I’m so grateful for being able to read this on NetGalley. Let me tell you, I absolutely love it. Maple and Sally are so wholesome, and their friendship is so much fun. I watched the anime a few months ago and loved it, so I was incredibly excited when I got approved on NetGalley. The writing is pretty basic, but I felt that it added to the story. It would’ve been more confusing and less entertaining if it had been more advanced. This Litrpg does a great job of explaining game mechanics in a fun and easy way. The world is beyond entertaining with tons of odd skills and an interesting cast. I can’t wait to read the upcoming volumes.

Action packed and hilarious, something any gamer can enjoy.

If you're a fan of RPG's and haphazordous hero's then this will be a book for you, I enjoyed the characters and their journey. The main character can be a little frustrating at times, but overall it is a very amusing story and full of gaming fun.

An overall cute light novel of an anime that is moderately popular. Definitely not a mind-blowing book, but absolutely entertaining!

It All Started With a Dare – The Springtime of My Life Began with You Vol. 1

Author: Nikki Asada
Publisher: Kodansha
Genres: Comedy, Romance, School, Shoujo
Published: May 2021

A lot of good stories start with a dare, especially when it’s fueled by youthful naivety. We’re pretty sure everybody has some weird stories about what other people dared them to do, for us we’d rather not tell. We do know tha there are also some cases a stupid dare, which initially caused a lot of headscratching, becomes a catalyst for the better. The plot of The Springtime of My Life is exactly that a case of a stupid dare that raises a flag of change.

Contains Spoilers

Discussion Time

Takasago is a likable, yet a little bit narcissistic popular boy. After losing a batsu game, a game where the loser ought to do a dare, he is asked to ask Suehiro, the class wallflower, out. The boys think that Takasago should after asking Suehiro out publicly state it “was only a joke.” But unfortunately for the boys Suehiro overhears their confessions. When Takasago asks her out, she tells him outright that she knows it’s just a batsu game, then the whole class looks at Takasago like he is bullying Suehiro. The boy forced into a corner decides the only way not to be stuck with the bully tag is to assure her the confession is real.

Why You Should Read The Springtime of My Life Began with You Vol. 1

1. Slow Development

Honestly, the series doesn’t start that amazingly, but what we loved about it is how Suehiro and Takasago feelings slowly develop. Despite Takasago’s tendency to be pushy, he doesn’t drag Suehiro outside her comfort zone in order to conform to his standards. By doing so, both of them slowly open up to each other and slowly grow to understand their feelings. In fact, we learn towards the end that the reason Takasago quit playing baseball isn’t because of some shallow reason like being with Suehiro but because of a shoulder injury. On the other end, Suehiro also starts to open up to Takasago, which results in Takasago reviving the Literary Club.

2. Interesting Characters

The Springtime of My Life Began with You has some interesting characters. First and foremost, we have the protagonists, Suehiro and Takasago. Suehiro is this wallflower who likes the comfort of solitude. As the story progresses, we learn that despite her liking being alone, she actually did try to reach out. But before she actually does something, she ends up backing away. Takasago, as we’ve already mentioned, is this seemingly self-absorbed popular boy. However, he also turns out to be quite considerate. Towards the end of the volume, another character is introduced, the class representative. We’re guessing that he’s the author of the book Suehiro loves, and we’re excited to see how he’ll stir the pot.

Why You Should Skip The Springtime of My Life Began with You

1. Not the Strongest Start

With Takasago’s half-assed attempt to ask Suehiro out because of some stupid game, their relationship kind of started on a bad foot. In fact, it’s cringey and a bit hard to get into, since we can’t shake the idea that Takasago is merely asking Suehiro to save his image. Takasago’s self-absorbed personality only makes things worse. Given that he’s kind of a school celebrity, he definitely knows how to act appropriate for his fame. Since Suehiro is a wallflower, he kind of teaches her how to adapt to such situations too. Although he’s actually cool when he does it, it kind of strengthens his narcissistic side.

Final Thoughts

Despite the not-so-amazing first impression we have, The Springtime of My Life Began with You turns out to be rather enjoyable. Even though the male protagonist can come off as obnoxious at first, he redeems himself as a considerate human being later on. Also, the interactions between the leads are really adorable. With a possible third party coming into the protagonists’ relationship, we can’t wait to see how the story will unfold.

By: Christian Markle

I'd never read a light novel before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I genuinely enjoyed myself with this one! The language is very basic--albeit filled with gamer jargon--but Maple's adorably clueless shenanigans kept me reading with a smile on my face. This was a strong enough introduction to the character/series that I'm going to watch the anime too! Very cute and fun, recommended to fans of anime/manga/video games, especially those who like a dose of humor. (NetGalley provided me with a free ARC in return for an honest review.)

