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Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Light Novel #1
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, (Light Novel) Vol. 1
Programmer Ichirou Suzuki is transported to another world. In a foreign land, he finds that life is an adventure that's sometimes fun, sometimes serious, and full of girls!
PRESS "SNOOZE" TO BEGIN.
It's been a long night for Suzuki, a programmer on a caffeine-fueled "death march" in the final rush to complete his RPG. During a nap under his desk, he even starts dreaming about exploring the game's fantasy world with a new face, new powers, and even a few cute NPCs. But this dream is surprisingly vivid, and he can't seem to wake up...
212 pages, Paperback
First published March 18, 2014
294 people are currently reading
1673 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
October 10, 2017
This review originally found on Looking Glass Reads.
I have read a lot of stuck in another world type fantasy. High fantasy, light novels, manga, stuck in a video game, or fallen through a wardrobe – I read them all. Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody by Hiro Ainana is one of my all-time favorites within the genre. While bearing a different sort of humor and extremely different main characters, Death March is just as excellent a deconstruction of the genre the light novel Konosuba. It is a light novel I highly recommend, and an anime I highly anticipate within the coming year.
The main character, Ichirou Suzuki or Satou as he is known in-game, is a programmer white labeling for a video game company. After a grueling release with last minute issues Satou falls asleep beneath his desk, too exhausted to bother going home and with the release of a second title looming on the horizon. Then Satou finds himself in another world entirely – a dream, he insists, because the alternative is simply too farfetched to fathom. With enemies approaching, he uses the easy-mode special abilities he added to the game only a few hours earlier … and quickly jumps up roughly three hundred levels in skill. (See? A dream, obviously.) Instead of setting out on an adventure or diving headfirst into trouble, Satou decided to use this dream (he’s not stuck in another world) as vacation, spending much of his time sightseeing and steering clear of anything that looks like trouble. Unfortunately, trouble finds Satou anyway and he must decide how to best use his over-powered status to fight his way to freedom, defeat unknown and extremely powerful enemies, and protect those in his care.
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody is a deconstruction of the genre, and very good one at that. As such, the book would be best appreciated by those who read (or watch) stories involving characters stuck in another world, particularly stuck in video game like worlds – a genre known as isekai in Japanese. As far as deconstructions go, this is probably one of the best I have read, poking and prodding at genre tropes that are not always poked and prodded as well as video game mechanics as a whole.
One of the things I appreciated the most about the story was the main character. While Sato does appear as a teenager within this other world, he is nearly thirty in the real world. This mentality is something that is carried over into the other world, thereby utterly destroying tropes often found not only in isekai but in light novels, manga, and anime at large. Despite winding up gathering a cast of female teenagers, they are a ragtag bunch ranging from young children to nearly twenty years old, from slaves to military personnel. Embarrassing gaffs occur between the male protagonist and the mostly female lead secondary cast, but only to show the ridiculousness of the situation.
It’s very refreshing to read about a main character who not only is supposed to be my own age, but also acts like it. I can’t remember ever reading something within the genre where the first time the male protagonist shows some kind of interesting in a woman it is an overweight thirty something mother of one. Not in this genre, at least. When he lands atop an armor clad woman while trying to save her life it is only with pain and the vague notion that television has it all wrong – it isn’t funny or embarrassing. It hurts, because armor is hard. Torn clothing in battle leads to the Satou rummaging in his bags for replacement items instead of gawking at the indecency.
It is not just light novel and manga tropes that this novel pokes fun at either. Video games as well are poked and prodded at relentless, most notably very early within the book. From Satou’s utter frustration with his incompetent manager to the publishing company that is so afraid of alienating potential new customers with the games difficulty that they are in real danger of alienating and angering their actual fan base, video games are called out very early on. This doesn’t end when Satou emerges in this other world, either. The special abilities meant for brand new, first time players are so over powered that they physically change the landscape around Satou, turning him into someone with the powers of a god and the bank account of a rich lord. It also made the standard video game passive (and active) skills look just as utterly ridiculous as they would be were they found in the real world. Increased speed makes Satou run at forty miles an hour should he want to. Increased strength and dexterity means he can climb up sheer cliff faces if he so chooses.
This book, while paced well for the story being told, is not a very fast paced book overall. The middle section especially can be slow. I never found myself bored, nor do I think that the story was ever too slow, but it is something worth mentioning. A good sized section of the book takes place in the middle of town with the characters shopping and showing Satou, this strange but generally likable newcomer, about their city.
What it’s really doing is setting up the story, carefully crafting characters personalities, backgrounds, and statuses. Satou is a main character both objectively wiser in the ways of the world that the standard teenage protagonist and perhaps more jaded. The whole hearted do-goodness of many main characters isn’t to be found here. Satou goes to great lengths to actively keep himself out of certain situations – he doesn’t want trouble and he doesn’t want to become an active player in regional politics or other troubles. Talk about dragons, wyverns, and demon lords is all well and good, but Satou makes no move to do anything about these besides be a passive observer and save a woman tumbling out of the sky. However, hard lines of what he will ignore (and perhaps is used to ignoring on a daily commute in a big city) and what he cannot are drawn in the sand. The maltreatment of a young child who, it turns out, is a slave is something he simply cannot endure and is willing to break his sightseeing only rules for.
