Beware the Villainess!

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Well the middle was better than decent, but in the first 20 or so chapters everything felt like it took 5 times longer than it should (explaining things, finding solutions, etc.).

And the end, well it came too soon, and the big baddie for all he had to say (and considering what he was) sure disappeared fast.

Also who gets married without showing any kind of intimacy first ? I was disappointed in that.

And then there's the side stories, which are a 3rd of the entire thing and contain everything the main story was missing, like side character development and the actual romance part because the main ... story had none, it would be more accurate to call it an Action-Fantasy rather than Romance-Fantasy.

Normally most of that would've been in the main story, some might say it would've slowed down the pacing, but again, pacing is more of an issue in action stories than romance.

As for the side stories themselves, at least 3-4 of the 7 parts were probably not worth reading for various reasons like showing more negative than positive things, giving backstories to characters I didn't like, like Kartena.

Let's focus more on the positives, by far the thing that stood out most in this manga was the sound track... lol, just kidding, it was of course the artwork, simply excellent, traditional B&W manga art will forever be 2nd place from now on.
The gender role semi-reversal aspects were also kinda nice, I almost thought (hoped) it would go in different (more GL) direction.

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

▶Summary and recommendation: -----------------------------------------------------------------
It has a fairly standard settup for an otome isekai.
A girl is reincarnated into the body of a villainnes and needs to fight (mainly in the field of politics) to survive. Recommended primarily to fans of the genre.

▶Story & Romance: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The story is in my opinion at its strongest when focusing on the humour. Unfortunately for me the humour tapers out about halfway through to focus more on the political subplot and romance. Both of which are serviceable, but neither shines as brightly as the humour did in the first ... half.

The political subplot's climax was a slight letdown but the romantic subplot was very rewarding. It has some post ending side stories that fleshes out the romantic ending which left me satisfied enough to recommend this, and even if it had not, I believe it is still well worth reading just for the humour in the first half.

▶Characters: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The story has a strong female lead who never becomes a damsel in distress, even when the male lead shows up.
The side character roster is divided between characters filling a typical niche (such as a generic "all brawn no brains" character), but It also has some really memorable and hilarious side characters.

▶Artwork: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The artwork is very good, and does more than just service the story well. There are both gorgeous scenes showing off some of the best dresses in the subgenre, and memeable scenes that will no doubt be reposted on social media without needing context.

Refreshing ! That's the best word I can find to describe this webtoon.
The beginning takes a little while to get going but believe me when I say it's worth it.

First of all, Melissa is outspoken, doesn't hesitate to swear and is especially smart.
She is as hilarious as she is powerful, she's not the weak heroine who needs to be saved by Prince Charming.
Let's talk about Prince Charming, finally not so charming at all.
Have you seen any harem where you find the behavior of the male characters really "borderline" but the story portrays their often selfishly motivated actions as "romantic"?

I don't agree, neither does Melissa. The ... novel where she was reincarnated being a reverse harem, we end up with at least four bishonen intended not for Melissa but Yuri, the actual heroine of the story. But it must be noted that their behavior is not good.
Melissa does not hesitate to give them a well-deserved lesson which is a pleasure to see, very cathartic after these few harems or simple shojos where the guy is a bastard and is never portrayed as such just because he is beautiful !

Although the story plays on the tropes of the genre, it also has its own universe made of magic that is described as the story goes along.

It is mostly comedy and we have a lot of fun following this story and I'm looking forward to the rest of the story !