Bofuri – I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defence! is probably one of the most adorable and wholesome light novels I have read in a long time and having seen the first two episodes of the anime prior to reading, I’m so happy with how wonderful it was.

The series primarily follows Kaede as she assumes her in-game persona, Maple, in a new VRMMORPG after her best friend Riza (Sally) talks her into playing. Afraid of getting hurt in-game, Maple chooses to main as a great shielder and throw all of her skill points into her defence. Stumbling her way through the game as someone who doesn’t play many video games at all, Maple gains bizarre skill after bizarre skill thanks to her strange build and starts to gain a lot of attention from the other players. Of course, being the sweet girl that she is, Maple has no clue just how many people are noticing her.

Maple is honestly the sweetest most innocent gaming-isekai character I have ever come to adore. She’s kind to everyone and so thankful when others are kind to her. As she stumbles around in her naive way, the other gamers around her can’t help but want to give her a hand. And honestly, it’s the other gamers that make me so happy while reading this. An element of the novel is told through a forum chat between some anonymous players who have made it their goal to keep an eye on Maple so people don’t take advantage of her. Even though these players are mostly at a distance, Chrome – another great shield player who is a part of the chat – has a few moments on page that show what a caring person he is. The way he mentions how much he instantly connected with Maple is so sweet. Gaming IRL and gaming as shown in anime are always so competitive and focused on PK (player-killing) story lines, it’s so incredibly nice to have a light novel set in a gaming world that has a little more joy to it.

Maple’s best friend Sally is also a total sweetheart, she’s also more of a gamer than Maple is so the two of them work together to level up and learn all about the weird world they’re playing in. She’s just as cute as Maple is and just as happy with things. What really made me love Sally is a single moment that – to me – felt like a pure homage to Sword Art Online (arguably the best gaming-isekai in the world, I will die on this hill). While watching a floating castle in the sky, Maple asks Sally if she thinks they’ll ever get to look around a place like that. Sally gets quiet, saying that she once played in a floating castle in a different game. Whether intentional or not, a reference to Sally being an SAO survivor tugged at me. Even if I’m projecting haha.

If you’re looking to get into light novels but want a “beginner” series to start with, I high recommend picking up this one. I can’t wait to see what’s to come from the series and I look forward to Maple forming a proper guild party of her own and being a cool, happy-go-lucky gamer with all of her friends.

This was just too cute! I really enjoyed Maple, she was sweet and clueless, but not in a TSTL way. I am really starting to get into light novels and this was a good one for me. I like the world, the characters, the "game play" and even though Sally is a gaming FIEND, she is a good friend and helps Maple and doesn't try to get the better of her and doesn't make teamwork into a competition.

I really didn't like how the game creators nerfed Maple. NOT COOL! I like that she was able to basically destroy everything and anything while being defensive only and she didn't get hurt at all. I guess they HAD to nerf her, but she got there on her own and without cheating. Not cool punishing her.

Anywho, I really enjoyed this one and will be seeking out the rest, as well as recommending it to those who like gaming, manga, anime and fantasy. Age appropriate for middle reader on up I would say, as the violence is fantasy monsters and no adult content that I can recall.

4, this was adorable and I can't wait to read the next one to see what happens, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Yen Press/Yen On for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

What makes this series special is that it was made for fans of Video Games, plus to add to that idea was that unlike other stories before it this plays into how silly and ridiculous her Character Build is.

Through sheer luck and ignorance, she succeeds, that isn’t a bad thing. Maple is a wholesome protagonist and that is such a welcoming feeling these days when most of the protagonists in this genre turn out to have a Mega Perverted or condescending attitude.

While it might turn off some readers to read a story about an overpowered protagonist, the writer offers the reader new elements to keep readers surprised and intrigued. Also, one of my favorite things about this had to have been the way the story was told, Yuumikan introduces a storytelling device that tells the story through excerpts from an online messaging board. A fantastic way that makes the world of Bofuri and the fictional NewWorld Online feel real and lived in.

Koin’s Illustrations are also another thing to enjoy, they give the reader something to look forward to in the chapter and show how incredibly adorable Maple and her friends are. This novel took me by surprise, I wasn’t sure what to expect when reading a Light Novel, I discovered this series when the anime adaption aired last year on Funimation and was immediately hooked on how wholesome it was. If you’re a fan of Fantasy and Isekai then I recommend this story to you.

I struggled to read this as I have never picked up a Light novel before and I actually thought I was picking up a manga. I ended up dnfing it but this was solely my problem. All the positive reviews for this one make me want to give it another try so I think i'll purchase this one as I was enjoying what I was reading. It was just wrong timing for me.

I think I'm learning how to read light novels. If I give them as much slack as I do YA novels and I read them as a fun tour of a single concept, they can be pretty entertaining. There's not a lot of character development here, and the story is pretty much encapsulated in the title - what happens in a VR MMO game when a timid newbie decides to only defend and breaks the game's mechanics? The protagonist and her friends are sweet and fun to spend time with and it's fun to read about game-breaking rules loopholes. Enjoyable beach read for the manga and game design inclined.