While the story begins rather aimlessly, it certainly doesn’t stay there. Satou may find himself a sightseer in another world, but he is inevitably dragged into the events, religion, and politics of the region to varying degrees. Like other isekai novels, Satou wonders if maybe other people from the real world, from Japan, have found themselves transported to this place like him. Unlike other series I am currently reading (Overlord is the first that comes to mind) this plot thread does have payoff within the first book. The effects of our world on this other world are visible, though not overt and it is not difficult to see the main plot heavily involving this aspect in the future.
Satou is a character I really like, but I do feel that certain people would find him a bit boring. This is not a person who jumps into situations without thinking, nor is he especially passionate about a lot of issues within this world. How could he be passionate when he knows nothing about this world? While realistic, he is not one for the impassioned fervor of a teenager. Instead, the book has a clear direction, Satou not wanting to step in without due cause. This is something I both respect and like about the book and Satou as a character. However, I can see certain readers getting frustrated by this apparent lack of action, no matter how grounded in real world sensibilities it might be.
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody by Hiro Ainana is most definitely a series I will be following. The second volume is already in hand, and I look forward to delving into it soon. The third volume is also available, having released at the end of September. If you are a fan of isekai or portal fantasy I definitely suggest picking up a copy of this book. Likewise, if you are a seasonal anime watcher you may want to read this volume before the anime version is released in January of 2018!
I have read a lot of stuck in another world type fantasy. High fantasy, light novels, manga, stuck in a video game, or fallen through a wardrobe – I read them all. Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody by Hiro Ainana is one of my all-time favorites within the genre. While bearing a different sort of humor and extremely different main characters, Death March is just as excellent a deconstruction of the genre the light novel Konosuba. It is a light novel I highly recommend, and an anime I highly anticipate within the coming year.
The main character, Ichirou Suzuki or Satou as he is known in-game, is a programmer white labeling for a video game company. After a grueling release with last minute issues Satou falls asleep beneath his desk, too exhausted to bother going home and with the release of a second title looming on the horizon. Then Satou finds himself in another world entirely – a dream, he insists, because the alternative is simply too farfetched to fathom. With enemies approaching, he uses the easy-mode special abilities he added to the game only a few hours earlier … and quickly jumps up roughly three hundred levels in skill. (See? A dream, obviously.) Instead of setting out on an adventure or diving headfirst into trouble, Satou decided to use this dream (he’s not stuck in another world) as vacation, spending much of his time sightseeing and steering clear of anything that looks like trouble. Unfortunately, trouble finds Satou anyway and he must decide how to best use his over-powered status to fight his way to freedom, defeat unknown and extremely powerful enemies, and protect those in his care.
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody is a deconstruction of the genre, and very good one at that. As such, the book would be best appreciated by those who read (or watch) stories involving characters stuck in another world, particularly stuck in video game like worlds – a genre known as isekai in Japanese. As far as deconstructions go, this is probably one of the best I have read, poking and prodding at genre tropes that are not always poked and prodded as well as video game mechanics as a whole.
One of the things I appreciated the most about the story was the main character. While Sato does appear as a teenager within this other world, he is nearly thirty in the real world. This mentality is something that is carried over into the other world, thereby utterly destroying tropes often found not only in isekai but in light novels, manga, and anime at large. Despite winding up gathering a cast of female teenagers, they are a ragtag bunch ranging from young children to nearly twenty years old, from slaves to military personnel. Embarrassing gaffs occur between the male protagonist and the mostly female lead secondary cast, but only to show the ridiculousness of the situation.
It’s very refreshing to read about a main character who not only is supposed to be my own age, but also acts like it. I can’t remember ever reading something within the genre where the first time the male protagonist shows some kind of interesting in a woman it is an overweight thirty something mother of one. Not in this genre, at least. When he lands atop an armor clad woman while trying to save her life it is only with pain and the vague notion that television has it all wrong – it isn’t funny or embarrassing. It hurts, because armor is hard. Torn clothing in battle leads to the Satou rummaging in his bags for replacement items instead of gawking at the indecency.
It is not just light novel and manga tropes that this novel pokes fun at either. Video games as well are poked and prodded at relentless, most notably very early within the book. From Satou’s utter frustration with his incompetent manager to the publishing company that is so afraid of alienating potential new customers with the games difficulty that they are in real danger of alienating and angering their actual fan base, video games are called out very early on. This doesn’t end when Satou emerges in this other world, either. The special abilities meant for brand new, first time players are so over powered that they physically change the landscape around Satou, turning him into someone with the powers of a god and the bank account of a rich lord. It also made the standard video game passive (and active) skills look just as utterly ridiculous as they would be were they found in the real world. Increased speed makes Satou run at forty miles an hour should he want to. Increased strength and dexterity means he can climb up sheer cliff faces if he so chooses.
This book, while paced well for the story being told, is not a very fast paced book overall. The middle section especially can be slow. I never found myself bored, nor do I think that the story was ever too slow, but it is something worth mentioning. A good sized section of the book takes place in the middle of town with the characters shopping and showing Satou, this strange but generally likable newcomer, about their city.
What it’s really doing is setting up the story, carefully crafting characters personalities, backgrounds, and statuses. Satou is a main character both objectively wiser in the ways of the world that the standard teenage protagonist and perhaps more jaded. The whole hearted do-goodness of many main characters isn’t to be found here. Satou goes to great lengths to actively keep himself out of certain situations – he doesn’t want trouble and he doesn’t want to become an active player in regional politics or other troubles. Talk about dragons, wyverns, and demon lords is all well and good, but Satou makes no move to do anything about these besides be a passive observer and save a woman tumbling out of the sky. However, hard lines of what he will ignore (and perhaps is used to ignoring on a daily commute in a big city) and what he cannot are drawn in the sand. The maltreatment of a young child who, it turns out, is a slave is something he simply cannot endure and is willing to break his sightseeing only rules for.
