I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Vol. 1 (I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, 1) Paperback – Illustrated, April 24, 2018

Okay, I won't once again go into my discussion of the absurd, and absurdly long, names that Light Novels have these days. My explanation and lampshade hanging about this in so many reviews are starting to turn into a running gag. It is what it is.This is another unique title that *Yen Press* has licensed and localized for English audiences. As another reviewer noted, the title basically tells you what the book is about, to an extent. A few more details will flesh out the plot enough. The story begins just after the death from overworking of Azusa Aizawa, a twenty-seven year old woman who never accomplished anything of importance, and slavishly devoted her life to her job.She finds herself in a heaven-like place where she is confronted by a sympathetic goddess who offers to give her new life in another world with one wish to make things easier for her. Azusa wishes for an eternal life of ease. She wants to have it easy. No riches or fame. No anything but the opposite of her wasted life on earth. The goddess grants her wish and the young woman finds herself in a world that is reminiscent of a middle-ages European setting RPG. She herself is a beautiful, blonde, seventeen year old girl... who will never age. Oh, and the location she was in gave her access to an easy life too.So after registering with the local guild, Azusa begins to spend her days killing slimes (the only real monsters nearby for the most part) to earn money, and living a life of ease as an immortal witch. She spends her time doing the above and also supporting her town she is attached to (nearby her forest cabin), and time passes. Well... *three centuries pass*!One day, the immortal witch discovers to her horror that she is now level 99, the highest level possible. In fact, as she later surmises, this doesn't even begin to describe her power, as she has no clue how long she has been at this maxed out level. I say "to her horror" because the threat to her peaceful, easy life is obvious. Suddenly her fame spreads far and wide, and folks... well, that would be spoiling far beyond the synopsis.Let's just say that Lady Azusa, Witch of the Highlands, is about to gain what she might have thought was a bad thing at first, but is really good. Namely, a family. And that is what makes this book worth reading, *not* the few action scenes. The heartwarming elements.I would suggest that, despite the very different premises that ultimately make them different stories, that there is enough in common to make this series a sort of gender-flipped *Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody*. Both are about a person from the real world who find themselves in an unaging teenage body, and turn out through a series of events to be the strongest person in the world. The differences are many, but the similarities are there, including the fact that, despite wanting to be left alone, they do end up getting involved with events, and they have heartwarming times with sudden family members.And, as I said, these are what make the book so much fun in large part, the sweet and adorable scenes. Though of course, like with Satou in *Death March*, the internal narration (sometimes with snark) from Azusa is also a huge plus. For the actions scenes though, well, they aren't that absorbing. Don't get me wrong. They aren't badly written at all. It's just that they are brief since, unlike with Satou's adventures, there is no challenge for Lady Azusa, except for one instance that is quickly resolved and which battle lasts one second. Even though Satou is just as much, if not more so, I think, over-powered in his world as Azusa is in hers, Satou faces enemies that are different in important ways. His enemies are either armies too spread out for him to get to quickly enough, are durable enough to last a short time, have conditions for their defeats, etc. This makes it so that often while*he* is safe, those with him are in danger. Azusa rarely has such challenges, and the one time she does, it's easily handled.So don't go looking for action here, though perhaps the title should tell anyone not to do so. This is a fun story of family, friendship, and some kinda surprisingly overt criticism of the way Japan does business and labor practices.The last is because we are constantly reminded, via Azusa's internal monologues and her actions, of how Japan's labor system killed her. And from what I understand, Japan really *is* this bad on that front. Not that we are at all have it together perfectly in the West or the US, but Japan does have greater problems with issues of folks working themselves to death, committing suicide from the pressures, so forth. And while the Japanese government has passed laws to handle this, invoking those laws is not something done. The social stigma and rejection are horrific for anyone, especially someone in that culture. Because the person is seen as weak, as not handling their private issues privately, so on, they are treated terribly. Japan has a real issue with mental health stigma, as the wider Asian world does, no matter what it's super-philic Western defenders who think they do no wrong think. The two issues together make things nasty, at times.Now that that part is out of the way, the sweetness parts can be described! The relationship of Azusa to Falfa and Shalsha is cute and adorable. Despite her not having a family of her own in Japan, in her new world, she gets one. Doing so, she realizes that, despite not regretting and in fact continuing her life of ease, she has missed out on a lot. Then there are Laika, who after getting humbled, shows herself to be a good girl, and Halkara, who is... unique, but adorable.Typically, with some of these character types, various character ticks and traits would be played for unending humor. Here, they are either downplayed or played seriously, both for cutesiness. Halkara is crushing mad on Azusa, but is not crazy, just really inept outside her areas of expertise, and even *then* sometimes. The twins are sweet and have growth so the tsundere moments from Shalsha are played for laughs and adorableness.The only part that I didn't like was the battle with the blue dragons and red dragons. Yes, it appears that both sides will be held to account to be nice from now on. But it seems reasonable to wonder if the red dragons messed with the blue ones in the past as well. Yet no reparations are mentioned for those incidents. Only the blue dragons are made to pay up, because this one time they angered Azusa. It's not a huge deal in the end, but it does seem like, since they are friends with the over-powered MC, the red dragons are karma houdinis. Also, someone humble and not wanting to throw her weight around as Azusa is was kinda weird to see on the verge of acting haughty, like another character I can't name for spoiler reasons. Sure, said character is good in actuality, but still a haughty dick at times. Azusa specifically is not, so it was strange to see her near that level.This was a really and truly fun and engaging read that makes one go "awww!", and is good for much comedy and even some social critiques of the author's country and culture thrown in. Some really good stuff, and Highly Recommended.Rating: 5/5 Stars.

