somnia's manga / #isekai(91)

Meldenique is the villainess of a romance fantasy novel. She is the evil, cursed fiance of the ML who gets in the way of the FL's romance and success in life. Our MC is very uninterested in living that out, so she throws away her shitty family and title, and opens up her own small business... It's not really a stationary shop? More of a candy store lol. On the way she also picks up an OP hero spirit, named Dominic, who basically is her side kick and main crutch for now. Anywho, turns out these supposed good guy protags are total scum and get in her way in any way possible. Included in that pool is her fiance, who doesn't love her one bit, but is at the same time strangely obsessed with her. So, I really like this one despite heavily playing into the whole "I possessed the villainess, but changed to avoid fatality and oops they all love me now"-trope. It plays into it with taste, but also gives it a tiny twist. She doesn't have upper hand at all at the start, and is constantly being stepped on by various chunks of faeces who you'll hate more the longer you read (ofc not to the point of totally ruining her). The pacing so far is nice, it's mostly held up by said faeces constantly being bad guys. Good and bad is defined VERY clearly with this one, but for now their crimes don't feel too cartoony. It's cute how involved children are in the plot, though sometimes you really wonder why they have so much say as the little kids that they are. Ah, and ngl, Domenic's SSR class magic go brr abilities are a bit too much here and there. His abilities are a bit TOO convinient sometimes. You can overlook that though, since he's supposed to be this kind of powerful hero. I couldn't help but spoil myself to see where it's all headed, and man, it's gonna get good. Can't wait to see the stand-offs between Mel and the og FL. Not to mention our ML. Over all, a worthwhile read so far.

If you think too much about it, you get tired of the plot fast. Honestly, the writer(s?) could've left out the whole thing about her possessing the villainess of a novel and it would still be the same. At first you assume this is about more than just FL, but this story is pretty much just a power fantasy where you're meant to put yourself in her shoes to slay and enjoy the vibes. It's not for everyone, and certainly not for me. The whole thing about the ex being the ML also turns me off. It's refreshing to a FL who doesn't blush or think about her main love interest asap, but their whole dynamic is so predictable, and their chemistry is the equivalant of filtered still water. Ah, another reason why story may get boring for you is how shallow the "business lore" is explained/portrayed. One thing happens and she loses her ENTIRE customer base only to go on a mini mission to gain them all back (and repeat that formula every few chapters)? This is why I said that thinking too much ruins the fun. Later chapters only get worse.

You know the drill. A reincarnated girl possesses the body of the villainess in a BL novel, who is also said male lead's sister, as mentioned in the title lol. Instead of bullying him and making him an even edgier boy bound for heartbreak, she decides to be nice and change him so he can be happy with his future lover. Eh, yea. Starts off okay. And as you read more it's becoming very apparant how little the plot points actually matter. Only FL does. She doesn't do shit besides act cute with the Duke and ML in her childhood, nothing concerning their abuse and then it's just forgotten about after FL has her trauma moment. And from what I recall ML never got this acknowledged much unless it's from FL's commentary. Turns out she's a saint, color me impressed. I don't want to write another essay on this but let me just say this: what was author's reason for making the og story a BL? To fish for starved fujoshis? Sure, gay people exist and don't have to be tied to the yaoi genre but the implications of healing a broken gay character and making them fall in love with a straight woman is kinda questionable, you get what I mean? Nitpicking but still. I think that just shows what I meant when I say that only FL and her fish matter.

MC is reincarnated into a romance novel with the typical "blessed maiden from another world falls for the Emporer, kicks off the evil fiance, and fights evil"-plot. SHE is born as the 2nd ML, who turns out to actually be a woman in disguise. First of all. I like that MC isn't all over the novel plot. She worries reasonably and has yet to fall into that annoying pattern of overthinking and jumping to useless conclusions. Her body morphing through artifacts also makes it more believable for her to pass as male, not to mention the other interesting magic stuff she got going on. It's refreshing to not be stuck in the child POV for like 30+ chapters for once. The story gets done with what it needs to convey and moves on. With that said, the pacing is tight, but a bit too tight. Some things just went and left without enough explanation. For example, I was left with confusion when they clearly show the Prince not liking his fiance, but after one sentence and whatever many years later they're bickering like true friends, without really showing their relationship progress. The story's weak when it comes to character development in general. Anyway, there is also this potential of the whole "omg no homo, thank god" narrative. But I personally hope that they'll play up the "idc about your gender, I love YOU" perspective, that'd be better than tasteless homophobic messaging. And even though Enok is lowkey nuts, I hope he's the ML, at least he admires her while knowing she's a woman. That'd be more comfy for sure. As for the saintess, an originally good main character who turns sus bc the story pov changed is always welcome. I hope the pace slows down now that she's there to basically signal the start of the og novel.

I think story-wise this gets worse and worse as time goes on. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy MC's character and how tropes (as well as more unique aspects) are tackled, but the way everything's structured gets boring after you get used to it. One issue is tackled, then the next, then the next, with some more important plot nuggets in between. A checklist of things to do and overcome. It was nice when it was applied to MC's family issues (bc it felt like MC was intentionally tackling one thing after the other to help her family), but then you get to broader, more public events outside of MC's control and this rigid structure is still there. Also, I feel like the whole thing about her falling in love and getting engaged was way too rushed. Nvm, literally everything after her "soul unification" felt so meh to me. I was ready to indulge the OP trope for the sake of having a furry-loving MC who has 2 souls, but not like this. I still hope things will heat up when the game protag enters center stage but for now, the plot do be mid.

Def made for quick cliche snack. You stay for the drama and for the serotonin you get from witnissing FL and her boyfriend be lovey-dovey with each other. Typical ordinary-girl-possessed villainess business, the bad guys turn good, the heroine turns into a snake and they get into each others way bc yes. It's fast paced, and while the characters are pretty shallow, all of them still move around each other in interesting enough ways to keep you going. I personally got bored by FL and ML acting all romantic. They speak about whatever and throw in random lovey-dovey dialogue, and I just want them to tackle plot stuff instead of being stuck in a random place talking about their marriage plans, AGAIN.

Basically One Punch Man but shoujo reincarnation version. MC had a short life, always sickly and on death's door. When she gets reincarnated as the supposed final boss, the sheer joy and limitless possibilities of having a healthy body prevent her from having this destined tragic childhood. Like, her first life was already on nightmare-mode and now that she got a good body starting from light to mid difficulty everything's a breeze. All the lil twists are well-explained by the now constantly mentally exhausted cat familiar who watches over MC, but it's less about being worried for her and more about how fucking far the intended storyline is going to drift this time. The whole thing is just taking the piss in the best way, love it.

FL transmigrates into a noble lady character, experiencing the classic transmigration into a rofan novel cliche, only she doesn't know which one by virtue of having read too many and is desperately looking forward to making her rofan fantasies happen. Starts of kinda silly, honestly it's very embarrassing with how FL is constantly seeking some kinda role or romance to experience and failing miserably BUT it's only for a bit at the start. This gets really funny and also has some legit plot, this feels lowkey fresh too. Normally I can vaguely tell which direction this type of story will go in, but I have no idea here. Also also, it's really meta in a way. Like, (SPOILERS) she apparently has the power to make her wishes come true by virtue of being the mc, and yes true she literally is the mc.