This is a light novel that exists

 

This is a light novel that exists.

Is my verdict after marathoning this Light novel.

 

The Water Magician is a novel that I stumbled upon quite some time ago. But after reading, and got disappointed by The Great Cleric. I don't bother reading it. The vibe is just toooooooo similar and I don't want to be disappointed again.

But then a new season of anime came and surprise-surprise. The Water magician got an anime adaptation. The first episode actually got. . . actually. Maybe not the episode itself. But the opening. The opening is BREATHTAKING.

Just, just look at this.

It's beautiful.

The power of its visuals is so strong that I started to think that maybe my judgment is too hasty. So I took a plunge and watched it every week. And, well. It's not bad. The story is absolutely weak but once again, the visual saved it. Once again, the visual is so strong it even gives me hope that after this slow start. The story would become something more.

Which is not some blind hope. After all, one of my favorite Light Novels, The conqueror from a dying kingdom has this formula. Boring starts where nothing much happens but the more you read the more interesting it gets.

So after I'm done watching all the aired episodes. Which, by the way, have a visible dip in visuals. I decided to read the light novel. Hoping it would give me what i wanted. That is, something interesting.

But maaaan, I found nothing but everything that I don't want.

Bog standard world building.

Bog standard characters.

Bog standard plots.

Bog standards everything.

It literally has nothing unique about it.

Stuffing a story with tropes and filling it with nothing unique still can work so long the execution is good. But this one is an example where it doesn't.

Not gonna lie, there's a time where I just yawned when reading it. And my main problem with this series is its characters. I don't want to be rude, but the main cast are all boring. It is especially unbearable when the two main guys are separated.

When Abel and Ryo are together, at least they are funny. But alone, or when they are with other characters. They become responsible adults that don't want to rock the boat. Which is nice and all in real life, but really boring to read as a story. His party member from Room 10 is also boring af. Like no one even wanted to stand out.

The story kinda felt disjointed. The comedy barely landed. The characters are not interesting enough. It tried to do some political games but that didn't work well either. There's also not enough variation of the trouble our main characters faced. Too many assasination plots.

Anyway, this novel is nothing special. And worse, it's like the author isn't even trying to be special. Both the source material and the anime is being carried hard by its beautiful visual.

But this is just my opinion.