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Hello~ I'm writing this review since I thought it was fun to write a review again after not writing any for a while. Slight spoilers ahead, but nothing too detrimental to your reading experience, I think.

Story: 8/10
The story of this LN is great. Act 1 was amazing and I have no real faults with it. The story was wonderful and it was excellent at highlighting the development of the characters. The question "what happens next?" was constantly in my mind while I read this part and due to that, I was able to binge these volumes.

For Act 2, it was also great, but I ... would say that Act 1 is just slightly better. Act 2 was pretty much just a post-Act 1 story. That said, Act 2 was still a pretty good story. Act 2 pretty much extended the mystery of the world of I'm In Love with the Villainess and I think the answers to the mysteries they introduced were quite intriguing as well, even philosophical at times. Act 2 also made me truly appreciate Act 1 more as I often look back on Act 1 when I was reading Act 2 and see just how far the characters of this story have reached.
I say that I like Act 1 slightly better than Act 2 because in Act 2, I felt stressed often with how the story progressed since there were many times where things could've gone wrong, a worry I didn't have much in Act 1.

Also, perhaps this is a spoiler but I really liked how much the author liked writing in in medias res style. It's just somewhat refreshing to see.


Art: 10/10
The art (illustrations) is absolutely wonderful. They were able to excellently portray Rei and Claire's cuteness and beauty and that's all that matters to me.


Character: 10/10
Now, the characters. I think the strongest point of this Light Novel is its characters (for me at least). First off, the main characters' dynamic, Rei and Claire, is just absolutely fun to read. It's always a delight whenever they interact and I would honestly read more if I find any more of their stories. Besides that, Rei and Claire individually are really great characters as well.

Rei is this character that was very obssessed with Claire right from the get-go and I really found that obsession of hers interesting and wonderful. Interesting because I really enjoyed how her actions caused various reactions from Claire, wonderful because behind that obsession, is overflowing loyalty which I personally really like. Also, slight spoilers but as the story progressed, her flaws, which were seemingly nonexistent at first, started to become more apparent and I'm not sure why but I've come to really like her after I saw those flaws of her. Perhaps because of gap moe?
Come to think of it I always enjoyed moments when she showed gap moe.

Claire on the other hand is a character that could only be described as a tsundere. However, she's not really the annoying type, or perhaps she is, I'm not sure. What I'm sure of however is that she has some nice reactions whenever Rei teases her and I love her for that. Oh no, I think I've inherited how Rei thinks.
Also slight spoilers (maybe major) for the next part.
Her character also develops greatly throughout the story. Her development was so great in fact that when I looked back at the earlier volumes while reading the later volumes, I almost could not believe that she was the same Claire.

The other characters were also really lovely and wonderful. Each of them carried some sort of issue within them and I think it was spectacular how they came to solve it. Their interactions with each other were also really fun to read. I still liked Claire and Rei's interactions the most though.


Enjoyment: 10/10
I really very absolutely definitely totally completely undoubtedly fully enjoyed reading this LN. As a yuri fan, a yuri as great as this was an absolute blessing. As a huge anime fan, reading something like this which is pretty different (in more ways than one) from the anime/manga I usually watch/read was very nice and refreshing.


Overall: 9/10
Overall, I would say this Light Novel is great. I thoroughly enjoyed it since I was able to binge something again in a while.
Do I recommend it? If you absolutely despise yuri, I'd say to stay away from it since there is a high amount of yuri in here.
If you are a bit open-minded and would like to try some yuri, I'd say yes, definitely. Besides the yuri, I think the story is absolutely wonderful and I believe that it is very worth it to give it a try.
If you are a yuri fan, I would just like to ask why haven't you read it already? It's absolutely glorious and you need to read it. NOW.

Have you ever felt 'suffocated' while reading a manhwa?

That's exactly how my experience reading this particular manhwa was. The feelings of isolation from all the restrictions, always surrounded by very high expectations, always needing to give it your all even though it's not particularly rewarding, and most importantly, constantly feeling lonely in a hard, unwanted journey. Such were the things that I have felt as I began following Shuli's, the main character of this story, journey.

Shuli led a tiring life. Being married off to a Marquis at a young age by her very own family for financial advantages, her once commoner life turned ... into a noble one wherein she finds herself taking on the responsibility of becoming the head of a noble family while being a mother, a stepmother to kids that were very close to her age. The burden became heavier when the Marquis she married to died from a disease, making her shoulder the responsibility the Marquis had.

As I already mentioned, her life is a very restricted one. She did not have the freedom to do what she wants and instead, live a life that someone else decided for her. It was very suffocating to see how much she struggled in order to bear the responsibility that she vowed to carry. Reading this manhwa was like managing an endless maze, it's dark, uncertain, and scary. But perhaps that's the reason why it always felt so fulfilling and warm whenever she accomplished her goals, big or small. Being acknowledged not just by the nobles that expect much from her, but by her own (step) children that she felt had once shunned her (from her previous life), are the greatest and happiest feelings I felt reading this manga.