The pacing and flow of this series is quite nice. It's laid back, much like the protagonist, and is very charming. What's surprising was how it didn't feel too fast nor too slow when other characters were introduced. Each chapter is akin to its own story arc, but it doesn't feel compressed at all. They're pretty much episodic and one can almost imagine each chapter being its own anime episode. All the characters introduced in this volume presented their own unique charm. Each having different personality traits makes them all lovable, cute, and memorable.At the time of composing this review, an anime adaption is being made. I was curious if the title is any good so I jumped the gun. It does not disappoint. And while this is yet another isekai title among the many that are out there (too many in fact), what made this title so worthwhile is how the protagonist doesn't seek power, conquest, or fame. The protagonist just wants to live a laid back life after dying due to overwork. Yeah, I can relate wanting to relax and take things slow.

Not as exciting as other books with a similar premise, but that's fine. This is a more relaxed and laid back read that lets you just enjoy it at your own pace, which seems quite fitting for this series. If you like the whole 'reborn in another world' thing that's been so popular you'll probably enjoy this and it's quirky cast of characters. More of a slice of life type than a fantasy adventure, and that works out just fine here.

I enjoyed the concept of this book as well as the characters that are brought along. Personally I would love to live where the witch does, sounds like a great house. One odd recurring thing I didn't care much for was about every character introduction/conflict was blatantly telegraphed. A comment is made, bam/knock, it occurs. There very few natural story progressions. This is volume one but it is a stand-alone story. At the end, all items are wrapped up and nothing is left hanging for what might occur. I'll read vol. 2 and see if that's how this author likes to create. Overall I enjoyed the story, there just is not much depth to it.

It is a clever premise for what turns out to be a pretty typical isekai genre work. It spends much more time on characters developing positive relationships than simple wish-fulfillment or power fantasies. The characters are established as being so overwhelmingly powerful that fighting is just a trivial preamble to the real story of making friends in a magic world. Which is a good thing, there are enough boring isekai power fantasies out there already.Ultimately there isn't enough conflict to make the story really interesting. I would like to see these characters involved in some actual drama that doesn't seem trivial.

I really enjoyed this. I think the main problem is most are going into this expecting an action story, when it's really a story about family. An oftentimes comedic, oftentimes heartwarming story about a witch who lost her previous life to overworking, and devotes her newfound immortality to living a life of leisure to combat the terrible life she led on Earth. It's not about fighting the demon lord, or saving the world, it's about fighting corporate slavery, and learning what a family can be like for someone whose life was spent doing nothing but working.To put it short: The real "conflict" in this is fighting against the very concept of "overwork" while juggling a family life that comes out of nowhere pretty much.

La mejor forma de describir está novela es un slice of life de fantasía. Es una historia muy tranquila y linda.La bruja del altiplano Azusa quiere llevar una vida tranquila y sin preocupaciones, pero una vez se descubre que es la persona más fuerte del mundo su vida sosegada corre peligro.He visto reseñas que se quejan de que la historia realmente no tiene un objetivo o que simplemente no avanza, pero no es una historia de fantasía dónde hay que derrotar al rey demonio o salvar al mundo. Es simplemente la vida tranquila y aventuras de Azusa.Sus personajes son bastante entretenidos al igual que las situaciones que viven. Las ilustraciones son buenas, pero no espectaculares ya que la historia no da para eso.Si pueden entender que no es la típica novela ligera es una gran y relajante lectura que puedo recomendar.

Showed up on time and in good condition. I really can't complain about anything.

good

My First Light Novel and I had fun reading it. And Illustrations was also great. Gonna buy the series.

Tenha em mente que "I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years", não é um livro de ação, mas um Slice of Life.Tratando esta Light Novel como tal posso garantir que se trata de uma leitura bem agradável e rápida, com personagens bem pensandos apesar de seguir um pouco alguns dos "tropes" de outras LNs.Apesar disso, a protagonista acaba se destacando acima dos outros personagens, de longe.Pontos para as ilustrações que são várias e muito bem feitas.