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Before we go to my experience, let’s give a shout out to the team making this manhwa. Also I wanna mention the almost 30 extra chapters?! That’s something lol

Even though I enjoy reading this, I still got mixed feelings reading VRH. Why? I’ll explain them in 3 points; art, story, and characters.

Art (6/10):
The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass is a joy to read if you a basic romance-drama manhwa with colorful elements suit you. The artstyle is something you might not want to miss. The style & modified decors sticked onto the dresses were magically gorgeous!

The only con is the s3xu4lizing on the FL, especially when ... she’s a minor. They made her went through a growth spurt to distract us from her being a minor. How they made her cleavage showing and waistline so small gave me off. Making her went through that phase doesn’t mean that she is allowed to wear CLEARLY s3xu4lized clothes.

Story (5/10)
It is fun to read if you wanted a manhwa with fast-paced drama. As a reader, I really like how they give fast-pacing manhwas, especially when we consider new readers. One’s arc could be about a few panels long at worst, and a few chapters at best. Yes, the revenge goes on for the whole story, I meant the small key plots.

What I don’t like is how the FL and ML starts their “romance” when FL was still 12?! And we were JUST 6 CHAPTERS IN?! Not to mention the close faces?! It’s wild, and I prefer slowburn tropes over love-at-first-sight tropes.

As the FL, I expect her to be more smart. Why does she successfully executed her plan with flirting on 3 guys, even stealing a man? It’s too shallow for an intelligent woman. I wanted her to be more rational than emotional. Or maybe my hopes were too high for her? Who knows.

Don’t mention about the filler episodes.. While a less-than-100-episodes manhwa could make me rage, they didn’t even spread the filler episodes evenly. Those episodes were saved until 4/5th of the story. They could’ve not give 5-6 chapters just for them to go on dates and give sweet nothings?

The extras were also unecessary. It’s a new story with 30 episodes and STILL A TON of filler episodes..

Last, please don’t forget about the age consent. Their age may not be too far, but Aria’s still 16 when Asher’s already an adult?! We never know how old he is, but he’s a p3d0 in some scenes.. right? Kissed, hugged, flirted, and doing such things with a 18 year-old to-be is wild for a ML.

Character (didn’t pay attention and/or mentioned above/10):
Well, the side characters were.. okay? At least (aside from Cain, Mielle, and Iris) the side characters weren’t that bad?? They had their own story, yet it wasn’t too highlighted in the story (except Sarah, Jessie, and Annie).

Conclusion.
The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass is a romance-drama manhwa with colorful elements and a beautiful artstyle. However, the story has some sexualizing elements, especially for the minor FL. The fast-paced drama is enjoyable for new readers, but the romance starts too young and the FL's actions are too shallow. The filler episodes are also unbalanced and unnecessary. The side characters are okay but not overly prominent.

So, if you’re a new reader (and will not mind the s3xu4lized FL), it’s a great read for you. But as an amateur reviewer and reader myself, I personally will never recommend this to you.

Before we start, I want to have a brief shoutout to Yu-Anna, Haedok, and all members involved for making & translating such a story. Spoilers will be here, so this is the chance to read other reviews.

Without further ado, let’s jump into this.

Simply, this story starts with Seoyoon going to a concert of her favorite pianist, Heewon. For her, Heewon is charming, and what makes Seoyoon attracted to him is because his music. The way he press the notes, Seoyoon sees it as a sign of elegance.

But that night at the concert, something went wrong. She is involved in a huge problems with Heewon, who ... is later revealed to be a vampire (yes the theme is vampires so its not a spoiler). Will she escape? Will everything come back like the old times?

Personally, I think that this story has an interesting trope. There’s many species of vampires, and each have their own strengths. As a person who likes complex stories, this is keeping me from dropping the manhwa. Every chapter reveals a new secret, the fast-paced story made me hooked.

