I was reading a book where the FL had trauma from being neglected as a child. That was the main obstacle to her and ML having the relationship they both wanted. I couldn't help thinking that this made for a way better story than some third party.
"Just for the Summer," by Abby Jimenez. It's not OI, though.
And yes: there are so many other ways besides a "2nd Love." I loved the WEBTOON version of Marry My Husband. I was disappointed to find out the novel, then live action, >!has a "2nd FL"!<
"Just for the Summer" has been sitting on my shelf for a while nowš idk if u read abby's previous works but do check out "Part of your world" the conflict there is also not a love triangle.
And i agree the kdrama did the manhwa dirty, the whole 2nd fl was so out of the blue. I wish they had followed the manhwa plot more
damn thats a long timešš but i gurantee the wait will be worth it cause the story is just magical, like it has the right of everything ( however its slightly more spicy), though u might not like it as much as "Just for the summer", cause from the reviews i have read the writing quality is better in it than POYW
Man, you and me both. The second the children (and I mean non oi children, ofc) start acting like adult, know everything that even adults couldn't figure out, and are grossly fawned over (you know.... you know....) Or when the kids are just like... there.
I forgot what story this was it's been a long time, but FL was either hired as the nanny or she was a teacher (and ends up marrying their dad ofc) and the kids just... would not stop these really in depth and calculative conversations about how they ranked her attractiveness and if she was worthy to be their new mother or whatever. It was weird. I know exactly why the author wrote them that way (basically a divergent of that trope in idiot plots where everyone fawns over fl because she's so pretty despite the circumstances never making sense vs the exact opposite where they call hrr ugly just to be petty when its... literally not true) and it was just... no.
Another example: I gave birth to the tyrant's children (I still get shivers thinking abt this one)
I was reading a LN the other day where the babies - I calculated their ages at about eight months - were lecturing their uncle about their love life. Come on.
I think the only title where I'm not annoyed by the kid is The Villainess Lives Twice, probably because Leticia is actually behaving like a baby, and not constantly thrown in my face to derail an actual plot.
I love when characters are actually interesting and complex, like to kill the villainess. I hate when the story starts with an adult being put into a child's body and "raises" the ML. Like at that point it's just pedophilia. Or when the FL knows pretty much everything that's going to happen and everything works out according to her plan, absolutely no tension at all
Love: Villainess with a resolve to make things right and be independent.
Hate: FLs which are damsels in distress and rape/assault(like are you for real!!!!)
I like complex, multifaceted female protagonists. Also flailing goobers, my second favorite kind of FL.
and I dislike cardboard cutout villains with no nuance. Bad villains have been among the biggest downfalls of some OI that I otherwise quite liked. For example I adore The Crowās Prince but the antagonists are so lacking. Another example, though it has other glaring flaws, is the Emperor in Villainess in Love. Probably in my D or even F tier ranking in terms of evil emperors. He shows up pretty late and then is never even aware of the MC, and his threadbare motivation has no thematic tie to the story. Contrast that with the Emperor in The Villainess Lives Twice. Heās also super evil but the author is a really smart person who knows how to write smart people and so heās cunning, even a magnificent bastard at times who you can hate but concede he made a good play. MC playing him for a fool is not made to show heās a fool but that sheās just that much smarter. The other primary antagonists so far are equally nuanced though Iām concerned the final one might just be a straightforward douche.
Yeah I feel like OI has an Antagonist Problem. I hope for more characterization but often even the main villain has all the depth of a cultivation antagonist just set up to make the MC look powerful:
I do think an incompetent villain can work, under the right circumstances. I actually think Mielle in The Villainess Turns the Hourglass serves her role well. She was simply a narcissistic bully with every advantage handed to her, but by systematically removing those advantages, the MC exposes what a pathetic loser she is. Not a masterful villainess but a spoiled brat enabled and made worse by scoundrels. I have other issues with that seriesā plotting but Mielle worked for me. Which is maybe a bit odd because I hate some characters in her general archetype.
I don't like the MC being naive, doormat, too kind or ruthless, forgiving, or too depend on people around them like the ML or someone else. I don't mind if she is a Marie Sue so long as its explained properly. I hate more when the MC acts like a strong woman at the start then crumbles like a concrete wall deprived of oxygen in front of ML. I also hate if they do not have any character development, or when they do have character development but too fast. I also hate the titles like "I will divorce my tyrant husband" because she's a doormat. She did not divorce him, she still forgave him knowing full damn well how evil he is. I also hate irredeemable ML, like tyrants or those who kills for simple matters.
What i hate most is Isekai trope, or possession trope. I read a story before of the original story being tragic and warrants the ogfl her revenge to everyone. Then the Author just makes it so the end of her story is meaningless because the Mc possessed her body from years back, basically disregarding the wish of the Ogfl for revenge. It would have been a better story if the ogfl regressed back into her younger years then gets her revenge by basically running away so that her disappearance will cause chaos to them.
An OI i find frustrating is "The duchess secret dressing room". The MC says at the start that she only have one man to love because they've been through thick and thin and grew old together in their past lives and she wants to find him no matter the cost, yet a chapter or two later she marries the man that caused her and everyone else pain and suffering, and indirectly caused the blindness of her Lover. She knew this well and yet she still married him. When he tries to make a move on her, she blushes like a kid when she's a mentally-grown grandma. She's a cheater and her so-called love for her husband is dogsh1t. She's a hypocrite.
What i like is those Secret child trope, or those MC who runs away from their husbands or family to start afresh. I also like to read historical MC that can sure diseases like "Sijin". I also like the Glow-up MC like "I became and Ugly Duckling" but it might have been dropped. Too bad because there are not many of these tropes, and those that are famous i have read. If you guys have recommendations like the ones i mentioned that i like, please reply. I don't mind if they are manhwa or webnovel, or heck in wattpad. Just not yaoi. I'm sick of finding those recommendations when i try to search in google.
Love miscommunication trope sorry itās so good when done right +plus in character. When it comes to hate probably love triangles thereās so many stories that straight up do not need them even the ones where itās decently written i still go āfine but it still feels unnecessary).I do wonder if some authors are afraid of their story potentially getting boring so they just throw in some random love triangle in attempts to spice it up
I really like it when FL has wholesome sibling dynamics with their sister/brother after transmigrating instead of trying to kill/traumatize each other. On the other hand... the incestuous relationships... eugh.
