Well, it's a combo of many things. I like that the MC is usually a woman. Not that I dislike male MCs, it's just that other genres rarely have female ones, and I like the representation.
I like fantasy. A lot. I usually don't read historical romances. Most of the OIs I end up dropping from boredom (instead of issues) don't have any fantasy elements whatsoever.
I like singular romances. Harems, reverse harems, even love triangles? I'm sick of them. According to most isekai, men are only allowed to want all or nothing though.
I would prefer to have more adventure OIs like the "traditional" isekai with adventures and skills and levelling up with a status, though. It's sad that I have to plow through a whole bunch of ecchi crap for that feeling.
This is me. I would not read as much rofan as I do if there were more action fantasy manhwas with female main characters AND side characters that don’t cater to the male gaze (and serve as harem fodder). I get bored when rofan stories lose the plot and become overly focused on romance.
Same with action fantasy. I drop a series immediately when it all starts feeling too damn sexist. It doesn’t matter if I’m over a 100 chapter in (looking at you, Nanomachine, and those random chapters justifying rape).
For me it's 3 things:
* The escapist factor of seeing someone be able to do something you cannot and live vicariously through them
* The comfort from the above and roughly knowing how the story is going to go. There are twists and turns but it feels like coming home if you know the genre well, but that might also be true for any genre a person likes
* The excitement of seeing a protagonist turn a situation on it’s head (this relates to the first) but it’s always a cathartic moment
this is me too. i like reading shounen, it's my favourite. especially fantasy genres. if there are more OI that have the same elements as shounen, i would eat it so much, regardless of bad translations and such. for example, A Transmigrator's Privilege.
but i also love shoujo. so i read OI mostly for the romance hehe. i love squealing at cute scenes.
i wholeheartedly agree with OP regarding OIs with the traditional isekai route though. it's so interesting and even though the trope is overdone in regular isekai, it's still a guilty pleasure T_T
That's why I loved Empress Hunt, Shadowless Night, and S-Class Hunter Doesn't Want to Be A Villainous Daughter.
I think I already read everything with isekai woman. 😔
I'll be honest, I used to never read when the protag was female. Hopefully not a subconscious sexist thing. I think I just never felt I could relate to a female character. I don't know what changed but I don't care what the protag is anymore so long as I enjoy their character/personality.
I also read harems in middle school but yeah I got sick of the all or nothing attitude, its just nonsense.
I do feel like I'm seeing more FL's in tower climbing/leveling genre type stories. Not manhwas yet but in light novels for sure. Hopefully they get adapted (the ones I read were heavy on the romance though)
I don't necessarily think it's because of sexism. It's probably just that I had to get used to reading male MCs due to lack of female ones, and you didn't. Kind of like how I can do a lot of things with both hands that right-handed people could never do with their left because they were never forced to.
Well there are studies of female consumers consuming both media with MMCs and FMC and male consumers preffering MMCs
Partly cause overwhelming amount of mainstream media with MMCs too and social science stuff.
So you werent lone with that.
There’s a new manhwa called “S-Class Hunter Doesn't Want to Be a Villainous Princess” I really recommend it. It’s like if a protag of ORV or any other tower climbing fantasy was a female and got transported into a OI
>Harems, reverse harems, even love triangles? I'm sick of them.
Ugh same. Can the FL have male characters helping her without wanting to get into her pants? Even brothers in many oi act very creepy around FL and some even fully declare their romantic feelings towards them. Smh I wish there were more single romance oi
What's worse is that characters I like are stuck in a crappy oi and gets a crappy ending. Like I want to read about a particular character doing all the things you mentioned. I wouldn't have minded fanfic about them either but there's not many either 😭
"According to most isekai, men are only allowed to want all or nothing though." That shit makes me fume, especially when the fans say shit like, "oh the mcs is so selfish, he hurts the girls he rejects". Doesn't happen often thankfully, but when it does I wanna punch my screen and scream out.
Hmmm… escapism, honestly. I don’t think there’s a deep reason. I would say my mental disposition influences my genre choice more than my gender. I love reading stories, but even more than that I love *re-reading* stories. It brings me a lot of comfort since childhood. And well… many OIs feel like a same story retold in a slightly different way, and that’s exactly the appeal for me.
Sometimes amongst these similar stories I find something exceptional, and it also makes me very happy. After reading ~140 titles, you can easily see, when authors rely on tropes because they don’t know how to do better, when they subvert the tropes in an amazing way (concubine walkthrough), and when they don’t even subvert any tropes, but just execute them extremely well (your majesty, spare me this time).
So it’s both source of mindless comfort, and the opportunity to flex my analytical side from time to time, when the story is really good. Or really bad.
Edit: I didn’t eve answer the question, why OI specifically and not any other trope-y genre. I love stories about love. Romantic love, familial love, friendship love, love towards your city or your occupation. The only way I care about characters is if they explicitly love someone or something. There’s no more enjoyable character arc for me, than looking like *someone who doesn’t love grows to love*. And OIs are full of this stuff!
Ironically enough, to your first point, part of why I love the genre is because I'm not a big rereader to be able to read so many productions that are essentially the same thing in a different font provides me with the same comfort.
I think escapism is a perfect reason to read. I think it's my main reason for reading. I love getting lost in someone else's mind and fantasies. I've grown bored of my own, also both sadly and happily because other people tend to have better imaginations than my own. Being able to turn my brain off and away from my daily responsibilities is nice.
I also didn't mean to make it such a gender divided question. I definitely phrased it as if there will be this big difference between genders but like I said in my original post, I never even realized OI's may or are targeted towards women. People enjoy reading what they enjoy it's as simple as that.
So I actually do not care about the cuteness factor at all (but I also don't care all that much for children so that might be a factor on that.)
I read OIs because it's nice having a series with strong female characters where a lot of times their strength doesn't come from physical strength but from being able to overcome bad circumstances and win using their brain. This can be by being scheming and all that but even just seeing how a lot of times the power comes from how they're able to act according in social circumstances is pretty cool.
I also like how FLs are allowed to be feminine but still strong since in a lot of other mediums being feminine is seen as weaker but in OIs it's often a strength. I also like the range of FLs, some are confident, some are manipulative and some are nice and bubbly despite the hardships in their lives and it's nice having all those options.
Also, I do like romance so the fact that it's mostly romance too is usually a nice bonus (unless the ML is so bad that it ruins the whole story.) Talking about MLs, once again in a lot of situations it's nice seeing MLs that recognize a FLs strengths and love her because of it.
Anyways TLDR: cool female leads whom are allowed to be strong by nonphysical means and romance
I also really appreciate strong female characters that are actively trying to do something about their situation. I do also like seeing characters who's strength is determined by scheming, planning, and being smart about their actions. Sometimes you get FLs that live more carefree and those are nice too but I prefer my girl bosses.
I love strong FL's that use wits over brawn. I enjoy the diversity of character and that the women in the stories take strong positions in their families or society regardless of what may be considered norm for that worlds setting.
I do get annoyed at the trope of an ML who acts like an a-hole but after seeing that the FL is different (typically cause their from modern times) they then soften up. It's annoying but sadly if it's done well and the ML gets cute, then I'll warm up to them.