But just like any other stories, this manhwa also had cons. One of them is the bad story buildup. I want the characters to have deeper dynamics as the story goes on. Yet, in 57 chapters, we haven’t seen such progress from both the main characters or the side characters. I had a love-hate relationship with fast-paced story. Yes, I hate when an arc is too long (and incredibly unimportant), so this kind of story is my go-to. But for me, it’s too fast. Every few chapters is the time to show up to 2 arcs, and I’m tired. I even read this manhwa while holding my breath, like let us breathe 😭🙏

And for a complex story with 57 chapters, it isn’t enough. There’s too many plotholes to overlook, yet there’s no explanation as to why. On research, I found out that the story has 751 chapters, and is still ongoing.. for real.

Imagine having to ratio a 751 NOVEL chapters to just 57 manhwa chapters 😭 Take time, dude. It’s not like the downfall of manhwas are 1 month apart.

Art wise, I think that the colors chosen are magestic. Yes, while the jaw may be too small, it actually got bigger by time. Also, I had a sense of relief when I’m already bored with gorgeous colored FL x basic colored ML — vice versa. I like how both of them had the similar color pallette (black) but the shading adds more contrast to it. And the European folks are blondies with blue eyes, so I really like the cultural representation.

What about the characters?, you may ask. Well, because we don’t know much about the side characters since the mains are always taking the spotlight, what if we just rate both mains right now?

Let’s start with our ML, Ahn Heewon (myb an heewon). He’s attractive with his golden eyes, pale skin, and red lips with a shade of purple. His short hair reveals his neck, connecting to the tall, muscular body he possess. Long fingers, broad shoulders, long legs, and small waist, his appearance makes him stand out in the crowd.

Later in the story, it reveals that he is a superbia, basically a vampire who collects strength by fame. Readers say that he’s one of a tsundere to Seoyoon, but I still think about it in a platonic way.

Even though Seoyoon asks a little bit too many questions (at the worst times possible), Heewon manages to answer some, and let Seoyoon answers the others herself.

I was kind of dissapointed that Heewon is a bit too OP. I somehow can’t even support him. “He’ll win by plot armor anyway” is always my first sentence when a battle is on. He’s too OP for Seoyoon anyway. If you’d want to compare their strength, it’s like a god with a stick, maybe worse than that.

Also, for me, Heewon is too harsh towards a mere human like Seoyoon. Yes, while there’s so many wars to attend, please let her at least rest. Maybe it’s the time skips for the pace, but at least have 1 filler episode.

On the other side, Kang Seoyoon (or kang seoyeon cos i aint remembering that) is an ordinary woman who works part time, sucked by Heewon into the dark side of supernatural creatures. She’s described as a beautiful short haired woman, standing out to the readers with her dull blue eyes. She’s smart at some times, but she has NO SURVIVAL SKILLS. What do you mean you can’t even trigger a gun?! It’s for your life, yet you still MANAGES to not shoot, waiting for Heewon to arrive.

She also made HUNDREDS of Q&A sessions, like, almost 50% of the story is filled with them. And most of them are in the worst time possible. They’re running for their life, but she still manages to ask about basic questions. At the end of the day, she’s smart enough to answers all of her questions herself.

So why bother asking? Idk. Maybe to get a faster answer from the master. But that made Seoyoon too dependant in Heewon. Especially the gun scene. She could chose to pull the trigger on an ex-human but chose not to, just to not be called a “murderer”.

At that point, I’m not shipping Heeyoon anymore. Heewon deserved better in my opinion. Maybe Seoyoon is more likeable if she isn’t that small, cute, petite, weak girl. At least have some character development.

In conclusion, for anyone who wants to read it for giggles (romance fantasy genres), this isn’t for you. Maybe you’d skip the complex part & kicking your toes when you see a fruity pose. For someone like me who read a lot of awesome vampire (rofan) manhwas, I’d say it’s an average one. Even though the characters are unrealistic af, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a mystery fantasy with a mainstream spice called romance. They could be unrealistic because it’s a fantasy manhwa.

I said it & I’ll say it again, please have more story & character building.

Contacts: @mminteaa_ on dc & insta

Firstly I wanted to thank the author(s) & artist(s) for making this manhwa. This finally ended in 49 chapters with 2 epilogues.

