I'm in Love with the Villainess - Vol. 5 Ch. 25 - Not like a Fairy Tale

[ry3te4]

She was still in the chapter so it counts. -1 Also this mtl is garbage.

 

[beep_repair]

 

[Dwarfy2k]

I'm putting a chain of comments as someone re-reading this but this arc was really poorly handled. I stated in the previous chapter that the one's suffering the consequences should less be about Rei and more towards Claire since all Rei did was follow pre-established boundaries. This should still be an arc about Rei cementing her feelings instead of giving up but it doesn't change the fact that all consequence was put into Rei for NO reason making the arc come off as fucking stupid since all of the characters just begin contradicting their pre-established values on a whim without being introspective on why they held onto those values to begin with.

Not only that but even until after the "test" Claire was still calling Rei "Commoner" like you can't make up this level of fumbled bad writing.

 

[CynicalPepper]

Not only that but even until after the "test" Claire was still calling Rei "Commoner" like you can't make up this level of fumbled bad writing.

What's really disappointing is that the arc actually has potential to be an interesting one and with other recent arcs they've shown they're 100% competent enough to make an arc interesting but they just fumbled this one so hard that it borders on comedy-- essentially just flanderizing their own characters for an arc and moving on like nothing happened.

 

[AshenHalo]

she had like 0 char caused pain and for what the two girls to like each other? only reason she was that powerful was so that she could beat the mc its fucking stupid.
i really dont like spreading hate but jesus i hate this girl
(tell me to delete this if you want ill get rid of it)

 

[mtfunky]

Stupid arc I must say

 

[zHIST]

you all can drop the story if the writing was sooooo baaaadddd you don’t wanna read this type of character right? so drop the story already

Considering that's all you managed to say regarding it, I'm not surprised you have no issues with this arc. Room temperature IQ

 

[CynicalPepper]

honestly despite how much shit it gets i think the whole manaria arc isn't entirely horrible, there's setup with really great potential. it's just that the actual ending was absolutely fumbled.

the arc was focused primarily on exploring how rei just automatically accepted that she would have to settle for being at claire's side while watching her find happiness with somebody else, and how she's afraid to actually confront her feelings for claire. even though she's very open about them, it's rarely in a serious way and she never really takes the time to just sit down and be emotionally open about her romantic feelings for claire without any jokes involved (and it makes sense why she would be afraid of that considering how horribly things went the first time she confessed to another girl). instead, she just settles for being at claire's side to support her even if that means she has to bear the emotional weight of seeing someone she has feelings for find happiness with someone else, which is a very unfortunately common lesbian experience. she's avoiding the hurt that would come from rejection by staying as a spectator, because even though refusing to participate as a genuine contender in claire's love life means she can't win, it means that she can't really lose either. it's why she mentions that for some reason it feels so much worse seeing claire's affection directed towards another girl: if the only options are men, it means she isn't being chosen because she was never an option, but if the options include women too, it means she isn't being chosen because claire is actively choosing someone else over her.

the characters describe this whole mindset as rei giving up or having half-baked feelings for claire, which i do think misrepresents the intended meaning and comes uncomfortably close to seemingly like the characters are trying to say that true love is completely ignoring someone's boundaries. but the conversation in ch. 24 with manaria makes the intended message more clear- in manaria's case, she tried to do the exact thing rei did by not confronting her feelings while staying by the side of someone she loved and eventually the emotional weight that had on her got so bad that she literally became a sexual predator which is... certainly a writing choice, but the point is that she bottled up her feelings for so long that she reached her emotional breaking point and did something messed up and irreversible instead of just being honest with her feelings. which is why she's so insistent on pushing rei to not make the same mistake (to the point of literally threatening to rape claire, i guess).