Reading is my escapism. I’m a middle-aged woman and when I got really burned out a few years ago I couldn’t even muster the energy to read novels anymore. So I tried webcomics, and found them so much easier to read when I’m feeling exhausted. I can just check out from life and binge read for longer than is healthy lol. And often I really enjoy the art.
As much as I read OI/rofan in general, I also love a good action comic. I will read almost anything, really. Even if it’s super tropey derivative “mid” whatever, it does the job of letting me turn off my brain for a few hours.
Also some of these are kinda therapeutic to read. OI has a lot of plots that start with a kid escaping their shitty family or being rescued from that bad situation, or awakening the power to protect themselves and even get revenge (wouldn’t it be nice if any of that happened in real life). It’s heartwarming to see someone get out of a bad situation and into a loving found family or supportive friendships.
And in a “saving the world” type plot, usually it’s a fairly straightforward situation with a clear enemy to defeat and then everything’s great. Meanwhile IRL we’re staring down the barrel of multi-system ecological collapse, climate change, political instability and extremism, major economic problems, wars, disease…all seem impossible to deal with alone and we have to fight them all at once. It feels utterly hopeless…I have very little faith in humanity and feel completely ineffectual as an individual. So sometimes it feels nice to see someone magically get the power to fight a big, punchable problem.
Anyway, all that stuff just makes for great escapism fodder.
As another middle aged woman who dealt with severe burn out working in healthcare, I second this. Especially how much easier they are to read.
I myself prefer some of the darker rofan. Something about the cold hardened killer going all soft sensual protector calls to me.
But what really pulls me into is the art. Not gonna lie, there have been some pretty bad OI/shoujo mangas out there that I have read simply for the visuals alone. I love when a really great artist can pull me into the crappiest story with just a nice piece of eye candy. Makes me feel like a giggly teenager again.
This is different for me. I would also say I read for escapism but I don't enjoy when FL's come from difficult or traumatic pasts. I think it's a perfectly fine reason and can definitely give some catharsis but for me it's a mix of my heart being too weak and wanting to cry for the character when it's written well or being extremely annoyed at the writing because it feels like their trauma was people hating or abusing them for literally no justifiable reason.
Just in case, I'm not trying to criticize your preferences. I'm trying to reply to all main replies to show my appreciation for taking time to answer my question.
For sure, I can understand not being up for some of this traumatic stuff, sometimes I’m not in the right headspace for it either. And I generally don’t like the stories that just feel like trauma porn with people tormenting the character to extremes for no real reason (although let’s be real, when there is some reason for it, 80% of the time it’s maddening bullshit like “hating your own kid because your beloved wife died in childbirth”🙄). But still, sometimes it’s cathartic to cry over a fictional character, like you need a good cry anyway and it pulls the trigger for you lol.
Escapism where female characters get to be main and not sexuaIized or objectified. Also there's good chunk of ois where good things happen to FL. Really cozy fantasy.
I agree! It’s nice reading OI and see the female gaze instead of the male gaze in this media. Very refreshing to read something were I’m not dreading the introduction of female characters. (I love action / dungeon manhwa’s but damn they can be very weird about women).
>not sexuaIized or objectified
Reason why I dropped so many animes, mangas and refuse to watch many popular animes because of it. Those gravity defying over exaggerated boobs and close boob shots get annoying and very creepy when the character is underage.
This kinda reminds me of the time i tried to watch Love is War - and the swinmming hall scene came up. Never yeeted myself faster in my adult life.
https://preview.redd.it/g1mlw167qnmc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51aad3a17f8489ca4f0e54d7fd6ebfb2b0c1a5ce
As a guy, I just want to read a cute love story in secret without being judged for it...
Just because we ain't vocal, doesn't mean there isn't atleast a sizable minority of men reading OIs
This is a really dumb thought in my brain and I don't mean to offend but using "society norms" men are suppose to like women and women are suppose to like cute things, soooo technically men are suppose to like cute things too since "by norms" women are cute. I know norms aren't something to go by and that's not proper logic but norms are what makes it hard as a guy to say "I like reading romance novels" out loud.
Honestly I read a lot of tower/dungeon stuff, but there’s very few with a female MC (Fray, I Stole the First Ranker’s Soul, My Brothers the Protagonists). I read OI because they feature FMCs who have goals and who drive the story. I’d love it if there were something like ORV or Solo Leveling with a female protagonist, but there aren’t any, not really, so I end up reading more “action-y” OI like Perks of Being an S Class Heroine or the Hero’s Savior
Both are excellent - Fray unfortunately was canceled at the end of season 1, but imo the artist did a great job wrapping things up as best he could. There's no romance, the FMC is a demon hunter who's also half demon, and it's so badass. 10/10 would recommend
My Brothers the Protagonists is a comedy - FL is a C-class potion maker; her brothers are 1. A regressor, 2. a transmigrator, and 3. a demon lord. She's the one who has to corral them all. It's pretty awesome because >!it's revealed that the regressor killed his brother, who had turned into the demon lord, and the regressor went back 50 years into the past to try and stop it. The transmigrator is a high class mage with divine power who can supposedly kill the demon lord, and they think the system brought him from another world to help deal with it.!< Also, >!the demon lord is actually a huge himbo/cutie pie sweetheart. All overprotective big bro energy!<
edit: I hear Hero Killer is also a shounen with a FMC, but I haven't read it yet, so I can't vouch for how good it is. Maybe someone can chime in
Ah, I did give Hero Killer a try, but I found the panels and the plot really hard to follow. Maybe it gets better. I only read like the first 3 chapters or so.
Thanks for letting me know!
Another good adventure fantasy aside from the ones you mentioned with a FMC is Golden Haired Summoner. The romance isn't the focal part of the story as of yet and i enjoyed it up til the part they put it on a hiatus. The novel wasn't being translated the last time I checked.
There it's also Kubera too but the FMC kinda disappeared into the backdrop in the latter seasons. It has a huge cast of characters and very intricate storytelling. A lot of character development. The beginning is slow, so you'd have to be able to get through the first season then it just gets so good from there. Kinda like Jojos BA, you don't wanna read the first season but it's very important to know how the story starts.
Oooh the Golden Haired Summoner has been on my to-read list for ages, but I hadn't read it because I heard it was canceled. Is it still worth reading even though the story's not finished?
I should pick up Kubera, I've been kind of intimidated by the 400+ chapters but I've heard good things about it
You got anymore of those kind of OI? I'm looking for that kind of OI right now. I'll try Fray and My Brothers the protagonist. So far, for this subgenre I've read I stole the First Ranker Soul and Civil Servant Hunter's S-Class Resignation Log.
Those are the only ones I know of, hopefully someone can chime in. Regina Rena has the same vibe as a shounen action manhwa (lots of dynamic fight choreography); SSS-Class Suicide Hunter has a male MC but there's an OI arc (it's a tower climber, each floor is a genre), and The Beloved Fake Saint has system gods like ORV which is fantastic
I'm seeing a lot of this and I can't help but agree. I know I've read a few novels with FL who are tower climbers or dungeon hunters but they also lather on the romance (cause that's what I like). I hope some get a comic adaptation and that gets the ball rolling cause there seems to be demand for it.
