Despite my earlier misgivings I decided to roll the dice on Shinwa Densetsu no Eiyuu no Isekaitan‘s continuation after all. Remarkably, the very issue I had with the first novel (the protagonist’s odd level of stupidity) was expressly addressed by the author in the second with the third basically staying the course. Makes me wonder if they got similar feedback to that effect during the original release. Regardless, it looks like I’ll be continuing to follow the series for a bit.
Originally I’d avoided reading the Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu series (English subtitle: Jobless Reincarnation) due to concerns that it would have a higher level of perversion than its Anime adaptation (since such adaptations usually tone that part down for a TV audience). As it turns out the fanservice level is pretty much the same, which is to say it’s certainly annoying but not quite at the deal-killing level.
The seventh novel picks up right from where the adaptation left off, making it a good place to jump in, and the author turned out to be pretty adept at storyline pacing. Most of the novels manage to work both as self-contained stories and parts of a greater whole, with only a couple being obviously incomplete (namely #16-17 and #20-21).
So overall it’s a pretty damn good series with the only real issues (aside from the splashes of perversion) being the protagonist’s frequent habit of second-guessing everything and the weird way he frames his anti-Man-God activities as if he’s working for a modern day corporation.