Seeing Shuli get rewarded for her efforts was the sole reason why I was able to keep reading this manhwa. Despite the seemingly endless suffocation I had to feel, every happy moment she was able to gain due to her persistence was enough to make me continue to follow her hard, yet incredibly fulfilling and warm journey.

The Fantasie of a Stepmother, or A Stepmother's Märchen as it is my preferred title, is a highly melancholic and somewhat realistic story. It's not the typical royalty manhwa where the main character is highly talented and unique that she was able to fight obstacles that came in her way on the new world she finds herself in. No. Shuli may be brilliant but it was made apparent that she can't handle the issues concerning nobility alone. She had to rely on others in order to get over whatever obstacle that came in her and her family's way. And that is what I think that makes this story "somewhat realistic". There are so much we could do on our own, but there's even more that we could do surrounded by the people we trust and love. Her hardships don't feel foreign and at times, feel oddly familiar. It's melancholic at the same time as you can really feel the sadness and disorder every character feels whenever something goes wrong.

A Stepmother's Märchen is a great story. It's like being trapped in an endless, dark maze, where every small leeway gave you enough motivation to keep going and watch over Shuli's journey. I make it sound really depressing but it's also really wholesome to see her family, despite a 'fake' one, develop full of love and affection. It's definitely not for everyone, but if you're in for some nobility social warfare and some kinda heavy drama, then you're in for a great ride.

Pretty messy and long review but I hope I was able to convey my intent.

(Spoiler-free)
Well, this one's really straight forward. The MC can make literally anybody or anything die instantly just by saying "Die". Well, to be exact, saying "Die" while thinking he want to kill that somebody or something. This manga is by no means unique or new but it is completely aware of that. That being said, I could argue that the concept of an absolutely overpowered MC, just to be clear, not ridiculously overpowered but absolutely overpowered MC, is pretty unique and interesting for me.

If that premise sounded boring to you, you might as well not read this one cause it definitely isn't for you. However, ... if that intrigued you even at least a little bit, I suggest giving this one's a try. Just, don't expect too much. It's supposed to be something meant to enjoy without thinking TOO much.

Oh, one more thing, the reason I didn't get bored of this manga is because there were surprisingly no fanservice. Well, maybe there were but it was hardly noticeable since I was more focused on what was currently happening. No annoying girls flocking to the MC either.

The MC is a really likeable character, for me at least. He's pretty detached except to the girl he decided to protect. He has an absolutely overpowered power but he doesn't really flail his power recklessly. He only uses it to people/things hostile towards him or the girl he decided to protect. Overall, he's a pretty good guy, if you can leave the fact that he killed countless people.

The plot is actually somewhat interesting. The stuff that were introduced which at first, looked like it had nothing to do with the plot at all is actually starting to come together forming some kind of a story line. It's really intriguing yet simple to follow. It's also not generic.

The characters are exactly like the kinds of character you've seen so far in many fantasy anime/manga/light novel: the arrogant bastard ones, the anime tropes females, the generic heroic characters; every character you've met is probably in this manga. The only difference between this manga and the others is that, these characters are not as annoying in this manga; mainly because any annoying characters here are killed instantly by the MC.

Also, I forgot to mention this but characters that are overpowered are common in this manga. Their powers are like the powers of ridiculously overpowered MC you've probably watched/read in the past. They pale in comparison to the instant death ability of the MC though.

TL;DR
If you want simple fantasy manga with a somewhat intriguing story, read this. It's an unexpectedly entertaining and interesting read. I do believe the score is somewhat underrated but I won't complain about it that much. I just simply want to say that I really enjoyed reading this manga.

[Light spoilers might be incoming]

This was seriously such an awesome ride.

Chainsaw Man is a manga I had my eyes on for a long time but never really read it because I was not feeling it yet. Then I heard it ended. It took quite some time but I finally read it. And boy how thankful I am I decided to wait for it. This is definitely one of the best manga you can binge, speaking about the final chapters at least.

Chainsaw Man felt like being reunited with a part of me, a part of me that I have known for a long time but ... never fully acknowledged. It was a great feeling. While I was reading Chainsaw Man, I noticed multiple times how little it cares about anything. It was somewhat nihilistic. [SPOILER ALERT] Oh you grew a little attached to this character? Too bad he/she died! But wait, let's grieve about that character's death for a little bit. It was a little too fast? Anyway, let's move on to the story. The manga kinda felt like that when I was reading it. There’s also the matter of other characters having really simplistic dreams. But the thing that really made me feel reunited with this part of me was the main character, Denji.