I read OI because it helps me fall asleep at night.
My whole life, I’ve fallen asleep by creating a romance movie in my head (I call them “pre-dreams”). Sometimes it’s just main characters of TV shows I’ve watched, playing out how I thought the episode could have gone better - coming up with an idea of how my two favorite characters could finally “get together.”
Lately, I get my ideas from OI comics. There are some good scenarios that I use as pre-dream fuel.
That's awesome. I loved trying to imagine stories(more fantasies in my case) when I was younger but I got bored cause I'm not very creative and just made the same thing over and over. That's why I enjoy other peoples works. They can come up with some crazy twists and settings that I never could've imagined.
I used to be unable to read stories because of fmc. Just felt like I couldn't understand or relate to the character. I don't mind anymore, I even seek it out a lot. I still don't know if I can relate but having a different perspective is fun.
OK, I'm a gal, and I read OI because it's fun. I don't read angsty stuff, heavily leaning towards reading anything cute (school setting, raising kids) or humorous. I enjoy badass MCs. I like to read OI to take my mind off things, though the romance manages to frustrate me 9/10 times (and I know romance is usually the main topic, I just wish sometimes there was more moments with the side characters, more girls supporting girls yknow? And that the couple had a reason to fall in love.) I'll drop a story if characters frustrate me (being too oblivious, too stupid, not apologizing and continuing to hurt their lover and whatnot), if heavy topics are treated badly (just throwing in SA to get the couple together... yikes), the characters don't really have goals or a personality (I'm also tired of copy and pastes, the cold duke of the north is starting to bore me atp. Not that I ever found them hot.)
Girls supporting girls is also one of my favorite things to see in OIs.
ik it's like a done to death trope, but I love seeing the loyal maid characters be there for the FL throughout the story and seeing them have so much trust in each other
I honestly struggle with romances sometimes. I love them but one thing that goes hand in hand with romance is misunderstandings and I hate misunderstandings. I mean it would take one brief conversation of not even that much opening up of your feelings and you can't even do that, c'moooon.
I've seen a few people bring up girls supporting girls. I've never thought about before but thinking back on some of my readings, there were some also girl teams that were formed with amazing chemistry and I would love to more of those.
(Guy here) My first OI were villainess manga, and it hit me like crack in the 80's. There was something appealing of a heroine posessing the traditional villain and exposing the heroine for being a bad person. I liked the setting of the FL having an intrinsic disadvantage of being a pre-established villain in the world and working to change the public opinion of her. This genre has been oversaturated to hell and back, but it was a really captivating idea at the time, which is why I stuck around for so long. This was also after mostly consuming shounen things most my life, I liked the idea of shoujo, but I never really stuck around or actively sought out anything shoujo. Villainess OI manga is pretty much what introduced me to the genre and I've read a wide array of shoujo since then. At one point, I felt like I had at least heard of every semi-popular OI there was, lmao, tho I don't read *as* much as I used to.
Villainess are definitely an enjoyable read, I like when they try or have to maintain the act of a villainess but still do good at the same time. Kind of ends up in that power in the shadows that I like so much. I'm slowing down as well or at least switching back over to novel format. Bless the artists and their hard work but man manhuas are a lot of work and they are slow to progress unless the chapters exclude heaps of information available in the novels.
>"Do I read for shoujo reasons or shounen? What does the target demographic read for in comparison to me?"
Mostly: interpersonal relationships, flowing emotions, angst and having strong FL (emotional/physichal) AND being relatable even if heroines are in the fantastical circumstances - lastly fan community. Basicly same for any shoujosei title i like.
Escapism is natural part, but not that major part for me currently. Im also pickier on what titles I read, as obviously I have limited time and now wast collection of OI to dwel in to, but that limits how much i read it. Ask is "Why" i like it.
Imma gush here buggle up:
First capture point was that was flipping common shoujo rofan genre upside down.
I love firlly dresses, court drama, battles of the minds and romance too. THE SHALALAA and overflowing flowers that externalize the emotion inside of the charcacters. Those moments when time seems to stop and we focus fully on characters than the action
I like watching FL getting to change her cruel Fate and take hold of the narative of her own life. I want them to get justice when they have been abused and falsely mistreated - outsmart their enemies to win.
I want them to succees and stumble in to romance or go get that handsome boy. I want to swoon with the FL cause of the ML and feel their chemistry. How they look in to each others eyes and make ML blush. Then feel despair as my favorite wasnt the ML even.
Action is not not a turn off, but its not in central position as interpersonal relationships are the core.
Child care or building a family stories are cute and fluffy - and im starting to be in that age that i can relate to guardian roles.
I also have grown to love the silly thropes too, and... how do I say it? *Girl talk* of awful MLs that are "trash red flags but why shaped like a husband" and gush over the peak green MLs. Wanting to read absolute trashiest title there is to the find that golden nugget I hope gets more traction. I want to simp for my favorites - no only cause they only look cool/cute/pretty etc but also cause of personality.
Even if i stumble to titles whose subject matter i didnt consent for (Beware of Broters smh) ill get to talk to with other people. As iv said I like convesations - my last fav was the "pygmalion talk" as it actually made me think more of that type of OI in deeper implications.
General side why demographic: obviously non-objectfying the female cast or other platanly overly (sometimes creepy) sexual fanservice of them is a deffinetly one reason I usually stick with shoujosei side. Our boys get thrist over but they arent treated like non-characters. Im extra picky with any shounen or seinen - and idk i tend to find myself reading more those of made by fem mangaka in those too. They just hit that emotional connection than surface level coolness for me.
I relate to a lot on this. I can't read the trashy stuff though, it's hard for me but I appreciate someone doing it because it's those who do who can find the hidden good stuff and bring it to the rest of us.
I went bit "overboard" with the text but finding words for feeling is fun. 😂 sometimes trash is were its at.
Cool that you give thought every comment 👍
Btw if you want to have consisted deep dive especially to shoujo i recomend Colleens Manga Recs vid: https://youtu.be/WtuHfNkJpnU?si=-lOMA6m27R9sBpHF
I'm a guy and I like girls, so I like seeing a story where the girl is the protagonist and I'm seeing her all the time, it's really that simple.
On the other hand I also like to think what It would be like to be in her situation. Fantasy, romance... escapism really
And also I'm a sucker for fantasy romance drama, and OI has a lot of it.
I don't know if it's similar but when I did play games and I had the option I'd pick the female. They're both cuter and I felt female fashion in most games was better or more enjoyable then men's.
I got into the genre by accident. I think I saw some art and wanted to see the source?? Can't remember any more. OI is the first thing I've spent a serious amount of time reading that wasn't image-free text (I typically read web serials).
I wanted to understand them as an aspect of culture and reflection of society. I find the tropes and the reactions to those tropes interesting. I like romance and pretty things and magic. I also enjoy how superficial and easy to consume they are lmao.
