This will be my first ever review for a series, and not for good reason. I don't consider myself proficient in writing reviews, but I feel compelled to write a review after having been disappointed by how Beware the Villainess turned out. I will review each component that led to my disappointment of the series separately and try to compartmentalize my thoughts on this manhwa.
Despite this review stating my dismay over how the series panned out, I did still enjoy its lightheartedness and warmth. Dangerous situations that could have called for drama was easily resolved with some decent maneuvering (and luck) from the main character. At the very least, Beware the Villainess did not lose its identity of being a cheerful and fun narrative throughout.
Moving on to my complaints, here is a short overview of the things I did not like about the series.
Pacing
While the narrative that the manhwa wants to present is consistent, the way it delivers is the opposite. There are times that plot moves quickly from one point to another without a way of digesting current events, and there would be times that the narrative slowly and painfully spends too much of its time on one aspect that could have been easily breezed through. To put it simply, some parts are a drag to read, and some parts needed to be longer. I am not sure if this is because of a less-than-stellar adaptation of the novel, or if the novel's pacing was really like this. In any case, this is a complaint that I don't think I can remedy.
Plot
While I did say that the narrative was consistent, by no means did I mean that in the same vein as 'excellent'. I have no qualms with cliched storytelling, but going on a cliche and then going on a tangent that was lacking is quite unsatisfying. Granted, the comedy more than makes up for it, but I felt that while it was strong in the earlier chapters, the comedy died down a bit as the plot progressed (which in my opinion is the strongest asset the manhwa has). The cliches coupled by the somewhat random pacing has made some parts of the story difficult to read.
Main and side characters
The joke gets stale real quick when the main character repeatedly does the same gags over and over again, in this case being dense and airheaded. This is my biggest issue with Melissa, seemingly having both the qualities of a Mary Sue and a dumbass. There are times she makes it work, but more often than not I find myself getting frustrated at how seemingly backwards sometimes her growth is.
Next, the 'male leads'. They're utterly and inconceivably boring. I hated how they provided almost no substance to the story, and I think it's a consequence of the plot that has made them so. The plot progressed by slowly whittling down at the male leads to remove them from the picture. That in itself isn't a bad idea, but running them over like a train and providing no context whatsoever as to how they grew and changed (some didn't even get to do so) was tedious.
Nine falls into the same category above, aka he's boring as hell. He performed his role well, but being a cookie cutter character has not done him any favors.
The two shining beacons I had with the story were Yona and Yuri. I was compelled to finish the manhwa due to the two. One, a seemingly emotionless, money-hungry maid that has done so much for the background plot, and the other, a fun, dynamic character that brightens the page everytime she appears.
Climax and Conclusion
"That's it?" summarizes my feelings for the climax and conclusion. It felt utterly lacking. The latter parts of the story was so sped up that it felt like I was just reading to end the story quicker. There was no proper conclusion for the male leads, and more importantly, a glance into the mindset of Yuri after the events that happened, which I feel would have garnished the story so well. I understand that Melissa is the main focus of the story, but with how relatively lacking narratively the events surrounding her are, it would have made for a rounder story overall if some of that focus was shifted for the other characters.
The text under the spoiler tag is about how the romance progressed. Be warned if you don't want to be spoiled.
Side Stories
Another case of "Wait, where's the rest?". I really thought we would have at least gotten some focus on Yuri for the side stories. But instead, we got random characters appearing, and even some stories dedicated to Kartena and Robbie, which confused me a lot because that should have been spent on the side characters that actually had more relevance (aka more Yuri, more of the male leads, etc.). It was nice that we finally got a glimpse on the backstory of Yona, but even that ended up slightly underwhelming because she had no proper conclusion either (did she manage to achieve her goal, or was she able to meet up again, etc.). All in all, lacklustre.
RUNDOWN
A fun and bright story marred by a lacking narrative and engaging progression, Beware the Villainess has equal parts of good and bad. Definitely a good read, but it also falls under the category of 'turn off your brain for a while and enjoy'. Nothing thought-provoking is to be had. However, Beware the Villainess definitely delivered its identity well, and for that I can say that it was a fun experience.
6/10
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