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starbugforest · 1 year

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I'm about 60 chapters into this manhwa called "I Married The Male Lead's Dad." Ridiculous title, right?

Well here's the premise: a young woman, who is a self-described "simp" for her favorite character Able from a novel called Pandora, dies. She wakes up in the body of Aisha Heathcliff, a woman who lives in the world the book takes place in, years prior to the events of the book. Able is a child at this time, and Aisha winds up catching the attention of his father Hades. She jumps at the opportunity to become the mother of her favorite character. Shenanighans ensue.

Absolutely ridiculous premise, right? Like, if I described the initial premise of this story to anyone I know in real life, I think I'd die of shame just talking about it, and they would never look at me the same.

But here's the thing y'all:

That initial premise gives you NO hints about where this story is going, and where it's going is GOOD.

Like "I can't sleep because I'm lying awake thinking about it" type of good. Like "I'm cursing like a sailor and giggling and kicking my feet while reading" kind of good.

I'm gonna ramble on for a WHILE. So here's a cut. Feel free to read on if you care to know more.

Okay so let me give you some background first in case you've never resd this type of story before and also because I just like explaining things.

I like reading this particular type of isekai manhwa where the general trope is that a woman from our world dies tragically and then wakes up in the life of a character from a novel she'd recently read.

Sometimes the exact flavor of this trope is a little different, like maybe the MC (main character) wakes up in the life of a character from a dating sim, and a common subtrope is the MC waking up as the villainess of whatever work. (Actually the villainess subtrope is possibly more common than anything else in this type of plot...)

Usually the world the story takes place in is some kind of magical nobility fantasyland where everyone dresses in the fanciest possible clothing and absolutely everything is pretty all the time and the slightest little cut is treated like a dire emergency because no one you care about is ever going to be hurt to the degree of there being long-term consequences, especially not scarring on our female protagonist. (I love how pretty everything is, but I do feel a little embarrassed for the protagonist when she gets a cut on her finger and it's considered a medical emergency...)

The MC is usually isekai'd into a position where she must use her knowledge of the plot to fix events into a happy ending or else face dire consequences. She is usually a bit bumbling about it and often oblivious of the fact that she can or is actively changing things for the better, even if things get temporarily dark.

Oh, and absolutely everyone falls in love with the MC not long after meeting her. Always. Inevitably. If a classically pretty character is introduced? They are going to fall in love with the MC.

Shameless wish fulfillment fantasy stuff. Lots of fun to read, but usually I've forgotten the entire thing a day after reading it because they're all kind of the same really.

With a few notable exceptions. This being one of them.

Now that I've given you the general shape of this type of story, let's begin examining how IMtMLD breaks that mold.

1. First, our MC has not been isekai'd into any character recognizable from the novel of Pandora, so she has no extra knowledge to go on about her own character's fate. She's free to live as she chooses, completely outside of the events of the novel unless she decides to get involved. There are no dire consequences if she doesn't get involved. At least, not for her.

No, she gets involved because she, the self-described "simp," just wanted to catch a look at and give gifts to her obsession, little Able. Creepy, but whatever. People get weird about celebrities and fictional characters. What else is new.

2. Secondly, Hades is not an asshole. It really, really cannot be overstated how much this type of work uses the appearances of characters as shorthand for their personalities. Most drawn media does this of course, but I feel like this particular genre is worse about it. It's one reason they all sort of blend together in my head after a while.

For example, Hades is a handsome man with sharp features and red eyes. He has dark hair and a way of moving and gesturing that screams of arrogance and competency. His smile is always more of a smug smirk. Usually, this sort of appearance would be shorthand for a character that is harsh and aloof and somewhere on a sliding scale ranging from anti-social to sociopathic.

Instead, Hades is a loving father and devoted fiance and encourages open communication and honesty with Aisha and with Able. He does this incredibly cute thing where he'll confidently name his own good qualities, yet still act surprised and get flustered when Aisha flirts with him. Overall he's just very sweet and honest and devoted, with a good sense of humor.

Oh he still breaks out that "anime boyfriend" temper where he will happily cremate his enemies (i.e. anyone who threaten/disrespects his wife or child) but otherwise he is astonishingly reasonable and likeable.

(By the way, this method of appearance shorthand being not quite entirely subverted... Sidestepped? Anyway, Hades is not the only character for whom this gets played with.)