While the story begins rather aimlessly, it certainly doesn’t stay there. Satou may find himself a sightseer in another world, but he is inevitably dragged into the events, religion, and politics of the region to varying degrees. Like other isekai novels, Satou wonders if maybe other people from the real world, from Japan, have found themselves transported to this place like him. Unlike other series I am currently reading (Overlord is the first that comes to mind) this plot thread does have payoff within the first book. The effects of our world on this other world are visible, though not overt and it is not difficult to see the main plot heavily involving this aspect in the future.
Satou is a character I really like, but I do feel that certain people would find him a bit boring. This is not a person who jumps into situations without thinking, nor is he especially passionate about a lot of issues within this world. How could he be passionate when he knows nothing about this world? While realistic, he is not one for the impassioned fervor of a teenager. Instead, the book has a clear direction, Satou not wanting to step in without due cause. This is something I both respect and like about the book and Satou as a character. However, I can see certain readers getting frustrated by this apparent lack of action, no matter how grounded in real world sensibilities it might be.
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody by Hiro Ainana is most definitely a series I will be following. The second volume is already in hand, and I look forward to delving into it soon. The third volume is also available, having released at the end of September. If you are a fan of isekai or portal fantasy I definitely suggest picking up a copy of this book. Likewise, if you are a seasonal anime watcher you may want to read this volume before the anime version is released in January of 2018!
dnf
August 14, 2019Dnf it's not for me. Maybe the manga would be a better fit
I just got so bored reading about him telling me his skills and stats. It bored me to death. Since my friend told me he does that a lot at the very beginning they barley does it. I was like I'm out if he is going to do that at all. I don't want to read 50 pages about your skills and stats.
I just got so bored reading about him telling me his skills and stats. It bored me to death. Since my friend told me he does that a lot at the very beginning they barley does it. I was like I'm out if he is going to do that at all. I don't want to read 50 pages about your skills and stats.
May 4, 2019
I want to start out by praising the prose, or writing style, of this novel. It flowed really well for a translated work, and compared to the one other light novel I've read, it was a lot easier to read. I also liked how nonchalant the main character, Sadao, was about his OP status. It was kind of funny. I liked that in the labyrinth at the end, he faced a battle where he needed help and had to work for a victory. Prior to that, the book was pretty slice of life, which was fairly interesting. Slightly too focused on women. Interesting enough world. Great side characters! I liked the MC, and he was interesting enough. I will read the next one, and do not regret paying eight dollars for this ebook. 4 stars.
March 1, 2017
A good start to a great series of reads. I plan to continue reading this great work of art.
December 13, 2020
This is the first Light Novel I've really read, but it's not for me. In an early chapter, the main character (Satou) remarks "while pointless details once again distracted me" and that is a very good self-description.
There are a lot of pointless details, especially when it comes to quantifying things. He remarks a lot on how tall exactly a cliff is, the levels of characters he sees, the really high amount of skill points he gets, the speed at which he runs, and it's all quantified neatly with numbers. For me, that was very immersion-breaking. It felt like I wasn't reading a story in a book, but like I was listening to a teenage friend's first play-by-post role-playing game, where they had to make sure I knew just how amazing and casually badass their character was. If more "LitRPG" and game world isekai LNs are written like this, maybe I should stick to the ones that have a gimmick (like the ones where they're reincarnated as a slime, a spider, or a fridge).
Outside of the writing style, the relationship between Satou and the first girl he meets (Zena) seemed like it has potential for a great friendship. However, the way that Zena acts around him and the way that Satou comments to himself about her, turned me off that potential development. With Zena seemingly immediately crushing on him, and Satou thinking "oh if this was A LIGHT NOVEL this would be a great time for something raunchy" and the fact that he's 27 and she's 17, that just kinda stacked things in the novel's disfavor for me.
I appreciate that it tries to be a less action-focused kind of novel than most isekai and that it has plenty of female characters, but it seems to just be winking at me like "this would be a harem if our guy wasn't so old, right?" If there are other LNs that do the more casual isekai stuff (heck, even if they do have an overpowered protagonist), but don't have the frustrating writing style and have all teen or all adult characters, I'd probably be into it. Just not this one.
There are a lot of pointless details, especially when it comes to quantifying things. He remarks a lot on how tall exactly a cliff is, the levels of characters he sees, the really high amount of skill points he gets, the speed at which he runs, and it's all quantified neatly with numbers. For me, that was very immersion-breaking. It felt like I wasn't reading a story in a book, but like I was listening to a teenage friend's first play-by-post role-playing game, where they had to make sure I knew just how amazing and casually badass their character was. If more "LitRPG" and game world isekai LNs are written like this, maybe I should stick to the ones that have a gimmick (like the ones where they're reincarnated as a slime, a spider, or a fridge).
Outside of the writing style, the relationship between Satou and the first girl he meets (Zena) seemed like it has potential for a great friendship. However, the way that Zena acts around him and the way that Satou comments to himself about her, turned me off that potential development. With Zena seemingly immediately crushing on him, and Satou thinking "oh if this was A LIGHT NOVEL this would be a great time for something raunchy" and the fact that he's 27 and she's 17, that just kinda stacked things in the novel's disfavor for me.
