there ?✌️
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kitsuao
kitsuao rated it
November 17, 2018
Status: c330
don't fall for all the people telling it's bad because of the harem or the cheat MC.

first thing first, the harem : so contrary to what everyone say the harem doesn't come from nowhere with all the girl in the world after his dick, the "only" eight wives have all a more or less good reason to like him.

... more>>
Spoiler

kaori : fell in love with him when she saw his braveness when he "saved" a grandma and her grandson from a thug by doing a dogeza and screaming bullsh*t in order to embarrass the thug publicly. She liked his strength of heart and became obsessed with him (almost to the point of becoming a yandere)

yue : saved her from 300 years of scealing, an, d didn't abandon her afterward when the scorpio attacked. Also like her he can directly control magic

shia : saved her family and trained them to the point they would be able to survive by themselves. Also have the same ability to control magic (btw she also love yue as much as hajime)

tio : became obsessed with him after he awakened her to the M world.

aiko : saved her mentally by preventing a breakdown from not being able to save one of her student (discover she's in love with him during a fight 8000m in the sky against an apostle.

shizuku : she fell in love when she was saved and treated like a girl for the first time in her life by hajime, dreaming of being protected, wearing girly clothes and suck, she was forced to do the reverse by her family and entourage because of the dojo her family posseded.

remia : saved her daughter myuu and became a father figure for myuu, and healed remia's wounds, she then decided to marry him so to not separate myuu and hajime.

liliana: she fell in love with him after he prevented her r*pe by the prince of the empire and helped overthrow her crisis.

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as you can see he saved a lot of the girl, but before screaming at the misogynistic protag or something, just remember that he is literraly th strongest in the world, to the point of killing a god, also he didn't start a relationship with another charater than yue until the volume
Spoiler

5 of the wn (volume 7 of the ln)

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also its clearly used by the author as a comic relief, proof it is that the otherclassmate call him a cheat harem protagonist, breaking the 4rth wall and suck.

about the protag and the wives being insanely strong, it's explained multiple time why them became strong:

Spoiler

hajime: having suffering for days while his body destructed and reconstructed endlessly, having aquiring all the the age of god magic, by this occasion also the concept magic, having absorbed a lot a of skill by eating monster. Also it is stated that he is really stubborn in what he is doing, even before the abyss, and coupled with having a lot of otaku knowledge implamented by his father also with a little bit of genius, allow him to create powerful artifact.

kaori: once strong only at healing who get strengthened by regeneration magic, once she got the apostle body, she's able to use disintegration magic, and became really good at twin sword art, because of the muscle memory of the apostle, also got strengthened by training

yue: opness from the start and get strengthened by the age of god magic, training helped a lot too

shia : originaly strong, became stronger by training and using magic to strengthen herself, also got strengthened by age of god magic

tio : she's a god dragon, and became even more powerful by training and aquiering metamorphosis magic.

aiko : not particulary strong, just use her power like fermentation smartly, also helped hajime to remain somewhat human and to not turn totally aphatetic.

shizuku : due to being born in a dojo, she was trained since early age to swordsmanship and throwing art. Got strengthened by crossing to another world, and get further beyong human reach by sheer effort and willpower

remia/myuu: remia isn't a fighter nor she is strong. Myuu obtain the demon rangers after she proved herself courageous enough by puting herls before the berserk hajime in order to stop him. She's also really smart and mature like showed in certain part of the after story.

liliana: isn't strong and a fighter, she's a workaholic at deskwork.

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also the after story is even better than the main story, even more during the kousuke endou arcs and travel to tortus arc, but all the other arc are as good or just a little bit less than the two cited. <<less
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