Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers

Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers by: Isle Osaki. The last light novel and last Isekai I read in 2021 of so, so many. To make things simple, if you've read the light novel or manga Failure Frame, this is essentially a tamer, less angry version of that. That is not to say this is any lesser than Failure Frame, just different.

On the basis of world and story, if you like Isekai, you may as well read this. It starts off as your regular high school Isekai with an entire class of students, but the protagonist turns out to be severely under-powered, even weaker than the normal people of this world. The world, as in many stories, has stats, skills, job classes, guilds, gods, and demi-human races. Again, this is a very typical Isekai just with a weaker protagonist. Sadly, the majority of this volume is just world-building and introducing characters for the following volumes as the actual story doesn't pick up until the last quarter of the book and in the epilogue. Nothing much really happens leaving the stakes for any important events and battles somewhat lackluster. However, that last quarter and epilogue of the volume do set up an interesting story going forward and make some of the more tedious world-building parts of the story necessary to understand the bigger picture. When it comes down to it, nothing is bad about the world or the story of this book, it's just a bit plain for the time being. Volume 2 seems promising in this regard based on its own synopsis and the events of this volume, but its actual contents remain to be seen... at least in English.

Like previously stated, this volume mostly focuses on world-building and characters. However, based on the presentation of said characters, very few of them matter, at least at the moment. Many of the characters that are given descriptions in the book only appear for a hot second, as in 2 chapters or less, such as many of the main character's classmates or random people he meets in the new world. While these characters may be important later in the story, describing them in such detail now doesn't make much sense to me because they honestly make no impact on the story, the main character, or myself as the reader. I understand developing your world and the people in it, but describing currently unnecessary characters in such detail only adds length or expectations that may put off readers, or locks you as the author into details you may want to change later. As for the main characters and major side characters, I have little to say, they are written well and are enjoyable enough to read, especially the Goddess as she's probably the most well-described and animated character. I only worry for some of the characters stay as locations change considering their positions in the world. As for the protagonist, he's odd in a few ways. Honestly, he's more of a static character than he should be for a protagonist with very little growth necessary, at least currently. While his personality and actions are explained well enough in the story, that doesn't necessarily make them good. His only saving grace is when other characters take over the main perspective so we can read their thoughts and see how he appears to them. That is not to mention, however, how his trials and tribulations are a bit endearing. He mainly feels like an overpowered protagonist with weak abilities, which isn't bad, but it makes the story and battles odd to read.

While this book may be on the lower end of all the novels and Isekai I've read, that doesn't mean it's bad at all. Honestly, it's very satisfying to see how the protagonist takes down strong enemies with his weak abilities. If you like battles that are fought tactically or like a puzzle and not just through brute force alone, you'll like the fights in this book. You may also like the story's premise or how the story opens up towards the end. At the very least, unless your life is devoid of any semblance of joy, you should get a few laughs out of this book.

As a bit of a P.S to this review, here on my thoughts on light novels as a whole. I love both anime and manga, and while some stories serve those methods better, I want more people to read light novels since they can convey the entire story and meaning the original author wanted to portray. When a story goes from a light novel to a manga it loses a lot of details and side stories from the original text to conserve book space and illustration. When it then goes from a manga to an anime, it loses even more of the text to conserve on animation and time. Again, I love both anime and manga, but if you love a certain anime or manga that has source material in either a web novel or a light novel, I recommend you go and read that as well. Reading the entirety of the author's original text can reveal details you never knew before and make you love that series all the more. Besides, most light novels I read are way far ahead of the manga and anime based on them, and the anticipation of seeing your favorite scenes illustrated and animated is great. Also, if an anime you love hasn't gotten a season in years, or the manga hasn't gotten a new volume in a while, check the light novel, the series you love could still be going on right under your nose.