I waited for this installment to come out for months, and I find my obsession with this story reignited as I read this volume, and I'm already dying for more! Picking up where readers left off, Mystia Aren is the villainess in an Otome dating sim game called Kyun-Love, and the main character finds herself reincarnated into Mystia’s place. Much as she’d like to follow through with the game to the end, no matter what she does to not have all the handsome love interests, those love interests keep falling head over heels in love with her! Those love interests include—
Raid—Mystia’s fiancé betrothed since childhood after Mystia saved his mother from death and his parents’ entire marriage, which resulted in Raid getting a little brother he adores far more than anyone else (except, perhaps, Mystia…?)
Eric—Mystia’s childhood friend; he was antisocial until Mystia entered his life and brought him out of his shell; he may be a flirtatious playboy now, but the only girl he has true eyes for is Mystia!
Jey—Mystia’s teacher; he’s the forbidden love interest who plans to propose to Mystia the day she graduates high school (if I had to choose a crush amongst Mystia’s love interests, Jey would be mine!)
Robert—Mystia’s love interest in the enemies-to-lovers sort; Robert once despised Mystia until he saw how passionate she was towards helping others, which changed his perception of her completely (honestly, Robert is my least favorite of all the love interests…)
I don’t know how I feel about this aspect of the book, but… Raid is off his rocker! He’s so obsessed with Mystia that he’s decided to do anything to keep her with him, whether that’s lose his mind to jealousy (which he’s seemingly already done) or sully his surname of Nocter (which he’s willing to do). There was a part of me who liked him before, but not so much now. The way I see love, it’s selfless and sacrificial. If you truly loved someone, you’d put their happiness before your own; if you truly loved someone, you’d sacrifice your time and effort to have them smile. It’s seldom easy, but what Raid feels for Mystia is, I think, a selfish obsession in place of true love. He’s going insane and is dangerously unpredictable. That alone either makes this book so good or so dangerously bad, and I have no clue which it is, so I don’t even know if I like that aspect about Raid anymore…
Overall, my favorite character in this series is Melo the maid. She’s selfless, loyal, and protective in all the right ways, and she’d be the perfect lesbian love interest for Mystia. Mystia herself said it would be so easy to be with Melo, so if anything, their relationship would be a great representation of a bicurious-turned-lesbian romance. I doubt that’ll happen, but I’m not giving up my hope that comes to fruition. Concerning a specific love interest, my favorite is Jey, the forbidden love interest of Mystia’s whom I think would be best-suited for her and would prove to be the most romantic of all love interests. Purposely keeping a distance, forbidding himself to cross the line, proposing to Mystia at graduation, her accepting his proposal, their happy ever after—so damn romantic!
As I read this book, for the majority, I felt excitement, concern, confusion, and a rather odd sense of dedication to this storyline—
Excitement, because the plot has twists and turns I don’t expect until I look back on them
Concern, because Mystia is in uncharted territory from altering the sim game so much
Confusion, because the side characters within Kyun-Love spend most of their time obsessed with protecting Mystia, who knows something is different about their behavior but won’t come out and ask, Hey, what’s really going on…?
And finally, an odd dedication to this series, because I started it, and even though I don’t know which way is up or down, I want to finish it, even if a guaranteed HEA isn’t promised
Silly as this sounds, I loved any scene between Mystia and Jey. I cheered mentally when Jey and a few of Mystia’s friends visited her at her family’s estate. Jey kept harnessed passion under control and kept a respectable distance, but it was clear he was worried about her regardless, and I loved the scene where he protected Mystia prior to her elongated stay at the manor. Jey is a hero, through and through, and again, I adore him so much as my favorite love interest in the lot!
There were few scenes I disliked about this book, but I would’ve preferred a scene or two where at least a few characters were more truthful to Mystia. Love cannot be built on lies, and Raid’s strange obsession with Mystia isn’t love, just madness. The servants are dedicated to keeping Mystia safe, but I feel they’re going about it the wrong way. It’s irritating I can’t change that, but if I write a fan fiction on this series, only then would I be able to make this manga more my own, if that makes sense…? Also, if I could give any character in this series any advice at all, I’d advise Raid Nocter to get some therapy!
This book was indeed a page-turner, even by the standards of short manga novel volumes. I didn’t want to put the book down, and the only slow moment that broke my heart for Jey, the love interest character I love most, was his inner dialogue over his fears of Mystia falling out of love with him. If I were in place of Mystia, Jey would never have to worry about that! I’d be his in a nanosecond!
This manga was targeted for fans of shojo romances, and that’s exactly what I am, a lover of love stories, manga and otherwise! I loved every moment in reading this, and the only negative factor is the rest of this saga has yet to be published! Give me more, Sou Inaida!