Denji is a 16-year old boy who doesn't have the best life. The thing that he desires most is normalcy. His life situation has always been bad that he could get happiness just from dreaming of a normal life. However, by some chain of events, he gets involved with the public safety bureau where he gets to experience the normal life he very much wanted, just with a bit of devil killing though. This is who Denji is. Just let me make this clear, I don't relate to him having a bad life. What I found relatable to him is his simplistic way of living. He would risk his life just to grope some tits. He would risk his life because a girl he likes told him so. He's even willing to be a girl's dog because she told him to. Woof!

It was really fascinating how similar Denji and this part of me were. It was really surprising. I was shocked at how similar we think and almost all of the decisions Denji made were exactly what I was thinking in that situation. How he thought of things that were the same exact thoughts I was having. How little he cared about things and how little he reacted towards certain things. Denji is willing to risk his life for stupid reasons because he doesn't want to think about things too much. He doesn't think about the implications of his actions because it's easy to do anything if you don't have to think about anything. It was great. Denji is exactly like this part of me. Let me just remind you though so you don't get the wrong idea about me after you finished reading this manga, I only relate to Denji because he reminded me of a part of me, meaning not my entire ideology is like Denji and that there are other parts of me which clash with the part of me that relates to Denji.

But yea, Chainsaw Man was a really really good read. 'Till the end, I was able to relate to Denji and thought of the same things he did. The story is a 10/10 for me since I can't really ask for more. It reminded me of the crazy shounen plots I read and watched before but this manga's story was better due to certain elements like its nihilistic and whatever happens, happens mood.

The art is an 8/10 for me, it was not the best I've seen but it was certainly enough to convey what the author wanted to portray. Also, Makima is really hot so props to the art for that.

The characters are 10/10 for me. They were fun to follow and they made me attached to them to a certain degree. It sucks that some of 'em died though. My enjoyment is 10/10 because well, I kinda explained it all already. This manga was really easy and fun to read.

Overall, a 10/10 for me because this manga was really great and really fun to read. I don't know if it was because I just finished reading a certain manga called Domestic GF and I felt kinda empty when I read this but reading this manga was really satisfying. Its degree of "emptiness" kinda matched the emptiness I was feeling and that may have made it easier for me to read this manga. So I recommend you to not read this when you're in a happy mood. This manga is the opposite of a happy mood. It's not depressing though, it just feels like a void. Also, this manga is kinda gore (not too much though) so if you can't handle that back out, this manga's full of that. But yea, this is a fun read; I especially recommend reading this after reading another really great manga that you felt empty after reading it.

Two different women, same wish, a wish to die. One is a rich but sheltered girl. Life's necessities are always within her reach, but not the means to escape the household which suffocates and harasses her. She always needs to worry about how she appears to others or else she won't survive. The other one, due to some circumstances, leads a beggar life. Unlike the first woman, however, she doesn't need to worry about how others perceive her but she does need to worry about what food she will eat tomorrow. Due to an incident, their lives become intertwined. How will these two women affect ... each other's lives?

(this paragraph might contain light spoilers)
Her Tale of Shim Chong is a story about two women discovering fun things in life through their interactions. Fun things that they never knew exist. In a world that favors men, they fight and struggle to live another day. With each of their meetings, they formed an irreplaceable bond, a bond that could even be beyond friendship. Don't let the Shoujo Ai tag fool you though, as this story has some pretty sad topics. The unfair treatment of women under a patriarchal world, the sweet temptation of death in a life full of suffering, the frightening lack of difference between a sheltered life and a beggar life for women in a world that favors men are a few which are tackled here. Just to be clear though, this is not that depressing but it still is a pretty sad story.

Hopefully that sounded interesting. But really, I was just expecting a cute shoujo ai manhwa before reading this so it's a really pleasant surprise to find a manhwa with a story as great as this. I'm just going to say this just in case but if you're expecting a yuri manhwa with many NGGHHHH yuri moments, I suggest you read something else. While this indeed have some NGGHHHH yuri moments, it's
more focused on how these two main characters change each other's lives with each of their meetings.

I'm not going to say this manhwa is for everyone. But if you're a bit open to stories that are a bit sad and a bit yuri like this one, then I highly suggest you read it. Even if you're not a yuri fan, I believe giving this one a try is very worth it since I personally believe this is a hidden gem. There aren't too many yuri scenes (though there are definitely a few MHHMMMM yuri scenes), and if you're looking for a great story, then I believe this manhwa is for you.

TL;DR
Great read. Highly recommended. This isn't filled with yuri scenes so non-yuri fans could still enjoy this, though yuri fans would definitely enjoy this more. The story is also very meaningful and you could pick up one or two lessons from it. Great story and great characters. A somewhat tragic tale, but not too depressing. If you're into all that, give this one a go.