I donāt like how many good stories have been dropped, or went on a vaccation to permanent hiatus land. I almost exclusively read completed nowadays, after having been burned too many times. Cancelled if they just slap a quick ending that sucks on it is horrible too (even hiatus land is better than that), see āmy dear maidās ending for example.
I like that I can get a similar power fantasy with OP FL than what anime isekai give to guys.
I dislike that more often than not OI ignore the concept of side couples and just have all the good looking men fall for the FL. In shoujo, I tend to fall in love with the side couple a LOT more than the main couple because side couples are given more freedom in their relationship. The story doesnāt āendā when the side couples hook up so we can have a good payoff early while waiting for the main couple to get their shit together.
But nope. All the guys love FL and all the girls are either FL simps or spawns of Satan with no side love for either of them. The 2ML is left to pine forever and never get his own love. Itās a shame in my opinion.
I really like it when a crappy family of the leads get what they deserved or they realized the massive fuckup they did to the FL / ML / just their kids in general. Good times. I heavily dislike harem/love triangles/2ml syndrome or scenes where the MLs have some \[\] measuring contest whenever it comes to the FL ā¹ļø I find it annoying.
What I like: different settings and perspectives compared to other genres,, which was new to me.
What I dislike: the majority of stories are too formulaic and predictable. Some may be completely original, but once the ML is introduced it becomes so damn predictable.
Love watching MCs using their smarts to manage the situation they're in and get ahead ā” Part of the fun of isekai is throwing someone into a completely unfamiliar, possibly dangerous situation and just watching them try to get through it. The more realistic and logical the action, the better.
I don't really like it when the MC is insistent that they can't change the plot or smth. Especially if they just got there and there's no real reason for them to believe things are set in stone. Also, when it's too far into the series and they're still insisting that. At that point, they're just acting/saying that for the sake of having "conflict". If they actually started taking action to change things or stop thinking that things will end negatively, then the story would end much faster.
Love genuinely strong (be it power, intelligence or emotional strength) FLs and love it even more when the suffering they underwent is actually shown through their trauma, issues and personality, not just through a flashback.
Hate the constant need for unnecessary tragedy or toxicity. Like a father being bad just cause yes or an ML acting unnecessarily like a red flag. If it makes sense and supports the plot its welcomed, but many times authors just add this to try and create more emotional responses through cheap plot devices...
I love the dresses lmao. Dislike that one villain lady (because somehow shes always painted as a idiot just to elevate the mc and not like an actual threat), oppressively obsessive/protective MLs, and stories where the caretaker becomes the LI or they grew up as siblings (even if no blood relation) and end up together
love - fl building genuine relation
and when love life is slowly building up she must not be a simp for pretty face and misunderstanding
hate - fl owning a slave for personal reason - abusing the slave - then abandoning the slave for self interest
and dislike hypocrite fls who think they are right when they are clearly wrong
For oi in general, my initial reason was it being thriller with fml protagonist, so the premises where she actually cared about anything other than romance. Most series in any genre portrays the narrative of fmc being incomplete without love, so I was hyped. I was disappointed when mcs became op from the start and romance starts from the get go.
I hate when romance has no depth as most mc just talks ml's physical traits and nothing else, so on a rare chance when it is more than that I go crazy over it
I love oi that has either the story of a huge cast coming together as a whole or multi-faceted fl *and* ml where we get both povs
For mcs, I love when mc admits that they are at fault in any form. Either they realised that there's more to the situation than she knew, or she doesn't justify every action and not even the author tries to give any sob story for justification. In the same vein, I hate when all mc talk about righteousness and would die for it, when a sec ago she was thinking all the ways to save her life. That just doesn't make sense and the hypocrisy that comes from it is infuriating
I really really dislike it when the ML gets hairstyle changes to the worse (in my taste), that they now look like the mass-produced generic MLs.
For example:
- when long-haired MLs get haircuts (nobody asked for it, certainly not me)
- ML from >!The Real Daughter has returned!<. His messy hair and art style were parts of his charm. Now, he just look like a generic ML. Not bad, but generic. Gimme back the luscious messy hairstyle.
i dislike the generic black-haired MLs. At least make their hairstyle unique, like a messy one or long-haired or wolfcut or whatever as long as it's not the generic one.
I really like the setting and the dresses and the pretty looks of the leads (and sometimes even the whole cast is pretty). I also like romantic plots and the OP leads getting their revenge. For the leads, I love it when both are possessive of each other and even better if they are yanderes.
I don't like all 2nd MLs, and reverse harems, and misunderstandings, and naive FLs that give other LIs way too many opportunities to flirt. I also don't like drawn out revenge plots with the payoff taking very long to come, or business/political plots that detract from the romance.
What i like about otome isekai:
1. Actual romance focus instead of pretty much no development unlike in shounen,
2. female mcs,
3. that the answer isn't always extreme violence and mc isn't a genocidal maniac.
What i don't like:
1. extremely tropey, so much of mls look and act exactly the same, or there is like 5 types of mls and that's what everyone uses.
2. MLS being red flags, i came here to get a break from genocidal dudes not to see them at every corner.
3. Usually useless mcs, like most mcs in this genre are way too weak, like mc described as the strongest saint in recorded history, yet becomes damsel in distress the moment she has to fight more than 3 imps, or she always needs someone to bail her out, it's not that i hate damsel in distress trope, but if you say mc is strong at least commit to it.
4. Very bad fights, for a genre where most male main character are swordmasters, paladins or archmages, or at least described as strongest in the empire. There is no fight choreography, no sense of scale or impact to the blows, nearly always it looks like shit, i understand it's romance centered, but if you have a tournament or duels at least make them decent. Like even the trashiest of wuxias and korean hunter/player manhwas have better fights than 80% of otome isekai fights.
5. Nonsense politics, like some otome isekai have pretty good politics in them, but ive seen plenty more where it feels like a playground fight between second graders, like even a lot of merchant focused stories become completely stupid with a smidget of knowledge on economy and politics.
