Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku

I have been on an isekai binge recently. Death March started out very well, but seems to go nowhere. I read about 45 chapters waiting for the story to contiue, but it seems to be going nowhere.

Story - 4

I think the story was originally set up to be fairly interesting, but not unique at all. It eventually just falls into a typical boring harem trashcan. The MC becomes so uninteresting and seems to care more about picking flowers than advancing the story. I tend to just sit and read a manga until I run out of chapters, but I couldn't do it.

Would I reccomend reading this? No way - it follows the typical isekai tropes without really adding anything to it.

Lately I felt like reading a bit of fantasy and action, so I came across Death March. It is rated fairly good so I was expecting something at least enjoyable, unfortunately already from the beginning I felt dissapointed, but kept reading hoping for some interessting developement that never came.

Story: (1)
Suzuki Ichirou or Satou, his nickname for online games, is a programmer of 29 years old. One day while waking up e find himself in a new world(similar to the game he was working for), already in trouble and attacked by monsters he use a powerfull skill that kill everything(also a god), and gain level 300+ making him insanely overpowered.
From that moment he tries to save a lot of people (since he's the hero), build his huge harem and go around the world to discover more about it.

Art: (5)
The art is the best part of this dreadful manga, still avarage and not appealing. The backgrounds and characters in some panels were hideous.

Character: (1)
Annoying and impossible to sympathize with most of them, expecially the main character. I dont mind cliché characters if you build around them a solid plot or use good art to make them shine trough their expressions, but this isnt the case, everything lacks so is impossible to enjoy the characters and feel
some emotions from their experiences.

Overall: (2.5)
If you havent guessed alredy I don't raccomend this manga to anyone, maybe if you are a new to the genre or to mangas you will like it, as for me I gave a chance to this manga to redeem itslef until chapter 27.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day.

This is an adaptation of the light novels. Unfortunately, due to this being a manga, a great deal of important information is left out. This works with some manga adaptations, but there is far too much left out here. The result is that the manga reads as if it were a not-very-good synopsis rather than a story of itself.

Also unfortunately the art is below average and can be considered barely adequate.

My recommendation is to read the light novels as they come out. I do NOT recommend reading the web novels that the LNs are based on, as the author has said that 70% of what is in the first LN was not in the web version.

Also, if you read the LNs the translation is much better and the flow of the story is better. Overall this is a very good story that suffers from how it was "ported" to manga.

So, at the time of this review I have read 30 chapters, and I have never read the light novel so I have nothing to compare it to. Now then, let's start this review!

Story-8
Now while the story isn't super original, but it's pretty good. Essentially, OP main character goes to new world without the help of Truck-Kun, and gains a harem with a good amount of Lolis. Not too many, not too few. So while it may get dull at points, it's a pretty good story with enjoy pleasure for everyone, so long as you haven't read the light novel (which is different than a "WN" if anyone knows what that is, there are like 3 or so iterations of this series out there).

Art-8
Lolis drawn well. Waifu material. That's really all I noticed about the art. It's pretty good. That's it.

Character-9
At the time of writing this, there haven't been any horrific characters introduced, and everyone is like-able. There isn't a single character that I truly dislike in this manga. And I really enjoy the Mc's reactions to all the the stuff that his harem members do.

Enjoyment-10
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this manga, even though there are only 30 chapters out there. I mean, if you enjoy harem mangas with over powered main characters in a "new world" setting with lots of dialog, then you'll enjoy this manga. But if you don't like reading, then this may not be the manga for you as some of the chapters feel like you are reading a chapter in a normal book. Dense with words.

Overall-8
Honestly, the main reason I'm writing this review is because the only two reviews on this manga are pretty negative due to comparisons to the light novel, and since I haven't read the light novel, I can give an impartial review. As I stated in the enjoyment section, I really enjoyed reading this manga, even though it can be a bit chunky (not the translators fault). I honestly can't wait for more chapters to be released, however it is on a month by month release schedule due to the difficulty of translating (again, another issue with the amount of text and redrawing necessary) and the monthly releases. However, if you are interested in this manga, then reading up to chapter 30 is a good stopping point, with no severe cliff hanger and a nice semi conclusion to the story till that point (by nice I mean you feel like you can now wait the month or more for the next release).

STORY:
Generic MC gets isekai-ed into a game with OP skills. He gets some slaves and adventures with his newly-formed harem. I dislike the fact that there's a girl who likes him (and so do his harem too) and yet he pays some prostitute to relieve himself.

ART:
They look nice, I must admit and that's the only reason I tried to keep reading this.

CHARACTER:
Annoying MC that feels like a wimp when it comes to women. His harem have some annoying and some meh characters.

ENJOYMENT:
Isekai is a hit or miss, and sadly this missed me. But hey, at least I tried 31 chapters.

OVERALL:
Idk man. It feels so generic. Find something else to read instead.

