to preface, i'd like to just say that i'm very passionate about this particular story, so yeah this won't be an objective review. i promise to go into detail though!
#LIGHT SPOILERS
Glossary: FL - female lead; ML - male lead
Summary: Ack! I'm trapped in this webnovel, "Brigitte Wants to be Happy!" No prob, I KNOW what's gonna happen so I'll just—wait. I'm not Brigitte? I'm her aunt, Princess Yerenika?! Uh-oh. I'm stuck 20 years before the main plot... and everyone in my generation ends up tragically dead! Her parents, dead. Me, dead. Villain's dad, King Euredian, dead. A-ha! That's the key. I just need to prevent the villain from being born... time to break out some seduction schemes and flirt like my life depends on it!
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For this is a manhwa told through our favorite, the visual medium, the first thing to discuss is the art.
The style is not the most outstanding there is, but it does fit the story very well. It is one of the cutest styles I've ever seen, with a light pastel color palette amplifying the adorableness. Manhwa art typically utilizes more saturated colors, so [Flirting With the Villain's Dad]'s art is a breath of fresh air. One thing that stands out to be is the way the artist draws the eyes, which are just so dreamy:
The only thing that I consider a drawback is the weird way the panels are formatted? As far as I know, the Korean raws are similar to that of manga panels, instead of the typical long-strip format that Korean manhwas have. It's strange because the series is clearly made to be long-strip???? I just don't get it and when those panels are "stitched" together to make a long strip it looks weirdly (and annoyingly) cut off.
It's not the most detailed art style you'll find, but it's just right. I love the cutesy, simple, lolita-esque fashion (that still fits the royal setting), so many pretty outfits:
Even for the ML it holds up like what the hell it's so refreshing to see men in nice clothes that aren't black suits
Another thing I really like about the art is the visual imagery:
Nowww let's just get that past to get to the real good part of this series:
#THE ROMANCE
When I say I can gush about this couple for all day, I mean it. The main couple of this series is my favorite of all time. Other (super awesome!) reviews for Flirting with The Villain's Dad from my lovely mutuals have already emphasized on how cute the romance is, but I'd like to dive into it just a little bit more. For me, a huge appeal of romance is being able to feel like you're in love too, to want to be in a relationship, blah blah blah. The warm, amazing, fuzzy feeling that just heals everything it touches. I don't know how it works, but in romance, what gives me the most of that fuzzy feeling is physical affection. Touching, hugging, cuddling, you know what it is. Don't you go absolutely crazy when the couple in a romantic story hold hands? When they finally affirm their affection for each other and hug? It's the best, isn't it? This story just conveniently gives us an excuse to let us see the leads holding hands and hugging when they aren't even in a relationship yet and I'm crazy for the tenderness of it all. He is willingly healing her by just being around her, when he could just leave it to others. I love the sweetness and consideration of that so much. She's literally trying to save his life (and others' too) and is going about it in the cutest and funniest way possible. The way he puts up a wall around him, and she tries so hard to dismantle it, plus all the above creates quite the entertaining dynamic. He's courteous and gentlemanly but teases her quite a lot; she's sensitive and expressive and just so cute. They bounce off each other so well and it makes my heart so full. The conversations they have, plus the skinship? I'm dead. It's too good. They are also really aware of their feelings, which is great. It shows that these characters aren't dense as fuck in love, but actually pretty mature. The FL has common sense, and is realistic in her thinking despite all her goofy antics, so that's unique in the sea of dense romance protagonists...She's very proactive, and tries her very best. She's, as I mentioned, very silly, cute and lovable while still being fairly observant and quick on the uptake. I love her funny reactions to things, and the way she adapted to being isekai-d/transmigrated was realistic in my opinion. It's not common to see a FL thinking about her family not loving her for who she, the soul, is, but the person whose body she's basically possessing and it's very natural. Her ending up with the ML, who sees her and loves her for who she truly is, is very fitting. The ML realizes his feelings, but holds himself back from embracing them for fear of endangering her. The way he relaxes and then puts up his walls again could be frustrating some times, especially with that gentlemanly and considerate manner of his (I love that the FL shares this sentiment as well lmao). But that just makes her eventual victory all the more satisfying for me. I also really liked that they wanted to protect one another and take all the pain and burden, but communicated and came to an understanding, that they're gonna bear the pain together. THAT'S THE GOOD STUFF. The way they never misunderstood each other just shows how much they know their partner. AND THEY APOLOGIZES QUICKLY AFTER DOING THINGS WRONG. It's well-written, believable, healthy, get-high-on-able romance. It's the best romance I've ever seen.
The story is very character-centric, so really the plot serves more as a way to flesh out the characters than just letting things happen as I see it. Despite that, I think the conflicts are really gripping nonetheless, and the complaint I have of the more tense parts of the series is that my lovelies are unhappy not gonna lie. I love both the slice-of-life-y periods when the leads just enjoy their time together and being funny as fuck, and the more high-stakes moments as well. The antagonist is genuinely imposing and terrifying ~~and hot~~
cough
coughHer motivations are understandable, like freeing the black mages of oppression? I respect that. She certainly went the wrong way with that though... I don't like the supernatural being who was behind her nearly as much though, and I'm glad that she's still around.
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Overall, it's a really good story that knows what it's aiming for, and excels at it. I can't recommend this enough.