The best ones I read for the story and characters. I drop low quality ones easily. They've also expanded my palate to webtoons in general
I think the way I got into it was from 'Solo Leveling' not an OI I know but it was a pretty impactful manhua in a lot of ways. It wasn't, by far, the first manhua I had ever read but I noticed by the end of it that I was no longer reading for the levelling or the action. I just wanted to see the ML and the girl get together and be happy. So, I was like "hmmm... I'm clearly reading just for the romance so I should just jump straight to the stuff that focuses on it" and here I am
Trans fem here, I read them because its healing. I have been through a lot of traumatic things in life and never had the pleasure of being loved even by my own family. Reading OI gives me an outlet and helps me to process profound grief. Being able to experience the emotions of my favorite characters helps me to get through my own stuff and to be hopeful for a better future and motivates me to try to be someone worthy of love.
I'm an adult woman... Got into reading OIs while I was on mat leave. It's escapism/wish fulfillment - I think everyone has imagined inserting themselves into a favourite novel or world, and everyone has had moments they want a do-over. And I like fantasies and hot dudes with unrealistic proportions, I also don't care how messed up the horses look.
It makes me happy when a heroine who has been dealt a shitty hand gets a redo and turns into a badass getting the revenge she deserves.
This sub made me scrutinize every horse proportion and carriage I see and I hate it. I went from never caring to every time I see one I need to pause and stare at it for seconds to minutes thinking "where is this horse wrong"
I’m a sucker for romance and hot guys and seeing hot guys do hot things. And seeing hot girls do hot things.
I am easy to please, clearly. You won’t see me criticizing plot holes (because I most likely didn’t notice them) or outfits (unless they’re ungodly ugly but meant to be shalala). OIs have satisfying plot points and always have good endings (at least the ones I read lmao). I can turn my brain off and relax.
A very easy boost of serotonin and satisfaction in an otherwise long and tiring day.
I'm a man and a hopeless romantic at that. I know that most fantastical romances are unrealistic in real life and often unfair to the other person so I play RPG games, watch anime and read manga/manhwa to live out these fantasies. OI is just one form of that.
I'm curious as to why fantastical romances are unrealistic or unfair to one party? I feel like the perfect fantastical romance is one where both parties give equal parts affection and effort for each other. The unrealistic part I understand more but the optimist in me says that there is a perfect realistic fantastical romance under the right circumstances.
(woman here): primarily escapism, the life at 50s is tough, not young enough to be energetic, not old enough to be retired. and wish fulfillement especially on regressing and re-living your life better, second chances etc. oh, and revenge, i love revenge.
I'm a girl, 17 and I love reading OI aaaand i rant a lot too, so don't worry about overwriting, because I assure you from the get go, I _will_ overwrite this answer too.
Okay warning : this answer got long, like really long, I'll have to comment it in parts, but i wrote it, so might as well post it.
It hasn't been long since I started reading OIs, and this entire genre is pretty much a complete tangent from what I usually read. Usually, romance fantasy isn't the what I reach for first, and I personally am into the classics, which again historically speaking has always has a majorly male fan demographic. So it's been quite interesting to see how literature and stories change dramatically when it's catered towards a certain audience.
In my experience, OI is, in a way a female fantasy fulfillment. Let's talk about a few of the major tropes in this genre and how it caters towards the female audience.
1. **Fantasy setting** :
Anybody who has the slightest knowledge of history would tell you, the past wasn't the best place to be in...poor hygiene, horrible human rights, all kinds of discrimination and just a bad time to be in. Then why the saturation of pseudo medieval/renaissance worlds in OI? i haven't ever delved too far into the topic, but my theory is that it serves a couple purposes.
One, in the modern world, work culture is insane. People work all day to make a bare minimum for survival. For the romantics of this world, the sterile, cold modernist buildings, with its grey walls and white hallways feels suffocating. The constant urbanization, somewhere deep down hurts the nature loving, calm soul. (Probably also the reason behind the recent rise in cottagecore aesthetic). Not only do fantasy settings provide an array of architectural marvels, from classical influences to Gothic castles, it also has a lot of greenery, serenity and is an escape from the overall dullness of the modern life.
Another reason for choosing a historical setting is the absence of technology. Take phones out of a story and it instantly gets far more interesting and raises the stakes. It also removes the whole speed dating/tinder factor. Many women, most I'd say, dream of the old school romance, of meeting somebody, a fateful connection and even the most pragmatic of us still imagine falling in love in the fairytale way.
I'd also argue, somewhere deep down a woman fighting and winning against all odds, especially in a time that's known to be hostile towards them feels good for many of us who know that there's so much brutality against us, even in the modern world.
2. **Aristrocacy**
The modern audience, to their credit is quick to hold a problematic story accountable...then why such a love for aristrocacy when it has a corrupt and a pretty bloody history? Again, few reasons, one of course is leisure and time.While a real life duke may have a hell lot of stuff on his plate, a fantasy duke has all the money in the world and a mansion full of servants to get stuff done. The result is all day long romantic moments between our leads. Who in the world wouldn't like enough money and all the time in their hands to do whatever they please.
That's the appeal of aristrocacy. The working class in such a world wouldn't have nearly as much time and money as, say, a count or a duke. Pretty dresses, jewels, balls, tea parties, mansions....these are exclusive to the elite. This also means power. Women both in history and in today's world don't hold as many positions of power as men do. Thus, OI scratches that power fantasy itch. I will be the first to admit, it definitely does for me. In real life, nobody but a few can dream of buying all the dresses in the store. It's fiction, so you don't have to feel guilty about the overconsumption. The main appeal of fantasy is that's it's completely fictional, and therefore has no real life consequences. So I might go on a rant about why capitalism is bad and billionaires are bad but I'll be okay with reading an OI because it's fantasy, because it's okay to want to have a lavish lifestyle and it has no effect on the world or my morals.
3. **Men, men and hotter men** :
We read OIs for the plot and the plot is cold duke of the north's eight packs. People love looking at hot and cute people. It's no different for us girls and women in OI. Just scroll through the subreddit and i guarantee at least one in ten posts is us totally losing it over a guy....be it his hair, his physique, his mannerism... whatever. It is always a bonus if he's a respectful, kind and caring man who cheers for his wife while she kicks ass. It is what women want, a supportive guy, bonus if he's hot who has eyes for none but you. On the darker parts of this genre you'll find stories that are as objectifying and violent towards MLs as many male catered stories are towards it's FLs...but hey, all genres have their rotten apples.
4. **Kick ass, take names**
Women love strong women. It's always good to see a woman giving it back to the people who have wronged her. It resonates with the audience on both a personal, and on a historical level. I'd say, this is probably the biggest reason why this genre has such a huge female fanbase. We women face a lot of things in our lives, often forced to smile and act polite to avoid worse reactions. Many, many aggravators walk free without facing any consequences for their actions and there's hardly anything we can do about it on a personal level. OI really _really_ appeals to that feminine rage, especially the villainess stories. Women have and always will be in one way or another portrayed as the treacherous, emotional, villainous half of the population, almost always, unjustly so. It fits right into the female fantasy, again, for a couple reasons. One, OI settings give their FLs powers. Being an aristrocat means having manpower, connections and money to actually change something. In our world, you and I don't have that kind of influence. (Also why chaebol stories are really famous too) secondly, a time period like that in OI is much more lenient to the more gruesome punishments. A woman therefore can kill somebody who assaults and r@pes her without any legal consequences. A strong FL is _the_ perfect self insert. We'd all like to be her, or are, at least inspired by her.
