somnia's manga / #villainess(69)

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.

40/ Our MC, Helga, is the young lady of a powerful Dukedom. Her real mother, a maid who served the family, swapped her and her half-sister Hyllian out when they were infants - which was eventually found out by the Duchess. As you can guess, Helga went through hell trying to endure this family. Once Hyllian returns, they expect Helga to just quietly switch identities and give up all her accomplishments. Hell no, to put it kindly. Honestly, I feel this is one of the better "I may be fake or real, but I'll become a menace either way"-shoujo stories. The focus of Helga's revenge isn't Hyllian, despite her inner frustration and salt when they're together. Hyllian is more so a tool to hurt the Duchess. With that said, the bar isn't that high either, idk if I still need more info, but some cosmic coincidences just line up too perfectly sometimes. I have 2 questions: Why did the Duchess not hunt down her real daughter asap instead of waiting however many years? And how did Hyllian find out that Helga and she were gonna switch names/identities just by being told that "Hyllian" is getting married to the Prince? Also, thank god they both ended up looking similar enough to be confused as identical twins, Anime DNA is amazing. The Duchess would've looked even dumber otherwise. There was this annoying voice at the back of my mind, every time Helga brought up her escape plan. It just said "if she did it another, the easy way you wouldn't have to sacrifice your fortune and love interest for the sake of one last petty comeback", over and over again. After she succeeded and escaped I found it hard to keep on reading. At that point you kinda know what everyone's deal is and what side they're on, so guessing the outcome is easy. Despite that, I still appreciate this one for not pitting the sisters against one another, and treating their feelings for each other with respect and depth. Update: So after 100 chapters you can scratch the whole thing about Helga's sister not being made the ultimate bad guy. The author turned her into an opponent after all. As I said after Helga leaves her family the story's quality decreases rapidly. At this point stuff only happens for the sake of something happening, and every plot thread feels useless af.

One of the first shoujo manhwas I read, it's a lowkey a classic in my heart, so I may be a bit biased. As the title indicates this is about our FL, Elise and she is a doctor. In more detail though: Elise lived in a fantasy world as a noble lady in her first life, and basically did a lot of bad things for which she was burned at the stake. In her second life she became a surgeon to atone for the life she wasted on misdeads, only to die at a young age and be reborn as Elise again. Anyway, despite FL's lowkey confusing reincarnation thing, she's a solid character. Same goes for everyone else in the story. The ML is on the more brooding, serious side but he is never out to be your stereotypical cold-shoulder emo love interest that FL has to beat and rinse him with affection first or what have you. I also love the whole dynamic between ML's brother (also the second ML) and Elise. But the one thing that's a major turn off for me is that FL is kinda giving subtle to major Mary Sue vibes. She just yeets from one obstacle to another and over time it gets tiring bc you know she'll solve it somehow by using her surgeon skills, even if the issue is only distantly related to her doing doctor things. You can smell, taste and hear how potential plots will be tackled the moment there's a close-up pannel of someone looking sick. Anyway, overall I like this one. It's cute enough to flip through to remind myself of certain plot points, and up to a point it is entertaining, but it's no reread for me.

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.

Too early to judge this too much, but I like it. It pretty much falls into this shoujo manhwa niche where the MC is from a romance novel that takes place in a fantasy empire. Our MC is the typical villainess of "superior blood", who turns into a jealous witch after the FL of the novel starts outshining her. Through a sort of prothetic/magic dream, she gets access to this story and gains new insights and knowledge, which she uses to her advantage. The pace so far has been good, and it's entertaining imo. Our MC's character is consistent, and even though she is an OP magician, she still has weaknesses. It also helps that in most situations, using her head/heart is the go-to route, while magic is more of a convenient tool. Other than that, idk. I'm ready for more.

To summerize this bluntly: Imagine the typical shoujo scenario of the villainess condemnation, but with the twist that she actually just an innocent bookworm who is picked up by the demon king after being thrown away (and taken to library heaven). I can't do the storytelling justice here tbh - Just read and understand the vibes on your own. It's like just another shoujo villainess story but with this dark, whimsy, while at the same time realistic and down-to-earth tone.

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.