Youjo Senki Vol.1 Light Novel first impressions

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As the title suggests, this is my first impressions of the Youjo Senki light novel (which ironically isn’t light at all.)

First, writing style. Youjo Senki is very, very wordy, worthy of the title ‘chronicles’. Sometimes I thought I was reading a war history book rather than a novel. The author, Carlo Zen, spends many pages to explain the strategies and politics involved in Tanya’s career. It might be difficult to read for some people who do not like long paragraphs.

When it jumps to story mode, the tone of writing is very sardonic. In the anime, G—-Being X is this super badass villain nobody could touch but has the power to influence everything in the world. People would perceive Being X as the cool supernatural existence. In the novel, Go—I mean, Being X is portrayed sardonically as this old man with long, white beard with an eccentric personality. He is childish and flips his words around, sending the protagonist to another world on a whim.

The novel itself is also very educational, making references to difficult texts and events but gives them easy explanations. This serves to reinforce our main character’s personality as someone who strives to be on top of the game.

The format of the book is also very cool. If you remove the jacket, the book will appear like some sort of bible with ‘Deus lo vult’ scribbled across the cover.

Here is what the book looks like in the Thai localization…

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I’m supposed to get an A3 poster with the book but it ran out. LSDFJOIWRHGF!!)($Y%W$

Last, the art. The novel’s art style is my favourite by far and I like the illustrations in the book.

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So that was my first impressions of the Youjo Senki light novel, vol.1. Let me know your thoughts!

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