pluckaduck's manga / #strong female lead(147)

the mc, despite living as the villainess in automode 5 times, still retained her pure kind good nature. the trauma of her past resulted in her caring deeply for genuine human relations, such as with Keith (her best friend and likely the ml, a commoner) and elle and primera. she's also more in tune with people's emotions, and she does give them some weight, like the good person she is, so long as they don't cross boundaries. there's no romance yet (ch 28), and the original otome targets are actually of little significance to the mc, and in extension, the plot rn (well, maybe bc the heroine hadn't arrived yet). of course, despite not having a lot of screentime, they are interesting charas who met mc as children offscreen... and it didn't go that cliched route of everyone falling for her, which was interesting (her mutual nemesis is one she met as a child, he's not reviling, but he's not great either, for hating mc unreasonably). that being said, the mc was considerably patient and thoughtful for that annoying woman who stubbornly wanted to compete against mc. so it was cathartic when she finally got angry and told her off. but she's hella stupid for not suspecting that twin pigtails girl.

usually when there's ecchi added to an action manhwa, it annoying. but this is amazing, cuz the author actually wrote great female characters and parodies some tropes commonly seen in manga/manwa so it's just really hialrious

ch 33. CRYING. JUST WHEN THEY FINALLY REUNITED, AUGHHHH ch 59. han and candy's subplot has me crying. plz just let them be happy, even in the afterlife interesting how there's no true right or wrong. justice, morality and truth is relative. thieves who steal for their family's livelihood are still criminals to the victims of theft. and just bc a killer stopped killing and tried to atone doesnt negate the sins of the lives he took. and the man who killed the killer is not a law enforcer, but a murderer to the family of the killer. kai is right that the ideal world is a world without bloodshed. a world where the law is enforced by executing criminals, where what is the law is defined by the elites who never experienced the shittiest part of society, or people who experienced enough to form a narrow black-and-white worldview, is never going to be a safe place, as it would only perpetuate hatred and murder. it's all bc of that damned system and the greedy elites. ch 104. deadass crying again. ROY <<<<3 108. crying again, sigh BURNER <<<3 134. what a crazy psychotic bitch... and this is why great is so twisted. bc he witnessed hyper, the "ideal" defeated and killed by the people he helped out. he witnessed that fear/selfishishness triumph over morality/kindness. that's why he doesn't care about the nature of the crime itself, but wiping out all crimes no matter the means, in order to create a "crime-less" place and make it safe for his friends to return. but also, explained the grand schemes set in place and the motivations of some people. brilliant storytelling. 154. YESSSSSS. so they are canon? kai's so handsome now, he was cute before and super young too...but now it wont be considered pedophilia. 161. somehow the plot thickens again, is there another existence that threatens the entire world? that's why Y created bear 179. I'm so glad for u roy!! now he can be confident being with eida... ch 195. OH GOD WHY MUST U THRUST THIS FATE TO THESE POOR SOULS.. christ where is that tragedy tag?? this whole story is a goddamn tragedy! these people were forced to bear the weight of the choices forced upon them by the true villains. ARGHHH and the 'villain' isn't exactly a true bad guy either, it seems?? ch 212. wished the ending explored more of kai and burner's relationship... i thought they were canon?? especially after the "have you fallen for me yet?" "from the first time i laid eyes on you." BROOOO i shipped them so hard, despite the age gap. also the border between the living and the dead thing felt like an deus ex machine, but who cares? we got to see them again. and it also had a beautiful bookend so whatever

she's so precious and adorable! she lacks common sense since she's been alone without developing her social skills for a long time, so her mindset originally was very narrow. she gained friends who cared for her and vice versa, but it doesn't mean whatever she does according to her thinking is brushed off like that. even if it's with good intentions, she still ignorant to tacit social conduct and thinks without the big picture due to life-long influence of blindly serving her master. she's learning to be flexible, but retain her upright and dense as bricks personality lol. also, she's really innocent bc of lack of social interaction. she used to only care about serving her master to be good knight. she neither cared nor thought about getting married or romantic gestures so it's natural she doesn't pick up or think too deeply about the subtle (or not subtle) romantic interest in her.

minus one star for that ending. couldve been better. other charas get no closure

ch 46. haha i think imma stop here. ngl i can't really take mc seriously with her cutesy outfit. I can't imagine her putting on all the pieces of elaborate clothing (the beret, the cape, the bowtie, etc) and the accessories, like "I can't go a day without looking like a doll!" haha. the plot unfolds naturally and in an interesting direction. mc is strong, hardworking, and emotional when it comes to her sister. mc's obsession with saving her sister is realistic and moving. anyhow, joshua is obviously sus as hell (is he the child of god? or is he the child of evil who'll damn the world?) but mc is obviously gonna catch feels for him. haha, she's gonna have to choose between saving her last family lily, her newfound love (maybe), or the world from demons, and ngl im anticipating this. this story is much more interesting than i expected, but still, the romance is the weakest aspect of this... I'm more curious about the identities and backstories than the relationships... cuz it doesn't really have much nuance; like 30 chapters later, it's kinda been the same from when they were introduced. and, i would like if the story to delve into mc's hatred for kashin... cuz it seems kinda unreasonable? so he was mean to you when u were young, but while his words were coldhearted, they were reasonable. i know, i know, she was young then, but she still hates him all this time, and he obviously got issues with his family, so cut him some slack, geez.

ch 30. too much unnecessary panels and dialogue, too little action, the art doesn't really help either (it's nice, but I'm not sure it's suited to this type of story. I think this should have more of a somber, tense tone bc of the stakes). honestly, the sequence of events is good and natural but it progresses slower than it should've been. def feel that the webnovel would be better. also annoying how the narrative praise the mc like she's the smartest, most cunning puppet master. granted, she is cunning but the overpraising gets annoying... esp since the antagonists so far aren't that smart themselves. also, it's kinda trivial but the part when the phillipa burst into eudes's room and gets into an altercation with Charlotte is a plot hole cuz it's stated that she was locked up, and nowhere does it mention how she escaped. honestly considering the effect on the following events, was this small incident even necessary to add? it caused more meaningless drama but ultimately didn't really inconvenience the mc.

I dropped this less than twenty chapters in, cuz i was annoyed at the love drama, like was it necessary to add a second love interest for mc? but then she turned out to be a much more interesting chara than i thought cuz she is badass and her banter with other charas are fun as well. her friendship with the fmc is touching, and their fights over mc is not to be taken seriously. the mc is so cute, he's nerdy, dorky, and sincere. but my impression of him really cemented when he was jealous of fmc's first love and despite that, he recognized jiji was sincerely friendly and became good friends with him. like, it's rare to make a good-looking chara who looks better than mc visually and the fmc's first love, to boot, a sincerely wholesome dude. anyway, the action scenes and art is amazing. the story, at some moments, bordered on absurd, bc these aliens are wacky (and scary). the worldbuilding/lore is quite interesting, the alien and yokai designs are unique (and for some, creepy), the cast of charas are unique and fun and their chara developments are pretty good (not to mention, they look hot when they transform using their yokai powers).