somnia's manga / #villainess(69)

Overall this is okay, I think. The art does a good job at keeping you patient, and honestly the premise is interesting. The main issue with this story is that there's this big moral hole concerning FL. Well, she is also kinda boring personality wise, but her situation makes her look so disingenuous and vain -which I'm pretty sure the author didn't intend. She lies constantly to people who seem to really care about her. Kind of spoilers from here on out: Nevermind the Duke, who she thinks may harm her (more on that later), but she - with the mind of a grown up - basically gaslights (or at least manipulates) her underaged husband into doing whatever she wants. And she does so to get away from him and the Duke, while they've done nothing but show her sincere affection. How is she so oblivious to that when she was supposed to be an affection-starved orphan? Not to mention there's NO real evidence that would make the reader, or FL, think the Duke really is a total heartless asshole who'd kill his daughter in law. He's framed in a sympathetic light actually, the father who closed himself off and tried to drown himself in a puddle of greed, in a vain attempt to cover the pain of his wife's passing. FL just looks like a snake who's out to take advantage of her position, and make herself a cozy playhouse, while waiting on her chance to dip out with cash-filled pockets. And the most annoying thing is that she is basically a Mary Sue and every character sings her praises for being nothing special at all. It's not even funny that they think her cheat sheet knowledge makes her a genius, it just adds onto the pile of hypocrisy she's hiding behind her greasy eyeballs. Who the hell put "strong female lead" into the tags??

Honestly, so far it's very good for a harem type reincarnation story. The translations are mid. If you're shoujo harem trash like me you'll have a lot more fun with the story on another site with better translations (mangadex for example). The lore in the story itself is also not bad. Really like the idea of holy guardian type dragons that basically work for god type of setup. Though I do not understand how the hell this whole descendant thing works for the guys of the church. (I guess this is a spoiler if you haven't read this yet, but honestly this kind of stuff is very on the nose in shoujo isekai, so let's not act like it's a real spoiler) How come the Duke's family and the Imperial bloodline inherit their dragon ancestor's characteristics, but with the church it's like "whoever has the biggest holy magic dick works." Eh? Maybe it's still gonna be brought up or I misunderstood something, but for now that's a plot hole in my book. Adding onto that a few cliches in this type of shoujo, such as the famous: "I met this important character during their childhood days, or before the novel began, and made an important impact in their life, so later we have a base to build a relationship on"- but this time around it's literally all the important characters, aka FL's entire harem. That's just one of the typical tropes I was kinda well-well about. Honestly, I'm just thankful that FL isn't a total Mary Sue. Well, she at least doesn't feel like one because you always see her struggling, injured and anxious about her sister.

It's a fun read, there's also some genuine plot though it doesn't feel all that deep. I like how some typical shoujo story holes, for example, the recurring backdrawer that keeps on leading the reader to the question of: "so, why do they remember this one story so well but not themselves?", kind of get an explanation here. I first found it jarring to have these kids act like almost-adults, but thanks to the lighthearted tone of it all I grew into it + there's actually an explanation for their behaviour. And I do kinda have to agree with other comments, the queerbaiting is there and all, and a yandere game protag crushing on our MC for little to nothing is also a bit over the top. Thanks to the comedic tone it thankfully doesn't feel all that deep, but it still lowkey makes my eyes roll to see the prince have these genuine scenes, careful thoughts and so on about our MC, while the female love interest is played up as a crazy nut used for entertainment purposes. Smh.

God I NEED more chapters. The first chapter hooked me so good and it just kept getting better. Remilia is the destined OP villainess of an Otome game. Strangely enough a reincarnator possessed her body from childhood on, letting her take a backseat within their shared conscience. She witnisses how Emi, the reincarnator, works hard and with a pure heart to give Remilia a happy ending. Of course, Remilia learned to love and appreciate Emi for her efforts, but when the classic condemnation event still takes place (due to the most hateful otome FL I've ever seen, holy shit I hate her so much) Emi takes control of her body again. The only thing she is out for now is to take revenge while doing her best to preserve Emi's efforts and memories. I can't stop praising the premise, man. This isn't just a fresh breeze in the reincarnation genre, this is like using the inhaler after choking for 5 straight minutes. I can't describe how bitter I felt when that condemnation scene hit, after you were told exactly how Emi tried her damnest to make all these people's lives better. The art is so fitting too, and don't get me started on the pacing of it all. Ok tbh, the beginning with all the exposition can feel a little long, BUT it's totally worth it. Also, sometimes you gotta appreciate an antagonist you can unapologetically hate with all your heart and no take backsies. Join my burn-in-hell-Pina Club. /2.9

Gotta keep looking out for whatever direction this is going to go. Right now it's slightly above average. Yet I can't shake the feeling that the more chapters we get, the more plot and characters are gonna turn to shit. It strikes me as the typical "Let's do things better this time and slay boss-lady style" type of isekai over all.. The type where it's just briefly mentioned how the boss lady in question makes money and what not, but it's never shown how compentent she really is, besides her sitting in front of a desk with lots of paper, and maybe giving her rival an epic burn, while making decisions that make you think she switched her brain putty out for playdoh. But again, too early to say that it's going into that direction.