About two-three weeks ago, I was scrolling through novel-updates trying to find a way to get out of my reader slump. I have been reading webnovels as my main form of entertainment for around 5-6 years at this point, and it truly felt as if I had read every good webnovel under the sun, with all that is left being either too early in their publication for me to feel interested or too generic in their premise for me to feel engaged. It has been months since I have last read and actually finished a novel that I enjoyed, and it seemed that my slump would continue longer and longer, that is until I have noticed the raws for 'Restricted Fantasy Invasion' has finished.
To preface, I have been aware of this novel for a while now. I would always see it in several reading lists, most of which are focused on either harems or romance novels. The plot had seemed rather interesting, and it had a lot of positive reviews, however the reason I have never picked it up in the past is because of the lacking chapter count. It has sat on the back burner as one of these novels that I would eventually get into once it was completed, which it now was. And so, I started reading it, and man, it wasn't just good, but really fucking good. I could not put this novel down for a straight week, something that hasn't happened for over a year at this point, and I just feel the necessity to talk about it and potentially get more people to read this novel, because it is fairly underrated from what I have seen. Now onto the actual novel itself.
The premise of the novel follows Yan Huan, someone who was reborn in a parallel modern day Earth. In the beginning of the story, Yan Huan had already lived out the majority of his early youth in his second life, as it begins with him already in High-School, bored with the apparent mundanity of his second life. However, it is in this setting that Yan Huan encounters something peculiar, as on one random day in class, he sees a girl walk into his classroom, a girl that apparently nobody else but him can see. At the same time, he hears a voice in his head warning him to pretend as if he doesn't see the girl as well. Eventually, the girl leaves, and afterwards, Yan Huan finds out that the voice in his head came from a black cat who declares himself as the god of the world that Yan Huan was reborn into. Apparently, the god/cat (Who is referred to as 'Meow Sauce' by the mtl I was reading) had chosen Yan Huan as the saviour of the world, as the world is currently being endangered by certain entities known as Modifier Hosts. These Modifier Hosts include the girl that was invisible before, and all of them are girls who possess abilites and powers straight out of a R-18 Doujinshi, abilities that are in some way connected to their own twisted desires. The abilities themselves were given to these girls by an Eldritch entity, whose purpose is to turn Yan Huan's world into one that is plagued by desire and pleasure, and the only way to avoid this future, is for the Modifier Host to willingly give up these abilities, and their twisted desires. It is up to Yan Huan as he gets close to each of these girls and try to get them to give up the source of their twisted desires, and by extension their status as world-ending threats, potentially saving the world in the process; or what is a lot more likelier, get locked up in a basement where he becomes the object of said desires.
The best way to describe this novel from my time reading is that it is a mix of the mind-games you get from reading Kaguya-sama with the structure and character writing you get from Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai. This sentiment is especially prevalent in the beginning, which is a lot more focused on the plans that Yan Huan makes against each Modifier Host, as he learns about their individual past and personalities in the process. Each of the plans that Yan Huan makes are logical, as Yan Huan is a pretty smart protagonist, with the entertainment factor of these early chapters coming from the process of seeing how Yan Huan navigates the relationships that he creates with each Modifier Host. It is in this base appeal that you start to see the part that made me fall so much in love in this novel in the first place, which is the characters.
The cast of Restricted Fantasy Invasion are made up of some of the most compelling and enjoyable characters I have read in webnovels in a long time. To begin, lets talk about the protagonist himself, Yan Huan. In the beginning, I didn't really enjoy Yan Huan much as a main character. This is mainly because of how fake he feels in the relationships he makes with the people around him. Alot of the times, it only ever feels that Yan Huan is only interested in a relationship for how it might advance his goal resolving the problem of the Modifier Hosts. Now, that is not to say that all of Yan Huan's relationships are fake, or that he doesn't have emotions, but more so a matter of the different masks and personas that Yan Huan adopts in order to always ensure the most success in his plans, hiding away his true self in the process. He is intelligent, proactive, and calculating, but it is in that very intelligence that Yan Huan loses an important element of being a person, genuineness. However, note that I specify the beginning, as Yan Huan goes through some of the most satisfying character development I have seen by the end of the first volume. I won't spoil much, but the whole entire notion of Yan Huan being artificial and fake is a very intentional character flaw that the author gives to Yan Huan, as it connects to the themes of truth and lies that the first volume explores. By the end of the first volume and in later volumes, Yan Huan has easily become one of the best harem protagonist that I have read, as some of the shit he pulls makes it very understandable as to why the female leads fall so madly in love with him. In the end, what started as just an objective for Yan Huan to achieve becomes a mission that he pursues with all his heart, as he no longer solely acts with the most logical plan in mind, but also with an earnest determination in helping the people that desperately needs his help.
Moving on to the female leads, all of them are really strong and well-realized characters. A part of this is due to the fact that each volume of the novel is focused on a primary female lead. However, this doesn't mean that all the other female leads are sidelined in service of one lead in a given volume, as the author does a good job of incorporating their character in a way that feels relevant to the main plot. It is difficult to talk about the female leads without getting into some heavy spoilers, so I'll just go over what I think makes them work so well while going over some mild spoilers. Throughout the course of the story, you get to learn more about the female leads in regards to their past and personalities. You get to understand why they develop the desires that they have, as well as the connection they have with the modifier powers they manifest. It is an element of their character writing that makes them feel remarkably human, which is enforced by the flaws that their characters exhibit. Each of the female lead is flawed in some way, and it is in that flaw that the author is able to explore the central themes of each character. Each volume of the story explores a different thematic ideal, and each ideal corresponds with a specific character from the female cast. As mentioned before, the themes of the first volume is truth and lies, ideas that resonate very strongly with the central character of the first volume, >!Arya Spencer!<. Likewise, this trend continues with the following volumes, as volume two explores the connection between pleasure and true love in >!An Le!< while the third volume explores the unhealthy interaction between self-hatred and self-perfection in >!Sakuramiya Hitomi!<. I have yet to finish the fourth and fifth volume, which is connected to the two other female leads that are a part of the main cast.
Outside of the characters, another part that I really love about this novel is it's structure. The author of this novel does a phenomenal job at setting up and foreshadowing future plot events, making the flow and progression of the story feel very natural as a result. This sense of fluidity to the novel's pacing and structure is further enforced by how the ending of each volume sets up the next, as the consequences of Yan Huan's actions, both good and bad, are immediately picked up on in the following volume. That is to say, this novel is paced and structured perfectly in my opinion, with the only instance of bad pacing being the novel's beginning, as that is when the author is main focused with the prospect of introducing all the characters in the novel.
Overall, I would wholeheartedly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a refreshing harem/romance novel to read. It avoids a lot of the pitfalls that other novels of it's genres suffer from, and excels in crafting emotionally enriching characters and story lines. If you are still unsure, then I recommend at least finishing the first volume before determining whether or not you want to drop or continue reading, which is around 120 chapters. And to those who have read this novel and desperately want something similar, then I recommend checking out this author's other work, 'The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls', which retains a lot of what I enjoyed in regards to Restricted Fantasy Invasion.