If you remember, I had just finished Failure Frame Volume 8 last week. After that explosion of an ending I spent this week tearing through Volumes 9, 10, and 11. They were fantastic. Some of the side-plots are getting resolved now and the MC is truly becoming the persona of "The Lord of the Flies".

Volume 11 ends with a massive set up for what seems like a final showdown. A big part of the story is that you don't know where people's loyalties lie or what they may be plotting but we finally get a lot of insight into a lot of the character's motivations and goals. It's really great to see how fleshed out all the characters in Failure Frame actually are. With how everything is coming together, I expect Volume 12 will end the series. Sadly, the release date for that isn't until summer of 2025.

One of the interesting themes that's been around since the start of the series is how unique our MC's powers are. It's basically in the title. He is the lowest class of hero: E-class. He has the worst type of abilities: status effects. And his stat modifiers aren't that great aside from his MP. But even early on we knew something didn't fit. His abilities are actually overpowered. His "unique item" is truly unique. And his leveling curve is abnormal as well. None of this should be spoilers since it's all evident in the anime but we get more confirmation of it in these later volumes as well. It makes me think there's some underlying secret behind all this. Like someone specifically tailored him to at first appear super weak but actually be OP in the end for some purpose.

Anyway, since I've been on a LN kick I've also been re-reading Trapped in a Dating Sim. Of the 12 volumes out right now, I've read 7 but it was so long ago I decided to start at the beginning again. I was actually surprised how much I had forgotten. The anime is good but definitely deviates on some plot points. It's not enough to change the story or anything, but it's still fun to see how they simplified it for the animation. On the other hand, I think the anime captures the tone of the novel almost perfectly. The anime covers volumes 1 and 2, but I just finished up volume 4 on my re-read binge.

Jeez, did I really read 7 light novels this past week?