Usual reincarnated into a fantasy world but with a twist, rather than sword and magic its piloting mecha via magic. As a fan of mecha, this LN hit the spot for me. Although its pretty much cliche and shounen-ish as reincarnation themed stories go, at least the mecha focus made it unique story. If you hate mecha then this LN might not be for you.
Setting & lore: Its very original imo and i love it. Fantasy world with magic and monsters. People there don't fight with swords and magic but rather pilot mecha/robots which are a fusion of magic and technology. Various kingdoms litter the continent with complicated relations and diplomacy. There are also tons of uncharted regions inhabited by dangerous monsters big and small that can pose a threat to humanity. Humans aren't the only sentient race, there are
elves and dwarfs(kinda) but not sure if other fantasy races will make an appearance too
The theme is pretty much "War" and "Crisis", quite a bland encompassing plot.
Main Character: Basically a gunpla otaku reincarnated into the mecha fantasy world. Very passionate about the mechas called Silhouette Knights and a genius at that, sometimes too enthusiastic it gets annoying. He is the cliche shounen protaganist which is kinda of a let down: he values friendship, has an affable and charismatic character, is an intelligent individual but dense when it comes to romance, a competent leader and strategist, he defends the weak and destroys evil, is pretty OP in combat and a genius at creating Silhouette Knights so much so that he revolutionize its technology etc; basically the cliche shounen MC tag. Oh, and he looks feminine too which provides some comedic relief.
Side/Other Characters: His entourage are made up of people with colorful personalities with their own perks and annoyances. You might like or hate some but pretty much are all lovable characters. There is reasonable amounts of character development & maturing but unfortunately they don't get enough limelight in the novel. Tertiary characters as expected don't have much lore behind them as they're there to progress the story. LN does shed some light on the motivations of the antagonists as well as their backstory but i'm not far enough into the novel to land a judgement on that.
Romance: Really not much of it in this LN. Its hinted and scatter here and there, love interest for the MC and probably the side characters but ultimately romance is not the focus of this LN. MC kinda has a harem but as mentioned earlier he is quite dense and too engrossed in mecha, so there is hardly any progress.
Fights/Action: Its needless to say its again the same old shounen showdown battles. MC is OP and winning the battle but surprise!!! A new challenger appears and puts the MC in a precarious position. He is outmatched and gradually being pressured but a sudden turn of events presented a crucial window of opportunity to attack and deal the fatal blow. MC wins and the world is saved, at same time MC's companions also win their respective battles and now they have another tale to add to their legend. Its more or less the same concept for every battle. Theres no creativity, ingenius tactics or manoeuvres in the battle sequences, just pure hot pumping action.
Writing: Good pacing and story progression. Plot transition and flow of events feels natural but is too predictable(well, it is shounen after all). So far i'm not feeling the grand scheme of things vibes or the underlying plots, not much foreshadowing to keep readers engaged. It is interesting but its as shounen as it gets; pretty light plot with no controversial writing, very simplistic chain of events and narrow context. Overall the story lacks depth and maturity. You probably won't find epic storytelling honestly. What i do like though is how the novel goes into technical details about the magic and technology, it is not as complicated as Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei but comfortable enough to keep it captivating.
Knights & Magic is a fairly decent read but don't expect too much from it. I'd recommend you give at least 2 volumes a try before making your judgement. If you're into mecha, shounen, high fantasy & technology hybrid or just looking for a light read to pass the time then this LN might what be you're looking for.
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