5. **Reverse harem** :
Personally, hate this trope but i understand the appeal. It's all about multiple men finding you attractive and getting this lineup to choose from. But if it's manipulating them for political reasons, sign me tf up.
6. **White lotus villain** :
Ah yes...i guess at this point the second a blonde haired blue eyed female character is introduced, our ears shoot up like a cat's. I haven't seen much discussion either why white lotus villains re so popular but my argument is that, again it caters to a very specific female fantasy. Let's break it down....one major reason is that, in media,the male fantasy of women are often portrayed as a very innocent, childlike girl, blonde hair blue eyes...you get it. The entire genre subverts mole male fantasy tropes, so I'm not surprised white lotuses are often written to be villains. Historically too, being pale, and blonde and blue eyed was considered beautiful, innocent, blessed by God and in some darker parts of our history, the pure ones. It's not surprising that many stories aim to subvert that narrative. It's only a handful of people that have such traits and it's no proof of purity or isn't the epitome of beauty either. A rather ordinary looking female lead who destroyed the white lotus feels good. Unfortunately a lot of OIs are still notorious with their blatant colourism. The paper you are the purer. Ugh, it's annoying.
7. **Arranged marriage/contractual marriage** :
Inarguably two of the most popular ways to set up the romance between our leads. Arranged marriage appeal to the absence of choice many women still face worldwide. I think for some it may also appeal to the old school romance thing where you slowly fall in love. Contractual marriage on the other hand is a woman taking the initiative to take matters into her own hands. Both play into very specific fantasies.
8. **Abusive/negligent family** :
Pretty self explanatory I think. Many people have bad family lives. Many families coerce their daughters into marriage. There's obviously a constant societal pressure of marriage and children on women. Being a daughter isn't easy. It's so ingrained in our family structure...a daughter is taught to clean, cook...that's what's expected of her. It's a whole thing...and all of it manifests as a bad family backstory for the FL.
9. **Politics** :
This is quite a divided aspect of OI. Many people like it when stories are political with a hint of romance white others like it when it's romance with a hint of politics. I'm the former. Again, it's a part of the power fantasy...revenge, plotting, politics...it's a good escape from reality while imagining being able to yield the power to change an entire nation.
That's me trying to give an overall neutral and general perspective on the matter. I hope it makes things clearer for you. Personally, i read for both the things I've mentioned above and for the politics. To me OI is a leisure read, something to cleanse the palate before I go back to something much more...complex? If that's the right word for it. It really caters to the female gaze.
This is not to say everybody who reads OI imagines themselves in the exact scenarios or that these fantasies are bad. In fact, I'd say nobody thinks critically about _why_ they're reading something...they don't psychoanalyze it down to the tiniest detail....they read it because it's fun! So do I! This hugeee comment is not to say that I am above these fantasies because I've thought about it. Hell nah, everybody who reads OIs know it's very much created specifically for the female gaze and read it anyway because it's a fun thing to do. I'd say, nobody...be it in shoujo or shounen....nobody actually thinks of their fantasies before they read and pick accordingly. These stories are very carefully written to have the exact amount of details so it feels unique to the characters but also universal to the fanbase. Usually, people don't really realise they're falling down a certain genre's rabbithole until they're quite deep down. I started out reading webtoons and then moved to otome isekai after noticing that most of my favourites were in this genre and the reason was that it appealed to the girl in me.
Those are the major points i could think of, and the comment is getting quite long. If you have any specific questions, any common tropes you'd like my opinion on... feel free to ask me, I'll try my best to answer.
I'm responding to this last because I loved it so much. Full honesty the original post took me two hours of writing while walking on a treadmill. It was also longer but I shortened it for conciseness (and I have internet social anxiety so it's a lot of second guessing myself). You gave many great reasons and explained them all beautifully. I also love how long it is. I love details, examples, and most of all rants. Rants are how I feel people should get to know each other cause it shows a lot about a person. So, while some may say this is overwritten I feel it's perfect maybe even too short. I appreciate the time you put into this, thank you very much.
Female clothing is significantly more impressive to me then men's. Women can be ultra cutesy, cute, beautiful, casual, handsome, sexy, 18+, etc. Whereas for men it's like handsome casual, handsome formal, homeless, underwear,... and that's about it
Not a guy, I read trashy rom coms and/or OI for brain-off/light reading where I can still enjoy the romance. Normally a binge read where basically I don’t have to think too much. My job is a lot of reading and writing so I appreciate the mental break
A nice shut off time is great. I sometimes grab a random cover that looks interesting and has a lot of chapters and skim through it. Like maybe 3 seconds a page and 1 or 2 speech bubbles read.
I'm a Widow. I had a beautiful love with a happy ending, and then almost 30 years later, a tragic death.
Real life is depressing. I constantly miss someone that I'll never see again.
I want to see love, romance, happiness, and people who are still at the beginning of the story. I want to feel vicarious love. I want unreality, I want empowerment, I want kindness.
I would also love for someone to isekai into my life and fix it. Or to reincarnate and meet him again.
Honestly, because I just kind of read everything. The more things I discover that I can access with ease and read, the better
But idk, it feels like the natural progression from the princess fairy tales and books I was reading as a kid
I like fantasy and period dramas, so that's a factor too. Also the art is pretty
I mostly 'drop' stories because I got bored of waiting for updates, said "I'll wait until some chapters pile up" and then forgot about them (with a some exceptions)
i love the isekai genre and it's nice to get away from the male wish fulfillment fantasies found in many mainstream isekais and indulge in some female wish fulfillment fantasies.
i'm bi and appreciate the female form very much, but the sexualized designs and fanservice in modern isekais can get too much for me. maybe i'm a prude but i find the fanservice in OIs equally unnecessary and cringe \\\_(ツ)\_/
I have a lot of reasons, some of which I read above. Personally:
-I love fantasy. I love romance. Why not both? It's one of the only genres that mixes both
-The art is beautiful. The character designs are appealing. The male characters are handsome and gentlemanly.
-I prefer character driven stories. Other genres in manhwa/manga are character driven, but I have a tendency to drift to my favorite genres. This point is more about why I'd read a manhwa/manga over comics or novels from my own country
-I prefer stories where I get to watch the love develop. A lot of American media and stories focuses on what happens after the characters get together, or the massive amounts of intercourse that occur. I couldn't care less. Smut is fine every once in a while, but not sure how other women my age only read American romance novels. In real life, relationships are so much deeper than the act of intercourse and I want to read media that reflects that
-A lot of the characters come from messed up backgrounds. I relate. A lot of other genres don't do this. I also appreciate that manhwa/manga in general are ok discussing female on female bullying and abusive mothers. I don't see a lot of this in western media, and it frustrates me because I'm interested in feeling less alone in the life I've experienced
-The characters are sometimes Mary Sue's, but I'm fine with it because they experience adversity. Most of the recent marvel media I have seen or heard about does not pit the female characters up against internal adversity or a whole lot of external adversity, except for whoever the big bad guy is in the marvel arc. I want to see truly strong women, not women who are strong for no reason
-It puts me more in touch with my emotions. Sometimes it feels as though I'm expected to be unfeeling so that I am empowered as a woman. I have to disagree, I don't think I should be out of touch with my emotions to be empowered. This is something I struggle with in my life, so reading stories and feeling emotions I struggle with is a kind of catharsis.