I appreciate that it tries to be a less action-focused kind of novel than most isekai and that it has plenty of female characters, but it seems to just be winking at me like "this would be a harem if our guy wasn't so old, right?" If there are other LNs that do the more casual isekai stuff (heck, even if they do have an overpowered protagonist), but don't have the frustrating writing style and have all teen or all adult characters, I'd probably be into it. Just not this one.
February 28, 2025
it was amazing
bookshelves: light-novel, sci-fi, fantasy
I'm all for crossover stories both in tv and book form. I write crossovers all the time. The thought of being transported to another world makes me all giddy.
I watched the first episodes of the anime and wanted to read the books.
This is a particular brand of crossover. This is sucked into the video game world crossover.
We've seen it in Log Horizon and others. SAO they were stuck in a video game not transported to the actual world, and in No Game No Life a game God transports the siblings to his world where everything is decided by the game.
All in all this sub genre has seen a few different variations.
In Death March, Satou ends up not knowing how he was transported or why he de-aged or even what he was supposed to do. He sorta is trying to survive an army of lizard men who are trying to kill him.
After that (of course this is where he gets the over-the-top, super powered levels) he just wants to find out how the world works.
I can understand why nearly the first 2/3 of the book is him exploring the city with different people. I mean, who in there right mind would go off into the wild without at least figuring out how to go about the world and gathering information. I'd be doing the same thing (after my mental breakdown naturally.)
I also understand why some reviewers found this portion boring.
Just because he is insanely powerful doesn't mean anything if he gets himself killed by going off half cocked. Shiroe gathered info in Log Horizon, Kirito used info brokers in SAO, and even Sora and Shiro did it in No Game before going before opponents.
I thought it gave a bit of realism to it.
I enjoyed the book and will go on to the next.
bookshelves: light-novel, sci-fi, fantasy
I'm all for crossover stories both in tv and book form. I write crossovers all the time. The thought of being transported to another world makes me all giddy.
I watched the first episodes of the anime and wanted to read the books.
This is a particular brand of crossover. This is sucked into the video game world crossover.
We've seen it in Log Horizon and others. SAO they were stuck in a video game not transported to the actual world, and in No Game No Life a game God transports the siblings to his world where everything is decided by the game.
All in all this sub genre has seen a few different variations.
In Death March, Satou ends up not knowing how he was transported or why he de-aged or even what he was supposed to do. He sorta is trying to survive an army of lizard men who are trying to kill him.
After that (of course this is where he gets the over-the-top, super powered levels) he just wants to find out how the world works.
I can understand why nearly the first 2/3 of the book is him exploring the city with different people. I mean, who in there right mind would go off into the wild without at least figuring out how to go about the world and gathering information. I'd be doing the same thing (after my mental breakdown naturally.)
I also understand why some reviewers found this portion boring.
Just because he is insanely powerful doesn't mean anything if he gets himself killed by going off half cocked. Shiroe gathered info in Log Horizon, Kirito used info brokers in SAO, and even Sora and Shiro did it in No Game before going before opponents.
I thought it gave a bit of realism to it.
I enjoyed the book and will go on to the next.
April 6, 2021
Before actually deciding to watch this show called "Fatality March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku", I need to ask a concern: do you truly watch a program for pleasure or do you watch a program to obtain one of the most from it? When I took a seat and decided to give this collection a shot, it seemed like an anime that I would certainly not have high assumptions on. The facility, personality visuals, and just overall idea of it seems like a copy-paste tale you can find in almost any light unique medium nowadays. However Fatality March, this proved to be one of the blandest anime I have seen recently also compared with comparable facilities. It is a literal put to the face to anybody that anticipate this to be better compared to what it looks like http://razelion.com
Simply for recommendation, I have read the light unique and maintaining it up with took a great deal of dedication. I am actually close to dropping the LN collection but this adjustment gets on another degree of garbage. Occurring in a dream setting with RPG tricks, we obtained main protagonist Ichiro Suzuki (also known as "Satou" in the various other world). His life changes someday after obtaining hit into a mishap and wakes up in this unidentified world. Sound acquainted? I promise, you can literally get any light unique nowadays with a comparable facility and the set up would be something comparable. In the meanwhile, we follow Satou's experience as he starts to adjust with his new life.
I am simply most likely to toss it out here. This show is incredibly assimilate regards to storytelling. My initial impression of the first couple of episodes were practically me having a hard time to stay awake. Not just is Satou an uninteresting protagonist but the tale itself is lacking feelings. It is actually a little bit paradoxical since a program such as this should have colorful world fiction to create the setting feel to life. What do we obtain rather? A team of one dimensional characters in a mix world that seemed like it is section of a video clip video game. Or I should say, a damaged computer game. A polished game would certainly have memorable characters but you will find none of that in this collection. Main protagonist Satou is not just simply subdued but also exhibits some disturbing personality if you read in between the lines. The way he talks, acts, and interacts with certain characters is never ever engaging to watch. It does not help that his personality is dry to the bone and relatively constantly acts the exact same with his harem. Oh, I did simply say that word. Many people may not call this a harem but to me, this collection has to do with as harem-esque as it can get. Including mainly female characters, it does not take wish for viewers to find out that they love Satou. Arisa, Pochi, Tama, Zena, Nana. There is practically no personality development for any one of the main cast. Rather, most of them exist to communicate with Satou in purchase to put him over. The just way to say there is any development is Satou's progress as a personality as he obtains more abilities. Bleh.
