all the love interests acting all delulu and obsessed (what are these murderous vibes, like?) some chapters still got me confused, and its kinda hard to follow. And the sudden plot of Melo possibly hiding a secret identity is so out of the blue....
Also a fun one! We get some interesting tidbits, I'm quite interested in who Melo really is. We had a hint in the last volume that she might not be the same girl Mystia thinks she is and this volume made that even clearer with her not recognizing the book. Robert and his anger was good, the switch after when he finds out how wrong he's been was a bit drastic but not as drastic as his plans to drop out and run away! I'm not sure how to feel about Feena. Nice that she wants to be friends but everything else is a bit much. Actually all the obsessions with people, particularly Mystia does get to be a bit much. But still overall it's an entertaining series. Not sure I have access to the next volume but if it becomes available I'll happily continue.
There are way too many plots and POVs happening. Depending on how long this series lasts, I'm afraid I might bow out due to so much happening that nothing is really getting answered. the next volume comes out in a few months, so I'll see if it can recapture my attention.
Another great volume in the story. I definitely feel it building towards something big. Sinister shadows are tainting the speech bubbles and some of the dialog is getting disturbing. I wish I didn't take so long for me volumes to come out... Also wish there light novels to read.
Some new characters are being introduced. Not sure what's up with that. More game glitching?
Oh, I don't think it's a brother complex at all. I think he sees his fiancé holding a mini him and his head gets full of fantasies of marriage.
I have a theory that without her playing the epic evil villain, then all that evil is corrupting others around her. That get goodness is creating a vacuum and causing love obsessed madness to turn all the competitive characters into dangerous fanatics. The trickle of darkness seeping in reminds me of the Mokoda series, things just flip on their head and suddenly the genre changes.
There has been a number of odd clues and comments dropped along the way in the volumes laying up through 4. I'm really curious where they'll go with all these clues...
There was actually very little in this book I truly liked, as Mystia appeared uncertain about nearly everything, the other female characters were either indifferent or cruel, and all the boys described as Mystia's potential love interests were absolutely insane for her. I had no favorite characters, unfortunately. None of the characters felt at all real to me, as Mystia was stuck in her own head too much for any sort of comfort, and all the boys were obsessed with her for reasons unknown like dogs in heat but possessed with a need to be close to her. The two main things I felt while reading this novel were confusion and boredom; I was confused because all the male characters melded together, all the female characters were either passive or psycho or drawn similarly, and I was bored because I didn’t realize I'd read through half the book until my mom brought me out of a trance when calling for dinner. My favorite part, quite honestly, was the end because I knew I wouldn't be bored with it any longer. The only scene I cheered over was when Mystia protected Alice Heartspearl at the festival. It was a badass move on her part, but I didn't understand the need for the scene in its entirety... I wouldn’t consider this book a page-turner; yes, I finished this novel in an hour; and no, I don't think this was wholly interesting as I wasn't as into this book as I have with the previous books. Yes, Melo was given a bit more of a backstory, but it's so late to the game that I don't think it will be all summed up by the fifth and final book. I'll admit to not knowing what I disliked about this book as once I put it down, I forgot about it a minute later. I guess... I disliked how forgettable this book was compared to the others in the saga. There was a plot twist developing in this book that was given in the previous one, but there wasn't much adaptation from the mere secret side to one of the love interests. I didn't really care about any of the characters in this book; I felt they were relatively boring most of the time, if I'm being honest. If I was the author to the "I Was Reincarnated as the Villainess in an Otome Game, But the Boys Love Me Anyway" series, there are a few things I'd alter to make this whole series (not just this one book) better. One, I would've given the male leads more personality than simply being obsessive towards the same girl. Two, I would've altered Mystia's personality a bit to make her realize she can find happiness within this Otome game she's living in without betraying the heroine or risking her relationship with one of their similar love interests. Three, I would've drawn the characters a bit differently by giving the girls softer features instead of the sharp chins just the like boys have. Fourth and finally, I would've made this series shorter than five books, because I feel, as the series goes on, the whole plot drags on too much, which I don't think is a strong point for the series... Finishing my review, if I were recommending the "I Was Reincarnated as the Villainess in an Otome Game, But the Boys Love Me Anyway" series to anyone, I'd tell my bestie to read this series as it would be right up her alley; a gorgeous antiheroine rewriting her fate and that of everyone else, cute boys who lose their minds over the said gorgeous girl, stunning manga art throughout a saga of romance, and all-around timelessness amid a mostly-binge-worthy manga series. This is a shojo manga I mostly enjoyed, so I'd recommend this series to shojo fans or new lovers of manga who're just now discovering their preference for Japanese literature.
Can something of any significance happen in this series? It's been four volumes and after the establishment of how Mystia met three of four MLs, nothing really important happened. The pacing is all over the place, no new character is properly developed and none of the main three MLs got enough screentime earlier.
I like how dark and disturbing this series is, but I feel it's very poorly adapted from the novel, focusing on non-issues and omitting more juicy parts.
3/3.5 stars. I have decided to no longer purchase these for now and just borrow them, but this was a bit better. It still had things that are frustrating me, and the story is all over with a trudging pace. Overall, it was slightly more enjoyable. I will probably continue to borrow.
If I had a dime for every single character that is unhealthily obsessed with our main character I would have 12 +- 1 dimes, this is highly worrisome.
There’s not a lot in this series that is healthy. A 15 year old praying on a 10 year old? Obsession with a person? The underhanded tactics to keep MC all to themself? Very VERY concerning, worst than trash romance novels.
