Archive of a review published in June 26, 2021 that was deleted.

Otaku Girl (Webnovel Review)

Janet Webby

Have you ever read a story that is so strange and bizarre that makes you wonder what the hell did the author consumed to write that story? Louis Bulaong’s novel 

 is my new example of this. There’s no definite way to describe this satirical weirdlit gamelit hybrid, other than it being a novel filled with internet memes.

At first glance, you'd think that the novel looks normal enough. It's got that typical video game-inspired setting like in many gamelits and litrpgs. But on the other hand, it's quite different. It's basically this story about a group of nerds who got trapped inside a virtual reality where they can use the powers of comic book, anime, and video game characters. You could expect that pop culture stories like this will be filled with geeky references and tropes. But the author ups-the- ante by adding memes. Like seriously, there's one chapter where the geeks actually fight frigging Ultra-Instinct Shaggy and Big Chungus. It's 

If the premise and the characters aren't wacky enough, there's Louis Bulaong's writing style. He typically writes the same way one writes fanfiction, like say, using words such as "tanked" or "tagged". But he makes the writing even weirder by pseudo-breaking the fourth wall a few times in hilarious ways. I've never read anything like it. It's like a postmodern novel for geeks and nerds; a lot of the things that happen in it are things an average reader wouldn't get. But it's hilarious if you know your anime and comic books.

That being said, it’s not for everyone. I’m not sure if the memes used here are timeless; some of them are pretty dead, to be honest. If you're a nerd and you love nerdy things, feel free to check it out and have a laugh. It's currently free on many webnovel sites and has gotten some good ratings. It's currently 4.55/5 in Royal Road, 4.75/5 in Neovel, and 5/5 in Scribblehub.

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