A Stepmother's Märchen

Alternative Titles

Synonyms: A Stepmother's Fairy Tale, The Fantasie of a Stepmother, Eotteon Gyemo-nim-ui Märchen, Which Stepmother's Märchen

Japanese: 어떤 계모님의 메르헨

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Information

Type: Manhwa

Volumes: Unknown

Chapters: Unknown

Status: Publishing

Published: Jul 4, 2019 to ?

Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Theme: Time Travel

Serialization: KakaoPage

Authors: Nyangi-wa Hyangsinnyo (Story), ORKA (Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.13¹ (scored by 4,814 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #543²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1362

Members: 14,374

Favorites: 425

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Resources

Namu.wiki

8.13

Ranked #543Popularity #1362Members 14,374

ManhwaKakaoPageNyangi-wa Hyangsinnyo (Story), ORKA (Art)

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Synopsis

It is a mystery why the late Marquess Johannes von Neuschwanstein decided to marry a 16-year-old girl barely older than his eldest child. Whatever the reason, Shuli is left to shoulder heavy responsibilities as marchioness after his death. On top of the responsibility to manage a prestigious household with close ties to the empire's royal family, she becomes stepmother to four children who deeply mistrust her.

For seven years, Shuli dedicates herself to raising the children well and safeguarding the family fortune. She believes she only has to wait until her son Jeremy will take over as head of the family—then she can live freely. However, on the long-awaited day of his wedding, she is caught up in a tragic accident.

When Shuli next opens her eyes, she finds herself in the past, hours before Johannes' funeral. Although uncertain why she has been granted a second chance at life, this time she is determined to build relationships with the children as well as allow for her own happiness.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

A Stepmother's Märchen is an adaptation of Nyangi-wa Hyangsinnyo's Eotteon Gyemo-nim-ui Märchen web novel series. It is originally a webtoon series which has been officially published in book format by Carrotoon (캐롯툰) since October 28, 2020.

The series has been published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment on October 17, 2023. It has been published digitally in English by Tapas as The Fantasie of a Stepmother since February 21, 2021.

More characters
Characters

Von Neuschwanstein, Shuli

Main

Von Neuremberg, Nora

Main

Von Neuschwanstein, Jeremy

Main

Von Baden Bismarck, Theobald

Supporting

Von Neuschwanstein, Rachel

Supporting

Von Neuschwanstein, Johannes

Supporting

Ighöfer, Lucas

Supporting

Lady Bayern

Supporting

Viscountess Ighöfer

Supporting

Von Baden Bismarck, Letran

Supporting

Reviews

Jul 6, 2022

kapu02

Recommended

Preliminary (90/? eps)

Pre-timeskip story: acceptance, adolescence, motherly love and a newfound family. Heartwarming, cute, very precious, best oi I ever read. 10/10

Post-timeskip story: romance, drama that does not matter, the most lovable character fl is content and gets less screen time, very very generic. 5/10

WARNING: I've avoided spoiling plot points, only commenting on the overall story structure but you might want to stop here if you want to go in knowing nothing.

Fantasy of a Stepmother is not the first manhwa that shifts its focus and becomes average as a result, but damn I was surprised. Given how strong it started, I was almost certain the author ... would stick with the unique and original themes it excelled at instead of trying to be like everyone else which it did.

The beginning chapters are incredible, we see a broken girl trying to mend a broken relationship with her adopted children. The FL is strong, selfless, cute, the side characters feel like they exist not only for her sake, overall the manhwa was a breath of fresh air from the cheap romantic otome isekai trash I've been reading recently. The story picks up around chapter 30 when one of her adopted family members is put on trial, and culminated for me during 57-65 with Shuri's heartbreaking backstory of misunderstandings which I won't spoil. It was unfathomable to me how the author could write such a creative, sympathetic and relatively plot-hole-free-ish (don't think too much) concept and then drop the ball...

Welp, chapters 65-90 featured a timeskip, and the manhwa became the romantic otome isekai I've been reading recently. Granted it was not cheap, I was still invested but nothing happens in 25 chapters, there's some insinuations of an incestous development, which god I hope won't happen, overall the female lead is pretty happy and thus stakes are zero. I felt the post-timeskip arc was pointless, because the time that was skipped was the initial goal itself. After that, there's romantic rivalries, pointless family drama, some sword/hunting competition but even if war breaks out everyone dies I don't care since the family has already struggled and prevailed. Beyond that we have A Before Midnight 2013 moment, a hollow attempt at fabricating a family ordeal, and reliving past romance.