The art is amazing, quite possibly the only redeeming factor of this series. I can’t really get behind the plot. Unlike some other reincarnation mangas, this isn’t too cringey. BUT everything I wrote above easily overpowers that. The plot is dry. Not much in terms of what the reason for everything is, nothing besides (stick to the original plot!). So that doesn’t add much.
The original female lead is wonderful and I personally hope she gets together with our MC, BECAUSE SHE ISN’T CRAZY (hopefully).
Anyway, red flag. Red flags everywhere! Under the sofa. On the bookshelf. In your closet! I know that these sorts of mangas have a targeted audience, unfortunately I have realized that I’m not a part of that group.
Now I’m going to be honest here. Compared to other similar mangas I’ve read, this is just okay.
All in all, okay to read about but don’t follow these character’s actions and PLEASE use your eyes! You don’t want to deal with this sort of thing in real life. BUT if you enjoy the ‘yandere’ or ‘-dere’ troupes, this is perfect for you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Mystia is still determined to change her fate and seems to think the only way to do that is to trigger the love interests with the boys and the heroine, who is more interested in idolizing Mystia herself and has no interest in the boys, while the boys all each want Mystia as their bride and also don't care about Alice at all. Helen seems to be another troublemaker that didn't exist in the original storyline. A few things that our Chaos friend has dropped have hinted at perhaps knowing that this is part of a game as well and as if the players are actually erased when they deviate from the storyline or their intended purpose, though if that were the case, would think Mystia herself would have run into issues long before now. Regardless, it seems as if despite her best efforts, she keeps finding herself in situations that could be taken very wrong (as evident by Weiss' reaction for awhile there) even if she's doing everything in her power to not be in the way and to do things right. Perhaps there's a difference in just living kindly and trying to force the storyline in this case, though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This series has kept me engaged with its unhinged (teetering on deranged) cast of characters, but even that much unpredictability can become stagnant at some point, and I've reached that point. It feels like the author is adding more love interests with every page, and any time we could explore Mystia as a person or the thoughts of those obsessed with her, we get one after another surface-level struggle to have Alice end up with one of the guys instead.
Mystia herself isn't a very complex character, and I don't fool myself into thinking she is. Her lack of forward thinking and insistence on following the storyline of the otome she's in is becoming a headache, and I don't know how much longer I can stand watching her act so dense to her surroundings.
This series has never been the best, but this volume has shown me that the author is continuing the story in a way that will only lead to more frustration. If I happen upon the next installment on my library app, I may read it, but this marks the end of me buying physical copies.
The art style appeals to me. That’s the only praise I can give the manga, and even that comes with a caveat because the men all suffer from same-face syndrome making them difficult to tell apart.
To narrow down what I didn’t dislike:
- Despite a volume chock full of dialogue, the mystery didn’t creep forward an inch. Most people are obsessed with the MC and yet we still don’t have any clue why.
- The MC is boring, which funnily enough makes it even stranger that she has so many stalkers.
- The manga relies on a lot of monologues but frustratingly doesn’t clarify who is actually thinking those thoughts. On more than one occasion we see a panel of the MC talking with another person, only to find out that the speech bubbles belong to someone else outside the frame.
I will say, these volumes are ones you need to read with you brain turned off. Like the majority of the characters are flirting with the boundary of “red is my favorite color” and “can you please stop?”. For me there are some characters I find funny (cause again, I’m not reading it too seriously), there a few characters that I’m nervously laughing while patting their back, and one character I am absolutely against, even if this is a colorblind readers only kind of book. All in all, I enjoy it and am excited for the next volume! :)
I don't want to victim blame, but at this point in the series I'm starting to wonder if Mystia is inadvertently giving off some kind of pheromone that turns every person who spends much time around her into a controlling creep. It's gone from annoying to concerning.
It could be that it's an intentional inversion of the reincarnated villainess trope and I haven't read enough of the subgenre to see it, which is what I'm hoping. 'Cause man, all these dudes are awful and Mystia's first female 'friend' ain't much better. Here's hoping Alice at least stays relatively sane around her.
Mystia is so worried about everyone else’s happiness and getting back on track with the storyline in the original game that she doesn’t seem to take any time to try to find happiness for herself and it makes me a little sad. Even if it wasn’t with one of the love interest of the original game, I wish she would be a little selfish and try to find happiness for herself as well. I would believe if she continued being the kind and loving person that she is now, that the outcome of the original game out change since she isn’t the same person nor acts like she did then.
I like this series, but woah is Mystia so oblivious. She notices when people say crazy things to her, but not that all of these people actually are crazy and obsessed with her. She keeps trying to force game events, but won't accept that Raid and Alice clearly do not want each other. I just want her to catch at least the tiniest clue. Please.
I really enjoy this story and the main character. The story seems more thriller to me, as the male leads are all obsessive and pretty creepy. There's a lot of mystery that I can't wait to be cleared up. Definitely worth the read.
The many plot points, some may call them loose threads, and defined characters with clear motivations, shallow though they may be, are why I'm really excited for this series now. Something devious is happening and I can't believe I have to wait for the next part of the mystery.
OMG I really wish that Jey was the guy she ends up with, but then he gets so obsessive. All be it not in a toxic way, he doesn't gaslight her, he doesn't get in her way, he was even waiting for her to come of age. It's probably for the best tho, his obsession could become dangerous.
The saga of crazy obsessed characters continue! Poor Mysta still has no clue. In this volume we add to the roster of psychopaths. Read at your own risk.
This series started off really cute and promising but by this point every “love interest” needs to go to jail and let Mystia and Alice be friends in peace. It’s not even fun to read anymore.
More of the same. Mystia being unaware of her growing harem, all of whom seem to be becoming quite yandere. It’s unclear how this can continue without bodies, given how obsessive they are becoming.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.