Bofuri, Vol. 5 by Yuumikan, Koin
Series Name: Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense. (Light Novel)
Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Magic, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life, Video Games
Intended Age Group: 13+
Publisher: Yen On/Yen Press
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-9753-2360-8
Rating: 3/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble Crunchyroll ThriftBooks
Description from the Book
After going toe-to-toe with two of the strongest guilds on the entire server, Maple Tree proved itself as a force to be reckoned with when they placed third overall in the latest event. That said, war isn’t all the guilds are good for! Maple and her friends have steadily grown closer to members of the Order of the Holy Sword and Flame Empire as their rivalries give way to something more. With new friends and powers, everyone is more than ready to dive headfirst into the newly released stratum!
Personal & Info
I have no more volumes after this one, so more reviews will be added after I get more.
Characters
Maple Tree
Kaede Honjou, player name Maple, is the main character. She didn’t play video games much until she tried New World Online. At this point, she’s starting to understand how to play games better. She still doesn’t like the pain system, so she puts ALL stat points into her defense.
Risa Shiromine, player name Sally, is Maple’s friend. She introduced Kaede to the game, and decided to follow her lead in making an overpowered build. Her primary stat is agility, and she has a special skill as a gamer to be able to handle fast movement and reaction times without any additional program assistance.
Kasumi is a katana wielding player that Maple and Sally befriended during the second game event. Her build is normal compared to Maple, Mai, and Yui.
Kanade is a mage player that Maple befriended during the second game event. His staff is a Rubik’s cube. He has an amazing memory, which makes him a uniquely skilled player.
Chrome is the Anonymous Great Shielder in the forums and Maple’s friend. He’s one of the best great shielders in the game, and his build is relatively normal compared to Maple.
Iz is a crafter that Maple met through Chrome. She’s one of the best crafters in the game.
Yui and Mai are twins only differentiated by their hair colors of white and black. They are Maple’s newest friends, and chose pure strength builds.
Oboro and Syrup are Sally and Maple’s animal companion rewards from the second event. Oboro is a fox, and Syrup is a turtle.
Flame Empire
Mii is a mage specializing in fire magic, with the nickname Flame Empress. She is a role player who is in too deep to quit.
Marx has the nickname Trapper. His specialty is setting traps, and he is eighth in player rankings.
Misery has the nickname Saint Misery. She’s primarily a healer, but she is tenth in player rankings.
Shin has the nickname Splinter Sword. He has a rivalry with Kasumi.
The Order of the Holy Sword
Pain is the top player on the server. He plays a holy sword knight.
Frederica is a mage specializing in aoe attacks. She has an ongoing rivalry with Sally.
Drag has the nickname Groundsplitter. He’s an axe wielder and tends to make Frederica cover his defense while he focuses on DPS. He is fifth in the player rankings.
Dread has the nickname Godspeed. He uses daggers similarly to Sally and appears to be faster than her. He also has a heightened sense of intuition for danger, which helps make him a formidable foe. His ranking from the first event is second.
Story & Thoughts
This volume covers a lot, and I actually have several gripes. First of all, there are two new stratums and two events. The book is not long, so there are significant time skips. It covers everything from roughly October through February. That’s a long time frame! And I don’t mean that in a good way. Despite the multiple content drops, it feels like hardly anything happens.
I think the biggest problem is the story might have too many characters. The first couple volumes are charming because they focus on two friends playing the game and having fun. Now, there is a long list of characters, which means more time has to be spent on individual quests and various group adventures. There are so many time skips, and adventures feel more glossed over. The new characters were interesting for the fourth event in volume four, but now they seem like a hinderance.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the story expanding with new characters. But, right now, they’re all very shallow. I want them to have more in-depth adventures to get to know them better. Chrome had one a while back, and Kasumi gets one in this book, but I don’t think that is enough for them. Most other characters haven’t had any at all, yet, and the group ones don’t quite feel the same since they just walk through everything. The characters have little to no challenge. Boss battles earlier in the series are more interesting and thrilling. The ones here feel a bit lacking in comparison.
The story is still fine and enjoyable. It just feels like there’s a dip in quality at the moment. I hope it goes back up in the next one or two volumes. Also, there are no admin or forum sections. I like those, and actually miss them. With two events and multiple boss battles, I thought there would be at least one, but there isn’t.