That being said, I guess there is some hope for the main story? The collection does occur in a dream world which can have potential, right? Incorrect. The world building in the collection is extremely underwhelming as most places appearance bare and feel almost similar. If you have seen one place, it seems like you have seen them all. Keep in mind that as the collection progresses, the world of Fatality March never ever develops much like the weak personality actors. The tale really feels more like a slice of life with periodic combating and drama included. My main issue in the tale is simply how meekly it is written. Tale sections feel anticlimactic and lacks compound. It does not get in touch with the characters and never makes an effect. Pacing problems also puts this show to shame from the beginning as it never ever handles to salvage itself. Also, bear in mind that the light unique collection has numerous chapters and this is a 12-episode anime adjustment. Yes, you can guess it. This anime practically tosses the big fat sign of "buy the light unique!" My advice is do not. That money could be put into so much more value and it is a waste to invest it on this. Nevertheless, Fatality March likes to display Satou like he's some of saint in the show. Which gives me absolutely nothing greater than a thumb down.
Silver Link adapts this anime and it is unfortunate to say but they dropped the sphere. What could have been a beautiful world setting turned into mediocre scrap. I'll be honest here. It is awful. The CG is uncomfortable together with the mix personality designs. Also the main female protagonists all resemble inexpensive cartoons made by novices. Most of them have the exact same face but with various color hair and body percentages. The follower solution has incredibly wince timings that I cannot help but laugh in the incorrect way. Activity in the collection is also poorly computer animated in regards to choreography and key computer animation. The body language really feels level and it appears to me that this anime project wasn't taken seriously from the start.
I am not usually one to get on a personality for their articulate but my benefits, Satou's articulate really makes me wish they found a better VA. His articulate seems like it is placing us to rest and lacks any personality. Also when he shows emotions, it really feels extremely forced with tacky discussion delivery. There is not one line in this show that I find memorable and that is because of his articulate quirks. Sometimes, I wish there is a quantity less than silence. The theme tunes aren't far better as it is extremely common made with careless lyrics.
Watching Fatality March was a difficulty for me. What could have been a possibility to display a watchable dream collection turned into an abomination. By the moment I finished watching this show, I really felt a sigh of alleviation that the collection wound up just receiving 12 episodes. It should have just been laid off as a light unique rather. The adjustment has an inefficient tale, uncharismatic personality actors, and really gives isekai a poor name. In fact, I'd say Fatality March almost made a program like Isekai wa Mobile phone to Tomo ni appearance great.
Simply for recommendation, I have read the light unique and maintaining it up with took a great deal of dedication. I am actually close to dropping the LN collection but this adjustment gets on another degree of garbage. Occurring in a dream setting with RPG tricks, we obtained main protagonist Ichiro Suzuki (also known as "Satou" in the various other world). His life changes someday after obtaining hit into a mishap and wakes up in this unidentified world. Sound acquainted? I promise, you can literally get any light unique nowadays with a comparable facility and the set up would be something comparable. In the meanwhile, we follow Satou's experience as he starts to adjust with his new life.
I am simply most likely to toss it out here. This show is incredibly assimilate regards to storytelling. My initial impression of the first couple of episodes were practically me having a hard time to stay awake. Not just is Satou an uninteresting protagonist but the tale itself is lacking feelings. It is actually a little bit paradoxical since a program such as this should have colorful world fiction to create the setting feel to life. What do we obtain rather? A team of one dimensional characters in a mix world that seemed like it is section of a video clip video game. Or I should say, a damaged computer game. A polished game would certainly have memorable characters but you will find none of that in this collection. Main protagonist Satou is not just simply subdued but also exhibits some disturbing personality if you read in between the lines. The way he talks, acts, and interacts with certain characters is never ever engaging to watch. It does not help that his personality is dry to the bone and relatively constantly acts the exact same with his harem. Oh, I did simply say that word. Many people may not call this a harem but to me, this collection has to do with as harem-esque as it can get. Including mainly female characters, it does not take wish for viewers to find out that they love Satou. Arisa, Pochi, Tama, Zena, Nana. There is practically no personality development for any one of the main cast. Rather, most of them exist to communicate with Satou in purchase to put him over. The just way to say there is any development is Satou's progress as a personality as he obtains more abilities. Bleh.
That being said, I guess there is some hope for the main story? The collection does occur in a dream world which can have potential, right? Incorrect. The world building in the collection is extremely underwhelming as most places appearance bare and feel almost similar. If you have seen one place, it seems like you have seen them all. Keep in mind that as the collection progresses, the world of Fatality March never ever develops much like the weak personality actors. The tale really feels more like a slice of life with periodic combating and drama included. My main issue in the tale is simply how meekly it is written. Tale sections feel anticlimactic and lacks compound. It does not get in touch with the characters and never makes an effect. Pacing problems also puts this show to shame from the beginning as it never ever handles to salvage itself. Also, bear in mind that the light unique collection has numerous chapters and this is a 12-episode anime adjustment. Yes, you can guess it. This anime practically tosses the big fat sign of "buy the light unique!" My advice is do not. That money could be put into so much more value and it is a waste to invest it on this. Nevertheless, Fatality March likes to display Satou like he's some of saint in the show. Which gives me absolutely nothing greater than a thumb down.
Silver Link adapts this anime and it is unfortunate to say but they dropped the sphere. What could have been a beautiful world setting turned into mediocre scrap. I'll be honest here. It is awful. The CG is uncomfortable together with the mix personality designs. Also the main female protagonists all resemble inexpensive cartoons made by novices. Most of them have the exact same face but with various color hair and body percentages. The follower solution has incredibly wince timings that I cannot help but laugh in the incorrect way. Activity in the collection is also poorly computer animated in regards to choreography and key computer animation. The body language really feels level and it appears to me that this anime project wasn't taken seriously from the start.
