okay that was a fun read. finished it yesterday after spending a large chunk of time trying to finis the book.
overall i quite enjoyed this book. the anime was a pretty close adaption meaning there were little to no surprises within the story. this did not matter though since the light novel was a more fun read and most of the scenes were better done.
i really like the characters in this novel. there are a fair few main/ supporting main characters and all of them have their quirks and personalities. three of the more fun characters are izayoi, calico cat and shiroyasha. these three frequently did things that were amusing as well as questionable things on others but managed to lighten up the story whenever they appeared. even though these three were my favourites all the other characters were equally as good and were a close tie for favourite.
the gift games was an interesting idea. they are essentially what would be called a test or challenge and can be anything from a roulette spin to a duel and probably most things inbetween. this volume did not show too many over all but the ones they did show were different and interesting and helped add dimension to the world. my personal favourite is one fairly early on due to the fact that it perfectly illustrates how overpowered izayoi is in the fact that he took out a god in a single attack. the others showed the extent of the other two "problem children's" powers.
my only real issue with the book were the villains. in this book there were two main villains: laius and galdo. both were slightly weak and not a lot was really said about either meaning they were a bit flat. their motives were not fleshed out much either. they were both fuelled by greed which in both cases lead to their defeat. the counterpoint for that is that both villains were only in one or two chapters meaning there was not much room for character growth. from memory the villains get more depth as well as motive in later volumes. due to this the rating went down only a tiny bit.
overall a interesting read as well as a promising start to an interesting series. it will be interesting to see the story play out and see what direction plot lines go. would recommend this to people who like manga/anime/light novels or alternatively a person looking to read light novels who enjoys fantasy or series with quirky premises.
4.8/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Sakamaki Izayoi, Kudou Asuka, and Kasukabe Yō have tremendous powers and are bored with the regular world. An envelope arrives for each person, and when each opens their envelope, they are stunned to see the scenery around them change to a world they had never encountered before. They've been summoned by Kuro Usagi to help the community "No Name" to overthrow the Demon lords. I had watched the anime first then began reading the manga but finally decided to read the novel. This had piqued my interest and wish that they continue to create the anime. The story talks about mythology whether it is Greek or Japanese mythology. The story revolves around the three main characters: Sakamaki Izayoi: [Code Unknown] Kudou Asuka: [Authority] Kasukabe You: [Genome Tree], [No Former] I like the three main characters the best especially Asuka and You working together and how Shirayasha and Izayoi teases Kuro Usagi and when the three main characters teases Kuro Usagi. I love the story because of the kickass heroines and how they handle the situation. I did find that there are scenes that weren't in the anime that reading the novel makes it worthwhile.
Since every book contains story, there are some which overlaps with another plot. Hence, it is basically the same story.
However, this one is shows us a unique world where everything can be settle through "Gift Games". Besides that, it has some (Science, History and Arts, etc.) lessons that surely we do not know. :D
Try watching also the anime version because it supplements the events covered by this book. (Only Vol. 1 & Vol. 2)