sahlty's manga / #Another World(108)

https://www.cocomanhua.com/19182/

https://newtoki84.com/webtoon/8113782?toon=%EC%84%B1%EC%9D%B8%EC%9B%B9%ED%88%B0

https://azmanhwa.net/manga/villainess-maker/

https://toonsarang.email/%ED%86%A0%ED%85%9C%EC%9D%98-%EC%98%81%EC%97%AD

https://azmanhwa.net/manga/kill-the-villainess-2/ A vastly different take on the usual isekai trope. FL was a normal girl who lived a rather lonely childhood due to her parents favouring her brother over her. One day, she woke up in the body of Eris, the villainess of a romance novel that lived a bitter life and ultimately gets killed. FL wants to go home and seeks tirelessly for a way back. In this world, magic exists and the laws of this world keeps FL’s soul tied to Eris’ body despite the numerous times FL tried to commit suicide thinking that by dying, she will be returned. FL comes to accept things but doesn’t give up on returning. But since FL is now stuck in this body and is now Eris, she decides to not be trampled upon any longer and suffer unnecessary indignities. FL plays the part of a villainess well, though she is only cold because of what she’s been though and doesn’t see it necessary to waste time feeling sympathy or pity for fictional characters in a novel. This story is different for the fact that it doesn’t take away the hardship that FL faces, FL is not op and doesn’t have everyone on her side, she is strong in how resilient she is and how she faces challenges head on, persevering though the sadness and despair she may feel on the inside. In this case, FL feels a lot more relatable and her independence shows, for she is alone in this world where she’s an outsider.

After coming across a tragic romance novel called ‘God’s Crest/Seal’, FL is plagued by nightmares of the horrific trauma and abuse the villain of the story, Aseph endures since he was a child. In this world, something called God’s Crest appears uniquely in pairs to signify soulmates and only those with the same seal/mark can be together or they fall under what’s called seal sickness which is unbearable. Originally, Aseph falls for the heroine who is the fated soulmate of the Prince and alas, because of overwhelming grief and hatred or having loss the love of his life, Aseph was ultimately killed by the Prince who was hailed for being a hero that slayed the devil. Unable to stop thinking about Aseph, FL prays to be able to save him from this cruel world. A miracle happens and FL wakes you to find herself in the story of ‘God’s Crest/Seal’ as Elzay Tiathe, the sister to the heroine of the story who supposedly doesn’t appear in the story at all. FL and Aseph have a chance encounter and slowly, they grow close. Unfortunately, FL develops a mark on her, sealing her fate, leaving her desperate and depressed that she could not be with Aseph and save him as she hoped. Aseph, ML, grows interest, obsession and love for FL. At the end of season 1 chapter 40, FL finally reveals that she bears the mark of God while the ML does not. However, they get engaged and intend to marry anyways. Season 2 sees the entrance of a villain known for targeting people with the crest, enjoying their suffering as they slowly lose their minds after losing their crest. FL gets visited by the Goddess Primetsa to discover that she was originally a soul from this world that because of her ability to resonate with people, by chance she saw Aseph’s fate and dedicated to sacrificing her soul multiple times to try to change his fate. So it would seem that FL of the modern world and novel world are the same soul just different identities. In Aseph’s original destiny, he was supposed to have died at 5. The goddess could not bear to see FL suffer and sent her to the far away world, which is Korea but even then, she still made the same choice and returned. At the end, ML, corrupted by the previous exchange of his soul to the devil, is finally able to receive his crest after gaining back his pure blood because of his sacrifice to save FL. He meets the goddess and is returned to the world of the living to live out his happy days with FL. FL and ML ends up having a child together and live happily ever after. ML does live up to being a villain, being cruel, obsessive, two-faced, and has skewed perceptions how how to gain and show affection which is no surprise given all the traumatic experiences he has experienced all throughout his life. He has felt little to no affection and has been constantly abused so it is no wonder he does not know how to love. He is toxic, but he was abused by so many before that he has become this way. It is also through FL’s love and faith that starts changing him in subtle ways. While he may never be the most wholesome, he doesn’t have to be because FL accepts him and he genuinely loves FL and would give his life for her. While some people criticise about FL being a crybaby, I’m not irritated by that. I find it reasonable that FL is emotional especially when it comes to ML because she deeply empathises with the pain he went through and is deeply in love with him. Wouldn’t anyone hurt to see someone they love hurt? Story is definitely dark, frighteningly so with Aseph’s trauma that just makes your heart cringe. But this is definitely a story about how love conquers all, thanks to FL’s determination and unbending love for ML that ultimately changed his fate.

Demon Uke and Human Seme