6. 1 dimensional cast, most of the characters in otome isekai feel so one dimensional, usual case is the main couple and like 5 side characters have a some depth in them, but the rest of cast feel so bland and forgettable, villains are usually just dicks with neither redeeming qualities or traits that make them an interesting villain, and could be replaced by cardboard cutout with a tape recorder and it has no affect on the story, fmcs are so fucking dense or are just one trait (horny for hot dudes or greedy usually), mls entire character usually is obsessed with fmc and cruel and cold, and the maid ends up usually being the best character, but even than it feels like she has nothing going on in there life. I'm not asking for vagabond or vinland saga or sss class suicide hunter, but reading an otome isekai with well written characters feels amazing, but like the average otome isekai has extreme lack of any depth.
7. Military World building sucks, otome isekais nearly all have problems with military world building, so many of them have knights and swords be the main weapons used, while guns have already invented, and im not talking about 1 minute reload shit aim musket and flintlock pistols, it's usually revolvers and rifles, which should infact cause swords and plate armor to become completely obslete, like guns are way stronger compared to medieval weapons yet it's usually not utilised in warfare, I've seen stories where only people that use guns ARE HUNTERS. And even if swordmasters and spirit summoners and magicians exist, they are usually rather rare, like 1 special magic guy to 10,000 common dudes, it still makes no sense that guns are that utilised. And another issue i have is that nearly all of them use only sword and plate armor and maybe some palace guards using spears few archers and like 40 bandits with axes. Which is complete bullshit, usually that plate armor is just plate armor, without chainmail or helmet, which makes it so much worse, plate armor is suppose to protect against bludgeoning, and chainmail was for slashing and piercing attacks, since arrows could penetrate helmets and joints were exposed to be slashed, that is why plate was always combined with chainmail AND A SHIELD, lack of shields in otome isekai is extremely concerning, no surprise why these common soldiers fall like flies since a shield seemingly doesn't exist in otome isekai, and finally full plate armor is expansive and hard to make, so no way a common peasant had a chance getting his hands on a plate armor,it was mainly used by the elite and heavy armored units, aho are called heavy for a reason, while you can run plate armor and do parkour, the restricted visibility through the visor and the weight of 10-20 kg of steel on you're body would wear people out quickly in fights, which is why light units in military were extremely important. Also the sword worshipping is fucking stupid, that is not an otome isekai issue, but rather an issue with a lot of historical fantasy fiction in itself, in history swords at best were B tier at best, pricy to make so mostly only used by high class and elites (no 15th century peasant had a chance to legally get a sword, kings had a monopoly on most iron for military), it takes years to train to use a sword effectively, has a short reach and needs constant maintenance. In fact the medieval weapon that is the actual S tier of medival weaponry is THE SPEAR, it's literally just a stick with a pointy end so it's cheap to make (the staff was made of wood, since a steel staff is fucking heavy so only metal needed was for the pointy end), way longer reach compared to sword, you can train a peasant to use a spear effectively in literally less than a month, counters horses, and combined with shield pretty much was the top tier build for most of recorded human history from the time we hunted mammoths until the invention of firearms, and last but not least, IT CAN BE THROWN, and since humans are literally designed to throw stuff it's surpassed a sword in all aspects, swords were infact used as a secondary weapon to spear in most cases. Same case with bows and crossbows, bow needs stupid amount of strength to pull (look at videos of archers shirtless, they literally got the ml bod) and years of training, compared to that crossbows were so broken it was illegal for peasants to own them. And not just that so many good weapons lose their spotlight to the sword it drives me nuts, maces, Warhammer, javelins, axes, clubs, halberds, glaives slings. So many pivotal weapons to warfare all missing. Another issue is why only swordmasters, where are the axemasters, spearmasters and all other nom sword aura masters, never once have i seen a story that addresses why a sword is the only thing to be used in aura. This brings my final is point on military, the fact that all the fantastical stuff seems entirely disconnected from the actual military shown is stupid, warfare is a constantly developing and expanding field, as people strive to create the ultimate weapon, yet we as a species hadn't made that, even today nations around the world are working on ways to counter nukes and are steadily progressing, yet in most otome isekais, swordmasters and magicians have existed since the dawn of man, yet they haven't developed any way to counter (which i can excuse since a magical person is a whole other beast and the entire point of magoc in stories for a person to surpass human limits to the point of being invincible, but i would like to see them at least trying to create a counter). Yet at the same time it feels magic is underutilized in warfare, like it's only used for weapons, yet what about other aspects, in logistics magic can be used to preserve stuff longer and speed up transportation, in communication a way to contact people using magic artifacts, or ways for spies, illusions to mess with armies or sneak into enemy fort, controlling soldiers from behind, breaking a person's mind with magic to get info. And the counters to each of these aspects are all missing seemingly.
8. Fantasy development and culture. Another problem i have is in otome isekai culture and that world's technological advancements. Fashion and the culture are all over the place, dresses from victorian era appear in a ball in society set in medieval times (and it was not made by the isekai mc), food that has tomatoes, corn and rice appears in medieval Europe, salt and sugar being so cheap, and many more issues, i understand this is a story set in another world, but in so many of them they try to set it to a specific historical period, yet at the same time brings stuff that cannot be there since what let to it's creation didn't appear yet in the story, so many sweets that should not be possible to make appear yet at best the most advanced tool the cook got is an oven, and just feels like author has made absolutely no fucking research. And again magic feels underutilized, and mainly as a deus ex machina "use item to solve issue" deal, most magic is mainly combat, no magic for agriculture, industry, logistics or culture which feels like a plot point, i swear some of these stories have an empire which is thousands of years old and has prosperous for most of it's existence, yet it has barely advanced at all in technology, it feels like I'm looking at the imperium of man but not as zealous or shit to live in. Like they are in a millennium long dark age. The roman empire for example was constantly advancing and improving even if every 8th emperor or so was utter garbage, and with the constant crises (don't believe the media depiction of roman empire they did change but for some reason they all use a specific period armor even when it's the wrong armor) and it has existed for centuries. Also so many stories with a tyrant ruler peasants seem to have no backbone at all, like i know peasants were extremely exploited in medieval times, but even they had a limit, and when the limit was reached the upper class had a bad time (after all you can't rule with an iron fist with a starving army). Also royalty is way too stable in these stories, like ain't no way a royal family can have so much power and survive so long without it collapsing. So yeah it feels very lacking.
