WorldEnd: What Do You Do at the End of the World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us?

I started this series after watching the anime and boy did it not disappoint. This is more than likely the most under appreciated light novel out there right now. It's not your standard cliche light novel self insert story. The characters are well written and believable. The setting is also very intriquing. The background and lore in this series is something else. It's basically a world that was once your standard light novel setting until an HP Lovecraft style apocalypse destroyed all surface life. This isn't a story about the good guys saving the world and everyone living happily ever after. The heroes failed tosave the world long ago and now those who are left can only stave off the inevitable. Even seeming victories come with unforseen costs. Yet through all of this the characters continue to live their lives, mindful of the fact that the world has not yet ended. It's sad, beautiful, and something more people should read.

“Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? isogahii desu ka? Sukutte moratte Ii desu ka?” That’s a long title, right? Yes Should you give it a chance and read it? Yes! This is a previous review I wrote for this series, and I’ll try to avoid spoilers as much as possible. Let’s start. SukaSuka (WorldEnd) Review: The story presents us with a seemingly young man called “Willem” who wakes up from from an icy slumber 500 years later after losing everyone he once held dear to his heart and losing the place he once called home. The people of the earth now live on islands in the sky after the earth has succumbedto the control of mysterious beasts that appeared also 500 years ago and rendered humanity extinct. As such, the only remaining species are anthropomorphic animals with fur and scales. The story deals with this young man’s encounter with fairies. A group of mysterious girls who are said to be used as special weapons to fend off the beast invasions on the islands. Here’s where it gets interesting. The initial premise may seem cliche, pseudo-harem, or “I’ve seen that before” for some people. However, the story evolves into much more than that. SukaSuka is more of a drama, mystery, sci-fi, romance novel that takes itself seriously. It knows how to play around with your feelings. I think the most compelling aspect of this story is the world-building. It just has you hooked and wanting to know about its world more. You find yourself asking “just who are the beasts? How did they appear? How are the fairies created and used in battle? What happened in Willem’s past? What is waiting these characters? Are there any human survivors? What happened 500 years ago?” It sets up to achieve what many fantasy stories fail at, and that is creating an actually interesting fantasy world where you can feel fully immersed in and give you that feeling as if you’re exploring it alongside the characters. The story works hand in hand with the world building as we endeavor with the protagonist to uncover the secrets of this world while also observing how he tries to accept his present life, deal with his past, and find a new home and family with fairies he encounters. These fairies that are nothing more than special weapons bound to death. Together, Willem tries to find respite (but the question that always seems to pose itself is whether he will he be successful in finding it at the end?) and seeks a new family with the fairies while teaching the latter the importance of life and that there’s a reason for them to live on and exist more than just mere weapons. Unable to fight due to his past wounds, Willem becomes the father these girls (fairies) never had and tries to nurture them. That being said, the story still takes a tortuous path with several twists and turns. The plot twists that come along are also reasonable with enough foreshadowing provided from the very beginning. You may find the story jumping between timelines which may confuse some people, but that makes it more interesting as you are discovering a world in 2 different eras and uncovering more secrets that tie into the lore. I’d like to echo what the other review said. The world of sukasuka is basically a well construced fantasy world with an added touch of lovecraftian influence, and boy I am a fan of lovecraft’s novels and writing. As for the characters, Willem is one of the best protagonists I’ve seen with an unrivaled iron will and qualities that make him stand out among many protagonists I’ve seen. His actions are always well thought out and in line with his established character. He has some shounen protagonist qualities, but the way in which he displays them makes him different and especially with how he embodies the true definition of a war hero (not a hero in a costume with some granted power and flies around beating bad guys). His existence is essential to the story, but he is not the only who drives the plot, and his character inspection is great and hold ties to the secret of the world which makes it more compelling. As for the fairies, they’re all distinct from each others. While a few of them do fall into some tropes because the story is only 25 chapters and can’t flesh them out or fully develop them all, they do manage to still be decent characters. The main female lead among the fairies Chtholly (or you can just call her Kutori or Cthulhu) gets a good amount of focus and her interactions with willem as well as their chemistry is adorable and really forms a great relationship between them as one strives to find a new home and one strives to find a reason to live, to come back home, and be beside her loved ones. Chtholly’s story goes in parallel with Willem’s as she realizes her own self-worth thanks to him and fights to maintain these precious memories she tries to build as much as she can of in this ephemeral life she’s living. Chtholly along with Ithea and Ren get the most exposure out of all fairies (nopht and Rhan too but to a lesser extent), and they’re all influenced by Willem’s actions. As the story advances his relationship with them as a father figure, it also builds on their character through the dynamics of that relationship and their relevance to the overall plot and World building If i were to offer some more bits of criticism, It would be that I would have liked some characters to be a just a bit more developed. Also there are some questions left unanswered. However, there is a sequel novel too! So that makes me happy to explore more stuff about the world and story. However, it hasn’t been translated yet unfortunately or still in its early process of being translated. Also the characters naming can look pretty complex at first. But you get used to it. Now, this is a story of a brave or hero who left the battlefield and a story of girls who are bound to sacrifice themselves on the battlefield. It’s your turn to jump in on the long journey and drown in feels while playing scarborough fair or always in my heart endlessly.