Because this doesn’t have any reviews, I’ll finally be first! <3

This review has MAJOR SPOILERS, so read the manhwa before me to not get upset.

Art: 9/10
Yes, while anatomy & coloring seems nice, it’s kinda sad to see that this manhwa has the basic FL & gorg ML color pallete trope. I really like how some of the art is rendered 100% (yes the makeup is rendered somehow especially in Seolbeom) But the lookism & halo effect is wild in here.

Characters: 3.5/10
I’m gonna hold your ... hand when I say this, but the characters are ASSHOLES. LITERALLY.

Confused? Let me tell you what I’ve seen in them. Let’s begin with the side characters.

Hong Siah’s younger sibling & their friends:
Actually, they’re my favorite characters. They have complexities yet so simple. Even though they’re calling Seolbeom poor for living with them & kinda rebel in a way or two, they still wanna accept the fact that it’s their fault. They apologize to each other & learn from it. You can’t tell me they’re not a 10.

Kwondo:
Honestly I don’t remember his character very much. I think he’s a figure character because the lack of screentime. Maybe I just paid my attention more to the kids rather than him. But what I remembered is that he’s the type of NAWO (No Action Watch (from afar) Only). He said he likes Siah but wtfdym you kissed Ari?! Like damn if she threatens you but that doesn’t mean you can’t set boundaries.. right?

But at least you can taekwondo your way out of my brain

Ryu Doun:
The villain in the story by being the “oppa next door” (that’s the translation in the site i read so may be diff). He’s literally THE TAXIDERMY DEVOTEE. Killing his momma just to “make her eternally beautiful” isn’t a way bruh. But one thing I liked about him is how he can manipulates Siah just by his face & wealth. Siah may be stupid but even though your face certainly gives wolf in a sheep’s clothing vibes you can still pull it off.

Hong Ari:
She’s my 2nd fav character. I know her past actions (her being the mc wannabe so she bullies Siah) can’t be justified, but hey — look at the bright side. She has a really good character development for a romcom manhwa.She actually said sorry to Siah while tryna make up for it.

Seolbeom:
Hong Seolbeom by now. I don’t fucking know how he ain’t choosing to leave Siah after all THAT. And why the author(s) gotta make him a grandfather 6 centuries back bro (bro’s a child since the 1440s canonically). Siah’s great great great great great great great great great grandfather might be a skull atp yet you dated Siah? At least you loved her so you do you ig

(Bro ain’t got ppl his age since they’re dead by now)

Hong Siah:
The MC yet the worst character. I won’t expect much since the author likes to make really bad MCs but this is wild. She always reminds her siblings “stranger danger” but she went ALL IN for the wealthy ass dude (the dude in question is the oppa next door). She’s dead naive & dumb yet justified by the fans. “She’s just an orphan” so? look at her grades, she litterally is the top 1 student, so to achieve it you gotta be SMART smart.. right?

It may be just an enchance tool so wtv abt her brain

BUT. Why you forgetting your bf (Seolbeom) when Ari REMEMBERS HIM? And dating Kwondo when he’s gone?? #Seolbeomdeservesbetter

Story: 2/10
Myb I’m rating low because romcoms aren’t my cup of tea. But there!s always so many plotholes through the end of the story. Wdym the ML died yet revived somehow cos Ari remembers him? (yall gotta be hating Siah for this tbh)

Why did the author devoted to lookism? Just because Siah was ugly doesn’t mean she deserves to be bullied. And just because Siah had a sudden glowup doesn’t mean Ari is put at fault. They should have bullied Siah at the end of the manhwa since she stopped a serial killer for Seolbeom to be “not the same as him”. LIKE PLEASE I HATE HER SM ALR

And why did Doun’s punishment counts as emotional purposes? His ancestors was a jangsanbeom killer tryhard ngl so I suggest that Seolbeom’s fault is on the “tryna survive” not the “kill for his lover” type of shit.

OST: -/10 cos i played jvke’s playlist instead of listening to that.

