[This review contains vague spoilers from the whole series]
Despite its silly title and misleading (out of context) prologue scene, My In-Laws are Obsessed with Me is a masterpiece of subtlety and a rare case where the manhwa adaptation is better than the original novel.
To be accurate, while the original novel is enjoyable, it is quite a cliché regression story in some aspects. The manhwa took some of its seemingly cliché aspects, such as a marriage of convenience, but proposed a different angle to explore, proving that clichés aren't an issue as long as they're used properly.
The manhwa mastered the art of show, don't tell. It gave us memorable scenes where many things were said through gazes and poignant silence. The artist does a marvelous job with depicting the Lapileons mansion, where the characters look so small standing in that dark, enormous mansion. The shading and the use of dull colors add to that eerie, almost haunting atmosphere. While not being R19, the artist successfully shows us (the readers) the blood and gore of the Lapileons’ curse.
In addition to that, one of the manhwa’s strongest points relies on the fact BOTH the FL and ML are compelling, complex characters on their own and together.
Pereshati is clever, level-headed and feels very human in the middle of her supernatural new in-laws. Her self-doubt on whether or not she had really regressed through time and hallucinated it is more than justified (added to the fact that that time regression meant that her previous family truly ended up killing her and betraying her). Pereshati’s complex relationship with motherhood is also explored throughout the story and is to me one of the most important subplots of the manhwa. She simultaneously deals with the fact that her mother-in-law, whom she truly loved and considered as her second mother, used her and murdered her father (and was planning to do the same to her) and the fact that she’s now herself a young boy’s mother-in-law. Despite feeling attached to Celphius and relating to him concerning his mother, she still wonders if it is okay for her to let him call her “mother”.
Therdeo, despite initially looking like a cliché cold Duke of the North, is so much more than that. He wasn't even supposed to become the successor of the family since he was the third and youngest child but eventually had to drop his own dreams and carry that burden. He is traumatized by war and by his own past and he inherited his family’s inability to properly communicate his feelings. To top it all off once he's done with battles, he ends up with his deceased brother's baby, Celphius, who becomes his adoptive son. The contrast between his fearsome reputation in the kingdom and how his family still sees him as that young boy and a quitter, resigned to his fate as the royal family’s servant on the battlefield and on a political level (until Pereshati arrives) is very interesting. He’s also one of the only manhwa MLs who genuinely looks frightening when he’s angry and goes berserk.
The family (along with their blossoming relationships with their new in-law) and the curse remain the main focus of the plot, the romance is still here. The slow burn between them is absolutely worth it. Despite being married, it takes a while for them to trust each other (especially after that… bad start), let alone start a romantic relationship but each step towards a full-blown romance between them is so rewarding and the slight awkwardness of a first love is portrayed brilliantly.
They do face some setbacks and struggle to verbalize their thoughts and doubts (especially Therdeo) but they do have a healthy relationship and do their best to try to communicate. The nature of the curse and his trauma also make it difficult for Therdeo to be intimate with Pereshati, or even initiate physical touch but we do see progress throughout the story.
The other characters are very nuanced as well, in particular Celphius, Saoirse and Phineas. Each filial relationship between the Lapileons (Saoirse and her deceased son, Therdeo and Celphius, Phineas and Gloria, Phineas and Islette, and even Phineas and Therdeo) is unique yet heart-wrenching. The curse is poisonous in more ways than one, however, Pereshati’s arrival is the catalyst of positive changes in their strained family dynamics full of grief, restrained anger and resentment, along with a possible solution to the curse.
While Pereshati's mother-in-law proves that ordinary people are capable of evil, the main villain, the Princess, is shown practicing witchcraft and has something deeply disturbing and supernatural about her. She’s relentless in her obsession with Therdeo, her scenes give the readers chills. The mystery surrounding the Princess’ intentions and the curse, along with the atmosphere of the manhwa, sometimes give us the impression we’re in the middle of a psychological thriller/mystery with a dash of horror.
My In-Laws are Obsessed with Me is a gem in the regression story genre with depth and nuanced characters. The gorgeous and detailed art style immerses the readers in a captivating story. Even when the pace of the story slows down, the way the tension is built keeps us interested and the artist manages to make the characters say many things while letting them left unsaid, not necessarily verbalized.
Who would have thought a manhwa with such a silly title would give us some of the most heart-wrenching panels ever seen:
