naivette

The Water Magician Arc 1 Volume 1 by Tadashi Kubou, Illustrations by Nokito. Published by J-Novel Club.

Honestly, you know what got me to start reading this series? The Syosetsu listing for the original webnovel has a couple conditions listed about what the story ISN’T (google translated from Japanese):

・This is not a domestic politics cheat.
・There is no harem development
・This is not a science novel.
・This story is fiction
・This story is opportunistic.

This is the original text, in case you’re curious:

・内政チートものではありません
・ハーレム展開はありません
・理系小説ではありません
・この物語はフィクションです
・この物語はご都合主義です
（筆者はSNSを利用しておりません）

I saw “Not a harem” and “opportunistic” and immediately wanted to read it! I’ve been looking for a light fantasy read with fun characters. Also, none of the book covers show scantily dressed women crowding out the main character, so I definitely believe the “not a harem” part.

The series is about Ryo Mihara, an unfortunate youth who dropped out of college to take care of the family business, but ends up getting hit by a truck and isekai’d. He goes through the motions, talks to an angel, gets his water magic powers (and eternal youth skill), and gets plopped down into a survival rpg setting where he was to use his wits and powers to make do. He’s the kind of guy who asks to be alone, and relishes being placed on a completely uninhabited part of the continent.

Even though some of the science stuff is absolutely incorrect, I don’t really care. It’s NOT a science novel (lol). His water magic is based off of what he thinks he CAN do, and his ideas about how science worked back on his world. I really enjoyed the minutia of how he solved problems for his living conditions as they came up, even if it was ridiculous.

Ryo is completely alone for the first half of the book, and while I enjoyed his self-talk and banter, it’s definitely better when the 2nd guy, Abel, on the cover shows up. Things become more lively, as we get a secondary perspective of Ryo’s (hilarious) insanity from being alone for 20 years.

Abel and Ryo together are quite adorable. They genuinely have fun being in each other’s company, and end up journeying together. Their interactions and dialogues are fun and snarky, kind of like an Edgar Wright movie. I totally ship them, and am definitely looking forward to their future interactions.

I feel like this book series was made for me, it has just the kind of tone that I love. I’m curious as to how the plot will develop, as this series is originally published by TO Books (of Ascendance of a Bookworm fame), and has 12 volumes already. I’m glad I found another J-novel club gem.