lamsar503's manga / #isekai(3)

Japanese person is reborn into the world of an Otome Game as a 12 year old version of the game's villainess. She has 6 months to prevent the death of her family and 4 years to avoid her own destruction/death/doom ending. The original character had crap for magic ability, but now that the MC has been reborn into her body she has massive magic power and can use all sorts of magic that the original character could never use (hence she is a cheat character now). Also, there are only 2 types of alcohol in the Otome Game's world and so she (being apparently a raging alcoholic in her past life) makes it her new life's goal to develop and produce lots of different alcoholic beverages and live in peace in her new world. Overall, its typical isekai stuff where someone is reborn in to the villainess role of an otome game and decides to avoid all villainous behavior, save folks, and avoid the doom flags. One thing that might be slightly atypical for this type of isekai is the fact that (*small spoiler follows*) her brother in the isekai world figures out pretty quickly that there is someone else dwelling in his sister's body. Nothing really good or fresh so far, but it only has 9 chapters. It could potentially turn into something interesting.

(1) Review based on first few manga chapters: "Ah, interesting! Good art. Interesting, independent FL. I look forward to more." *Spoilers follow* (2) Review after reading (what I could tolerate of ) the novel: "Jeebus F*ing X-mas. This is so awful. How the hell did the FL go from so independent and interesting to a totally submissive, go-with-the-flow, annoying little crap stain? I mean, she even found out that she had been PERMANENTLY PHYSICALLY MARKED by the ML as his mate (without any warning or consent, knowing full well that the act of marking her robs her of any choice to be his fiancé) and even makes her wear clothing specifically designed to reveal that mark to the public, and she has no qualms about this?? The ML is a total overbearing crap stain, through and through, from beginning to the end. He doesn't care at all what the FL wants and just does whatever he pleases, however he pleases, whenever he pleases with her. And as if that wasn't bad enough, another character yet to be introduced in the manga, the FL's childhood friend (who is a really good guy that has always been there for her and protected her). He has loved her for years and only seems to exist in the story to live in anguish over his inability to confess his love to the FL, and then further lives in anguish over resigning himself to watch her relationship evolve with his friend, the Prince (the guy he basically works for as a head magician of the court). -- Reading about the FL being with the prince instead of this childhood friend character made me want to scream like a banshee. Every. Single. Time. There's also an element of the story that almost gave me hope. The FL, having been reincarnated into this isekai, had a lover in her previous life. She fell in love with him in high school, and she really, really loved him. In her previous life, that lover was very dense. He didn't understand her feelings, and he didn't understand how to communicate with his partner nor how he should communicate about his feelings...and so she ended up believing that he didn't really love her, and broke up with him in tears. He, being dense as he is, didn't really comprehend why things turned out as they did and spent years hung up on the memory of her. Finally, years later a friend helps him realize that he was in love with her, that he has always been in love with her even up to now, and that his behavior back then was surely very hurtful to her. He then rushes off to find her in a desperate attempt to make amends and hopefully start again. Of course, he is too late. She has already died and been reborn in the isekai. In sorrow and desperation he fervently wishes to be wherever she is. Flash forward, and he finds himself wandering about the isekai she had been into which she had been reborn. He himself had NOT been reborn, he was just transported there. Because he was just transported, he is still himself and has his original appearance. This means that he can't necessarily recognize her (because she was reborn and now has a new appearance), but she recognizes him at first glance. --- I thought this was an interesting new twist on the isekai premise. And I was all ready to ship this guy and the FL, because yet again this guy is lightyears ahead of the ML in likability and compatibility with the FL. But, yet again, it is a frustrating and ultimately fruitless hope. There's at least a hundred other reasons that I grew to hate this story, but most of all it boils down to the fact that the ML is the absolute WORST guy of all the potential love interests available to the FL; the FL becomes a docile little prince's fiancé and loses all the spunk and independent will (just because Prince Rapist says he won't have a harem) that made her interesting; and the story just goes ON AND ON AND ON AND ON repetitively to the point that I felt I might die of boredom. I just up and quit reading the novel once it was stated that she had "fallen in love" with the ML. That, furthermore, the FL now thought that all the previous rapey stuff that happened between her and the ML before "wasn't really rape" because "surely she had fallen in love with him that night at the masquerade" before everything happened...so it was all fine and good.... --- Yeah, I'm just done. This story had potential and turned into absolute garbage.

The original story about Katarina a.k.a "Bakarina". It's one of the better spins on the "I was reincarnated as the villainess in an otome game" story trope. Bakarina's only focus in life is to strategically prepare for (and avoid completely if possible) her own doom as it was written in the otome game she played in her previous life. Comedy ensues when her air-headed nature, limited common sense, and hyper-focus on her survival goals directly results in an ever-growing mixed gender harem, but she doesn't recognize that for even a single second. Meanwhile, the people in the harem do realize what's happening and vie against each other at just the right amount to still maintain their friendships and create a funny atmosphere without any angst. Overall, it's a really well balanced, light-hearted story considering it is primarily about a girl doing all she can to avoid being executed, murdered, or banished...even if that requires learning how to be a farmer and make fake snake toys.