3. Thirdly, Aisha has an identity crisis. Pals, I cannot tell you how long I've waited for one of these isekai protagonists to go through this. Somehow they never do? They always just wake up in a new and prettier body and move on with their lives! And like honestly Aisha is still not having the identity crisis I feel like most isekai protagonists should be having. No, Aisha's having an even WORSE one. Aisha is having the identity crisis to end all crises. Honestly I can't even blame her for latching onto her self-description as a simp because what else does she even have at this point? Like hotdamn.

4. Fourthly, it has Actual Fucking Plot. The story may technically be primarily a romance, but the author did not take that as an excuse to just write random scenarios connected only by two people learning to tolerate each other. No, the author instead decided to play fuck, marry, kill with god, fate, and the very concept of isekai itself - not necessarily in that order.

5. Fifthly, I'm not sure how to word this properly. The romance is a motivation for our dual protagonists, not just a plot device to hang misunderstandings and shenanighans off of. Aisha and Hades are engaged basically day one, he falls for her within like, 10 chapters (partially because he thinks she's in love with him) and Aisha takes a little longer (chapter 40? 50?) but she's also totally gone on him at that point, like from one moment to the next. Honestly it's a little awe-inspiring how quickly these two decide to devote themselves to each other. The awe-inspiring part is that it doesn't feel forced or fake. Instead it's a natural progression of their characters that they would fall like that. That's the sort of people they each are.

The two quickly fall for each other, and the focus is on staying together, rather than slowly falling in love. Is it just me or is that rare for a romance story?

6. Sixthly, we actually get lore??

In short, the main characters are all actually quite lovable and interesting, and the plot very quickly evolves into something far more than just another run of the mill "isekai'd noble" story. Highly recommend, have very much enjoyed.

✨8/10✨

(2 points deducted for simping. Because that's just awkward, bro.)

#reading ratings #i married the male lead's dad #I've not finished the available chapters yet #so i might come back and change this #but right now it's an ✨8/10✨ sparkle rating #sparkle ratings

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ridley-was-a-cat · 5 months

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Fall 2023 Anime Roundup

Anime of the Season – The Yuzuki Family’s Four Sons

I don’t know if it was because this adapts a shoujo manga, or because the premiere episode aired with abysmal machine-translated subtitles, or because people just weren’t in the mood for a slice of life when all these powerhouse shounen adaptations were airing, but this went almost completely ignored across the English-speaking anime fandom despite being a delightfully heartfelt story about four brothers living on their own after their parents suddenly died.

While many stories dispense with parents just to allow their young characters the freedom to play around, this series deals with their absence in a more grounded way. It looks at how high school teacher Hayato is alienated from his peers and is running himself ragged by raising his younger brothers himself, how the middle two brothers, both first years in middle school, clash with each other in their efforts to be helpful, and how the youngest brother, who’s only in the first grade, doesn’t know how to feel about parents he lost while he was so young. All of this drama is perfectly balanced out by lighter moments of fun interactions between the brothers and the multi-generational family across the street, as well as an optimistic framing. It’s clear that whatever struggles these four brothers will encounter, they’ll pull through together somehow. 8/10

First Runner-Up – Overtake!

Just like mecha anime are rarely about the robots, this formula racing anime is less about motorsport than it is about a struggling mid-career photographer and a teenage F4 driver changing the course of each others’ lives through racing. It touches on racing in a way that’s friendly to newbie and gearhead alike, and the races are animated and framed in an exciting way, but the real story is the characters, and touches everything from grief, to job anxiety, to the enduring trauma of the Touhoku earthquake. 8/10

Second Runner-Up – My New Boss Is Goofy

While the first episode was a little weak, it gains its footing after two or three episodes, and becomes one of the warmest and coziest slice of life series of the year. Momose’s lingering anxiety from his abusive boss at his last job provides just the right amount of saltiness to keep the sweetness of his new boss, the earnestly kind but a bit airheaded Shirosaki, from feeling too saccharine. 8/10

The Faraway Paladin: The Lord of the Rust Mountains – It’s a bit of a shame that this series has not gotten a terribly good production, because it is the best D&D-flavored fantasy adventure series I think we’ve seen since Record of Lodoss War. It has a real sense of stakes and scale, where battles aren’t won on guts and the power of friendship alone, and the hero really has to work for it alongside other powerful people. 7/10

Tearmoon Empire – The do-over element of this story makes it feel like it belongs in the otome isekai bin, but it is, in fact, a straight up fantasy about a princess sent back in time to her teens after being beheaded by revolutionaries along with her diary, letting her fix what went wrong. Watching Mia accidentally set everything right and gather loyal allies was extremely entertaining. 7/10

