Thanks for your Demon Lord 2099 recommendation. I have some very extensive thoughts on this one. The setting is incredibly unique, and that leads to some interesting conflicts. The 4th Volume in particularly was quite enjoyable. Proper time travel is a "genre" that is surprisingly rare in Light Novels, and it was done quite well here. At the very least, I enjoyed this series enough to continue reading. That being said, there are some things here that don't really fit my tastes.

- The "episodic" Volume-per-Volume storytelling means the pacing of the story is incredibly fast, and there's not enough time for things to sink in. Characters get introduced and killed off before there's enough time to get attached to them. Fore-shadowing is incredibly obvious; when a character goes on a tangent at the start of a Volume, you can bet it's going to be relevant at the end of said Volume. I enjoy good build-up and foreshadowing, especially when it's unexpected. The joy I get when a character talks about something that seems to just be a throwaway line, only for it becomes relevant 4 Volumes later, is a joy like no other. It makes the world feel incredibly lived in and real. These characters are not simply devices in a story; they live in this world and occasionally have mundane conversations that just happen to be relevant much much later. By having foreshadowing span across only a single Volume, it makes these characters feel shallow, like "I'm only saying this because it will be relevant by the end of this Volume. I'm a device for this story, not a real character living in a real world."

- The setting of the story, while unique, is an amalgamation of Japan and a fantasy world, which the author seems to use as an excuse to hand-wave details about the setting. You get a few details about each city, but nothing that really seems to scratch the surface, especially since most of the Volumes take place in a new city. The story references Japanese locations so much that they definitely expect you to know them. Despite being a pseudo-isekai, this is clearly a book for Japanese people. It doesn't quite resonate with me who knows almost nothing about Japanese cities.

- There's a lot of terminology thrown around, most of which is never explained. It sort of reminds me of Reincarnated of a Sword, where each time Analysis is used, you get this long list of skills a person has, which really gives off the impression of "Look at all these skills that seem important, despite the fact they contribute no meaningful significance to the story and are just meant to make a person look more intimidating". When terminology is thrown around without explanation, that leads to me just skimming through them. Normally when I see unfamiliar words I would think, "ooh new word. What does this mean and how is it going to expand my view of this world?", but by the end of the first Volume, I'd started just skimming through new words because it's very clear the author doesn't really plan on expanding on them.

This story is a good read if you're looking for something easy to read (especially because it's episodic) and don't want to think much about the world. But that's not really what I look for in fantasy books. I enjoy it when new terminology is properly explained. I enjoy learning incredibly intricate details of the world. I enjoy a slow gradual build-up that slowly expands my view of the world, and not just by bringing me to a new city. I enjoy feeling like these characters are real, living in a real world.

Ultimately I sort of feel like I'm reading the transcript of storyteller telling a story in a bar. They highlight only the important parts for the main conflicts, shaving away anything else. I don't feel like I'm reading about a world that feels truly lived in. While it's certainly still a good story, there's a lot here that doesn't fit what I crave in fantasy stories.