Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy, Harem, Slice of Life, Isekai

Sub-Tags: Weak Lead, Episodic, Business, Cute

Starting a Business in Another World!

Reaching the third and final pre-pub review, the latest J-Novel Club series has the cheat code for doing business in another world!

Quitting his job and moving to his Grandmother’s house in the countryside opens a whole new world of possibilities for our protagonist, Shiro. Within the house lies a door to another world, and upon picking up a language and exchange skill, he decides to open a business on the other side. Not only in it for self-enrichment, he, with the help of his new friends will hope to help the everyday people of Ninorich with items from Earth.

With flower girls, cat girls and even the mayor pitching in, will Shiro’s and the people’s lives be filled with happiness!?

Peddler in Another World is very much a light-hearted series. Fun and free of tragedy, it achieves its goal of leaving a smile on your face. Its episodic nature means there’s a variety of different types of stories throughout the volume. Perhaps the best of these fill the latter half of the book and provide more meat to the world and protagonist.

A good example would be the story where Shiro attempts to improve his business by following adventurers on a quest to gauge what items they need. Bringing sample items along for the ride, he ends up using several of these, each then getting the approval of the adventurers.

This story also does well in placing Shiro’s skill level within the world. He is weak, and he knows he’s weak. Thus, he comes up with the idea of using bear spray against monsters, an idea that works and will likely keep adventurers safe for years to come.

Alongside strong short stories, this type of series requires a steady stream of interesting characters, which I’m thankful to say it does. Highlights include Aina, Shiro’s first worker. Hardworking and dependable, even at such a young age she’s willing to try her best. Then there’s Karen, the town’s mayor, a kind and strong leader who’s often trying to playfully tease Shiro.

Unfortunately, I find one aspect a little weaker than the others. This is nothing to do with the plot’s content, but rather with its build-up towards a finale. Throughout the volume, many questions about Aina’s mother are raised.

At the start of the story, Aina is seemingly left to her own devices, selling flowers before Shiro hires her as a store worker. As it turns out, Aina’s mother is ill and whilst everything works out quite nicely, I question Shiro’s lack of interest in knowing why Aina’s out alone or why the townspeople don’t question it.

To conclude, J-Novel Club’s latest slice-of-life fantasy is filled with light-hearted fun. Most of the stories are a joy and fit in quite nicely with the author’s attempted atmosphere. I’m looking forward to the second volume especially given the revelations at the end of the volume.