"I'm Called a Useless God, So What?" Episode 7 Commentary - The History of Forbidden Books is Surprisingly Simple -

Hello.

I'm Yoshitaka Nakamura, the author of "I'm Called a Useless God, So What?"

This time, I will be providing a commentary on the "forbidden books" that appear in Episode 7, while also looking back at the story.

2026/7/24-2026/7/28 Free Release

When you hear the term "forbidden book," what kind of things do you imagine?

A book that curses you if you read it.
A book containing secrets that could destroy the world.
A dangerous spell that only gods can handle.
Or perhaps an ancient document sealed deep underground, allowed to be read only by the chosen few.

If you think of it as a subject for a story, you can create any number of grand settings.

However, the forbidden book I wanted to depict in Episode 7 is not simply a book containing terrifying power.
At the root of this episode is a very simple question: Why do people hide information? And why do people want to know about hidden information?
—

The history of forbidden books is surprisingly simple

When you look into the history of forbidden books, the reasons vary depending on the era.

Religious reasons.

Political reasons.
To protect social order.
To protect the position of those in power.
To prevent the spread of dangerous knowledge.
To prevent the public from becoming confused.
When listed, it looks complicated.
However, if you strip away the structure layer by layer, what remains at the end is surprisingly simple.

There is a "side that is troubled if it is known" and a "side that wants to know."

The history of forbidden books is almost entirely a repetition of this.
The side that prohibits it thinks that something will break if the information spreads.

Order will break.

Faith will waver.
Authority will be lost.
Dangerous technology will be misused.
People will be confused.
On the other hand, the side that reads it thinks that because it is forbidden, there must be something important written inside.

Is there a truth that must not be known?

Is there something being hidden from us?

Is there knowledge that someone is monopolizing?

Thus, the chase between the side that prohibits and the side that wants to know begins.

Even as times change, this structure has not changed much.

Books have just turned into the internet, and forbidden books have just turned into deleted information or undisclosed documents.

—

"Forbidden" does not necessarily mean "bad"

What is difficult here is that the side designating something as a forbidden book is not necessarily evil.

There is truly dangerous knowledge.

There is information that can hurt people if used incorrectly.

If handed to someone who is not yet prepared to handle it, there are things that will cause damage not only to the person themselves but also to those around them.

In that case, there is a certain reason for hiding the information. However, on the other hand, there are also cases where the reason for hiding information is merely to avoid responsibility or maintain authority.
I don't want my failures to be known.

I want to hide past judgment errors.
Our position will be in danger.
It is inconvenient to explain.
That is why we prohibit it.

While saying "it's dangerous" on the surface, they might actually just be protecting themselves. In other words, being a forbidden book and that book being evil are not the same thing.

Who prohibited it?

Why did they prohibit it?
What were they trying to protect?
And who would be troubled if it were read?
Unless you look that far, you cannot understand the meaning of that forbidden book.

In Episode 7, I replaced this structure, which is simple but cannot be judged from only one direction, with the world of the gods.

—

Why are there forbidden books in the world of the gods?

Gods are sometimes depicted as beings who know more than humans.

However, the gods in "Useless God" do not know everything.

There are things they don't know.

They make mistakes.
They fail.
They try to shirk responsibility.
They interpret things in a way that is convenient for them.
And sometimes, they even know things they shouldn't.

That part is not much different from human society.

That is precisely why there are forbidden books in the world of the gods.
Because they are gods, they can manage them correctly.
Because they are gods, they won't misuse them.
Because they are gods, they can keep secrets.
Such premises easily collapse in the world of "Useless God." Rather, the more power one has, the greater the information one can handle.

If the information one can handle becomes greater, the damage when failing also becomes greater. Therefore, forbidden books are not just secret books, but also lead to the problem of how those with power manage their own failures.

—

"How to handle information" felt from real experience

In my own work and relationships, I have often seen how information is handled rather than the information itself.

Even with the same fact, the meaning changes depending on who tells it. If you cut out only a part, you can make it a completely opposite story. What is a major secret to someone who doesn't know it might be something everyone involved already knows.

Conversely, there are things that seem like everyone knows, but in reality, no one has confirmed them accurately.

When someone says "this is a fact," I do not judge based on those words alone.
What did they see?

How far did they confirm it?

Did they confirm it themselves?
Did they just hear it from someone else?
Is that person's speculation mixed in?
I separate those things and think about them.
Forbidden books are the same. Just being told "it's a dangerous book" doesn't mean I know if it's really dangerous.

Is dangerous content written in it?

Is there a fact written in it that is inconvenient if read?

Was it judged that the reader lacks the ability to understand it?

Or does the side that prohibited it not accurately understand the contents either?

Information has no meaning just by existing.

It only gains power depending on who uses it and with what intention.

Knowledge is the same.
Just knowing it has no meaning.
How do you judge and use it in reality?

I believe that only by connecting to that point does knowledge truly come alive.

—

About the writing style of Episode 7

In Episode 7, I am dealing with the subject of "forbidden books," which can easily become a bit heavy.

If I write it normally, there will be a lot of explanation.

The origin of the forbidden book.
The reason it was prohibited.
Past events.
Rules for handling it.
Its position in the divine realm.

If all these settings are made into explanatory text, the movement of the story will stop.

So, this time too, I dispersed the information within the conversation.