I am not usually one to get on a personality for their articulate but my benefits, Satou's articulate really makes me wish they found a better VA. His articulate seems like it is placing us to rest and lacks any personality. Also when he shows emotions, it really feels extremely forced with tacky discussion delivery. There is not one line in this show that I find memorable and that is because of his articulate quirks. Sometimes, I wish there is a quantity less than silence. The theme tunes aren't far better as it is extremely common made with careless lyrics.
Watching Fatality March was a difficulty for me. What could have been a possibility to display a watchable dream collection turned into an abomination. By the moment I finished watching this show, I really felt a sigh of alleviation that the collection wound up just receiving 12 episodes. It should have just been laid off as a light unique rather. The adjustment has an inefficient tale, uncharismatic personality actors, and really gives isekai a poor name. In fact, I'd say Fatality March almost made a program like Isekai wa Mobile phone to Tomo ni appearance great.
March 18, 2018
I liked this. I will pick up the sequel.
I appreciate an older protagonist. I'm not a teenage anymore and can't fully relate to books with teenager protagonists. The MC is a man who is programming video game software and appears to have been transported into the game he is creating (complete with video game mechanics). The MC was likeable; although overpowered (which is often the case with the isekai genre).
This has a slower pace than other isekai novels I have read. And I was pretty okay with that. Lots of descriptions of food and clothing which for me was nice. The battle sequences seem to focus mostly on strategy and not on just overpowering the enemy.
There are a variety of characters: the majority of the developed ones are women. I am mildly concerned we are going into harem territory, but aren't there yet. This protagonist seems aware that hitting on and chasing women who are 14-15 when he is in reality in his mid-twenties is gross (his body in this world is a teenager, but his mind is not). So, that was a nice change of pace.
If that sounds like something you would enjoy pick this up.
I appreciate an older protagonist. I'm not a teenage anymore and can't fully relate to books with teenager protagonists. The MC is a man who is programming video game software and appears to have been transported into the game he is creating (complete with video game mechanics). The MC was likeable; although overpowered (which is often the case with the isekai genre).
This has a slower pace than other isekai novels I have read. And I was pretty okay with that. Lots of descriptions of food and clothing which for me was nice. The battle sequences seem to focus mostly on strategy and not on just overpowering the enemy.
There are a variety of characters: the majority of the developed ones are women. I am mildly concerned we are going into harem territory, but aren't there yet. This protagonist seems aware that hitting on and chasing women who are 14-15 when he is in reality in his mid-twenties is gross (his body in this world is a teenager, but his mind is not). So, that was a nice change of pace.
If that sounds like something you would enjoy pick this up.
June 19, 2025
Man was this a bad one.
It wasn't even so-bad-it's-good, it was just aggressively mediocre and by-the-numbers.
Ichirou, or Satou as he calls himself, is a big problem. Not only is the "this is all a dream, isn't it?" thing get old fast, he's also incredibly demeaning to everyone he meets. Not in action but in his thoughts he sees everyone as useless, disguised as him being "nice." Every character he interacts with he considers unable to accomplish anything by themselves so he always has to intervene.
That's not being nice, that's thinking everyone is below and treating relationships like chores.
Then there's the repetition. We learn something, some power or some item he has, and the next time it comes up we hear all about it again. I'm guessing it's because it used to be a webnovel so there was enough breaks between chapters to warrant a refresher, but it should've been fixed when it was made into an actual novel. The author even says he rewrote about 70 percent of the webnovel so that was the perfect chance to fix all that.
Then there's the fact all this taking place within four days is just dumb. The girl he saves falls deeply in love with him in the first day is already in love by the second (and it's not even a "he saved her and that's why" since she was unconscious when he saves her). The two slaves he gets (because of course he gets slaves, even if he says he'll free them he hasn't as of this book) also consider him a father after a single day.
Lastly, a piece of advice to the author: if you keep bring up over and over how Satou is not attracted to underage girls, it's gonna make us think that he actually does and is just in denial.
It wasn't even so-bad-it's-good, it was just aggressively mediocre and by-the-numbers.
Ichirou, or Satou as he calls himself, is a big problem. Not only is the "this is all a dream, isn't it?" thing get old fast, he's also incredibly demeaning to everyone he meets. Not in action but in his thoughts he sees everyone as useless, disguised as him being "nice." Every character he interacts with he considers unable to accomplish anything by themselves so he always has to intervene.
That's not being nice, that's thinking everyone is below and treating relationships like chores.
Then there's the repetition. We learn something, some power or some item he has, and the next time it comes up we hear all about it again. I'm guessing it's because it used to be a webnovel so there was enough breaks between chapters to warrant a refresher, but it should've been fixed when it was made into an actual novel. The author even says he rewrote about 70 percent of the webnovel so that was the perfect chance to fix all that.
Then there's the fact all this taking place within four days is just dumb. The girl he saves falls deeply in love with him in the first day is already in love by the second (and it's not even a "he saved her and that's why" since she was unconscious when he saves her). The two slaves he gets (because of course he gets slaves, even if he says he'll free them he hasn't as of this book) also consider him a father after a single day.
Lastly, a piece of advice to the author: if you keep bring up over and over how Satou is not attracted to underage girls, it's gonna make us think that he actually does and is just in denial.
