somnia's manga / #webtoon(38)

The moment MC is out of school, it gets BAD. It's difficult to build a good story where the main character single handedly ends misogyny (you can't just be like: mc exists, does things and bam everyone thinks sexism is bad), but the author didn't even try. The answer to that complicated problem is magic here. Ngl, the whole sexism thing is very extreme to begin, but explainable since there was such a drastic power difference between genders compared to our own history. Instead of trying to send a message similar to "hey, no matter what they tell you about how a woman is worth less than a man, women can very well see eye to eye with them or outdo them" it's sending more of vibes like "you know men and magic? well, no. Misogyny bad. Bad man stole magic from women. Magic will solve our problems and bring equality." Uuuugh, the whole saint plot just yeeted away so much potential imo. I guess making everyone equal when it comes to magic is somewhat of a step in the right direction, but it's so obviously an easy cop-out for the author to not have to think too much. What finally sent me over the edge was this whole lore bs about the saintess and a salty sexist dude who stole women's magic as a lifelong hobby. What the fuck?

This is good generally. Very lighthearted and kind of shits on shoujo stereotypes while also indulging them. I personally dislike how when two characters of the opposite gender meet, in most cases it only takes a finger snap and boom they're crushing on each other. This manhwa is VERY on the nose about shipping and romance in general. Honestly, t's very refreshing that no one is wasting time playing the sensitive, annoyingly insecure and borderline blind character that cannot see how much they're loved. There's a lot of question marks and lore to be explained. It's nice that nothing is outright given a chapter long explanation and you just get the info as you experience the story, until everything eventually comes together. Honestly though, after the story gets a bit darker I found myself asking when I'm gonna be done reading this. Also, the constant comedy is SO jarring sometimes. After you're past the I'd say 50 or 60 chapters it gets REAL serious, some heavy lore is being uncovered piece by piece, shit is going down if you will... and into every nook and cranny there's comedy squeezed in. It's like you're in the middle of a somber post-war landscape, taking in the devastation, and spot someone moaning out a fat dump by a bush, that's the comedic timing I'm talking about. Anywho, the start of the story is definitely better than later chapters, but it's a good time in general.

One of the first shoujo manhwas I read, it's a lowkey a classic in my heart, so I may be a bit biased. As the title indicates this is about our FL, Elise and she is a doctor. In more detail though: Elise lived in a fantasy world as a noble lady in her first life, and basically did a lot of bad things for which she was burned at the stake. In her second life she became a surgeon to atone for the life she wasted on misdeads, only to die at a young age and be reborn as Elise again. Anyway, despite FL's lowkey confusing reincarnation thing, she's a solid character. Same goes for everyone else in the story. The ML is on the more brooding, serious side but he is never out to be your stereotypical cold-shoulder emo love interest that FL has to beat and rinse him with affection first or what have you. I also love the whole dynamic between ML's brother (also the second ML) and Elise. But the one thing that's a major turn off for me is that FL is kinda giving subtle to major Mary Sue vibes. She just yeets from one obstacle to another and over time it gets tiring bc you know she'll solve it somehow by using her surgeon skills, even if the issue is only distantly related to her doing doctor things. You can smell, taste and hear how potential plots will be tackled the moment there's a close-up pannel of someone looking sick. Anyway, overall I like this one. It's cute enough to flip through to remind myself of certain plot points, and up to a point it is entertaining, but it's no reread for me.

This is something you want to start reading when you just want to have fun. The story is consistent, the characters are mostly consistent, add in your classic isekai shoujo setting, and you'll be fine. But honestly, after MC marries it's like why are we still here? The longer this goes on, the more you think about it. And in turn the jokes become stale.