What (the rest omitted), is a laid-back, relaxing slice-of-life tale about a retired old hero living among a large group of girls in the countryside. This novel is about a man who was sealed for 500 years. After awakening he finds himself on a deferent new place and finds out that his race has been erased. There were a nice introduction for the characters that took place in the story. Like the MC got a nice conversations with every each girl. The main character is really good, reminds me of Araragi Koyomi from the Monogatari series.Of course there were some kind of character development in kinda later volumes. There is some dialogs I copied from the novel thought it might be interesting. She had her whole body examined; they put a light right next to her eyes to see how they were working, they made her take medicine for the exam and asked how she was feeling, and they took just a little bit of blood from her. “Oooh, I don’t think I can be married off anymore after having my body prodded like that…” At the time, Nygglatho was being forced to make one of the top-ten hardest decisions of her entire life. What should she have for breakfast—a thick-cut bacon sandwich or milk-stewed chamo beef liver? She already knew the bacon sandwiches here were delicious. The problem was the other option. She wasn’t familiar with the chamo breed of cow. Liver varied greatly in taste from shop to shop. All in all, ordering this would be like its own little adventure. To eat was to live. Choosing what to eat was just like choosing how to live. “Hey, hey, Willie! What’s that? Is it food?” Elq tugged on his sleeve. She was pointing at a stall with multicolored stones on display. “Dunno if you’d call it food—more like utensils. Some lizardfolk and stuff like to putthose in their stomachs to break up their food instead of chewing.” “Ooooh.” He’d never seen her eyes glisten so visibly like that before. “Let me just warn you, okay—don’t think about trying it yourself. The barrier between races is extremely unforgiving when it comes to biological functions.” “Awww.” She looked disappointed, but this was the one thing he wouldn’t let her try, no matter how much she begged. One mistake, and her stomach would be in bad shape. Any more than one mistake, and she would just die. “Then, what’s that? What is that? Can I trythat one?” “You know what that is. That’s a tree. That’s not gonna fit in our tummies.” “Awww.” She sounded disappointed, but her eyes were immediately looking around the market for the next interesting thing. It was probably best if they finished their errand quickly, before she picked up on anything too weird. And at the end, remember that Everyone just wanted to go home. There is a nice Youtube video I encountered about the anime actually ( the first 3 volumes) https://youtu.be/t8VmSuecr1k By the way I apologise if this review made you think that this is a bad novel (even though I don't think so) The story is so good and the world building is too good. I love the drama and the cute moments and the ending of the final volume..... Hope this review was helpful for you, minna san

The story of a simple man, wanting a place to be called "home". Story: 10/10, it doesn't drag, it's concise, the author doesn't get invented random plot, no matter how much there is a continuation of the story in his Sequel, if he didn't have it, it would close the story very well, no matter how much loose ends in relation to the "world" in general. Art: 10/10, it's an LN is beautiful XD. Character: 10/10, it has its character developments, some characters little development, but it's not like you need to give them a very big background, so for me it was just right. Enjoyment: 10/10, sadness, happiness,tears, this novel delivered a little bit of everything and for me in the right measure, without exaggerations that force you to cry or forced comedy. Overall: 10/10, few volumes, very well-crafted story unlike many JP novels out there where the Author gets lost in the middle of it, it's a must read, for those who like LN's, and it will be a very well spent time.