I'm going to be frank, I hate isekai manga. Well...not really. For those of you who don't know, isekai is a subgenre of anime that basically means the protagonist is reborn in a new world. Some examples are Kono Suburashii, Drifters, and Tate No Yuusha No Nariagami. While isekai itself is not bad, the vast majority of authors who write isekai manga, for some reason, all collectively write the same thing. Have you ever hated how Shounen anime and manga all use the same tropes over and over again without changing anything? Isekai manga is basically like that, yet somehow worse. It's a genre a lot like ecchi; a scapegoat so authors can avoid writing an actual plot and character development because that's too much work apparently. Death March is no exception to this rule. It is a mess of cut and pasted elements from other isekai manga. Originality? Nope. Decent Characters? Nope. Anything interesting whatsoever? Nope.

While Death March is not a bad manga in itself, there is no reason to read it. Read one isekai and you already know the entire story for 70% of them. Would I recommend Death March?

Not even close.

I don't write reviews often, (like once or twice). But I had to write one for this. Seriously though, there were people here giving it an overall rating of 3 or 4. So I felt that it was under-appreciated.

First of all, this review is based on the Web Novel.

Story: 8/10
The Story is certainly interesting, rarely strays from original objective, quite original. Also, a tip for all of you who plan to read it, read the intermissions and short stories in between chapters. They add A LOT to the story development. The story is a bit original I guess, it does have similarities with other (transport / reincarnated into fantasy world like novels), however I assure you that each "Arc" (that's what i'll call it) are certainly original. I assure you that as you keep reading the web novel, you will not be bored with it.

Art: 7/10
Uhh, the art is taken from the Light Novel. Honestly I couldn't say it's bad, the art is certainly nice. However because the LN and WN has slightly different stories, sometimes the art doesn't fit. Fear not, the Translator-San of the WN in Sousetsuka has explained this so.

Character: 8/10
Nice character dev. They're pretty unique. The Main Character is quite typical for this genre. However other main heriones / characters are pretty unique, they add a lot to the story line too. Also there's A LOT of side characters that are mentioned, and it's quite essential to remember them as they do reappear often. Because of this complex network of lots of characters, it adds a lot to the story of the WN also.

Enjoyment: 9/10
I can CONFIDENTLY say here, that I really enjoyed reading teh WN of this. As I have said before the story si very nice, and there's a lot of twists about the plot / MC hinted in the intermission and Short Stories. There's a lot of implicit meanings and ambiguous things in the WN. But because of the ambiguity, it allows me as the reader to enjoy the thrill of guessing ahead of the story and come up with our own ideas as to what they are.

In conclusion. I really recommend this WN to others, I've recommended this WN to some of my friends, and all of them agree that this WN is certainly interesting.

For Recommendations of similar WN / LN to this, I'd definitely recommend Mushoku Tensei. Yes, yes. It's all the hype now, but seriously, it's really good.

Cheers :)

Note: Review of Web Novel

I would describe Death March as a Slice of life novel of another world. Nothing much really happens from the main male character going to tea parties with nobles, to going on a desperate multi-day quest for the sacred ingredient, pickles. The side stories include the main character nonchalantly killing off demon lords and dragon gods, and the like. Of course while killing demon lords seems uneventful to the overpowered main character, side characters and the world itself become greatly affected by such "trivial" actions. This causes several events to unfold simultaneously, building up to some interesting situations throughout the story.

Premise: The main character gets transported to another world as an OP (overpowered) character. He has no distinctive quality other than being overly cautious and doesn't like pain, which contrasts greatly with the level of over-kill he is. Kind of like, although getting slashed with a sword would feel as bad as getting a paper cut, he still doesn't want a paper cut. I mean, would you? As a result, rather than spending time getting into battles, he becomes a full-time tourist of this world. As he slowly learns about the world through: food, crafting, skills, magic, trade, politics, religion, etc. the reader does too.

Story: Since this story is like a slice of life, there honestly really isn't much of an overarching story. There are some sub-stories that are interesting due to the "all-map" skill that the main character has. Basically, he can track what everyone is doing from a 3rd person perspective. (Think of tactics games such as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, or Fire Emblem) As such, he also plays the role of strategist when confronting battles and problems on large scales. Other than the slice of life feeling of the story, this is my favorite aspect. The large-scale tactics are well done in my opinion. Hence an 8 for story despite the lacking overarching story.

Art: What can I say. It's a novel. There isn't much art? It seems decent to me though. Pochi is particularly cute in the art! nanodesu =w=)~

Character: While the main character has no personality, the side characters have very distinctive personalities that are quite easy to like. (Pochi and Tama are my favs. Can always use more Tamarin and Pochinium -- Intermission SS4 Volume 9 reference) While there honestly isn't much character growth (if any at all), since there are a lot of chapters from the side character's POV (point of view), sometimes the same event from multiple perspectives, the characters do give another depth the story. They are what drive home the story's charm. At least for me, some of my favorite chapters are from a side character's POV.