It’s become increasingly common for light novels to try to catch readers attention with an absurd, lengthy title, and such is the case with Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense (Bofuri). Bofuri Volume 1 collects the first 10 chapters of the original web novel and a bonus chapter, is by author Yuumikan with illustrations by Koin. Volume 1 is published in English by Yen Press with translation by Andrew Cunningham.

Bofuri Volume 1 follows Kaede Honjou, a high schooler without much interest in video games, let alone virtual reality ones. When her friend Risa Shiromine convinces her to buy NewWorld Online, the newest VRMMO, she begrudgingly hops into the game and becomes completely obsessed with it. Using the in-game name Maple, she puts all of her skill points into defense, unintentionally becoming one of the game’s most powerful players.

It’s clear that Yuumikan wrote Bofuri Volume 1 for fans of video games. The volume is an absolute joy to read because readers know just how foolish Maple’s build in game is. Through sheer luck and ignorance, however, she succeeds time and time again. Maple is such an endearing, wholesome protagonist that it is neigh impossible not to root for her. Despite the fact that she is making all the wrong choices, her success still feels earned and it is incredibly easy to root for her.

Bofuri Volume 1 shines brightest whenever Maple finds herself in combat. Seeing as how she has next to no combat prowess, she has to find creative ways to take down her enemies. This leads to a number of fantastic fight scenes that are both thrilling and funny.



While Maple starts out incredibly underpowered, she ends up gaining far more strength through a combination of unconventional methods and luck. Just when a reader might begin to get bored with an overpowered protagonist, however, Yuumikan introduces new elements to the story that keep things interesting.

At multiple points throughout the volume, Yuumikan chooses to tell the story through excerpts from an online messaging board. This is a fantastic storytelling device that makes the world of Bofuri and the fictional NewWorld Online feel real and lived in. Plus, it’s a nice change in pace from the normal chapter style.

Though infrequent, the illustrations scattered throughout the book by Koin are amazing. They give readers a slight look into each chapter and usually show off just how adorable Maple and her friends are.

Where Bofuri Volume 1 begins to falter is with the introduction of protagonists other than Maple. When her friend Rise starts playing (known in-game as Sally), things start to feel a bit more generic and uninteresting. Sure, it would be impossible to get a full-fledged series through Maple’s defensive antics alone, but Sally just feels generic and uninteresting. While seeing Sally and Maple work together can be enjoyable, the moments where the volume puts a full spotlight on Sally just aren’t as good as everything with Maple.

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense Volume 1 surprised me. I went into the light novel expecting a generic story with a slight twist but ended up falling in love with Maple and her defensive journey. Though the introduction of characters such as Sally hold it back from flawlessness, a good hook, a loveable protagonist, and great writing make Bofuri Volume 1 easy to recommend to fans of fantasy and isekai stories.

I loved this manga. Really fun and sweet.
I'll be definitely reading the rest of it.

The main character is silly and cute and made me definitely want to do a character like her in a future RPG game. I loved her POV on how to deal with an unfamiliar situation.

Really recommend it if you want to giggle and have a fun time

* received an Arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Premiering as an anime last year, the first light novel of Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense (a long title, yes) is now available in the west. While I normally gravitate towards reading manga adaptations of series, this one was a surprisingly wholesome look concerning how someone would take min-maxing their character’s stats to the logical extreme. It’s an adorably lighthearted look at how broken MMO characters can actually be given the right set of circumstances.

Kaede is a normal schoolgirl that, at the behest of her friend Risa, tries out a new MMO called New World Online. The game feels so real that being hurt… well, hurts, so she attempts to make it so that her avatar Maple won’t feel pain. How does she do that? By increasing her Vitality defense stat to the max. And by that I mean, she literally gets a skill early in the game that exponentially increases her VIT stat at the cost of all others. By inadvertently breaking the game in her first few hours of playing, she becomes an ungodly force with which to be reckoned, causing enemies to fear her due to her extreme defenses allowing her to shrug off literally every attack centered at her.

And this only is the first volume!

That said, the novel does a lot to make sure Maple isn’t fully overpowered. Since Kaede (and by extension Maple) is playing an MMO, the developers swiftly make nerfs to her extreme defense build, which causes problems in the latter half of the volume. She also attracts the attention (and ire) of online forum members, which also makes her a celebrity with a target on her back after participating in her first event. I do appreciate the level scaling of Maple to make sure that she isn’t broken in terms of gameplay, because the first few chapters feel like she’s in a one-sided fight. Thankfully, the story picks up when Kaede’s friend Risa (mainly her avatar Sally) enters the picture, with the duo fighting together as a team. I liked these interactions, and Maple is an adorable character who doesn’t get cocky with her insane defense stats, which means she’s a likeable character that I want to see succeed. It also helps that the light novel images are cute and fit well with the story. All in all, I can’t wait for the next volume of this novel!

