Finners

(there's also a sequel and a third one coming fyi)

AKA that body-swap anime from 2012. It was pretty enjoyable, so when I found out it had an official English translation since 2018, I started reading the light novels. I was surprised to enjoy them so much.

It's a cheesy teen drama, and each of the 11 volumes focuses on a different revelation about identity, the typical coming-of-age stuff you'd expect. A few queer characters rock up eventually and they're done pretty darn well¹. Serious themes like sexual assault are handled respectfully. And several characters are, in my opinion, 'tism'd up, as they say. Like, extremely relatable autism, at least for me.

I'm not really spoiling anything as the following information is introduced from the very start and doesn't affect the story, but I'll list some examples under the read more:

1. Unfortunately, there is a classic predatory queer character at the start but it turns out that's just how she is. She gets better. The others ones are normal.

This guy is the first person you see outside of the tutorial town, falling from the sky. There is no associated quest or follow-up.

It's an instantly memorable encounter. A non sequitur punchline to the Grimy Medieval Fantasy the game set up for the last ten minutes. And it also teases the over-the-top magic mechanics; you can take his scrolls and try Acrobatics 1000 for yourself right off the bat.

Every time I replay Morrowind, this catches me by surprise and I burst out laughing. Then I take his silly hat and robes, pawn off the rest and set off for Balmora.

this is the real shit