September 15, 2020
This is another of the light novels I was reading because I wanted to get a feel for the format and conventions. It too is a gamelit novel, but it is also a portal fantasy. The protagonist is a programmer who works at a sleazy game company that has pretty much run through all its other programmers. As a result, he's pulling an all-nighter to get the release done in time.
Exhausted, he falls asleep, and discovers he's in another world. Attacked, he uses a Meteor Shower spell to fight his attackers and ends up killing not only them, but also a whole bunch of dragons. Suddenly he's massively leveled up and won a ton of loot, which he then puts into Storage, a sort of transdimensional closet like a Tardis.
He then goes to the nearby city, where he finds an inn and takes a look around. When he tries to intervene against a priest who's trying to drum up a mob to stone a triad of demi-human slaves, he suddenly becomes entangled in a demon's attempt to please its master by creating a labyrinth beneath the city and entrapping the locals to fight an enormous number of monsters. Suddenly he has to figure out how to be a Hero if he's going to save the people he's taken responsibility for.
It ends happily, but is clearly only the beginning of his adventures in this parallel world of magic.
Exhausted, he falls asleep, and discovers he's in another world. Attacked, he uses a Meteor Shower spell to fight his attackers and ends up killing not only them, but also a whole bunch of dragons. Suddenly he's massively leveled up and won a ton of loot, which he then puts into Storage, a sort of transdimensional closet like a Tardis.
He then goes to the nearby city, where he finds an inn and takes a look around. When he tries to intervene against a priest who's trying to drum up a mob to stone a triad of demi-human slaves, he suddenly becomes entangled in a demon's attempt to please its master by creating a labyrinth beneath the city and entrapping the locals to fight an enormous number of monsters. Suddenly he has to figure out how to be a Hero if he's going to save the people he's taken responsibility for.
It ends happily, but is clearly only the beginning of his adventures in this parallel world of magic.
February 16, 2024
It's fine I guess, doesn't have any of the truly boring traits that these overpowered hero light novels have but it still doesn't do anything interesting with the bad premise it chooses for itself.
At time of reading I'm on the 4th book and the pace has slowed down for about a chapter and a half and I'm immediately bored and thinking of dropping it. These books just seem to drag you through them by momentum and the moment that momentum dies down you immediately notice every little flaw.
Also feels weirdly more pedophiliac for constantly assuring us that the protagonist isn't interested in all the girls he surrounds himself with than if the author had just wrote a straight up harem with unstated ages. But that's something that only really pops up from book 2 onwards
At time of reading I'm on the 4th book and the pace has slowed down for about a chapter and a half and I'm immediately bored and thinking of dropping it. These books just seem to drag you through them by momentum and the moment that momentum dies down you immediately notice every little flaw.
Also feels weirdly more pedophiliac for constantly assuring us that the protagonist isn't interested in all the girls he surrounds himself with than if the author had just wrote a straight up harem with unstated ages. But that's something that only really pops up from book 2 onwards
October 22, 2020
This Isekai, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, is one of the best I have read so far. It starts off with the protagonist, Satou who is a programmer at a gaming company falling asleep under his bench at work after working himself to fatigue and then he finds himself in a fantasy world similar to the game he was working on, and he soon realises he is not dreaming but really there.
The heart stealers of this show are not Satou but three slave girls he rescues during the story, I fell in love with them. I could tell you more, but spoilers are the devil's tools. I highly recommend you read this series. Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody is a gem in the Isekai genre.
The heart stealers of this show are not Satou but three slave girls he rescues during the story, I fell in love with them. I could tell you more, but spoilers are the devil's tools. I highly recommend you read this series. Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody is a gem in the Isekai genre.
August 12, 2025
Satou is a computer programmer who was doing a "death march" to finish programming a game when he fell asleep only to wake up in the game or at least a parallel world based on the game. He managed to survive his first dangerous encounter by using a cheat code built in for newbies. And then he went exploring and encountered a military detachment fighting a wyvern and helped rescue a magic user. That got him invited to the local city where he had a chance to learn a bit about the society before getting sucked in to a dungeon by a demon lord. Interesting beginning to a series of adventures. I am looking forward to see what predicament Satou finds himself in next!
September 29, 2017
Having read the fanslated web-novel was keen to get my hands on this book.
Overall this book is pretty average, introducing us to the world, it's mechanics and some characters. However, if the web novel is anything to go on this series slowly builds and gets more exciting.
Compared to the web-novel the light novel is more condensed form as one would expect. With only a few noticeable differences that don't affect the plot.
I'm keen to continue reading this series and hope it lives up to its web-novel counterpart.
Overall this book is pretty average, introducing us to the world, it's mechanics and some characters. However, if the web novel is anything to go on this series slowly builds and gets more exciting.
Compared to the web-novel the light novel is more condensed form as one would expect. With only a few noticeable differences that don't affect the plot.
I'm keen to continue reading this series and hope it lives up to its web-novel counterpart.
December 22, 2018
Better than the anime by far. It ended a little before or a little after I think it should have. The set up for vol. 2 is not as good as it could be even though volumes 1, 2 and 3 make a great story arc for this book series. The ending ends like it should continue on not like a ending.
My only problem is that it seems like it was made in story board for this to be the beginning of a story arc and not have its own beginning middle and end of its own. It has a beginning but it seems to end in the middle of it not at an ending. Anyhow now onto volume 2.
My only problem is that it seems like it was made in story board for this to be the beginning of a story arc and not have its own beginning middle and end of its own. It has a beginning but it seems to end in the middle of it not at an ending. Anyhow now onto volume 2.
January 4, 2021
Another Isekai, another romp.