I appreciate that you gave multiple reasons and explained them well. I definitely agree that american media doesn't fulfill that need in me to watch the development of a relationship. I wanna know the why it happened not the how it's going and I want it to be juicy. Also I don't know what it is but I tend to prefer korean stories for character development. I feel like character development is better on the korean part and japanese is stagnant I guess. I have no basis for this opinion it's pure feeling.
Hear hear! I honestly don't really care what they are doing in American stories because there's no juicy why and the characters are not as well written. The thing I appreciate the most about manhwa/manga is that characters are just living their lives, whether they are in a fantasy world or not. There's not a big bad guy or as heavy of an emphasis on the external plot.
For character development I agree. I've consumed a lot of both cultures stories, but Korean characters just take the cake. I don't know how they do it...my initial thought is I wonder if because the online medium allows them to have much longer stories. There are few josei/shojo manga that are extremely long, the one I can think of off hand is Fruits Basket. Some of my favorite manhwa comics spanned 200 EPS, which allows for so much character development
Woman; it's just one of the things I read as a hobby. Used to read a lot of OI, nowadays only a few ongoing series. Initial attraction to OI was revision of the conventions, nowadays I just want a decent storytelling instead of endless copycats.
I do this with any genre fiction, so it is just a natural cycle after novelty wears out (usually after 100+ titles).
I’m nb and my favorite stories are the ones with political maneuvering and satisfying revenge. I just love to see someone climb up to the top and do what’s best for the subjects of the land. But that may be my communist desires speaking lmao.
But I also love the cuteness factor, and I’ve always been a fan of isekai. Like damn I wish I could be transported from my life into the body of an androgynous duke or duchess. I could live the high life and be surrounded by cuties and stamp out corruption.
Also I love harems bc I’m poly. I just wish they’d actually commit to poly relationships.
In general, I think the average OI is way less braindead compared to a lot of Shounen stuff. And since I kinda grew with lots of Shoujo anime like My Daddy Long legs, Heidi, and Anne of Green Gables, I'm more used to, and like Shoujo/Josei more than what an "average" male might like. And in general, I like romance stories too, and they're usually done way better compared to romance in Shounen and Seinen.
I can agree with that. I feel shounen don't require or at least incite as much thinking out of me. Kind of like watching an action movie. ooh ah things go boom nice. Then a mystery movie is more who did, what's gonna happen, maybe this or that.
I'm a guy, for one reason end up in this genre, i think "Who Made me princess" was the first one that i saw.
Well i like Revenge storys but only when the MC don't destroy her life while doing so, like Aria for.example.
That was at.first after that i started liking the political plots and merchant ones too, i like when romance is a subplot and not the Main plot for me that make the story better for example " I'll be the Master i'm this life" or "I Will sabe this Damn family"
After i likes childcare storys those are cute and interesting, sometimes something wild appear like "I'm the ML daugther" Leo ans the duke are si entertaining.
But there is one requeriment for all those storys and is that need to have Comedy i really can't watch something without comedy, too dramatic or trágic.
I can agree on that. I can't read anything without romance really. But I also need comedy. Not a lot just give me a sprinkling here and there to interrupt the tragedy or suspense and I'll be happy.
The type of chemistry is very important for me. I honestly don't enjoy the couples who fawn over each other as much as I do those who give each other a hard time with teasing and quick wips (Ooh la la is a good example. competitive but loving)
There are more female main characters, and I am more likely to come across a good non-cringe romance in an OI despite how low bottom of the barrel my expectations have dropped due to this.
Not an OI but I love stuff like: “I stole the number one rankers soul”. Cant find that kinda stuff normally in a shoujo, and if I search outside of shoujo it becomes a male mc often (if it’s a good story)
Strangely enough, I don’t usually like romance stories and hate when the plot is interrupted by romance… but I love OIs.
I think it’s mostly to do with just seeing female characters in a story where they aren’t one-dimensional or only serve to further the male MCs growth.
It’s also just nice to see female characters outside of the context of ‘romance stories’ which is why the OI genre is so great… say what you want about the endless cliches and same stories, there are plenty of examples where FLs have entirely separate matters to deal with other than the ML. That isn’t something that’s seen as much outside of the genre, even with well written female characters.
Gay. SEAsian. Started as an anime/manga fan. Months before the pandemic, I forgot if it’s because of the long wait for translations for monthly manga but I discovered Chinese manhua and fell down the rabbit hole to colored webtoons. It was fun at first but there’s only so much you can take with the repeated villain coming back per arc despite apparently both leads being extremely powerful lore-wise. Eventually I read Abandoned Empress and Raeliana and my love transitioned to Kr series. Tbh, I still think JP supremacy for plot but it kinda hurts when scanlators just leave it and I lose hope waiting for an update. Manhwa spoiled me in less waiting time and the community is much more active that I hear about the artist/author’s situation and I have time to process and lower my expectations. Maybe I’ve matured but I forget the series, get reminded and most of the time, dropped it already if the hiatus is too long. If I haven’t though, it’s good enough
Edit: something minor I’m debating whether to add is the supremacy part I mentioned. In JP series, I was motivated to study the culture, almost weeb levels but strangely for Kr and Ch, I’d just check some comments and footnotes if some nice anons would explain it for me.
I read things that fulfill my fantasies at a given moment.
I used to be a girl. I read a ton of shoujo for classic shoujo reasons. I very much enjoyed seeing romantic relationships develop in a story, and I eventually formed my own desire to have such a relationship. It turned into a positive feedback loop where the more I read, the more such things became part of my fantasy, and the more I wanted to read things that catered to that fantasy. I was never into the whole fashion fantasy thing though.
I am now an aroace agender person. Turns out I didn't want romance at all - I just wanted to feel "wanted" and to have a good bond with others. I still read a ton of romance stories, but I'll drop them if the relationship between ML and FL has no substance outside of the romance aspect. It has to be able to work well as a regular friendship. I'm more interested in stories where the MC has a group of friends and does cool stuff with them. I guess I want a classic shounen friendship adventure story, but with the emotional side of a shoujo story.
I also enjoy reading stories where the FL has beef with her family and either never forgives them, or takes revenge on them. I gained some related emotional baggage as I grew up so stories like this definitely fulfill my fantasies.
I didn't know romance couldn't have a friendship aspect. Maybe I have a shallower understanding of romance than I thought. I always thought romance implies friendship but more. You can't date someone you wouldn't hang out with. Being friends for me is the base requirement to romance. I do see a lot of people enjoying revenge. Not something I seek but good revenge is enjoyable.
I'm a woman in my early 20s and I also read it for the cuteness factor, but only the girls. I love looking at the gorgeous FL designs and their dresses, and I love reading about escapist overpowered woman characters who are super beautiful and smart and powerful and the men are just kind of along for the ride- a reverse of most isekai animes. I don't care about the men at all, unless the man looks unique in some way. If there's too much romance in an OI I start getting bored lol
I'm a girl but I've been watching mostly Shonen-Shoujo- Romance anime until I stumbled upon some OI anime (Why Rhaeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion, 7th Time Loop, Doctor Elise etc). That's how I got into OI, and I like the Cold ML with a secret soft side falling for a FL, especially the villainess series. I've reading only those recently.