Final thoughts & feedbacks:
As a romcom I think it did a great job.. if yall wanna read it emotionally rather than rationally. It’s good if your break is so long that this manhwa will have your mind occupied (with anger for Siah ofc). I suggest for the staff behind this to make the MCs more likeable & no pedophilias as a trope (1400s ML & minor FL).

So, my overall rating is a 3.75/10. But round down to 3 since the pedo trope ruined it

Edit: i gotta delete that cos why does it said im preliminary when i lit completed it

As someone with not-so-good attention span, I like this a lot.

The whole manga is short, consisting of 17 chapters. And the length of every chapter is only 30-40 pages long. So for someone who wanted to read but “prefer tiktok more than any books”, this is for you — or maybe your friend.

Even though this involves with a strong & abstract topic, they could explain to the readers from different perspectives. Some sees them as something to be afraid of, some sees them as a burden for them/their relations, and some sees them simply as a stepping stone in life — as one will face ... death eventually.

I also like how they draw the characters’ emotions. It’s giving a vibe. Idk how to describe them but it gave me something different from many mangas/manhwa/manhua.

And the character building is SO good. Mika was so naive for suiciding because of her “friend”, but then progresses to be the caring one, especially for her friends, Hibino & Hani.

Hibino also has character building. At first, he always think that death is something that he should never think of. Anyone who’s scared to death are bullshit to him. He never thought of death, after all. At the end, his perspective was changed.

All secrets were pointed at Hani. They’re the one inviting Hibino & Mika for a ride to Yomi. We knew that Hani is a god, but we didn’t knew the true intentions, past, whatsoever. And Hani was so suspiciously good. And later on, we knew how gods view humans, death, and so on.

At the end of the day, it’s an amazing read for me. Idk bout yall who prefers straight relationships.. vice versa. If homosexual relationships (may have) isn’t a problem to you, this is incredible.

Even though this was recommended by my friend, I marinate it for months because I thought that it’s impossible to be completed without a chapter. I figured out it is a oneshot.

My opinion? It was a ride of plot twists. There’s some panels with no bubble chats in it — and somehow I can feel the awkward silence between characters.

For a oneshot, the artstyle is decent. I won’t judge the characters since it’s a oneshot & their backstory isn’t told. I can’t pity/praise any of them.

If you like a short manga with pot twists more than your body count, I recommend this to you.

i can predict the plot from the title, somehow decided to read it cos am bored asf & i need smth to review

idk if its the translators fault but the lines are ass (i cant even understand a thing smh), the story is ass after s1

even tho the mcs are basic looking (their color pallette is just too mainstream) the artstyle made them good looking… even tho the artstyle is SO manhwa coded

FINALLY THEY KISSED AFTER 77 CHS

there seems to be filler plots on 40-70 cos those were boring (ider the plot anymore)

plot twist but average ending. yes they live happily ever after

This is when he said “I love you.” but Alain said “No matter how many times I can reincarnate, I will always find you & I will be the place you want to return too. And we’ll come back together to our home.”

THE STORY IS A MASTERPIECE. Why? Let’s talk about the elements of the story.

Plot: I’d give this a 10/10. A small novel/manga with a deep message within. Below is the story (SPOILER & W/O BACKSTORY & DETAILS)

So, the story starts in 1990 with Alain Saverio (the mc) (ill make his name ‘AS’ so it’ll me quicker), at that time (of the scene) he ... was running away from home. There, he met a guy named Hayden Stewart (ml) (i’ll make ‘HS’ to be quick). As AS & HS opened up their backstories, AS decided that HS is similar to him — and he is someone who AS can lean on.

When AS came back home, his parents — rather than searching for him — they just prayed to God (at this story they’re Christians) that AS would “magically appear”. The father yelled at him for not coming back, and his mom is worried asf. The mother guilt tripped AS, saying that she’s worried that something is happening, so she prayed to God.

“Why don’t you search for me, then?! All you do is pray to God without even try!”