Enjoyment: Due to its light-hearted nature, this story is very relaxing to read, and very easy to enjoy. I'm an avid reader of transported-to-another-world type novels, and I would rank this one quite up there due to its unique perspective on the genre. Other novels that I have read or am still reading, and like (for reference) include: Cook of the Mercenary Corp, Mushoku Tensei, History’s Number 1 Founder, Transcending the Nine Heavens, Crossing to the Future it’s Not Easy to Be a Man, Kenkyo Kenjitsu o Motto ni Ikite Orimasu.

One other thing to address: Right, there is technically a harem. But honestly, it's closer to a teacher taking their students on a field trip. The main character isn't interested in them, and the attempts of the harem to advance towards the main character at a certain point becomes more jokingly, rather than with seriousness. Or at least that is how it's portrayed. As a novel of its genre, it's rather absent of excessive sexual comments. Which is a nice change of pace.

Conclusion: Slice of life style stories aren't for everyone as they are slow paced. Especially with the lacking overarching story, if you are looking for something high powered, this is definitely not the story for you. For the casual-type story reader, this would be of more interest.

This is review of the Light Novel. I've not read the web novels. The author says, in the afterword, that the light novel contains 70% new material. I suspect that the negative reviews are mostly based on the web novels, where the author did not have professional help with editing. Not to mention that the web novels were translated by volunteers - who, sad to say, while enthusiastic are usually not good writers.

First of all, the LN has had a GOOD translator and the translation/edited version is much better done than most. No the writing isn't great, but it is reasonably good.

The story itself starts with what is now an almost worn out premise. Person living in Japan gets drawn into a parallel, fantasy world. BUT, the story is everything, which is where this shines. For once the author talks about the drawbacks of a true medieval world. No toilet paper, no baths, food is scarce. Bandits are a true and deadly problem. Slavery is rampant and prejudice towards those who are different is real and potentially fatal. Most surprising of all is that the author grasped that in those days, even in jail, money was useful.

Everything from the way buildings were in those times, to how clothing and supplies were purchased, and even how churches worked is reasonably accurate. (And before you ask, yes, I am a student of medieval history.)

As for the plot, for the first time we have a "harem" story where there is no harem, just children that the protagonist takes under his wing. Yes they're all cute females, but the way they are treated is different, so if you're looking for lots of bouncing breasts and sex, this series is not for you.

Given the substantial difference from the web novels, I would suggest that you not read them, but rather that you wait till the LNs are released in English. Whether or not the impressive tone of the first volume can be maintained, well, who knows? However, this first volume is giving me hope for what will come next.

Skip this novel. Seriously; go read Log Horizon, Mushoku Tensei or Tate no yuusha instead. This one is just a bad, sad take on the virtual MMORPG/ rebirth in a new world genre. Slight SPOILERS ahead.

If I had to choose the one thing that makes this novel a good choice for garden manure, it would be that the author seems to be too lazy to flesh out the world and the characters himself. Upon checking his page, I saw that this was his only publication according to MAL. In this case I can only hope he matures as a writer in his next attempt. Everything just falls into place in this novel like a jigsaw puzzle because it is expected that it would. The game system is weird and intrusive, rewarding the character for doing anything other than simply breathing. The guy is automatically one of the most powerful people there. There isn't even some power to master or some trial to overcome. The guy just is all-powerful. He takes down a dragon God in the second chapter and becomes an extremely overpowered guy the very instant he wakes up. We learn next to nothing about the city, but it's all fine because there is nothing here we need not expect. There are slaves (there always are); there is magic (to be fair, there is a system involved but its not well-explained) and there are demons (how else can the OP MC do anything)
Most of the time, I found myself filling in for the author from other, better series. It wasn't even that funny.

Next, onto characters. I'm going to take the unconventional route and start with the women in this novel. Never have I felt more sorry for characters in a fictional world. Most of the women are cute, big-breasted (obviously) and eager to talk but sadly unavailable. The women who are available are either lolis or flat-chested or both. Would it have hurt to make some sort of well-defined character. I still don't know anything about the personalities of any of the female characters. I'm not even too sure about the female knight in the second chapter because she was always far too shy. I couldn't even properly empathize with Arisa's story in the third chapter. There's too many vague factors, we don't see Arisa work hard for her country once and the ordinary LN style narration did not help. The MC is detestable. At one point, he didn't land the killing blow on a demon in the city and the author brushed it off by saying something to the effect of "Well, I couldn't really do that, you know?" I get it. Modern men are mostly not used to killing and bloodshed and would be hesitant to kill something, even a confirmed demon. However, the author should not be allowed to explain this away so easily. Put some weight behind the words for god's sake. This is just a rip-off of any other novel in the genre with none of the emotions or strong characters. There is nothing that makes me like this character or respect him. On the contrary, I constantly wished this was a joke and the real MC would appear sometime later.

The art in this work was pretty average and expected of the LN I'd say. Nothing unusual or worthy of praise.

I know I haven't read a lot of the LN; just a little over a volume really. However, I have never been so eager to drop one. Some of the commenters on the website found it enjoyable. If so, I'd like someone to enlighten me about it.

FINAL SCORE: Your princess is in another castle/10.