I Favour the Villainess by Inari
Jan. 30th, 2020 11:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrThis is a translated Japanese f/f comedy romance light novel, about a Japanese lesbian who finds herself in the world of the m/f dating sim she was playing...and does her best to avoid all the male love interests the game throws at her and instead win the heart and good ending of the game's haughty villainess.
Here's the English translation I read
It's pretty silly, and the romance didn't quite work for me, but it's a lot of fun, and a lot more queer and generally thoughtful than I expected. There's a lot of discussion of being a lesbian in both Japan and the fantasy world of the game, and even a secondary trans woman character who is treated pretty well. I'm pretty sure the author is a lesbian herself, those parts felt very real. It's also pretty fun as a fantasy novel, with magic battles, dilemmas around of the role of nobles in an unjust society etc. It's even vaguely left-wing. And it's quite funny.
My main issues:
1) The translation is pretty bad.
2) The protagonist, Rei, is like 25 before she gets shunted into the game, while her love interest Claire is 15. Rei doesn't expect Claire to return her feelings, and Claire is very tsundere in her rejection, but it was still a bit uncomfortable reading this teenager being openly sleazed on by an adult she thinks is a fellow teen. The silly tone and wish fulfilment nature of the premise makes it easier not to take the age gap literally, and their relationship becomes more complex and mutually supportive. So I mostly shipped it by the end, but not 100%. Overall I enjoyed it more as a queer humourous fantasy novel than a romance.
Also: The quasi-middle eastern country is a straightforwardly evil stereotype and there were a few moments of fatphobia, other dubconny women etc. A minor trans man character commits suicide, I thought it was handled adequately in context but still. There's a sympathetic depiction of sibling incest, it somehow managed not to squick me too badly but ymmv.
Still, I paid $1 to support the author's pixiv fanbox (kinda like patreon) and not just to read the porny extra >.> (which was as unsexy as I expected it to be)
Here's the English translation I read
It's pretty silly, and the romance didn't quite work for me, but it's a lot of fun, and a lot more queer and generally thoughtful than I expected. There's a lot of discussion of being a lesbian in both Japan and the fantasy world of the game, and even a secondary trans woman character who is treated pretty well. I'm pretty sure the author is a lesbian herself, those parts felt very real. It's also pretty fun as a fantasy novel, with magic battles, dilemmas around of the role of nobles in an unjust society etc. It's even vaguely left-wing. And it's quite funny.
My main issues:
1) The translation is pretty bad.
2) The protagonist, Rei, is like 25 before she gets shunted into the game, while her love interest Claire is 15. Rei doesn't expect Claire to return her feelings, and Claire is very tsundere in her rejection, but it was still a bit uncomfortable reading this teenager being openly sleazed on by an adult she thinks is a fellow teen. The silly tone and wish fulfilment nature of the premise makes it easier not to take the age gap literally, and their relationship becomes more complex and mutually supportive. So I mostly shipped it by the end, but not 100%. Overall I enjoyed it more as a queer humourous fantasy novel than a romance.
Also: The quasi-middle eastern country is a straightforwardly evil stereotype and there were a few moments of fatphobia, other dubconny women etc. A minor trans man character commits suicide, I thought it was handled adequately in context but still. There's a sympathetic depiction of sibling incest, it somehow managed not to squick me too badly but ymmv.
Still, I paid $1 to support the author's pixiv fanbox (kinda like patreon) and not just to read the porny extra >.> (which was as unsexy as I expected it to be)
no subject
Date: 2020-01-30 05:19 pm (UTC)Which is too bad, because the concept sounds so interesting.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-31 12:35 pm (UTC)Yeah :(
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Date: 2020-01-30 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-31 12:34 pm (UTC)Yeah I basically headcanoned them as university aged psychologically but referred to as 15 by the game because of otome tropes. And since Rei has the original protagonist's memories as well as her own she's arguably a new person of ambiguous age.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-01 02:20 am (UTC)Is 15 a standard otome age? I've been playing mostly historicals so... I have no idea. Everyone is of ambiguous age, but Younger Than They Were in Real Life.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-01 02:29 am (UTC)Not always, but high school tropes are very popular, and the the game is set in a Hogwarts-ish magic highschool. Also, if you want an actual otome game set in a magic highschool with canon f/f between same aged girls, Magical Diary: Horse Hall is pretty fun in a fluffy way.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-01 04:09 am (UTC)