At that point, AS is cooked. (and yes AS’s father slapped him)

As the story goes, AS is getting closer to HS as someone he can relate to. AS showed HS places he’s never been to, and having fun with him as a friend.

Then his heart shatters as HS state that he’s moving that spring.

“I rather to tell you now than later. I’ll give you time to decide if you wanted to come with me or not.”

That spring, AS decided that he’s following HS.. to a new world where no one knows the past him.

(long story short they kissed & do the boombayah)

As they drove past another country (i think its MEX but i forgot lol), there’s news that in a church nearby, there’s a new priest moved from America 10 years ago.

“It must be coincidence, right?” AS thought to himself, his face turning pale.

As he recieved the news, he asked HS to go to that church, since that one priest has something to do with AS.

Simply put it, AS killed the priest & shot Jesus’s forehead.

On the other side (hometown), there’s an investigation going on that AS is “kidnapped” by HS, and they’re the current suspect of a murder & a hit-and-run.

The police went to the parents house asking about AS as a phone call rings in..

“Father, at 7 yrs old, the priest r*ped me.” “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? YOU’RE A SIN. DO U KNOW WHAT MY BROTHERS FELT ABT THIS?!” AS’s father calls him a slvt, then hung up on the call.

Since then, a police (who took care of HS once) has a hypothesis that the runaway was from the adults they lived with, not them.

Finally, they arrived at the beach HS always dreamed of. As HS enjoys the view, AS made a sketch about him, where he looks at the sea & smiles.

As they’re having a time together, police came to arrest both HS & AS. They ran to the car, speeding away as AS throws his sketches. And when AS wants to throw the photocard of the beach, he got shot.. in the chest.

“My only most beautiful place in my whole life, where there is not even the name of God, nor sin, nor punishment, nor forgiveness. The only place.. is by your side.”

“I no longer wish. I just need this. If this place is now our world, that’s fine. I can let go of my whole being in this sea.”

“He is the one who gave me everything, and offered me everything, who gave me life. That’s how it is. Since that day.”

(BRO I WAS CRYING AT THIS PART COS I WANT A MAN LIKE THIS DAMN)

As they drove to a pier, they flew themselves into the ocean.

“Hey Alain, what would the world look like if all our wishes came true?” AS chuckles. “If that place existed, it’d be paradise. There’d be nothing special, only raising my face & look up.”

“Would you be..”

-END-

I CRIED. SO HARD. ITS ANGST, SAD ENDING, DEEP, AND AN OPEN END. ITS PERFECT. It talks about religion, pedophilia & the effects, prostitution, runaways from abuse, and leaning on to someone who relate to you. Even tho its rushed af, I didnt feel like it. the excecution is perfect

Art:
The art is stunning, absolutely beautiful. It fits extremely well with the story and further elevates the severity of it all. The artist potrays the emotions completely, making me drawn more into the story. 10/10.

Characters:
At first I thought that AS & HS were cliche, both have traumas & they run away together. But if you dug deeper, you'll realize soon enough that they are totally different individuals with very compatible souls.

They both have a lot of personality and layers to them. It might be hard to relate to their individual stories, but it is extremely easy to relate to their pure feelings, especially during monologues.

The focus is purely on the main couple, with the rest simply being extras present to further emphasize their motives or help us understand where their feeling are coming from, what has shaped them and in what way. 10/10.

Enjoyment:
If your life has been sad/if you have felt alone and betrayed, you’d love this.

To anyone interested in reading this, I suggest read it with no biases and no prejudice. Just because someone doesn’t want to admit something, it doesn't stop it from happening to someone, somewhere in this vast world. This being a 'bl' story shouldn't define it's reality as “gay romance”. This is fundamentally a slice-of-life, that could very well have been described through a shoujo, seinen or any other demographic.

Personally, I found this story rather sad, but beautiful at the same time. The message it carries is as important as it is a reminder to us of how unfair the world we have created has become.