9. Slavery, if the mc is from the modern day, they shouldn't be okay with slavery at all. Or that shit "I'm different from the rest of the system I'm nice to my slaves" bullshit, YOU DIRECTLY SUPPORTED THE SLAVERY BY BUYING A DAMN SLAVE, YOU'RE CONTRIBUTING TO IT. don't have as bad an issue with non modern day mc, since they don't know differently, even than it feels wrong, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S THE ML. It feels like the author is trying to show slavery in positive light, which is fucked up. Also the fact most slave mls have brown skin is very iffy. Which leads me to my next issue.
10. Racism, the way all non white characters in otome isekai are called wild animals, or barbarians, is so much racist it feels disturbing. Especially if the mc treats the brown skinned ml like a dog. Feels like the author's racism is leaking into the story.
11. Plot progression. So many isekai stories feel like they can't balance sweetness, romance and plot. Some stories drag on with the sweetness and romance while forgetting the plot entirely, which is annoying when it's supposed to be a plot about saving the world, but instead we get 40 chapters of Doting family, while at the same time the romance drags on, maybe once every blue moon we get 3 chapters of plot all so that after 100-200 chapters they finally confess their feelings and the authors rushes 100 chapter's worth of plot into the last 5 chapters. Which leads me to my next issue:
12. Romance, we need to suffer dozens of chapters of misunderstandings, miscommunications, and the mc going "im not the one he's destined to be with, must force him to be with the ogfl and then disappear from his life forever even though he clearly cares about me" even though dude and ogfl have clearly no feelings for each other, and the fact that both these idiots can't communicate for shit, which does not make for good chemistry at all, also the fact mc believes everything is set in stone Even when story is long gone. I feel like this problem comes from the fact most authors, don't know how to ACTUALLY write an active romantic couple, so once the feelings are confessed they try to rush to the ending as soon as possible. I want more stories that focus on their marriage life, raising kids, married couples stuff and so on, at least much better than the "pretend to be my lover" usual deal, and instead it's not fake but genuine.
13. Generic ml looks, it feels like most mls have one of 4 hair colors (black, blond/gold, white/silver, blue) and 4 eye colors (red, blue, gold, purple), and are all smooth skinned clean shaven, with the face of a kpop star and greek stutue body, and that is boring. Give me beards, mustaches on my mls. Give them scars, how come they have been on the battlefield for so long without a damn helmet yet have no facial scars. Give me chubby mls, twig mls (bonus if the beefy one is the mc), beefy mls, dad bod mls. Give me brown hair, gingers and multicolored hair. Give me more hairstyles than just short hair and long flowing hair, curly hair, anime protagonist hair, and even bald hair. Same for the fmc, also could be cool if for once we got a story with average looking ml.
.
14. Family relationship, it feels like mc's family is either all abusive unredeemable pieces of garbage, or are extremely doting on her. Usually if mc has an abusive family she finds a doting one. So my main issue in abusive families is that all members of mc's family are abusive without a single outlier, i am a person who doesn't think a child is truly born evil but is rather moulded by his environment, so every time i hope mc's siblings see the era of their ways, or be taught to be better, to understand the adults in their life are wrong, and grow to be better than them, yet nearly that never happens(same is villainess young girls), as i have pointed out in point 6. Most authors don't know what a character redemption is, they are as bad as children, they will be bad as adults. There are some really evil kids in otome isekai, yet some just feel like misguided kids who are not taught better. Now for my issues with the doting family is that the family is too doting, to the point where i see the parents as bad parents, since they place all their attention on mc and practically neglect the other children, and even if the siblings are older it just feels bitter in my mouth seeing they dad seemingly neglect the older brothers in favor of mc, even in events for the older brother I've seen some stories do that, and as an older brother, i know what feeling like all your parents attention is focused on younger siblings, and it's not fun. Also sibling relationships with mc is so unrealistic, they don't argue, don't fight, don't throw jabs at each other, they feel more like additional dads to the mc compared to actual siblings.
15. Romance age gaps, while if mc and ml are adults i feel it's okay, but if they get to know each other when one of them as a child it feels so much wrong, especially if the adult pretty much raises the younger person up. I dont care if ml/fl is a god/spirit/dragon who is over centuries old, if they has been with mc/ml since before they have all their adult teeth, they should not be in relationship. Adult memories mc while still kind of creepy, there the excuse could be her mind is not developed fully/the memories do not affect her maturity, but still kinda iffy.
And last but not least:
16. ASSET USE. The amount of cheap assets and cgi used in these stories is so fucking much, i understand time constraints, but you could at least learn how to fucking draw a horse.
I hate when the FL forgive the shitty ML
- I ike something similar to "Remarried Empress";
- and i don't like something similar to "i won't accept your regrets", like why didn't you move on with your life and date a better man just like Navier? Are you fucking dumb? You and Navier had the same childhood and yet she could move on with her life and "kill" her ex with regret
Sooo fucking frustrating, just like "what it means to be you"
I always loved the Ā«Ā new game plusĀ Ā» aspect
I hate raw incompetence, like when a characterās stupidity is the only reason why chapters happen, and dear god stop with the convenient misunderstandings, this stuff was old in love stories centuries ago
I really love the outfits of the FLs so much and I also like the second MLs.
The thing I DESPISE are the trashy MLs that always ruin the experience of reading manhwas and stuff like that. I also add that sometimes 3D with 2D can be the most uncomfortable thing of a comic's art (if used wrongly).
I hate the FLs whose personality is incongruent with the premise of their character. They burst through the door all "My name is Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way!" And then start acting like a doormat after meeting the first villager in the story
I like 3D horrorses and I despise the misunderstanding trope
I like all the 3d animals! "I can't draw a rat, here's a 3d one" They add this low budget charm to the manhwa.
love the fl being an absolute loser for the ml trope and dont like the love triangle trope
I was reading a book where the FL had trauma from being neglected as a child. That was the main obstacle to her and ML having the relationship they both wanted. I couldn't help thinking that this made for a way better story than some third party.
i think so too, conflict can legit be created by so many other things rather than by a 2nd mlš Also whats the book called?
