Progress: 15/-Score: 95/100
This review contains light spoilers.
This review is just my subjective and biased opinions.
There have been only 3 manga volumes out as of writing, and I have not read the novel so the opinions here will be ignorant of events that happen later on.
(Edit: My opinions have slightly changed since writing this review, but I won't be updating it)
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Quick Summary
A villainess in an otome game trope once again. This time, a teen reincarnates into the game's setting as the villainess' butler. It's up to him to save them both from the path to destruction, mainly by solving her childhood problems. But when things look to be settled soon, trouble ensues as they cross paths with the other characters from the otome game, and find themselves right in the middle of the nobles' political disputes.
Genres: Villainess, School, Drama, Romance
tldr Review
Tight and to-the-point no-bullshit writing/pacing.
Apt and efficient panelling and dialogue.
Competent and likable characters that do not feel generic or two-dimensional.
Admirable protagonists that you want to root for.
For the art - the character expressions and designs are definitely cute and polished. But it's still pretty standard and even quite plain, so it does leave something to be desired.
Characters might feel too competent or perfect.
Pacing might be too tight - no room to breathe between events.
Well-Written Characters
This manga's characters are competent and unpredictable. This is the complete absolute opposite of the 'predictably stupid' characters present in way too many of the manga and manhwa of the villainess genre these days.
The protagonist is written to be refreshingly self-aware, and is always on top of the situation. Level-headed and not a fool, he is a character who is easy to relate with since we don't have to sit through token misunderstandings by dense protagonists.
The characters don't fall into one-liner archetypes. Incompetent characters have a different side to them and circumstances for their actions. Characters there just to fill a role often take unexpected, sometimes game-changing actions outside of their roles. The most competent characters aren't all-seeing, and things start slipping through the cracks as the story progresses. Even the mob characters are grounded in the universe - maids of nobles are generally level-headed as expected from their likely hiring requirements, and the other noble children are simple-minded as expected of their age. The amount of depth and effort put into building each character properly truly shows, especially when it comes to their individual thought processes and actions. Compared to many other villainess-themed manga or manhwa out there, there are very few supporting characters that obviously feel like shallow cardboard cutouts of generic token characters, and most supporting characters have at least some level of depth or believability to them.
Some Gripes
One gripe I have with the writing would ironically be that the characters might come off as a bit too competent. This is mainly referring to the protagonists, but there are also many other characters that are surprisingly competent for their age. But although this isn't ideal, it also isn't unfitting for this manga, seeing how this story is set in the type of serious theme and high-strung noble society where characters have to be very competent and seem to have been trained as such from young.
The second gripe would be that the pacing is too tight - there isn't much room to breathe and relax between the events. But this is a subjective thing, which might even be welcome seeing how this manga doesn't release very quickly. It could be a restriction of the medium (as compared to the novel), and might be something that a few side chapters could possibly fix. But personally I do find that overall things are too uptight too often - there's pretty much no breaks, and just the rhythmic onslaught of developments one after another.
The Panelling
I don't know what it is about this manga in particular, but it is the first time I've taken so much notice in the panelling. The scenes are very aptly described, and I think sometimes in ways that are unorthodox yet very effective. This is mainly something I notice in the comedic segments, like cutting to a new establishing shot the next page in the middle of a character's existential crisis with comedic timing. The more I pay attention, the more I notice how perfectly executed the panelling constantly is, and this is probably a really weird compliment in a review, but I just seriously can't help but actually be in awe every now and then at this level of panelling proficiency. Personally, if I ever want to make something of a similar genre in a manga format, this is prime studying material no doubt.~~~