Never has the term "Never Judge A Book By It's Cover" been more literal than this story has any right to be.
What could have been a generic and unoriginal fantasy RPG story has crafted its self into an amazing concept which deals with an interesting topic not commonly brought up in Fantasy RPG: DISCRIMINATION

(risk of spoilers ahead)
Story:10
The plot starts with a otaku college student being brushed into a fantasy world with 3 other people to save this kingdom and be heralded as heroes.The main lead has given the weakest power(Shield) and has to proven himself from the bottom to the top.

While the beginning starts of kind of blah, it takes an interesting turn when the act of betrayal and discrimination plays into affect.The story doesn't focus on how great the hero is, but how he survives his everyday lives when labelled as a criminal.Each chapter has its own unique flavour and yet still has that captivating drive and alpha-dog nature which is makes it all the more enjoyable


Art:9
The art is great for what it is.It is drawn by the same person who did the Persona 4 manga, so its stands as feat with splash pages and unique monster characters images.However it isn't unique enough from any other similar manga to stand out much.But the arts has done its job pretty well

Characters:9
The main lead instantly became my favourite character in the story (first for me in any manga) as it proves something not many manga can do: show a balance of jerk and nice .This has more development and reasons to be a douche, and at same time comes of very likable in many places

The two other female leads also has been done nicely in setting their personalities as likable, cute and at the same time close to the lead.

The villains are delightfully hateable, the side characters have more characterization than they need to.My only issue is aging of the female lead, which came of as unnecessary and more perverted than it had any right to.But it can be easily ignored by her bubbly charm

Overall I feel this manga got me hooked on arrival.Its an seinen manga which delves into ostracization of the lead, in a way that the whole story depends on it rather than it being a plot-point.My little issues havent discouraged me in the least and I look forward to see where this series takes me