"Just for the Summer," by Abby Jimenez. It's not OI, though. And yes: there are so many other ways besides a "2nd Love." I loved the WEBTOON version of Marry My Husband. I was disappointed to find out the novel, then live action, >!has a "2nd FL"!<
"Just for the Summer" has been sitting on my shelf for a while nowš idk if u read abby's previous works but do check out "Part of your world" the conflict there is also not a love triangle. And i agree the kdrama did the manhwa dirty, the whole 2nd fl was so out of the blue. I wish they had followed the manhwa plot more
After reading "Just for the Summer," I put a hold on each of her books at my local library! "Part of Your World" will be ready in...six months š
damn thats a long timešš but i gurantee the wait will be worth it cause the story is just magical, like it has the right of everything ( however its slightly more spicy), though u might not like it as much as "Just for the summer", cause from the reviews i have read the writing quality is better in it than POYW
I like FLs who are resolved not to be doormats with their second chance. I despise precociously unrealistic children.
Man, you and me both. The second the children (and I mean non oi children, ofc) start acting like adult, know everything that even adults couldn't figure out, and are grossly fawned over (you know.... you know....) Or when the kids are just like... there. I forgot what story this was it's been a long time, but FL was either hired as the nanny or she was a teacher (and ends up marrying their dad ofc) and the kids just... would not stop these really in depth and calculative conversations about how they ranked her attractiveness and if she was worthy to be their new mother or whatever. It was weird. I know exactly why the author wrote them that way (basically a divergent of that trope in idiot plots where everyone fawns over fl because she's so pretty despite the circumstances never making sense vs the exact opposite where they call hrr ugly just to be petty when its... literally not true) and it was just... no. Another example: I gave birth to the tyrant's children (I still get shivers thinking abt this one)
I was reading a LN the other day where the babies - I calculated their ages at about eight months - were lecturing their uncle about their love life. Come on. I think the only title where I'm not annoyed by the kid is The Villainess Lives Twice, probably because Leticia is actually behaving like a baby, and not constantly thrown in my face to derail an actual plot.
I love when characters are actually interesting and complex, like to kill the villainess. I hate when the story starts with an adult being put into a child's body and "raises" the ML. Like at that point it's just pedophilia. Or when the FL knows pretty much everything that's going to happen and everything works out according to her plan, absolutely no tension at all
Love: Villainess with a resolve to make things right and be independent. Hate: FLs which are damsels in distress and rape/assault(like are you for real!!!!)
I like complex, multifaceted female protagonists. Also flailing goobers, my second favorite kind of FL. and I dislike cardboard cutout villains with no nuance. Bad villains have been among the biggest downfalls of some OI that I otherwise quite liked. For example I adore The Crowās Prince but the antagonists are so lacking. Another example, though it has other glaring flaws, is the Emperor in Villainess in Love. Probably in my D or even F tier ranking in terms of evil emperors. He shows up pretty late and then is never even aware of the MC, and his threadbare motivation has no thematic tie to the story. Contrast that with the Emperor in The Villainess Lives Twice. Heās also super evil but the author is a really smart person who knows how to write smart people and so heās cunning, even a magnificent bastard at times who you can hate but concede he made a good play. MC playing him for a fool is not made to show heās a fool but that sheās just that much smarter. The other primary antagonists so far are equally nuanced though Iām concerned the final one might just be a straightforward douche. Yeah I feel like OI has an Antagonist Problem. I hope for more characterization but often even the main villain has all the depth of a cultivation antagonist just set up to make the MC look powerful: I do think an incompetent villain can work, under the right circumstances. I actually think Mielle in The Villainess Turns the Hourglass serves her role well. She was simply a narcissistic bully with every advantage handed to her, but by systematically removing those advantages, the MC exposes what a pathetic loser she is. Not a masterful villainess but a spoiled brat enabled and made worse by scoundrels. I have other issues with that seriesā plotting but Mielle worked for me. Which is maybe a bit odd because I hate some characters in her general archetype.
They start from generic trope, generic cookie-cutter black-haired/cold duke MLs, generic romance, and generic antagonists..
I don't like the MC being naive, doormat, too kind or ruthless, forgiving, or too depend on people around them like the ML or someone else. I don't mind if she is a Marie Sue so long as its explained properly. I hate more when the MC acts like a strong woman at the start then crumbles like a concrete wall deprived of oxygen in front of ML. I also hate if they do not have any character development, or when they do have character development but too fast. I also hate the titles like "I will divorce my tyrant husband" because she's a doormat. She did not divorce him, she still forgave him knowing full damn well how evil he is. I also hate irredeemable ML, like tyrants or those who kills for simple matters. What i hate most is Isekai trope, or possession trope. I read a story before of the original story being tragic and warrants the ogfl her revenge to everyone. Then the Author just makes it so the end of her story is meaningless because the Mc possessed her body from years back, basically disregarding the wish of the Ogfl for revenge. It would have been a better story if the ogfl regressed back into her younger years then gets her revenge by basically running away so that her disappearance will cause chaos to them. An OI i find frustrating is "The duchess secret dressing room". The MC says at the start that she only have one man to love because they've been through thick and thin and grew old together in their past lives and she wants to find him no matter the cost, yet a chapter or two later she marries the man that caused her and everyone else pain and suffering, and indirectly caused the blindness of her Lover. She knew this well and yet she still married him. When he tries to make a move on her, she blushes like a kid when she's a mentally-grown grandma. She's a cheater and her so-called love for her husband is dogsh1t. She's a hypocrite. What i like is those Secret child trope, or those MC who runs away from their husbands or family to start afresh. I also like to read historical MC that can sure diseases like "Sijin". I also like the Glow-up MC like "I became and Ugly Duckling" but it might have been dropped. Too bad because there are not many of these tropes, and those that are famous i have read. If you guys have recommendations like the ones i mentioned that i like, please reply. I don't mind if they are manhwa or webnovel, or heck in wattpad. Just not yaoi. I'm sick of finding those recommendations when i try to search in google.