it all concludes in chapter 25, which is where the real fumble of the arc is. the resolution i very much expected was that rei, after spending hours fighting monsters and grinding for a rare item, would end up with nothing to show for it besides a literal random tree branch, but because she put so much time and effort into trying to find something for claire, the tree branch would end up having more emotional weight than manaria, who just used the generic best choice. it would have tied things together fairly well, imo- it'd make for a nice parallel to rei's duel with manaria, where she tried her hardest at doing something that seemed impossible and it ended in failure. instead, she would be trying to win a fight that should theoretically be impossible (using a literal random tree branch against the proven most effective choice for the scales), but because of the amount of care she has for claire, she succeeded, showing that success is possible even when doing something that seems impossible (which rei initially thinks is the case when it comes to claire actually reciprocating her feelings) and that it isn't worth giving up without trying just because you think failure is guaranteed (which is exactly what rei does in regards to claire). and not only that, but having to use an actual random stick for the scales would be forcing rei to confront the feelings she had been avoiding, since she'd have no way of knowing whether or not the tree branch would actually work, and would have to just accept and trust that she has so much genuine love for claire that no matter what she places on the scales she'll win.

but instead of that, the resolution we got was... rei uses her isekai video game knowledge to metagame and get an auto-win rare drop that turns into a massive tree that's just heavy as fuck rather than having emotional weight. ok.

A big thing I want to point out, dunno if its addressed here fully but figured it would be relevant as a reply. One of the ways to make this arc more enjoyable would be making the character progression be put both on Rey and Claire. For Rey to realize that what she is doing isn't helping herself and Claire to realize the systems and standards put in place led to this situation to begin with, or another way would just be focusing on Claire in its entirety though them both learning and progressing would be a plus but Clair, when she should be progressing as a character and realizing certain things about herself in this arc doesn't progress and remains stagnant. In reality, all Rey did was follow the standards placed upon her and is outwardly asked to defy them whilst the characters don't question why its there in the first place or if it should be a standard broken to begin with making a lot of this come off as really dumb.

In general though, this is a very Clair-centric arc, or rather an arc that would've benefited on more of a focus on Claire. She kind of just came off as an object for the story rather than an actual character when she should've definitely had much more to say which cause the events to begin with, actively even going against the "antagonist" of this arc in a way, even if she admires her deeply. Through that the hypocrisy in what she is asking of Rey is revealed. That would've actually been interesting.

Of course, Rey still gets her moment, and Claire will begin to understand that what she has been doing is inadvertently hurting someone she cares for.

 

[Lowfyie]

FINALLY

 

[Mr.Van]

Nah I came rereading the manga after watching the anime, and I gotta say, nothing the author says or does will make Manaria's character any better than scum. I was really in love with the story before the incest arc, which dropped the bag a bit with Lene the maid being forgiven after threatening to kill Claire, but it was still okay. But this, this arc is unbearable for me to read a second time. I don't got any detailed analysis, but this arc is just so shit it singlehandedly lowered my considerations for this manga so far.

I hope it gets better from this point onwards. And yeah, what's up with the commoner this commoner that from Claire. Like god damn I was wonder why Rei would start drift away if all i ever do is to treat her like an outside commoner.

 

[Mr.Van]

And bros, Manaria's character design is lowkey ugly af. She has got that yee yee haircut that some tomboys wear, and brother, if there if anything I hate in yuri manga, is any character bearing any energy resembling a guy, just no. Just personal rambling, so it is biased af.

 

[Mr.Van]

Ah last bit of ranting. Does anybody else find them characters who laugh out of nowhere to be cringy? Like bro we are doing some serious business over here nobody wanted to see or hear your lame ass laughing. Stop hogging the spotlight and go pound sand.

 

[Ninoren]

Even re-reading i just hate this arc.. Especially Claire, who literally just goes "Maybe i do love her.." just because she offers some god damn flower and a scale 😐.. And the way she was all over that filth the whole time was even more icky, felt genuinely sorry for Rei

 

[hotaruhi]

Honesty Sincerity True love and caring~ Rei make Claire and everyone fall in love with her!!!

 

[gheis95]

I really enjoy the princes being wingmen in the story.

 

[MadFIXscientist]

🔥Damn! This Arc is so Ass! (But Rei and Claire is still adorable)