While the novel is certainly more attentive to the lusciousness of women compared to the anime it still comes across as what one would have encountered while watching the first 4 episodes.
It’s quite dry and slow in the beginning, hardly picking up until halfway through. It’s mostly set up but I liked it enough to pick up the next volume. I just didn’t love it. The prose does get better by the time they arrive at the dungeon chapter, but before that it’s a bit stilted and a boring read.
While the novel is certainly more attentive to the lusciousness of women compared to the anime it still comes across as what one would have encountered while watching the first 4 episodes.
It’s quite dry and slow in the beginning, hardly picking up until halfway through. It’s mostly set up but I liked it enough to pick up the next volume. I just didn’t love it. The prose does get better by the time they arrive at the dungeon chapter, but before that it’s a bit stilted and a boring read.
June 2, 2019
I decided to read this light novel after watching the anime. Now I found the story in the anime had promise- but was put off by some of the blatant fan service.
So far reading the light novel has been a better experience - although it does still have a bit of the fan service I find annoying.
It remains to be seen if further volumes will continue this trend - I'll find out as I'm already digging in to volume 2.
3.5 out of 5.
So far reading the light novel has been a better experience - although it does still have a bit of the fan service I find annoying.
It remains to be seen if further volumes will continue this trend - I'll find out as I'm already digging in to volume 2.
3.5 out of 5.
dnf
August 29, 2019DNF at page 43 (~21%)
It's just not my thing. The writing's okay. Not terrible, but not particularly good either (probably a 2/5 stars). The main character isn't as annoying as some, but I don't particularly like him either (again, probably a 2/5). This game and world is pretty terrible though and something I wouldn't even play for free on mobile.
I could probably force my way farther into the book, but I'd rather not. Life's too short for books that just aren't a good fit.
It's just not my thing. The writing's okay. Not terrible, but not particularly good either (probably a 2/5 stars). The main character isn't as annoying as some, but I don't particularly like him either (again, probably a 2/5). This game and world is pretty terrible though and something I wouldn't even play for free on mobile.
I could probably force my way farther into the book, but I'd rather not. Life's too short for books that just aren't a good fit.
May 18, 2025
A light entertaining read. I liked how kind he was and enjoyed his adventures. The mc is OP but I actually prefer that. It’s nice being able to relax while reading light novels instead of being dragged through high stress situations worrying about the main character.
Relieved this didn’t seem to be a harem novel. *However, the repeated references to perverted behavior made by the mc followed immediately by disclaimers that of course he’d never do that were unnecessary and gross.
Relieved this didn’t seem to be a harem novel. *However, the repeated references to perverted behavior made by the mc followed immediately by disclaimers that of course he’d never do that were unnecessary and gross.
November 12, 2024
Charming
A young man is reincarnated as a person in an alternate world. There is magic and swords in this world, along with other races and slavery and all kinds of other tropes. This is the first foray into this world, so the main character calls himself Satou and acquires slaves.
A young man is reincarnated as a person in an alternate world. There is magic and swords in this world, along with other races and slavery and all kinds of other tropes. This is the first foray into this world, so the main character calls himself Satou and acquires slaves.
August 9, 2017
Weak story and characters.
The idea of the story is not original, but that's not the problem. The main character doesn't grow or evolved through the book. Starts with super abilities (literally a Godkiller!), spending half of the book just strolling and shopping in the city. Then is a dungeon mission and that's it.
The idea of the story is not original, but that's not the problem. The main character doesn't grow or evolved through the book. Starts with super abilities (literally a Godkiller!), spending half of the book just strolling and shopping in the city. Then is a dungeon mission and that's it.
December 28, 2018
Love It!!
I have read the web novel, seen the anime, and love the official light novel release!!! Looking forward to reading more of this series to see the differences between it and the light novel.
I have read the web novel, seen the anime, and love the official light novel release!!! Looking forward to reading more of this series to see the differences between it and the light novel.
February 28, 2020
Light Novel is a wonderful compliment to the Anime
I was first introduced to the Anime and due to impatience on finding out what happens next. I decided to purchase the Novel. What a fun story. I am looking forward to continuing in the next book.
I was first introduced to the Anime and due to impatience on finding out what happens next. I decided to purchase the Novel. What a fun story. I am looking forward to continuing in the next book.
January 26, 2021
Good start
Pretty good start to a series. Interesting MC as well as good supporting characters. MC could definitely use his abilities better but at the same time it is quite undetectable as he's just learning about the world as he goes.
Pretty good start to a series. Interesting MC as well as good supporting characters. MC could definitely use his abilities better but at the same time it is quite undetectable as he's just learning about the world as he goes.
January 12, 2022
The translation was very well done and made the book flow very nicely. Liked how things start off fairly laid back then really ramp up. The bits of foreshadowing are placed in are great. Highly recommend this to those who enjoy game isekai.
June 5, 2017
An amazing read. I'm now binging this like crazy. Going to enjoy reading this like crazy.
June 11, 2017
Gorgeous, unique art enhances this wildly fun story.
March 27, 2018
Good book
Watching the anime an I wanted more so I pick up the light novel and couldn't stop reading. Thank you for your story Hiro Ainana
Watching the anime an I wanted more so I pick up the light novel and couldn't stop reading. Thank you for your story Hiro Ainana
February 6, 2020
Intriguing
It’s quite intriguing and gives a twist to the usual isekai that is found all over now. Hope the series just keeps getting better!
It’s quite intriguing and gives a twist to the usual isekai that is found all over now. Hope the series just keeps getting better!
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