Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense Vol. 2 Light Novel Review – Perfecting the Game

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve grown tired of these VRMMORPG stories of overpowered characters building their harem and taking on every challenge imaginable. However, I think that’s what makes Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense so different. In essence, you have a character playing one of these VR-type games without knowing the medium and somehow breaking it. All the while, the narrative makes you question why you never made a character in the same that Maple did.

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense Vol. 2 continues Maple and Sally’s adventure, which covers an entire in-game event from beginning to end. The result is some much-needed character moments to flesh out Sally’s personality and at the same time highlight just how much Maple is capable of being an RPG nerd.

For one in-game week, players will be set loose in a new area, searching for medals that can be used to purchase rare skills for their character. Maple and Sally set off and explore various environments in search of medals that aren’t particularly easy to come by. The event is PVP, which also keeps the characters on their toes, where Maple’s nerfed abilities affect some of the situations they get in.

However, as broken as Maple is as an inexperienced player, Sally is just as broken, but the complete opposite in terms of experience. Still, they both need each other as Maple’s unconventional way of thinking exposes the party’s new strategies during tough battles. In addition, there’s an important moment in the story where they face off against a doppelganger version of the other, which exposes how they would approach each other if they were to ever fight.

Some of the low points of the story occur that really felt unnecessary. For example, a trip to the beach introduces a strange new character male character who plays no particular role in the narrative. In addition, the whole interaction really hurt the pacing as nothing came out of the meeting or the discovery of a dungeon. Further, while medals are typically hard to get by, it seems like a few were just thrown into this scene for the sake of it.

Regardless, I think it’s important that Yuumikan showed how adept Maple was getting at using her skills. It creates some great moments of character growth for her, but she never loses her imagination to push the game to unknown means. There’s a significant battle in the story that proves Maple can have as much defense as she wants, but she still needs to understand how to play.

I believe this volume was mostly about Sally, though. We learn a lot about her and get to see a few different sides of her. Ultimately, the light novel sells just how powerful their friendship is and how very different they both are. I wish that the light novel covered more than just a single event, but readers will find a lot can happen in the span of an event, which has me eager to see just how much Maple can grow in the next volume.