Complete Novice (コンプリート・ノービス) [Light Novel]

[TJP1600]

Originally Posted by larethian

LOLOL. Just because it's a game setting and it's SAO? Why don't you ask the romcom authors to stop writing another romcom?

Please show me as blatant of a design steal like this novel for a romcom. I'm more irked by that than the concept itself.

[larethian]

Originally Posted by TJP1600

Please show me as blatant of a design steal like this novel for a romcom. I'm more irked by that than the concept itself.

I actually don't really think like that, but I'm just going by your yardstick in being judgmental as an example. You should first show me how is this and the other novels you mentioned a blatant design steal?? I don't read this and not a fan of SAO either, but the fact that you made a judgment call before you even read something sounds as dumb as those who decided what an anime is about from one episode, especially those who like to use the words 'generic' and 'cliche' without much of a thought. And this kind of absolutely mind-blowing pre-judgmental and I-know-it-all attitude irks me more than anything else in the world. If you have read all the series you mentioned, it would be a different story though.

Cheers & Peace

[TJP1600]

I meant the character designs for this series was stolen from a popular series, which they don't just replicate a similar design for no reason. That is enough for me (and given what I know about it) to ridicule the series as one that has no shame in masquerading around as an SAO offspring, whether or not you or anyone else thinks so or agrees with my valuation process for the other novels is none of my concern. You are all free to agree and disagree with my opinion and process if you want to ramble on, just kindly leave me out of it. From what it looks like, we can form a nearly blind positive judgment for any series given just tidbits of information when there's no translation, but never a negative one and that negative first impressions should be nonexistent. That is all I will say on this topic and in this thread since I'm extremely apathetic to this nonsensical discussion.

[ReinZwei]

Originally Posted by larethian

LOLOL. Just because it's a game setting and it's SAO? Why don't you ask the romcom authors to stop writing another romcom?

Lol that will surely take a lot of time

SAO started the vmmorpg plot syndrome since it's the one that became a hit, so I think that's basically where the comparison will started... though tbh when it comes to anime there's still .//hack

[majestix1988]

Thread maker i think you need to edit your first due "Similarity issues" that happened on this thread....mostly readers nowaday judge it easily but actually new.....(or putting a P.S. word)


i guess i could explain this via gaming antics Hajime is mostly a typical gamer with
guy who challenge himself via creating their own rules while playing the game think of a guy who playing Demon's SoulDark Souls) that rush to final boss via evading all the monsters only defeating Bosses with loot item can only be used with no death due..no saving( the game that equals with a saving someone life


VRMMORPG is just a disguise on this light novel like SAO or dot Hack only the system/admins changed it(its pretty same you are teleported to different world + you cant see damage system just hp going down like Diablo 2 with no damage counts)

[Shadow5YA]

Uh... is there anything that confirms Ren losing her character affects her real life?

Because if only her character got hacked, I really don't see how the stakes are that high.

[BW95]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

Uh... is there anything that confirms Ren losing her character affects her real life?

Because if only her character got hacked, I really don't see how the stakes are that high.

Originally Posted by EnigmaticAxiom

Here's a basic introduction into the world

Story Synopsis

Spoiler:

Nogami Hajime is a player who enjoys game challenges such as clearing things at the lowest level possible or playing games with one character. In the VRMMORPG, he plays as Ichino, taking advantage of a certain system in the game which allows him to modify his exp gain such that he remains Level 1, giving him the nickname of "Complete Novice." Three months before the start of the story, his sister, Nogami Ren, had her character data split into 8 key items called "Memory Fragments" when a cracker hacked into the game system. Though the company tried to respond to this, the cracker sent a message to them saying "Continue to manage the game as it is. If you try anything, the same thing will happen to other players." Hajime, along with his father who is one of the game developers, Nogami Jin, and some of his coworkers, decide to do everything they can by the rules. With information he finds from players in game and information his father finds by sifting through the game data, Hajime goes is on a search for the Memory Fragments.

Characters

Spoiler:

Ichino - Hajime's character. He utilizes a system in the game which modifies EXP gain for low level players to maintain a Level 1 status. The reason he does this was originally because he loved low-level challenges, but now he utilizes the system to keep his level low so he has an increased drop rate. His fighting style focuses on an inhuman sense of timing and vision that allows him to read the timing of any attack he has seen to the very frame. He has a strong fear of dying in the game because Key Items can't be deposited anywhere or transferred in a manner outside a duel, and death could lead to one of the Memory Fragments disappearing, possibly forever.
Rena - The character of Nogami Ren, Hajime's sister. Her character data was split into 8 key items known as Memory Fragments, and she has remained unconscious ever since; her body has been preserved in a cold sleep.
Sakura (Chick on the front cover) - A Level 51 player with the nickname of Advent Fairy who Hajime meets in game. He defeated her to a duel and retrieved one of the Memory Fragments from her at the beginning of the game. While she accepts his fighting style is superior and led to his victory, she follows Hajime around because she believes he cheated during her last attack and wants to reveal what happened. She was bestowed with the title of Rizaluta Nine (リザルタ　ナイヌ) for being the fastest player to hit Level 50 in the 3 year history of the game.