The characters do not explain the whole picture of the forbidden book at once. They speak only what they know from their own position.

Some are mistaken.
Some do not talk about the inconvenient parts.

Some exaggerate the story, while others take the danger lightly.

By layering those discrepancies, I created a structure where the reader gradually approaches the true nature of the forbidden book. I think this is close to how information is conveyed in reality.

Even in actual events, you almost never see the whole picture from the beginning.
You listen to the stories of those involved, check the documents, find contradictions, and the structure gradually becomes visible.
In "Useless God," I am depicting that process not by showing it only in explanatory text, but as discrepancies in the conversations of the gods and shikigami.

—

Putting heavy subjects into light conversation

There was a way to depict the subject of forbidden books heavily from the beginning. However, that would not be like "Useless God." Even when dealing with serious problems, the gods are somewhat off-kilter.

Even when faced with something dangerous, the conversation goes off-track.
They push the responsibility onto each other.
They think only they are okay.

They worry about unimportant things at critical moments.

Because of that lightness, the danger of the forbidden book is seen in a different form. What is truly scary is not just that dangerous things exist.

It is that the people handling the dangerous things do not correctly understand that danger.

It's safe because there are rules.
It's okay because it's sealed.
There's no problem because a great god is managing it.

Someone else will take responsibility, so I don't need to worry.

By layering those small lapses in judgment, a big problem occurs.

In Episode 7, I tried to show that danger not by writing it as a sermon, but through the off-kilter conversations of the characters.

You can laugh while reading it. However, if you stop for a moment, you feel, "Isn't this something that often happens in reality?"

I am conscious of that sense of distance.

—

Is only the person who reads the forbidden book bad?

In stories dealing with forbidden books, there is often a development where the person who breaks the prohibition and reads it causes a problem.

Certainly, the side that reads what is prohibited on their own also has responsibility.

However, if you end it there, the problem becomes simple.

Why was that book placed there?
Why was it in a state where it could be read?
Why didn't they explain the reason for prohibiting it?
Why did the side managing it leave it alone until a problem occurred?

Does just saying "don't read it" really count as managing it?

What I wanted to think about in Episode 7 is this part.

The side that prohibits it does not give sufficient explanation, the management remains ambiguous, and yet if a problem occurs, only the side that reads it is punished. This also happens in real organizations.

There are rules.

However, no one understands them accurately.

The person in charge is also ambiguous.
The operation method is not decided either.

Even so, when a problem occurs, it is processed as "the person who broke the rules is bad."

Of course, the responsibility of the person who broke them does not disappear.

However, you must not erase the responsibility of the side that manages it either.

The problem surrounding forbidden books is not just a problem of those who lost to curiosity,

but also a problem of the entire organization regarding how to manage and convey dangerous information.

—

Is knowing truly justice?

On the other hand, I do not think that "all hidden information should be disclosed."

Right to know.

Information disclosure.
Transparency.
All are important.

However, it is not the end just by disclosing information.

It is not guaranteed that those who know will understand correctly.

Only a part might be spread.
It might be used while still misunderstood.
It might turn into material to attack someone.
Knowing is important.
However,

How do you handle it after knowing?

Unless you think including that far, information disclosure creates other dangers.
There is a problem with the side that hides the forbidden book.

There is a problem with the side that tries to expose the forbidden book.

If you make only one side justice, the story becomes easy to understand. However, reality is not divided that cleanly. That is why even in "Useless God," I have not prepared a clear correct answer.

Each character acts from their own position.

There are correct parts.

There are also wrong parts.
And everyone is slightly off-kilter.
—

What I wanted to convey in Episode 7

What I wanted to convey in Episode 7 is not "let's expose the hidden truth."

Also,

"Dangerous information should all be hidden"

is not it either.

What I wanted to convey is that it is necessary to look at both the reason for hiding information and the reason for wanting to know.

It is bad because it is prohibited.

It is correct because it is disclosed.

It is a fact because a great person said it.
It is the truth because everyone believes it.
With such simple judgments, the essence of information cannot be seen.
Not who said it, but what can be confirmed.

What is a fact and what is speculation.

Who benefits and who is troubled.
Why was that information hidden.
After thinking that far, judge for yourself.
The forbidden book in Episode 7 is a subject for that purpose.
—

Finally

The word forbidden book has a somewhat special and mysterious ring to it.

However, what lies at the root of its history is surprisingly simple.

Those who are troubled if it is known hide it.

Those who want to know search for it.

Those who manage it make rules.

Those who have curiosity cross that boundary.

And when a problem occurs, a push-and-pull of responsibility begins over who was bad.

This composition is not just a story of the world of old books.

It is happening at home, at work, in organizations, and on the internet.
Even if the form changes, human behavior does not change much.
"Useless God" is a story of gods.
However, the appearance of gods failing, hiding, doubting, and losing to curiosity is almost no different from human society.
In Episode 7, while using the somewhat large subject of forbidden books, I depicted the responsibility of those who handle information and the danger of those who try to know. On the surface, it is a story of gods and shikigami making a fuss over a forbidden book.

However, behind that,

"If it were you, how would you judge when faced with hidden information?"

I have placed that question.

I think that if you read it by paying attention to the judgments and discrepancies of the characters when faced with it, rather than the forbidden book itself, Episode 7 will look different.