Like many others, I too thought this was a manga and not a Light Novel. That being said, I’m pleasantly surprised, this is also my first Light novel by the way.

Straight away the store starts as your typical Isekai , my guilty pleasure. Our character Kaede (Maple) is relatable to me. I always mess my stats up in games if I don’t have someone to help, or feel like looking up recommendations.

This was one funny read, it’s like Maple can’t catch a break and neither can the monsters with her high defense stats lol. I will be honest and say I wish this was a manga instead of a Light Novel, I feel like it would be much more enjoyable.

I found the occasional art panel to be a breath of fresh air during the light novel, it was a great balance of both. When you need a manga break but don’t want to stray to far, perhaps giving a Light Novel like this a try will suffice.

Thank you to Publisher and Authors for allowing me to review this lovely Light Novel.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our library collection and will recommend it to students.

At first, I thought it was a manga so when I saw it was in reality a light novel, I thought I wasn’t going to like it a lot. Well, that was very wrong. I loved it.
The story is very interesting and promising. The first half was a bit better than the second half because there was more action and the story was faster paced. It was a quick read and most important, it was very funny. I love Maple and how innocent she is. It is very cute. It is my first light novel so I can’t really compare it but the writing style was very easy to follow and hence, perfect for middle-schoolers and older. Can’t wait to read the next volume
Now I’m going to watch the anime because I think it will be very good. I recommend it.
4/4

Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense., Vol. 1, by Jirou Oimoto and Koin is a young adult novel that was first published as a webnovel and has been translated and is now being oublished in a print format. Though she doesn’t play many MMOs, Maple has either a natural talent or impossibly good luck, because by pouring every last stat point she has into Vitality, she’s created a character who can’t be hurt! Whether it’s physical attacks or magic or status effects, nothing poses a real threat. In no time at all, news spreads across the server about the adorable terror who can’t be defeated. While Maple may just be having fun, her broken build is sure to attract lots of unexpected attention.

Bofuri is an entertaining story that fans of online gaming and anime or manga like Sword Art Online will particularly enjoy. I liked the personality of Maple, and how the other gamers view her. I was expecting a bit more gamer animosity- only because that is what I see more of in the real world. I liked the way playing an MMO was framed- and it brought me back to my college days of computer lab hours playing text based versions of games (MUDS) just like this. I had never seen the webnovel version of this story, so it was all new to me. I thought it was fun, and I really enjoyed it. I did think there was going to be more illustrations- based on the cover and subject matter- but that was my preconceived notion rather than unfulfilled promises. I think that middle grade and middle school readers would enjoy the read just as much, if not more, than young adult readers. I would happily continue reading, and I wonder how the next event will go for the players.

I will be honest, I feel a little mislead by the cover art of this book. It looked like it was a manga, which is the main reason I asked for a copy. On Goodreads it is listed as a "light novel" but I feel like that was not made clear on this site. My main criticism of this is that it definitely feels like it would have been a better manga than light novel (which it is, it is a manga, however this edition is not, I just want to be clear). It was more dialogue focused, and I realise now that it was based on an anime so it is really more a novelisation.

That being said, this was an enjoyable read! The main character is likeable and the premise is fun. Seeing the chat boards where other players were discussing Maple was probably the funniest part of the book for me.

I will be checking out the manga version of this, I really like the plot and video game premise!

This was my first time reading a light novel and I have mixed feelings about it. I loved the plot, the world, and the characters in this book. Maple and Sally were so cute and wholesome. I savored every moment with them and I admired how creative the world was. But... a light novel? I wasn't a huge fan of the way that it was written. The writing style was very bland and choppy. This story was screaming to be a manga, an anime, or a fully fleshed out novel with lots of descriptions. I believe that this series is a manga series and an anime, so I will give those a shot, but the light novel format was a major miss for me.

That being said, I liked how I was able to relate to Maple so much. Maple is literally me when it comes to video games. I tend to max up one stat and not focus on any others. Is this a flaw that makes me suck at video games? Yes but did it make me understand Maple and relate to her? Heck yes.

One last thing to bring up is that because this story is based around a video game, I got confused and bored by the statistics/skill points often. The story was very heavy on video game statistics/skill points and listing them all out. As someone who's not familiar with high intensity video games like the one that Bofuri revolves around, I found it a bit tough to get through the technical parts.

Overall this is a good story but I would recommend seeking out this story in a different format than the light novel format.

This one personally wasn't to my taste, however, there is nothing I have bad to say about it! it was simply not my kind of read, I can honestly see this one being loved by many- I just wasn't too into the tropes/genre