I wouldn't call this the best story I've ever read, but it's a damn solid one. Characters? Check. Action? Check. Unique Weapon? Check. An interesting plot? Check.

If you like something akin to Persona X Bleach X Absolute Duo with a hint of harem, romance, and inter-personal drama, then you'll like this novel and its sequel (yes I've read it on Wattpad.)

The only point note I see that needs improvement is the error of the switching of tenses, past and present, which uncommonly, but sometimes happen and break the flow of reading. It's not something that you shouldn't do when writing, there are places where it works wonders or is needed, but the novel's error is in this aspect. It's not something that will kill your enjoyment of the novel, but it's something you will notice.

Aside from that, if the tags interest you even a bit, I recommend you check the story out.

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tridetect

Status: afterword

Aug 24, 2021

-Half way through
After reading the other volumes and returning to the first, this is definitely the weakest in the series. Events and descriptions are incredible wordy much to their own detriment and the beginning chapters don't have much to take away from aside from one or two important things happening. The characterization of side characters feel one note but not cliche or falling into blatant tropes. There isn't enough screentime for the side characters that makes me remember them in a meaningful way, for instance Arata's friend Tomoda who is a stereotypical gacha gamer nerd. Every scene he's in he behaves in the same uninteresting manner going on about how 'This is just like an anime!' like the otaku archetype commonly would say. Sayaka and Amagi get multiple scenes that flesh them out through the use of their actions taken throughout the course of the story.

Another problem I have with this series is how closely it tries to emulate Japanese LNs, even going as far as to have the characters say their last (?) name in dialogue while the narration uses their first name. Maybe its the other way around, either way, the constant swapping of names throughout the narrative makes reading scenes frustrating because of how large the cast is. This also plays in as to why characters can be forgettable, I don't mean to insult the author but the generic Japanese names do not help me in trying to remember the characters.

As for the plot so far, not much has been revealed until chapter 11 when we're first introduced to MU. The world is described very well and the fights are impactful though when the characters are alone I feel as if the author is struggling by adding redundant dialogue such as having the characters talking to themselves which doesn't feel like something they would do. Arata is a standoffish guy who is into anime and the like but I don't picture him having an entire monologue with himself while he's alone in MU, especially on his first time there. Likewise for Amagi in chapter 11.

I'm not a good reviewer but this is my takeaway for the story so far.

pt.2

Spoiler

Chapter 15 and im asking myself what is even the point of this fight? Arata gets invited by some random guy for answers but first he has to pass a test? Why?

The vagueness of the hooded man doesn't clue us in on why he wants to battle Arata at all, and why Arata even wants to battle in the first place. Yeah he finds MU awesome and all but after having his not gf nearly killed as well as himself AGAIN. He barely weighed the pros and cons of this decision to find out more about MU.

The existence of MU isn't very deep either. Arata could've gotten the answers himself just by exploring the world. The explanation of it being humanities repressed emotions is icing on the cake but not the entire cake. Does it really justify an entire fight sequence just for that answer? Not really...

Anyway this hooded guy is actually a nice guy all along and the explanation to how awakeners are made is kinda similar how characters in under night in birth get their powers so thats pretty cool.

Moving on we get some more characterization mostly from Sayaka and Dr. Kagami and an issue I would like to note is that the author holds a LOT of vital information away and it never or rarely gets explained in the first volume which is not good. Not saying all information should be dumped (which the author does at one point) but there should be more than the multiple cliffhangers we get in this novel.

Yes the world is mysterious but the answers given is not worth the journey.

The plot later does another Yuki-tan event which has some pretty funny moments, aside from Shiki who is still being Shiki. The little spat between Yuki and Arata is very well written and gives us a lot of insight on her character and how she thinks. A lot of the Yuki-tan scenes are pretty good and her need to get revenge on Arata for embarrassing her is a goal I can grasp. Shiki and Hikari don't give me that feeling, instead just feeling like background pieces that don't reveal anything new or tell us anything about Arata (well anything that we dont already know.)