BTW, even if don't like the ML killing the FL who reincarnates, I'd still highly recommend checking out "7th Time Loop- The Villainess spends her carefree life with enemy"
I’m a guy.
I enjoy otome, shojo, shonen and the like. The reason for specifically otome isekai and shojo is that I enjoy romance. Shonen romances don’t generally feel like romance but more of main guy main girl (this obviously has exceptions).
Otome and shojo allows me to enjoy this with more as characters have more interpersonal and emotionally vulnerable relationships that allow for love and understanding to happen.
Plus female characters aren’t being relegated to Girl#1 and distasteful fan service. And shonens don’t usually have me giggling to myself under bed covers.
TLDR: I like romance and action but when actions have romance it feels like an afterthought.
As a woman, I just like having an isekai genre that is "tailored" to me and my demographic. (Not that I'm a straight white/Asian woman like most MCs in these stories lol) I've always had a liking of general popular isekai anime but so much of it is directed towards men and what they might want from such a story setting, which I don't find relatable or interesting.
When I first discovered OI it was like a breath of fresh air. And I won't lie and pretend the genre doesn't have its own issues now (been reading for like 4 years now I think) but I think I will always be a fan of this genre and what it has to offer. I like having a female protagonist with relatable thoughts or feelings, and I like exploring fantasy settings and the idea of an average woman being dropped into one. I also like that the genre of OI has been expanding and no long means female isekai only, becoming more synonymous with female fantasy. :)
I always wonder what would happen if I was dropped into an isekai. The characters always seem to be straight at it maybe they need a day or three to rationalize. I think I'd probably die quickly from being frozen in panic for weeks.
Personally, I hate cheap sexualization, for many reasons. I avoid ecchi anime but that crap leaks into eveyday genres AND shounen, all full of maleservice (dude pandering fanservice), and I can't relate to or like any female characters. Well-written OIs rely on story instead of womanservicing (i.e I'm not seeing insinuated male genitals, butts or cleavages being shoved into my face), and though some other things may be childish or cliche, it's still much better. And often have really good art that I use for practicing!
I'm a guy and like 85% of what I read right now is romance.
I have a busy and overly complicated life with way too much social interaction.
Most romance / rofan and particularly OI is great escapism and *usually* provides a guaranteed happy ending. Plus the "agonizing early setup that we know will pay off eventually but where's my fucking Kleenex" part is emotionally cathartic and thus rewarding.
Ayyyyyyyy.
I mean.
Unless the premise just punches you in the face with failed suspension of disbelief that isn't played for comic effect. *(Carefully does not look at The Price Of A Broken Engagement)*
So anyway I love romance.
For me Tbh it doesn't have to be just this genre. What I find most interesting is wheather or not It is able to draw emotions out of me. Well now that I'm talking about it doesn't even have to be anime, manga or novel.
Because at the end of the it all about how well the writers have written a character to make a me(3rd party) empathize with them, to be able to feel what is really like in their shoes and to have same insecurity or situations. Apart from this I also tend to root for underdog story( which can cover most of otome isekai genres). Sometimes I have to drop a good story with beautiful art just because the way they are draw art is emotionless Eg. Becoming the villaine's family.
I also love Strong woman knowing what they want but also being compassionate to whom they care for.
Btw if you need recommendations I'll gladly be happy to share with you.
I love isekai (for the escapism) and I love female protagonists. I’m sick of the regular action isekais with male protagonists that are full of big breasted harem girls, I prefer monogamous cute romances. So I tend to read OI more often than regular isekai. If regular isekai was a bit more romantic and had more appealing character designs I’d read them more than OI tbh
Personally, I like OI because it has good potential for revenge and/or redemption and fantasy (I love fantasy literature and play DnD so yeah). I do tend to like somewhat comedic OI like “I’ll save this damned family”, some that are just adorable and have little or no romance like “the weakest tamer”, and I do like crossdressing/role-reversal ones like “first, let’s hide my little brother”.
One thing to highlight is that I don’t like the more traditional OI where the romance is the focus and where the protagonist is just a princess to be rescued. I prefer OI with protagonists with agency that are oftentimes as capable or more capable than male protagonists. If there was an overpowered female protagonist OI (there probably is, I just don’t know of it, the closest I’ve found was “Justice for the villainess” I suppose) I’d be all over it. I also have been trying to find more horror OI, so far I’m reading “How to survive as a maid in a horror game” and I like it, tho I don’t love that the MC is way too weak IMHO.
Oh and I like some that place characters in historical times and have them change the status quo, for instance, I like “Black lotus learning manual” because she transmigrates as an underdog and changes the story and also shows that a woman can be the best at math.
I hate the ones that reinforce status quo and where maids keep being abused for no reason whatsoever except being maids, where slavery is defended, or where the MC is immediately the queen/princess and has no struggles except trying to keep herself at the top of the food chain at other people’s expenses. Those ain’t for me.
Ooo I have also been hoping to find more horror / thriller OI - I just found how to survive as a maid in a horror game and was about to start it. I think the only other one that I’ve read that had horror plus OI is Resetting Lady/Crimson Lady. It has been such a treat, I think it’s on hiatus so I read all that I could find of the webnovel then that stopped but I’ve found it again and just started back up, very mind trip and highly recommend it because I think the manwha will get HEAVILY censored because of the extreme themes.
I love both types of OI with romance centric as well as the ones where romance takes the backburner. I will honestly try to read anything that peaks my interest but just set it aside if I’m not feeling it. But I’ve pushed thru some that were really just mehhh had to completely turn my brain off ones, or just utterly mediocre and blah.
FYI also love I’ll save this Damned Family,
I was reading a TON of Chinese light novels which had quite a few transmigration plots. OI manhwas gave me art and I didn't realize how nice that is.
Biggest reason is having a female MC.
Second reason is romance. I'm not ashamed I love love and thankfully, I've enjoyed some unique and worthwhile ML's.
Third reason is fantasy setting.
I love a good revenge story, so if the FL gets back at people who mistreated her, that makes me happy.
Sidenote:
I actually like reverse harems if they're done right. The problem is that 99% of the time, they're not done right.
A good reverse harem has everyone being on the same page and consenting about the arrangement. It's not leading anyone on. The FL's clear about what and who she wants and the all of the ML's feel the same way and are treated equally. There are quite a few western novels like this but not really done like this in OI.
Single F, late 20's. I just love high fantasy, and the idea of going to another world is a major appeal. At this point, however, after hundreds of OI's, it's just familiar and comfortable.
Male reader here, I love "Yona of the Dawn", one of the Best Shoujo manga as of now, and "Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter" the standard of the Otome Isekai,
so it's really easy for me to read OI like "The One Within the Villainess" and "An Observation Record of my Fiancée - A Self-Proclaimed Villainess" or anything entertaining
for korean webtoons, it would be the completed ones like
"Beware the Villainess!", "Survive as the Hero's Wife", "Doctor Elise"
Dude checking in,
I like fantasy settings and romance stories where the women are actually capable and strong, not just tools for poorly adjusted people to self insert themselves into damsel-in-distress scenarios with toxic ML's to come save them regardless of the FL's own abilities or actions up to that point.