This story is painful. It goes to show not just how much a situation can hurt or break the chars/readers, how much suffering anything can cause and just how long-lasting the consequences are; but also how a person can become another’s salvation; a home, a safe place, a new world, freedom.

having this manhwa translated by teenmanhua says it all

the ml is SO BAD. why “testing” the fl by literally KIDNAPPING HER??

the fl is forgiving WAY too fast. if it was me, i aint marrying that man 💀

the story is so bland. a girl marrying the so-called “duke of the north who will say “interesting..~” just because she is different from the other girls”, then they’re on denial, the duke falls in love first, then they live happily ever after.

conclusion: my time is worth more than this manhwa. 2/10. (yeah i dropped this manhwa at chapter 23. my brain is melting just from it. if ... yall wanna read it, pls dont do it with a brain.)

I found this manga when it reaches the “hype peak”. I thought it’ll be like those overrated mangas, so I just read it yesterday. And by that, I was stunned.

Short, concise, and clear, this manga has the best representations when it comes to “the harsh society we live in”. From everyones’ expectations to a “hope” that this despair is going to end, we started to overthink anything.

To simply say, this story involves in a life’s value in real money. It shows how a life could change 180 degrees.

The MC got ¥300 000 in exchange of his 30 years because he lost everything — his friends, ... his money, his hobby, and his will to live. Usually you would expect the protagonist in a story to improve from how he/she was at the start, to realize and learn his/her mistakes. Or something along those lines. But this is different. He didn’t want to spend his last 3 months reaching for it. He just wanted everyone to forget him so he lives happily, running away from suffering.

"Life is something that can’t be replaced. But if a human life could be converted to money, how much do you think it would be worth?"

This question is basically what the manga is about. It's not whether one’s status or fame. Rather, it's about how each person would perceive this question depending on what point in their life they are in. It all depends on who you're asking.

So why is his "value of life" so low? “Is it really something that depends on how happy a life it is, how it makes others happy, how many dreams are achieved, how much it contributes to society?” It’s a question which is hard to answer, since it depends on who you ask. The ambiguity of the value of life can sometimes lead to shocking results. Like the MC’s future where it lead to him losing ability to walk, losing half of his face, and maybe being in debt to the hospital (hence he can’t even feed himself).

Overall, the development is amazing, I’m perfectly paced throughout the manga & every chapter seems to have a deep meaning.

The kinda sad thing is, the “life shop” is very disturbing. A life is not how the buyer views it, but it’s based by the observer(s). That depends on how they see life, whether every moment will be cherished or only certain moments are.

I can't say how amazing this is.. yet not many people read it. This is a masterpiece, there's a lot of plot twists & it really goes to the basic meaning of life itself. Although for some people this may be boring, with a simple hypothesis about “selling lifespan/time/health” real, the author comes up with this great work. It’s a 10/10. the only thing i dislike is the age gap (early 20s x 18-yo-looking)

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

idk why but the ml looks like Kambe Daisuke from fugou keiji. also the char designs are very diff from novel to manhwa lol
...
---{ Plot }---
☐Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☑ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

+1 cos it didn’t take +100 ch to tell him the truth (or a whole season). and the ending is EDGING

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ Read Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Characters }---
☐ Stuck in your heart
☐ Memorable
☐ So so
☐ You'll forget it immediately
☑ You won't even think of them since they're bad in a lot of ways

Why? first, the FL is irritating. She shouldn't say she’ll love Adrian just like that...what if he takes it seriously.. especially w Adrian who has a past like this. he’ll have trust issues fr

and everyone is abnormal except the ml. he deserves better. especially in ch 69. He's not wrong, and I'm glad someone said it. She's sympathising with the guy who treated her like a wild animal because she looked like the woman he's obsessed with. The man who deliberately made her life as hard as possible, and has killed countless people. There is nothing there to sympathise with.Her argument that she could have turned out like him is also stupid because she couldn't. She was low down in a company, she didn't have the authority to do anything, she could have only become jaded.

but in ch 71 ml is so dumb cos he just meet the girl and went to sleep with her in the room like his last braincell be parting 💀

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☑ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

if u wanna see cute artsyle w a super plain and/or bad. i reccomend this to you :)