That's how I would describe this story when it's doing well, because it shows the main character overcoming his trauma so well, it interferes with the author's intentions. So how is that dealt with? We are told he still has hangups and trust issues on things he's already moved past... since he shows none of those hangups for the most part and must tell the reader through internal monologue.
The premise is interesting, which is why I bothered to try reading it, and I'm a bit disappointed, to be honest. To start with, the reader is missing a massive key to understanding what happened and why, so it comes across as both generic and cringy. But then, once you learn what happened, more questions are raised.
I will try not to spoil things, so whenever I refer to the following, i will call it the "key knowledge".
The main character's fiancée is the demon lord. Her goal is to make the hero complacent so that he never becomes strong enough to defeat her.
Now, why that meant becoming the hero's friend's lover and turning the hero into an NTR villain... I don't get it.
Quite frankly, the inciting incident of this story is a plot hole due to how roundabout the villain's plan is. It required the hero to develop a twisted personality. It required the main character's two female friends to both fall for the main character and not the hero. And it required the main character never getting angry enough to slit the hero's neck in his sleep.
Then there's another issue that I've gathered from various comments of people who read the LN: the author is happy to go into detail about all the
women who were brainwashed and raped, especially the MC's childhood friends who had feelings for the MC
but entirely takes the coward's way out with giving them a happy end, making it so the MC is somehow
! better at sex
and not punishing the MC for their own mistakes that helped bring about what happened.
Does anybody remember what happened in the manga version of Goblin Slayer, specifically the monk girl from the beginning? She kills herself. Realistic, harsh consequences to the actions of a stupid guy who didn't use his brain.
If an author is willing to force the reader to watch all the evil the "hero" did to the women around the MC, and the MC is partially at fault, then maybe, just maybe, there ought to be realistic and harsh consequences and some lasting tragedy instead of a cop-out "but it all doesn't matter because in the end everyone is happy."
I'm not saying the women deserve it, and I'm not saying every woman should end up like the monk. I'm saying the author shouldn't try and play both sides of the fence if they're going to focus on how bad the villains were. Actually dare to anger some of your audience because the villains were good at being bad, not because you force them through all that and then tell them it basically didn't matter.
The action and art are great and the plot outside of the sex is very interesting. Shame about everything else.
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