[as of chapter 48]
Spoiler Free TL;DR
If you have negative perceptions of this sub-genre, look no further than the equivalent of filth upon your shoe. Of white pain upon white wall. Of moss upon stone. Fuck me this is bad, and a whiskey made it worse. Contentless to the point of hoovering up my willpower. Didn’t even do me the solid of being HOT, contentless trash. no thank u, nxt.
Review
“When the Villainess is in Love” is a nothing burger. Holy shit, what a waste of serviceable art.
I am dry, dry, DRY! Gasping for some semblance of intrigue. There is a deficit stretching from the plot to those that inhabit it. The setting, to the details within it. The fact that the anime “Diabolik Lovers” has an average of 47% on AniList versus the 78% for this manhwa is a crime. At least “Diabolik…” was funny! It wasn’t trying to be anything more than an advert for an alternative portion of intellectual property. It’s also not falling flat on it’s face while attempting one of the most well trodden genre conceits in recent years. If anything, “When the Villainess…” takes all the most vacuous of inspiration from a female lead being surrounded by candy coloured (and coded) bishounen, in the romantic equivalent of limbo with blue balls, and slaps the “Villainess Isekai’d” trope on it. These relationships and characters are as empty as anything made to solely serve the purpose "to advertise".
What whiff of edge hinted at in the original novel has been totally bled out for our MC, a Labrador-esque simpleton, who can say anything and do anything. There are not limits placed upon her by her post or her position in the story. She has unlimited wealth, no present enemies (okay, a mirage of a half-brother) and a NON-EXISTENT deadly illness. She barely even goes through an arc with most of her main coterie before they are lapping at her heels. W. T. F. I genuinely have never seen an isekai with similar premise that has this little in tangible hooks. There is a character you like born and raised in crippling poverty, still living on the streets? Drop a house on it! Where is the fluff? I can’t lie on a couch as thin as a pillow case.
This is rotten at ground level. Interpersonal drama is the only avenue this story has for titillation. It doesn’t and can’t give it to me. The first boy, Mr. White Haired Knight, has the longest arc with the most development from “unfriendly” to “possible lover”. His presentation in the story makes very little sense to me and borders on incoherent. He lacks definition separate from his razor sharp abs. This is less obvious for other characters because they have such short interpersonal arcs with the MC that they demonstrate a truncated brevity of character as to be incognito from inception. The MC doesn’t become friends with "novel characters", she becomes friends with characters from throw away omegaverse fanfiction sold for 50p in Poundland.
I should also note for posterity that when I say “serviceable” art, I really mean it. The MC and male character designs are attractive (but unmemorable), but every other piece of presentation mimics that which it presents. Dull, lifeless and rote. Well done, the backgrounds are… okay. The panel and frame composition… are present? Even I’m not sold on that last one. At least the detail on the musculature of our male harem looks human anatomy-ish! But while many of them show themselves off provocatively, the fan service is still non-existent. The MC doesn’t even have the decency of allowing my most base elements to be satisfied.
I did originally give this a 55 because it didn’t insult me and I did quite like looking at the male character art, HOWEVER, I’ve talked myself into considering “MUHHH QUALITY”. My qualitative meter is reading "nooooooooooo".
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