Wim Strauss isn't a flashy fighter--he's a granting caster, a support mage who boosts his allies' strength in battle. His magic keeps the party alive. But when his quiet power starts to overshadow the wrong person, the team's prideful leader has him unceremoniously kicked out.

Enter his slightly clingy childhood friend Heidemarie, now a member of Nachtlibelle, a renowned A-rank guild counted among the strongest in the land. She offers Wim a chance to join her team--a fresh start among allies who actually value his skills. His magic may not dazzle, but with the right party behind him, he just might prove that the back line was never where he truly belonged.

Magical Buffs: The Support Caster is Stronger Than He Realized! has story by Haka Tokura and art by Eiri Shirai. English translation is done by Maddy Willette with an adaptation by Rei Geronimo. Published by Seven Seas Entertainment (February 17, 2026).

Erica Friedman
Rating:

This story begins in a wholly relatable place – a toxic work environment, with a boss whose entire personality requires that they put other people down to feel important. As the book opens, Wim Strauss is being fired from a party run by a narcissist. Wim has had many years to learn how useless he is and has absorbed those lessons well. Even less appealing, his stress response is a creepy chuckle.

But a powerful friend gives him a chance to join a much larger, more competent, welcoming, and high-functioning party. Slowly, Wim starts to come out of his shell. His unique methods of support buffs are so effective that the party leader uses them to train herself to an even higher level. All is going well, and Wim's life is getting better.

For approximately nine tenths of this book, it was interesting enough – especially the theories behind Wim's magic, which were unique enough that I found them quite fascinating (and, no lie, wondered how I could translate some of that to real-world, non-magic sword practice, which I have begun again.) It was absolutely cool that Wim began to buff himself and unlock new potential. Then the very last bit of the story goes completely off the rails. And even that was acceptable. Sadly, the final extra story was so off-key, so poorly written, so much like a mediocre fanfic with a bizarrely abrupt ending that I put my tablet down and just said “huh.”

As usual with light novels, the art is mere portraiture, illustrating absolutely none of the interesting parts of the book. As usual, this is a damn shame, because some very interesting parts would have made great illustrations.

I'm not sorry I read it, but feel disappointed that with such solid base material, the story didn't buff itself in the end. If you're just looking for a loser-to-hero narrative, this is definitely one of those. Like Wim, it could have been so much more with a little positive guidance.