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A review by cyanide_latte
The Hero and His Elf Bride Open a Pizza Parlor in Another World (Light Novel) by Kaya Kizaki
5.0
Considering the very few other reviews I've seen for this particular light novel all seem to have the same harshness for this book, please allow me to shed some illumination on why The Hero and His Elf Bride Open a Pizza Parlor In Another World is a fun, awesome little book, and deserves some more praise and recognition.
Upon first glance, you may assume that this book is part of the over-saturated isekai genre [ie: a fantasy subgenre in anime, manga, light novels, etc. revolving around a normal person ending up in a fantasy world one way or another] and in a way that assumption isn't entirely incorrect. However, some quick searching I did after this book popped up in my Amazon recommendations revealed that The Hero and His Elf Bride Open a Pizza Parlor In Another World is actually meant to be a parody or satire of the existing tropes within that subgenre in order to just sort of dick around with the over-used concepts and have a little fun in the process. Additionally, each chapter is sort of meant to be read as individual short stories or drabbles that fit together as the sum total of a greater whole, which helps to add to the feeling of episodic stories one would see in a comedy isekai anime.
I've seen other reviews call the characters all one-dimensional outside of the POV character, "Kaito the High-Calorie Hero", but let's be fair: all of them are meant to fit certain archetypes within this trope-heavy subgenre, and in a way Kaito is no exception to that either. This doesn't mean that they're any less fun though, at least not in my opinion. I think without the context that this is meant to be something of a parody or satirical take on the genre as a whole, then the one-dimensionality of the characters can be grating rather readily comprehended.
All in all however, I enjoyed this light novel immensely. It's a very fun little read and I think it personally helped spark some imagination, and not just a few giggles either. I do highly recommend that people interested in reading more light novels give this a chance, and hopefully you go into it with more open-mindedness and awareness of the context I've explained here.
Upon first glance, you may assume that this book is part of the over-saturated isekai genre [ie: a fantasy subgenre in anime, manga, light novels, etc. revolving around a normal person ending up in a fantasy world one way or another] and in a way that assumption isn't entirely incorrect. However, some quick searching I did after this book popped up in my Amazon recommendations revealed that The Hero and His Elf Bride Open a Pizza Parlor In Another World is actually meant to be a parody or satire of the existing tropes within that subgenre in order to just sort of dick around with the over-used concepts and have a little fun in the process. Additionally, each chapter is sort of meant to be read as individual short stories or drabbles that fit together as the sum total of a greater whole, which helps to add to the feeling of episodic stories one would see in a comedy isekai anime.
I've seen other reviews call the characters all one-dimensional outside of the POV character, "Kaito the High-Calorie Hero", but let's be fair: all of them are meant to fit certain archetypes within this trope-heavy subgenre, and in a way Kaito is no exception to that either. This doesn't mean that they're any less fun though, at least not in my opinion. I think without the context that this is meant to be something of a parody or satirical take on the genre as a whole, then the one-dimensionality of the characters can be grating rather readily comprehended.
All in all however, I enjoyed this light novel immensely. It's a very fun little read and I think it personally helped spark some imagination, and not just a few giggles either. I do highly recommend that people interested in reading more light novels give this a chance, and hopefully you go into it with more open-mindedness and awareness of the context I've explained here.