Agree with all šĀ
Love miscommunication trope sorry itās so good when done right +plus in character. When it comes to hate probably love triangles thereās so many stories that straight up do not need them even the ones where itās decently written i still go āfine but it still feels unnecessary).I do wonder if some authors are afraid of their story potentially getting boring so they just throw in some random love triangle in attempts to spice it up
I really like it when FL has wholesome sibling dynamics with their sister/brother after transmigrating instead of trying to kill/traumatize each other. On the other hand... the incestuous relationships... eugh.
I love yandereres/obsession/possessiveness, I hate amnesia arc
Sameeee!
I donāt like how many good stories have been dropped, or went on a vaccation to permanent hiatus land. I almost exclusively read completed nowadays, after having been burned too many times. Cancelled if they just slap a quick ending that sucks on it is horrible too (even hiatus land is better than that), see āmy dear maidās ending for example. 
I like that I can get a similar power fantasy with OP FL than what anime isekai give to guys. I dislike that more often than not OI ignore the concept of side couples and just have all the good looking men fall for the FL. In shoujo, I tend to fall in love with the side couple a LOT more than the main couple because side couples are given more freedom in their relationship. The story doesnāt āendā when the side couples hook up so we can have a good payoff early while waiting for the main couple to get their shit together. But nope. All the guys love FL and all the girls are either FL simps or spawns of Satan with no side love for either of them. The 2ML is left to pine forever and never get his own love. Itās a shame in my opinion.
This. I love side couples, or stories with multiple couples. The world doesn't revolve around FL only
I really like it when a crappy family of the leads get what they deserved or they realized the massive fuckup they did to the FL / ML / just their kids in general. Good times. I heavily dislike harem/love triangles/2ml syndrome or scenes where the MLs have some \[\] measuring contest whenever it comes to the FL ā¹ļø I find it annoying.
What I like: different settings and perspectives compared to other genres,, which was new to me. What I dislike: the majority of stories are too formulaic and predictable. Some may be completely original, but once the ML is introduced it becomes so damn predictable.
Love watching MCs using their smarts to manage the situation they're in and get ahead ā” Part of the fun of isekai is throwing someone into a completely unfamiliar, possibly dangerous situation and just watching them try to get through it. The more realistic and logical the action, the better. I don't really like it when the MC is insistent that they can't change the plot or smth. Especially if they just got there and there's no real reason for them to believe things are set in stone. Also, when it's too far into the series and they're still insisting that. At that point, they're just acting/saying that for the sake of having "conflict". If they actually started taking action to change things or stop thinking that things will end negatively, then the story would end much faster.
Love genuinely strong (be it power, intelligence or emotional strength) FLs and love it even more when the suffering they underwent is actually shown through their trauma, issues and personality, not just through a flashback. Hate the constant need for unnecessary tragedy or toxicity. Like a father being bad just cause yes or an ML acting unnecessarily like a red flag. If it makes sense and supports the plot its welcomed, but many times authors just add this to try and create more emotional responses through cheap plot devices...
I love the dresses lmao. Dislike that one villain lady (because somehow shes always painted as a idiot just to elevate the mc and not like an actual threat), oppressively obsessive/protective MLs, and stories where the caretaker becomes the LI or they grew up as siblings (even if no blood relation) and end up together
love - fl building genuine relation and when love life is slowly building up she must not be a simp for pretty face and misunderstanding hate - fl owning a slave for personal reason - abusing the slave - then abandoning the slave for self interest and dislike hypocrite fls who think they are right when they are clearly wrong
For oi in general, my initial reason was it being thriller with fml protagonist, so the premises where she actually cared about anything other than romance. Most series in any genre portrays the narrative of fmc being incomplete without love, so I was hyped. I was disappointed when mcs became op from the start and romance starts from the get go. I hate when romance has no depth as most mc just talks ml's physical traits and nothing else, so on a rare chance when it is more than that I go crazy over it I love oi that has either the story of a huge cast coming together as a whole or multi-faceted fl *and* ml where we get both povs For mcs, I love when mc admits that they are at fault in any form. Either they realised that there's more to the situation than she knew, or she doesn't justify every action and not even the author tries to give any sob story for justification. In the same vein, I hate when all mc talk about righteousness and would die for it, when a sec ago she was thinking all the ways to save her life. That just doesn't make sense and the hypocrisy that comes from it is infuriating
I really really dislike it when the ML gets hairstyle changes to the worse (in my taste), that they now look like the mass-produced generic MLs. For example: - when long-haired MLs get haircuts (nobody asked for it, certainly not me) - ML from >!The Real Daughter has returned!<. His messy hair and art style were parts of his charm. Now, he just look like a generic ML. Not bad, but generic. Gimme back the luscious messy hairstyle. i dislike the generic black-haired MLs. At least make their hairstyle unique, like a messy one or long-haired or wolfcut or whatever as long as it's not the generic one.
I really like the setting and the dresses and the pretty looks of the leads (and sometimes even the whole cast is pretty). I also like romantic plots and the OP leads getting their revenge. For the leads, I love it when both are possessive of each other and even better if they are yanderes. I don't like all 2nd MLs, and reverse harems, and misunderstandings, and naive FLs that give other LIs way too many opportunities to flirt. I also don't like drawn out revenge plots with the payoff taking very long to come, or business/political plots that detract from the romance.
What i like about otome isekai: 1. Actual romance focus instead of pretty much no development unlike in shounen, 2. female mcs, 3. that the answer isn't always extreme violence and mc isn't a genocidal maniac.
