axelmania's manga / #isekai(163)

this shouldnt be my kind of thing, but what can i say, its really funny. ive saved so many expressions the characters make as reaction images. as always theres a lot to wonder about worlds like this. where are the trans people? why is everything so conveniently falling into place?? but if you can get past the het its a good time.

why do i keep tormenting myself by reading ongoing stories... thats most of the ones on this site though... gah.... another story where it feels like the author cares about portraying women properly, giving them agency and a variety of presentations. its a bisexual harem and i actually almost prefer the male lead! this is a revenge story that is cute and satisfying, more lead by pointed humiliations than gorey scenes. it also a comedy with frequent meme references that make for a unique experience in the villainess genre. its very comparable to all routes lead to doom, but i prefer this for being a bit darker and more explicit with its romance. i like seeing the protagonist protect the love interests and give them the hope needed to stand up for themselves, and even influence the awful male capture targets, even if its kind of cliche.

this series blew my mind in its utter disregard for the romance as the center of the plot despite being a shoujo. you think youre finally seeing a relationship development moment, and then suddenly theyre attacked or someone is killed and they have to enter another martial arts fight. its like the level of romance in korean manga lead by men! the chinese setting instead of a european one is so charming, as is the shy bottom male lead. the protagonist isnt very special but the investigations she gets to go on are fun and so is the exploration of her guilt as a regressor. i wonder how all your bodily fluids turning to poison affects sex!

i guess i should record that i read this. im not a fan of het, but i figured id try some anyway, and the premise of this sounded really good. however, the transition from enemy to friend and the romantic development went way too quickly, even if the action part of the plot was interesting. very much has identity-less female lead syndrome, and obstacles to her are quickly and easily overcome. points for a female villain, i guess.

if you completely erase the dynamic that made the story appealing by the end, its not a good romance, its completely cookie-cutter and just sad. character growth is not a straight line into being as perfect and normal a person as possible

this read like the author wanted to capitalize on the villainess trend without actually writing a villainess story. their protagonist is so blindingly pure it gives her no personality and yet we have two past lifetimes worth of trauma that should have shaped her into something complicated... very stereotypical and boring. of course, the one potentially interesting character, the genius doctor whos supposed to be elises teacher, is not the love interest and exists only to support her like the other characters. the medical side of the story was what kept me reading, a series of events where the protagonist finds novel ways of keeping people alive. as youd expect its unrealistically optimistic about the state of modern medicine, but the surgeries are engaging, and its quite funny seeing all the characters having medical issues where they never do in other stories in this genre.

in some ways, this is better than other works in this genre with its lighter touch in warming men up to the protagonist. theres a progression thats actually enjoyable rather than quick superlove. the best scenes were "overcome his face and dont become a villainess", and the introduction of doppleganger doll. i was excited by mystery of the original novels protagonists behavior only to be disappointed it ended in an infodump at the end rather than with more drama. while the comedy was sometimes great, the fatphobia and to a subtler extent racism really sucked. why are villains mostly "uglier" than the nice people, cant you be a little more mature?

i should reserve judgment until this is closer to finished but so far this is the best work in the pure villainess genre ive read

that awkward moment when the author develops the female leads more than the male leads so shipping them together is more compelling than placing them with the male leads as intended