I’m in Love with the Villainess – I’m not generally a fan of romcoms centered on an obsessive girl doggedly pursuing her crush who wants nothing to do with her, but it was all so over the top here, and also clearly a bit of a front put on by the pursuer, that I couldn’t help but enjoy the ride. It’s nice to get some good, silly queer romcoms for a change. 7/10

Dead Mount Death Play Part 2 – All of the conspiracies and schemes set up in part one come to a head here, revealing characters’ backstories and complicated loyalties. It leaves off on a good stopping point, but I hope there’s another season, as not a whole lot has been resolved, and I want to know what everyone is going to do now. 7/10

The Ancient Magus’ Bride S2 Part 2 – Whether or not you enjoy this arc is going to depend upon how much you like Philomena and the other students at the college, because she is the center of the story here, for better or worse. I preferred the focus on the fairies and other folk of the countryside in season one, but it was satisfying to watch Chise unravel the mysteries surrounding her new friends. 7/10

Migi & Dali – Part absurd comedy, part murder mystery, part psychological thriller, this was a delightfully unusual little series about identical twin boys pretending to be one person to get adopted by a couple that lives in the idyllic town their mother was murdered in so they can investigate. If you can hang with some bizarre situations, this is a fun ride that sticks the landing. 7/10

Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions – I don’t know how I feel about the big reveal concerning Ron’s background, and the mystery writing isn’t particularly clever, but I really enjoy the manzai comedy-like dynamic between Ron and Toto, and the cases they investigate often have equally entertaining characters. 7/10

Dr. Stone: New World Part 2 – I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to watch any more of this series, but I picked it up shortly after it finished airing, and I ended up enjoying it. Even if I prefer the science focus of the first season, the shounen adventure action of this arc was entertaining enough. I’m still just a little cranky about how none of the female characters are part of the “science team”. 7/10

Under Ninja – I guess this series about a modern-day ninja who infiltrates a high school along with other ninjas to fight some kind of inter-organizational battle falls under the dark comedy category, but I’m not going to lie and say that I totally understood what it was going for in the end. The visuals were a bit of a mixed bag as well. 7/10

Helck – It was nice to get a two-cour fantasy series that wasn’t an isekai, and had a number of creative story ideas and likeable characters. The storyboarding and animation could only be described as so-so, and a chunk of the story is told in flashback, which holds it back a bit. 7/10

Spy x Family S2 – Even more so than the second half of season one, this season felt like it was aimlessly spinning its wheels. The characters are still plenty charming, and the production is still solid, but the story lacks focus. 7/10

The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent S2 – This season follows basically the same ground as the first, sans the drama with the second saint, with Sei still working at the institute, going on expeditions to fight monsters, and getting romanced by Captain Hawke. It all makes for a pleasant and laid-back isekai story, but it is disappointing to have an adult protagonist for a change, only have her act like a young teenager capable only of blushing and stammering around her crush. 7/10

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead – After screaming out of the gate with an extremely strong premiere episode that showed a zombie apocalypse being a welcome reprieve from corporate drudgery, the series’ story and production steadily declined, ultimately coasting into a generic shounen-style action series with one-note characters by the end. 6/10

I’m Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness – A powerful magician nicknamed Demon Lord rescues a woman he found on his property who is fleeing a plot in her country. It was cute watching him teach her how to have fun and be a little selfish, but nothing in the writing, acting, or visual presentation ever rises above just okay. 6/10

HYPNOSISMIC -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima PLUS – There’s a lot I enjoy about this campy sci-fi series where fighting has been replaced by hypnotic hip-hop battles. The character designs are fun and colorful, the story has good twists, and the characters are entertaining. The rapping, however, is just not good. 6/10

After-School Hanako-kun – This was only four ten-minute episodes consisting of side stories, and not a sequel, and as nice as it was to see the characters again, it felt a bit aimless, like the jokes lacked punchlines. 6/10

Jujutsu Kaisen S2 – I can’t remember ever falling off a show as hard as I’ve fallen off this one. Season one was everything I ever wanted from a battle shounen, while this season took much of what I loved and sent it through a paper shredder. I won’t say it’s wrong to chain fight after fight after fight while killing off popular characters, but it’s not a story I’m interested in following. 6/10

#fall anime 2023 #anime 2023 #anime #the yuzuki family's four sons #overtake!#my new boss is goofy #the faraway paladin #tearmoon empire #I’m in Love with the Villainess #Dead Mount Death Play #The Ancient Magus’ Bride #Migi & Dali #Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions

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