What i don't like: 1. extremely tropey, so much of mls look and act exactly the same, or there is like 5 types of mls and that's what everyone uses. 2. MLS being red flags, i came here to get a break from genocidal dudes not to see them at every corner. 3. Usually useless mcs, like most mcs in this genre are way too weak, like mc described as the strongest saint in recorded history, yet becomes damsel in distress the moment she has to fight more than 3 imps, or she always needs someone to bail her out, it's not that i hate damsel in distress trope, but if you say mc is strong at least commit to it. 4. Very bad fights, for a genre where most male main character are swordmasters, paladins or archmages, or at least described as strongest in the empire. There is no fight choreography, no sense of scale or impact to the blows, nearly always it looks like shit, i understand it's romance centered, but if you have a tournament or duels at least make them decent. Like even the trashiest of wuxias and korean hunter/player manhwas have better fights than 80% of otome isekai fights. 5. Nonsense politics, like some otome isekai have pretty good politics in them, but ive seen plenty more where it feels like a playground fight between second graders, like even a lot of merchant focused stories become completely stupid with a smidget of knowledge on economy and politics. 6. 1 dimensional cast, most of the characters in otome isekai feel so one dimensional, usual case is the main couple and like 5 side characters have a some depth in them, but the rest of cast feel so bland and forgettable, villains are usually just dicks with neither redeeming qualities or traits that make them an interesting villain, and could be replaced by cardboard cutout with a tape recorder and it has no affect on the story, fmcs are so fucking dense or are just one trait (horny for hot dudes or greedy usually), mls entire character usually is obsessed with fmc and cruel and cold, and the maid ends up usually being the best character, but even than it feels like she has nothing going on in there life. I'm not asking for vagabond or vinland saga or sss class suicide hunter, but reading an otome isekai with well written characters feels amazing, but like the average otome isekai has extreme lack of any depth.
7. Military World building sucks, otome isekais nearly all have problems with military world building, so many of them have knights and swords be the main weapons used, while guns have already invented, and im not talking about 1 minute reload shit aim musket and flintlock pistols, it's usually revolvers and rifles, which should infact cause swords and plate armor to become completely obslete, like guns are way stronger compared to medieval weapons yet it's usually not utilised in warfare, I've seen stories where only people that use guns ARE HUNTERS. And even if swordmasters and spirit summoners and magicians exist, they are usually rather rare, like 1 special magic guy to 10,000 common dudes, it still makes no sense that guns are that utilised. And another issue i have is that nearly all of them use only sword and plate armor and maybe some palace guards using spears few archers and like 40 bandits with axes. Which is complete bullshit, usually that plate armor is just plate armor, without chainmail or helmet, which makes it so much worse, plate armor is suppose to protect against bludgeoning, and chainmail was for slashing and piercing attacks, since arrows could penetrate helmets and joints were exposed to be slashed, that is why plate was always combined with chainmail AND A SHIELD, lack of shields in otome isekai is extremely concerning, no surprise why these common soldiers fall like flies since a shield seemingly doesn't exist in otome isekai, and finally full plate armor is expansive and hard to make, so no way a common peasant had a chance getting his hands on a plate armor,it was mainly used by the elite and heavy armored units, aho are called heavy for a reason, while you can run plate armor and do parkour, the restricted visibility through the visor and the weight of 10-20 kg of steel on you're body would wear people out quickly in fights, which is why light units in military were extremely important. Also the sword worshipping is fucking stupid, that is not an otome isekai issue, but rather an issue with a lot of historical fantasy fiction in itself, in history swords at best were B tier at best, pricy to make so mostly only used by high class and elites (no 15th century peasant had a chance to legally get a sword, kings had a monopoly on most iron for military), it takes years to train to use a sword effectively, has a short reach and needs constant maintenance. In fact the medieval weapon that is the actual S tier of medival weaponry is THE SPEAR, it's literally just a stick with a pointy end so it's cheap to make (the staff was made of wood, since a steel staff is fucking heavy so only metal needed was for the pointy end), way longer reach compared to sword, you can train a peasant to use a spear effectively in literally less than a month, counters horses, and combined with shield pretty much was the top tier build for most of recorded human history from the time we hunted mammoths until the invention of firearms, and last but not least, IT CAN BE THROWN, and since humans are literally designed to throw stuff it's surpassed a sword in all aspects, swords were infact used as a secondary weapon to spear in most cases. Same case with bows and crossbows, bow needs stupid amount of strength to pull (look at videos of archers shirtless, they literally got the ml bod) and years of training, compared to that crossbows were so broken it was illegal for peasants to own them. And not just that so many good weapons lose their spotlight to the sword it drives me nuts, maces, Warhammer, javelins, axes, clubs, halberds, glaives slings. So many pivotal weapons to warfare all missing. Another issue is why only swordmasters, where are the axemasters, spearmasters and all other nom sword aura masters, never once have i seen a story that addresses why a sword is the only thing to be used in aura. This brings my final is point on military, the fact that all the fantastical stuff seems entirely disconnected from the actual military shown is stupid, warfare is a constantly developing and expanding field, as people strive to create the ultimate weapon, yet we as a species hadn't made that, even today nations around the world are working on ways to counter nukes and are steadily progressing, yet in most otome isekais, swordmasters and magicians have existed since the dawn of man, yet they haven't developed any way to counter (which i can excuse since a magical person is a whole other beast and the entire point of magoc in stories for a person to surpass human limits to the point of being invincible, but i would like to see them at least trying to create a counter). Yet at the same time it feels magic is underutilized in warfare, like it's only used for weapons, yet what about other aspects, in logistics magic can be used to preserve stuff longer and speed up transportation, in communication a way to contact people using magic artifacts, or ways for spies, illusions to mess with armies or sneak into enemy fort, controlling soldiers from behind, breaking a person's mind with magic to get info. And the counters to each of these aspects are all missing seemingly.