After this is when the novel takes a massive dive in quality. Info dump after info dump, single chapters explaining the motivations of the major characters Sayaka and Dr. Kagami. The latter case being utterly awful and rushed. His motivations and backstory are dumped on the reader without warning and its very blank and unexplored meaningfully. From here it does what many 12 episode adaptations do and have a overly length fight with the protagonist getting a power up to defeat the boss all while the opening plays triumphantly.

The entire first volume is a novelization of what would be a 12 episode adaptation and it didn't need to be. The author could do so much more but here it's just incredibly mediocre. It incorporates a lot of downsides of light novels and adaptations without realizing that those downsides exist because of limitations, those limitations that don't exist in writing.

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pt.3

Spoiler

On to characters, they're all great but unexplored as hell. Arata is a great protagonist in this kind of LN. He's a straightforward and distant introvert but what drags him down his the constant references to otaku culture or commenting on things from MU like a weeb. It comes off as being meta and the author not having confidence in their character's ability to describe things in an interesting fashion. The first fight Arata and Sayaka have together is excellent because it highlights their abilities, methods of fighting, strength and weaknesses. But the second fight starting in chapter 20 constantly had me cringing over Arata commenting how his speeches are 'just like something a protagonist would say' and it's such a slap in the face to the reader because from what we seen from Arata, he wouldn't act in such a terribly corny manner so early in the story. Maybe after getting used to the world of MU and the people around him but this is just awful. Much like my problems with Shiki it's a bunch of nothings that is being said.

Sayaka is very well written and is one of my favorite characters despite being a common archetype in LNs like this. Later in the story her backstory is just dropped without much fanfare or exploration. After the unexciting backstory she becomes a lot more lighthearted and open to Arata but the pacing of her character arc is very formulaic which brings down her character for me. After the big final fight, Arata accidentally gropes her then she slaps him then gives him a lap pillow to relax and at that point she joins Arata's women club. This all makes me let out a sigh because Sayaka is so much more then that. All I can do is hope that Arata's women club doesn't overtake her personality.

Amagi is very obviously the damsel in distress character and the story doesn't hide this. Either way the first few chapter with her and Arata are nice and she's well rounded enough to not be seen as just a love interest for Arata. After she is saved from MU she takes more of a backseat for the plot which I consider not the best approach considering the next volume is all about her. Some foreshadowing about her becoming an awakener or trying to figure out if her experience in MU was really just a dream or not could've been there but It's entirely debatable.

Kagami is a terrible villain for this series and his motivations don't explore MU in an interesting way. He wants human immortality and became crazy from many failed experiments to make humans powerful but the inclusion of MU just feels slapped onto him. A very note one villain and I'm unsure if the author design him to be that way or...

There really isn't much to say about him. The Epilogue teases that he'll be doing more things in the shadows and I can only assume he and the main cast will have a 'rivalry' later in the series.

[collapse]

That kinda wraps up my thoughts on the first volume. A very below average introduction. It like the opening segment of persona 4 which takes an eternity to sit through.
A 3.5 but I rated it 4 stars because SH doesn't have half ratings.

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weakedsick

Status: chapter 23 – awakener’s pact

Apr 11, 2021

Author has a solid use of adjectives and his descriptions are vivid.

His use of English is excellent as well - and his talent for story-weaving shows, given that he only wrote this without much editing.

As for the story, it's tropes piled upon tropes so I'm honestly not expecting much but it's a fresh experience to read an amateur work written by an acquaintance. It turned out to be quite interesting as the author's talent for story-weaving, rich imagination and vocabulary, and descriptive story-telling made up for his shortcomings.

As for the characters themselves, they still feel cardboard cutouts for now but it's something that can improve.

