Originally I assumed this 3 volume manga was made as an advertisement for a LN, and when I finished it I went about checking if that was the case. The LN I managed to find is also just three volumes as well, leading me to believe each volume of the manga coincides with a volume of the LN, which definitely goes a long way to explain the pacing issues this manga has. Our MMC Shin goes from riding a bike to being a ships AI in the middle of combat, he somehow manages to do things the characters all say has never been done, and beatsthe odds time and again. He is given some characterisation, as does the FMC Sohalia, but neither are given enough characterisation for us to care about them. The various side characters also have so little characterisation as to be blank cardboard cutouts with single word descriptors written on them, leading to the reader becoming very focused on the two main leads.

However three volumes with scuffed pacing is not enough to flesh anything out, and while there is definite depth seen in the world (I particularly love the explanation for why Shin is a ship AI now), there's not enough shown for us to care about anything. There's consistent hints to things that we might see in the future, but not only do we not get to see them the way Volume 3 finishes definitively shows we never will.

There is a lot of really interesting things here, concepts that while they've been done in previous media seem to be setting up things, fights that have fun moments and interesting strategies, and characters you genuinely want to root for. But the series is so short, and seemingly content with being this short glimpse into the FMCs life, that none of this ever really gets explored. I would genuinely read an entire 20 volume series about these two leads and their escapades in war and life, but you just don't get any of that, despite the series setting some of it up.

This is a small easily read series with an interesting idea and a lot of promise, but because it never wants to be anything more than that it's doomed to be a strange curiosity with a jarring ending that leaves a sour taste in the mouth.