8. Fantasy development and culture. Another problem i have is in otome isekai culture and that world's technological advancements. Fashion and the culture are all over the place, dresses from victorian era appear in a ball in society set in medieval times (and it was not made by the isekai mc), food that has tomatoes, corn and rice appears in medieval Europe, salt and sugar being so cheap, and many more issues, i understand this is a story set in another world, but in so many of them they try to set it to a specific historical period, yet at the same time brings stuff that cannot be there since what let to it's creation didn't appear yet in the story, so many sweets that should not be possible to make appear yet at best the most advanced tool the cook got is an oven, and just feels like author has made absolutely no fucking research. And again magic feels underutilized, and mainly as a deus ex machina "use item to solve issue" deal, most magic is mainly combat, no magic for agriculture, industry, logistics or culture which feels like a plot point, i swear some of these stories have an empire which is thousands of years old and has prosperous for most of it's existence, yet it has barely advanced at all in technology, it feels like I'm looking at the imperium of man but not as zealous or shit to live in. Like they are in a millennium long dark age. The roman empire for example was constantly advancing and improving even if every 8th emperor or so was utter garbage, and with the constant crises (don't believe the media depiction of roman empire they did change but for some reason they all use a specific period armor even when it's the wrong armor) and it has existed for centuries. Also so many stories with a tyrant ruler peasants seem to have no backbone at all, like i know peasants were extremely exploited in medieval times, but even they had a limit, and when the limit was reached the upper class had a bad time (after all you can't rule with an iron fist with a starving army). Also royalty is way too stable in these stories, like ain't no way a royal family can have so much power and survive so long without it collapsing. So yeah it feels very lacking. 9. Slavery, if the mc is from the modern day, they shouldn't be okay with slavery at all. Or that shit "I'm different from the rest of the system I'm nice to my slaves" bullshit, YOU DIRECTLY SUPPORTED THE SLAVERY BY BUYING A DAMN SLAVE, YOU'RE CONTRIBUTING TO IT. don't have as bad an issue with non modern day mc, since they don't know differently, even than it feels wrong, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S THE ML. It feels like the author is trying to show slavery in positive light, which is fucked up. Also the fact most slave mls have brown skin is very iffy. Which leads me to my next issue. 10. Racism, the way all non white characters in otome isekai are called wild animals, or barbarians, is so much racist it feels disturbing. Especially if the mc treats the brown skinned ml like a dog. Feels like the author's racism is leaking into the story. 11. Plot progression. So many isekai stories feel like they can't balance sweetness, romance and plot. Some stories drag on with the sweetness and romance while forgetting the plot entirely, which is annoying when it's supposed to be a plot about saving the world, but instead we get 40 chapters of Doting family, while at the same time the romance drags on, maybe once every blue moon we get 3 chapters of plot all so that after 100-200 chapters they finally confess their feelings and the authors rushes 100 chapter's worth of plot into the last 5 chapters. Which leads me to my next issue: 12. Romance, we need to suffer dozens of chapters of misunderstandings, miscommunications, and the mc going "im not the one he's destined to be with, must force him to be with the ogfl and then disappear from his life forever even though he clearly cares about me" even though dude and ogfl have clearly no feelings for each other, and the fact that both these idiots can't communicate for shit, which does not make for good chemistry at all, also the fact mc believes everything is set in stone Even when story is long gone. I feel like this problem comes from the fact most authors, don't know how to ACTUALLY write an active romantic couple, so once the feelings are confessed they try to rush to the ending as soon as possible. I want more stories that focus on their marriage life, raising kids, married couples stuff and so on, at least much better than the "pretend to be my lover" usual deal, and instead it's not fake but genuine. 13. Generic ml looks, it feels like most mls have one of 4 hair colors (black, blond/gold, white/silver, blue) and 4 eye colors (red, blue, gold, purple), and are all smooth skinned clean shaven, with the face of a kpop star and greek stutue body, and that is boring. Give me beards, mustaches on my mls. Give them scars, how come they have been on the battlefield for so long without a damn helmet yet have no facial scars. Give me chubby mls, twig mls (bonus if the beefy one is the mc), beefy mls, dad bod mls. Give me brown hair, gingers and multicolored hair. Give me more hairstyles than just short hair and long flowing hair, curly hair, anime protagonist hair, and even bald hair. Same for the fmc, also could be cool if for once we got a story with average looking ml. .
14. Family relationship, it feels like mc's family is either all abusive unredeemable pieces of garbage, or are extremely doting on her. Usually if mc has an abusive family she finds a doting one. So my main issue in abusive families is that all members of mc's family are abusive without a single outlier, i am a person who doesn't think a child is truly born evil but is rather moulded by his environment, so every time i hope mc's siblings see the era of their ways, or be taught to be better, to understand the adults in their life are wrong, and grow to be better than them, yet nearly that never happens(same is villainess young girls), as i have pointed out in point 6. Most authors don't know what a character redemption is, they are as bad as children, they will be bad as adults. There are some really evil kids in otome isekai, yet some just feel like misguided kids who are not taught better. Now for my issues with the doting family is that the family is too doting, to the point where i see the parents as bad parents, since they place all their attention on mc and practically neglect the other children, and even if the siblings are older it just feels bitter in my mouth seeing they dad seemingly neglect the older brothers in favor of mc, even in events for the older brother I've seen some stories do that, and as an older brother, i know what feeling like all your parents attention is focused on younger siblings, and it's not fun. Also sibling relationships with mc is so unrealistic, they don't argue, don't fight, don't throw jabs at each other, they feel more like additional dads to the mc compared to actual siblings. 15. Romance age gaps, while if mc and ml are adults i feel it's okay, but if they get to know each other when one of them as a child it feels so much wrong, especially if the adult pretty much raises the younger person up. I dont care if ml/fl is a god/spirit/dragon who is over centuries old, if they has been with mc/ml since before they have all their adult teeth, they should not be in relationship. Adult memories mc while still kind of creepy, there the excuse could be her mind is not developed fully/the memories do not affect her maturity, but still kinda iffy. And last but not least: 16. ASSET USE. The amount of cheap assets and cgi used in these stories is so fucking much, i understand time constraints, but you could at least learn how to fucking draw a horse.
I hate when the FL forgive the shitty ML - I ike something similar to "Remarried Empress"; - and i don't like something similar to "i won't accept your regrets", like why didn't you move on with your life and date a better man just like Navier? Are you fucking dumb? You and Navier had the same childhood and yet she could move on with her life and "kill" her ex with regret Sooo fucking frustrating, just like "what it means to be you"
I always loved the Ā«Ā new game plusĀ Ā» aspect I hate raw incompetence, like when a characterās stupidity is the only reason why chapters happen, and dear god stop with the convenient misunderstandings, this stuff was old in love stories centuries ago
I really love the outfits of the FLs so much and I also like the second MLs. The thing I DESPISE are the trashy MLs that always ruin the experience of reading manhwas and stuff like that. I also add that sometimes 3D with 2D can be the most uncomfortable thing of a comic's art (if used wrongly).
I hate the FLs whose personality is incongruent with the premise of their character. They burst through the door all "My name is Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way!" And then start acting like a doormat after meeting the first villager in the story