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Survival Strategies of a Corrupt Aristocrat: Light Novel Review (Books 1 and 2)

What happens after a divorced, middle-aged man, games away his life playing "Survival Strategies of a Corrupt Aristocrat"? Of course, he reincarnates as the protagonist of that very game! Join Jack Girard in his survival against all the odds: from allies to enemies, friends to rivals, and worst of all-- the hero! 

Image via Amazon
Rating

☆!

Summary

Starting off with a bang, Survival Strategies of a Corrupt Aristocrat reels in your attention by having the protagonist suddenly finding himself as the main character of his favorite game, but only after recovering from an attempt on his life! Out of the two official English translations, both have you on the edge of your seat the entire time, with nerve-racking sub-plots always hinting at a future betrayal or an unknown entity mixing all of our MC's plans up! With a light romance subplot and more focused on territory management, this series really builds its characters with action in mind. The main character especially subverts the idea of a typical "hero" story, instead focusing on more of an anti-hero (literally) yet still retains the ideological standpoints of a Narou/Shouetsuka writer. Even though there's only two books out currently on Amazon, it's an incredibly fun read and doesn't take up too much time. It would work well as an intro to Isekai light novels especially if you're just getting into the light novel side of Japanese otaku culture.  

Miscellaneous

Both books are action-packed and filled to the brim with adventure and suspense. However, the author paces themselves fairly evenly, spreading out action between territory management drama and some court drama. The cast is also fairly interesting with the lesser seen trope of "dog" type girl as the first main side--love interest-- character besides the kuudere-esque (may not be specifically kuudere in nature but honestly, she has very minimal lines so it's hard to fully pick a dere type) maid. My biggest complaint is that its hard to get a clear image of the geography of the territory, so I wish there'd be more specific imagery either written or drawn, but other than that, it's been a fun ride so far with this series. Gotta hope for more translations for this!


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