In conclusion, do read Fantasy of a Stepmother for chapters 1-65, I gave them a 10/10 (understand I'm quite stingy, and elitist). I think the author should have not done non-familial romance altogether, extended the struggle prior to the time skip, adding 3-4 political/family arcs before the trial, and ended with an epilogue after the time skip but eh, I'm still very grateful for getting to experience the story as it is. I stand behind what I said in the intro, chapters 1-65 are the best of manhwa I have read. Going forward, I don't think the story has and will reach such heights again, but I shall be waiting and hoping to be proven wrong.

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Jun 10, 2021

Resident_Green

Recommended

Preliminary (65/? eps)

TL; DR This is a historical drama with hints of future romance, bound to b(l)oom in the later seasons. There is a lot of comedy and sweet moments, with a dash of serious political intrigue and dark moments later on. Pacing-wise, this is a slow burn experience with a lot of healing, meme-like humor, and pleasant character exploration. The author wisely decided to take their sweet time to work on emotional relationships, so when gut-punching comes you bet it's gonna hurt. Plus, I adore the female MC, which is a rare occurrence for a romance genre. She is written with a notable understanding of how ... women can have many sides to their personalities. Also, her more romantic side doesn’t rule her life or the logic behind her decisions (rare, right?). To conclude, this manhwa managed to surprise me and make me excited again for the romance genre. Enjoyment - 10

Summary. The setting is vaguely mid 19th century Germany. Shuli, the matriarch of the Neuwanstein family, a stepmother of four, and a favorite subject of gossiping nobles finally makes good on her husband’s dying wish. Her oldest stepson is getting married, thus making him the new head of the powerful family. However, due to estrangement from her stepchildren, she is rudely asked not to attend the ceremony. Full of regrets and pain, Shuli leaves everything in pursuit of freedom and happiness. At the next moment, she miraculously wakes up on the morning of her husband's death, seven years prior. With no way back, she embraces the opportunity to live this new timeline differently. Since she is now a more mature person (23) in a young girl's body (16), her new goal is to be a more emotionally present mother and to live to attend her son's wedding day.

Shuli is a character I have a lot of feelings and respect for. Essentially, she is a child robbed of her childhood. As a young girl, Shuli was forcibly married to a wealthy widower who entrusted her with the protection of his children, treasures, and political power until his oldest son reaches adulthood. Out of duty, she does it all while surviving in the world of adults and being barely older than kids she swore to protect. In the new timeline, we follow her transformation from a withdrawn and always on defense girl to a more emotionally open and confident young woman.

Not to spoil anything, but stepchildren are also written very well. Aside from the understandable cold greeting, their slight rudeness towards her in the past is acceptably explained very early. Keep in mind that they are motherless and fatherless kids, jet unable to properly express their feelings, just as Shuli was. That makes some ending parts of the season emotionally devastating when you see how misunderstandings can keep people apart and in the end estrange them forever. (No, I am not going to cry).

If I had to say something bad about the whole experience, that would probably be that the first few chapters have too much humor in them and thus spend too little time on more important things like the current state of the family and the country. Letter chapters do get better in balancing serious and funny while showing us POVs of other characters, so these things tend to go away. The main villain also feels underdeveloped, but I think that is because the main obstacle of this season was the characters themselves, not something external.

Context and design-wise, don’t expect historical accuracy. Everything seems like it’s pulled from different periods to make for an aesthetically pleasant and dramatic read. Likewise, manhwa isn't too focused on the complex of political intrigue, but we do get some good scheming and ok broad strokes of global politics. Art is gorgeous, with some occasional jaw-dropping panels.

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Apr 24, 2024

Account_Name

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (91/? eps)

[More info about my review style can be found on my profile]

▶Summary and recommendation: -----------------------------------------------------------------
[The Fantasie of a Stepmother] is an Otome Isekai story focused on child rearing, and the theme of trying to live up to the expectations of your parents. I recommend it to fans of the genre, with the caveat that it is very slow.
So slow that I ended up dropping it at chapter 91.

▶Story: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The story is set in an alternate reality/history Holy Roman Empire sometime between the 1500 and 1700. It is refreshing how well researched the author is on the historical setting.

It follows a time regressed (She died and ...

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Spoil me please PeepdeeP09 - Mar 13	2 replies	by PeepdeeP09 »» Mar 14, 1:57 AM
Poll: A Stepmother's Märchen Chapter 114 Discussion Kineta - Sep 18, 2023	0 replies	by Kineta »» Sep 18, 2023 3:50 AM
Poll: A Stepmother's Märchen Chapter 83 Discussion -Ryoto- - Nov 25, 2022	0 replies	by -Ryoto- »» Nov 25, 2022 7:41 PM
Poll: The Fantasie of a Stepmother Chapter 82 Discussion -Ryoto- - Sep 9, 2022	0 replies	by -Ryoto- »» Sep 9, 2022 1:06 AM
Help plz! evertonharvey - May 28, 2021	1 replies	by stinghy »» May 28, 2021 8:15 PM

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