My Opinion

Spoiler:

I think it was a decent novel overall. The sense of urgency is present in the novel, but it is not overbearing. Regarding the writing itself, I feel the author goes into too much detail at times, but when I've gotten past an explanation, I don't find myself exhausted. I also find the pacing to be pretty good. Rather than starting slow and getting more exciting toward the end, it maintains a decent pace by neglecting details when they're not needed and putting a good amount of detail in when needed. The climax of the story is relatively underwhelming, but that is because there are multiple smaller points of excitement instead of one large one at the end of the novel.
My biggest issue lays with the characters themselves. I can find the main characters motivations as well as his fear of dying in the game to be "believable," but he seems a little too emotional at times. Because of this, he feels a little inconsistent at times. As for the heroine, I find her reasons for following him to be contrived. Most people would just think of calling a GM on someone they suspect of cheating instead of following after the cheater. As for the main villain, I find him to be fairly cliched, and his connection to the other characters could be seen a mile away. And because this story takes place in a game, his threat level is essentially non-existent, but the author tossed in something to make the villain actually "threatening."
In short, I liked the novel, but, while the characters were not annoying or terribly written, they weren't that great, either, and everything they did seemed to be borced in.

SAO? No, it's not. As for similarities, it is mainly to the extent that all novels dealing with VRMMORPGs have, "Someone's life is at stake due to some weird ass shit going on with the game itself." Then again, without that plot, these settings wouldn't really exist. Actually, I'm confused why people assume this is like SAO just because the main characters "kind of look like Kirito and Asuna." Which they don't. At least, Sakura doesn't look like Asuna at all except for the fact that she's a chick with huge tits and long hair. I'm sure you can draw comparisons somewhere, but that's a pointless thing to do for people who aren't even going to bother trying to read it.

Loss of her character means loss of her soul.

[EnigmaticAxiom]

Originally Posted by BW95

What does he do about defense and magical attacks? With his low HP and paper thin defense he couldn't afford to take a single hit and I'm sure his opponents would have time to take at least one shot at him. He can't even block. Can he dodge even AoE attacks?

Spoiler for Yes.:

There is a basic defense skill which is nearly impossible to use without exact timing, which, with his fighting style, is something he has absolute control over. It completely negates any attack, but must be activated within a time frame of a few frames in game. As for magic, apparently he has ways to avoid it, but there was no monster that used magic in the game (that was detailed, at least), so I don't know how that would work, though he did mention he could handle it if he read it far enough in advance.

As for the thing with TJP, I'll just copy and paste what I said over on the jcafe boards.

SAO? No, it's not. As for similarities, it is mainly to the extent that all novels dealing with VRMMORPGs have, "Someone's life is at stake due to some weird ass shit going on with the game itself." Then again, without that plot, these settings wouldn't really exist. Actually, I'm confused why people assume this is like SAO just because the main characters "kind of look like Kirito and Asuna." Which they don't. At least, Sakura doesn't look like Asuna at all except for the fact that she's a chick with huge tits and long hair. I'm sure you can draw comparisons somewhere, but that's a pointless thing to do for people who aren't even going to bother trying to read it.

I did like the novel. Kind of. Not great, but it was an enjoyable read. Honestly speaking, reading it was fine and all, but I can't help but feel that it would have been better if I spent that time reading another light novel instead. I don't know what that other novel would be, but I have that feeling.

With that said, I find your opinion on it no less valid than those of a person who thinks the series is cool because of what I've spoken about it and more valid than those who like it "because it looks like SAO." It's just the "negative" context of your words makes you a target for harassment :P

[laclongquan]

From the POV of a gamer/Net user, the motivation of that stalker chic is easy to understand, even if we are not Japanese. Hell, it's just as simple as a REASON to keep the current playing course, which is always a major drive in any sandboxy game.

Of course, the key thing with a WN/LN is writings. How does it go? Full of jokes like Mushouku Tensei? Rambling on like EC? distant and somehow cold like ReMonster?

[jelder]

LOL Considering that SAO itself wasn't original, using it as a reason to mock the originality of other anime/manga/LN is rather funny.

[Avrorrange]

The front cover looks like a total rip-off from SAO.

[casgoldsmith]

Sword Art Online?

[Tenzen12]

This sound rather interesting, not because protagonist who indeed might (or might not) be another Kirito, but rather because his father look like he has important role, which hints it will not be -do-everything-on-my-own,-save-all-chick-and-create-harem stuff- (I am not against harme in particular though).

Does anyone translating this?

PS: Re-Monster, EC and into certain degree even Shield Hero are more inspired by Log Horizon than SAO, actualy considering Nipple Stalker, Ossan and others it looks to me like actualy more prevelant approach.

[Breimoon]

I read RE-Monster ,Shield Hero ,SAO and Log Horizon and i can say that each type of story has its charm and its bad parts, the cover does kinda look kinda like a ripped off Asuna and Kirito but wont comment on the story since didnt read yet this work. By the way tenzen i don't think Re-Monster was ispired anyway by Log Horizon and didnt Shield Hero WN come out earlier than Log Horizon's?

[Tenzen12]

I am not sure what came actualy first, both LH and TY started as WN and while TY has more chapters each is pretty low on content and could be writen in single day, but you might be right in the end.

But what I meant is, Log Horizon contained two basic elements that became pretty popular afterward:

1)Real Fantasy world working on RPG mechanics (exp, lvs, skills ect...)
2)Settings exposure : Thoroughly dealing with these game mechanics, technology development, politics and social issues and characters impact on it (Well Mamare is Mamare)

In other hand SAO is more of Heroic epos of sort where actual mechanics and settings aren't realy important unlike Kirito pawning enemies and building harem (it's not like that is bad thing on it's own though, I liked it when Conan did it)