Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest (Light Novel) Vol. 1

I originally never planned to read this series because it sounded boring and generic; the same could be said of the cover art. I was horribly mistaken. This first volume is one that I would consider to be a masterpiece. I haven't been this shocked and hyped about a series since Re:Zero (my current favorite anime), and this first volume gets darker and is equally or more enjoyable than when I watched Re:Zero for the first time. Arifureta is a gritty, dark fantasy isekai series that I highly recommend for those who enjoy any of those genres. I would describe it as a darker Re:Zero (in terms of violence and overall tone) meets The Rising of the Shield Hero (stats and abilities and very beginning/premise) meets Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (aka Danmachi) (in terms of the dungeon setup).Arifureta follows Hajime, a high school boy in Japan who is an otaku and is constantly bullied. His only solace is sleeping during class, though a kind and beautiful girl (one of the most popular ones in school) tries to defend him and be his friend. After wishing for his classmates to disappear into another world like in the stories he reads so that he can be left in peace, he, his young teacher, and his classmates are all summoned to another world as the heroes to save the humans from the powerful demon race that threatens to wipe out humanity. They all get powers and abilities, but Hajime's are comparable to a child's and he only has one "special" ability that many commoners also have. He is labeled as useless by his classmates until he proves himself in battle by adapting his only ability to a support/defender role and saving everyone from being killed in a situation where he and they honestly should have died if not for his selflessness and creative strategizing. Unfortunately, he ends up betrayed by a selfish classmate, finds himself alone, and eventually becomes a new person entirely.Arifureta volume 1 starts off semi-generic before becoming extremely dark and then slowly becoming hopeful again. The entire story is enjoyable and the characters are fleshed out, making them believable and at times relatable (depending on the character). I thoroughly enjoyed volume 1 and look forward to getting to continue the story in volume 2.

Seven Sea's new printed edition of Arifureta V1 contains 6 short stories, some 38 pages of content, that were previously exclusive to the premium ebooks that can only be bought with a membership on J-Novel.club. These are really cute and funny, and while you could technically go without them, it's just a much better deal in my opinion.If you are new to the franchise, get the printed version!! If you are an older fan but missed out on the short stories, I totally recommend Seven Sea's edition, even if you have to double dip. The first volume is many people's favorite anyways. Arifureta is a really fun isekai light novel, and it's getting an anime adaptation by White Fox (Re:Zero) in 2019! Check it out!

I went into this one a bit apprehensive. Is this going to be another generic story of someone trapped in another world? It started out slowly meeting all of my expectations. It was a bit odd having the main character NOT overpowered in another world for once, but whatever it was within my expectations. Then it took a huge turn. It went from more fun with a bit of man's cruelty to man thrown in and just how mean high schoolers can be all the way to "holy crap" this is really freaken dark. I loved Hajime character shift (I love darker main characters in general), and I cannot wait to see what happens next.Word to the wise, this one can get a bit graphic, and I mean gore and brutality wise, so if you are faint of heart, you should probably avoid. Luckily, there aren't too many scenes like that, but man are they brutal. This one also has a fairly realistic sexual theme near the end, which I respect. I feel like that reflects real life more honestly, and it was surprising to see a light novel author take that bravery, especially with the first volume. Nothing graphic by the way, its censored heavily (around PG-13 ...ish), so sorry if you wanted more...Anyway I hope to see Hajime reunited with his classmates in the next volumes, and I hope his powers haven't peaked. He's already freakishly overpowered at this point, but it would be amusing to see that go into untold heights. I guess I'll wait and see. Cannot wait to read what happens next.

First of all I really wanted to give this book a 3/5 but it just didn't feel right. The parts that were good were really good, but the same can be said for the bad parts. And had I not seen the Anime first, then I would not have made it past the "sample" pages. The first half of the book in just High School drama that was not needed. Also in the beginning the author introduces like 8 characters by their full name ONCE. Then he uses their last name in dialogue, but first name in narration. So its really confusing in the beginning until you're familiar with all the characters names.Spoilers aheadThat being said I really like how Hajimes power works. And Yue is a very interesting character too. But I don't like how the author nerfed Vampires out of existence. It would've been cool if she was like one of only a few pure bloods left. I also really like the Hajime Yue pairing.That being said I want the give the author props for creating the most annoying char ever, Kaori. I've come to love to hate her. Seriously, good job. She's just so dense you have to feel bad for her.I also thought that the fight scenes were better in the book than in the Anime. And as usual with Light Novel vs Anime, the book set the scene better and went into more detail about everything.All in all i don't regret reading this book and will continue to follow the series. I can only hope that things will get better as the series progresses.