Particularly, Sayaka who supposedly experienced some trauma or some tragic past but maybe it didn't translate well in third-person PoV or maybe she just doesn't have enough screen time or maybe I'm expecting more from a work with a different genre. There were a lot of scenes that could reveal and test her character and while it played out exactly how we expected it to be, it just lacks some impact on the part of the character. I can't describe it well but what I expect is for the author to make me "shut up and read more" or just focus on the series's strengths instead of dwelling on every little comment by a non-professional critic. MC's constant dwelling on anime similarities to serious situations makes me cringe but hey at least that made me feel something.

It's still the first volume and this series still has room to grow. After all, the author was able to make me read until the end

The 4+ stars is for how smoothly the flow of the story went despite a lot of future plot-points that needed to be set up, a lot of jargon that seems irrelevant for now, several cringe-worthy moments like the MC's hero syndrome and playing as the dense, cool guy who rejects an attractive female. It may just be the fault of third-person PoV since the author and the MC can have different perspectives and preferences. I expected the story not to flow well because of these faults but it surprisingly went smoothly and I was able to enjoy it and crave for more.

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doravg

Status: chapter 3 – a suspicious person

Apr 28, 2022

This is school life with murder. I think the author wants to adapt it into an anime. I guess it could go well, if they find a good enough artist. I thought that the story is isekai at first, but it turned out to be a mystery, which is nice. The isekai troupe is overused.

The MC is a well-rounded guy with a gaming and anime addiction. But he is good to his little sister, and the interaction between the cast has that real human feel to it that separates a bad novel from a good one.

The style and grammar are both nice, although the chapters are on the longer side. But, I guess, the author has their audience's preferences in mind.

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Thorkell_40k

Status: chapter 22 – entrust me your burdens

Jun 3, 2022

This story is so amazing and interesting. From what I can see this story has the potential to be the best and deserves everything. If you are looking for near nonstop action and don't care about quality than this is the story for you. The fight scenes are just so edgy and each chapter give me the thrills to continue further!!! So good, keep up the good work Author!!! 👌 At was an exciting journey😁

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MorganLionheart

Status: chapter 3 – a suspicious person

Oct 31, 2021

And now, my official review: When I first picked up this volume I was not sure what to expect. Now yes, it’s usually that way when you pick up most new books but EternalSunset0 also did something unexpected. By being thrown straight into the action I was not sure how the rest of the story would fit together, like pieces of a jigsaw that look to fit but in reality have the slightest jagged edge or the side is just an inch too long and therefore throws off the big picture. However, it actually gave the opposite effect, it was kind of like a synopsis within the story. Setting up the strange world and incidences that were to follow. It’s funny to me how Arata kept up bringing up tropes of your classic anime hero as well. But I think that was a type of self-reflection that pieced Arata together bit by bit. The details in this novel were extraordinary, with each word I could see small pieces of the ruined world in my head, each building and structure included detail that opened the minds eye. Comparisons and the small things too. Fractal Plane has plenty of your classic anime tropes yet the story is unique, a world all its own. Even as the author drew parallels from characters they were already familiar with, it was clear they also put great love and care into each, even leaving enough details behind to catch the reader off guard, like a savoury treat you just have to get to the Center of. Each volume a small bite. Actually, I would encourage this author, look into publication. Amazon is a great place to start smashwords is better because of distribution opportunities. But there’s also Vic’s Lab. They are specifically aimed at original light novels, manga and the like. Drumming up an audience suited for that niche. While there were a few clumsy words, run-on sentences and the like they were sprinkled far in between. A little polishing and I’m convinced that they have a hit on their hands. I could even help with the polishing up. To draw this to a close: Fractal Plane five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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ElliePorter

Status: --

Aug 16, 2021

I love how this novel references a lot of animes and the world of Mu reminds me of the Fuzetsu in Shakugan No Shana. While the MC is a huge jerk. I love how he cant resist his little sister (Siscon ftw!)

Also, I kinda feel bad for that one character. The dude has no backbone and will probably be submissive for the rest of his life.

Great story overall. 5/5 for me.

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