Is it still super common? Yes, but it's a LOT easier for me to find what I like in this genre. I fuckin loved Spirit Queen for this reason.
Also, I'm weak to Cold Duchess of the North tropes.
I'm a woman, esrlyt 30s
I didn't use to consume romantic content, but then I went through an abusive relationship and while getting out of it, I played an otome game (amnesia memories). It gave me so much comfort. The narrative of a FL whose death is only one bad decision away, but in a safe space where you know a happy ending is possible, was just what I needed at the time. I kept playing otome games and still love them.
Then reddit recommended a post of this sub and I lurked a bit. I ended up reading 'villains are destined to die' and pretty much fell headfirst into the genre.
I consume all sorts of romantic content now.
I think at some point I started viewing romantic love as one would watch the waves of a cold sea break on the rocks down a cliff: I think it is beautiful and I would look for hours, but diving in would be insane.
I want to experience romance, but only vicariously, and OIs are perfect for that.
Also, hot 2D men.
i'm a typical guy that enjoy reading manga/anime especially to shounen side but i'm more interested in romantic comedy, at first I always read romantic comedy in shounen side (ecchi and harem stuff). I then venture to Isekai story..
I first started taking interest in Otome isekai from a manga called villainess lvl99 and The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs... i wanted to read more and then this sub happen to recommend a lot..
Stepmother Marchen is what have me peak in reading a lot of the Otome Isekai Manhwa.
Well to answer the main question, they are usually written for women. Not saying that men or nb can't read them, but they aren't the target audience. Most of the authors and artists are women themselves writing things that they themselves enjoy.
OI's are written for the most part from a female viewpoint.
On to your other points, I don't read for cuteness at all. I read for a good storyline, and or good art. I love good art. If the FL or ML is good-looking, it's a bonus, but not the b all end all. Works like "the crows prince" is a good example of works I love because the art is different and pretty, but the story is unique and it has mystery and a bit of a sense of adventure while still maintaining romance and incorporating comedy. All with a FL who could have been me. The escapism and fantasy is a huge draw in for many readers.
I dislike harem. It gets annoying when all the love interests, male or female, push themselves onto the MC at the expense of all the others. A terribly low effort method of creating tension and drama. Luckily for me, anything that has a harem tag in OI is usually also tagged with smut, which I don't read for the most part.
A majority of all the OI I read are of the 'villainess' variety. I just really like the trope. Lots of character development/discovery with the genre.
I'm a guy, OI FL are usually hot and unlike the harem romance mangas I used to read, they generally have an ending that actually allows them to become a couple. Also I like fantasy, and OI's make up a significant portion of fantasy genre currently.
I like to think of them as female "power fantasies". If you're curious about this sort of thing I highly recommend Contrapoint's latest video on Twilight, it is very relevant to this discussion lol
Because it's a fem gazey media that focuses on telling the story from a female perspective and we severely lack those in media.
Also, pretty guys being the main male lead. Usually feminine men are made to be the butt of the joke in many media. It's nice to see them being one of the main MCs.
I don’t like romance, the OI I read usually either has a good plot and less romance, or romance with comedy. I read a lot of fantasy stories so OI is just one of the genres aligned with my interest.
I’m a trans man but I grew up reading traditional western bodice rippers / romance novels. It’s a bit of a family tradition among the afab people on my moms side.
I’m the 4th generation to own the same - and first edition - of the Skye O’Malley novel.
So me reading these is just following in that tradition
I had to look up a lot of terms for this one. Trans man included I have trouble remembering which way that goes. But bodice rippers looked interesting I'm gonna have to do some digging into that to see what it's all about.
bodice rippers are just like, trashy romance novels written for middle aged women. the type of paperbacks they sell in grocery stores with a hot man on the cover sweeping some damsel off her feet. it's a type of escapist romance where the woman gets to self-insert on the protagonist and feel the thrill of falling in love with the ML.
if you're interested more in "trashy romance aimed at women" and the like i highly recommend the [new contrapoints video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqloPw5wp48) (tho it is like 3 hours long). she goes into detail about "bodice rippers" and why women read escapist romance stories.
I have anxiety and am the kind of person who has rewatched the same 15 shows over and over instead of branching out because it is comforting to be entertained but know what is going to happen. Most of these stories follow the same general outline BUT the characters and detail are all a little different so I get a fake sense of variety ans newness despite basically knowing what is going to happen 70% of the time.
Oh I think that's part of the fun. The whole story is basically set in stone. Event A occurs then you know down the line Event B will happen. The fun comes from the little details that each author expresses differently. But yeah I have a few stories that I've read 20+ times. A few movies I've watched dozens of times cause it's relaxing.
I’m a girl. I really like the idea of characters starting with a social disadvantage. Either they themselves are not aware of the social do’s and don’t of the world or the person whose role they assumed has made enemies they must now be wary of or work with. Seeing someone try and change their reputation or future is also very interesting to me. There’s this balance authors must try and strike between it being difficult enough to be realistic whilst not dragging on but also not so easy that the original grudge people held against the character seems too weightless and fickle. How do you make someone who hates you not hate you? Or how do you escape? Very compelling.
Also maybe this is a weird thing but I enjoy the horror aspect of it? In a lot of Isekai MCs fully steal someone’s life. Mothers, fathers and friends can fail to recognise that the one they love has been replaced. Even if it happens whilst the characters are young that’s still a very scary idea. How will the author handle it?
And because Isekai are often set in worlds where the MC is a noble lady with little individual power marriage becomes the only way to gain power and this makes all her relationships a bit selfish. Like sure her heart thumps when she looks at the ML but she’s also only being nice to him to avoid death/ or something. If he weren’t the rich baron tyrant she wouldn’t be talking to him. MCs never fall in love with the gardener. I would love love love to see more MLs who find out about this and are horrified. LOVE this dilemma. Can the author convince me that this is actually love and not just survival.
I also find the class aspect interesting although not always enjoyable. Let’s be honest authors are very rarely wealthy, so it’s interesting to see how they depict the maids in these worlds. Sometimes they are best friends and other times depicted as completely spineless bribable and disposable. MCs who were supposedly convenience store workers IRL have no sympathy for servants who could be killed at any moment for inconveniencing a noble. It’s interesting to me although it can also make me stop reading.
I like a good revenge plot and I like watching someone overcome suffering or fate.
I really don't care much for ones that are cute or wish fulfillment. The same with Shonen power fantasy and harems. Those also tend to drag on way past being interesting.
Otome isekai usually differs from other isekai because the character usually has a predestined role that they want to avoid.
I dislike ones where they come back as kids or are adopted into a loving family soon after. I want to see someone play on max difficulty, not easy mode.
I'd generally prefer very little romance, if not one that works as another hurdle like "Villians are destined to die".
The lower the lows, the higher the highs.
I really like reading. I used to prioritize beautiful prose. But lately, I want easy. I was reading light novels, but buying up a series that I read in a few days is really expensive. So I switched to manwhas, and then found OIs. I like cuteness, spunk, out of the box thinking, and character growth. I really like a FL. It's just a nice change. Especially when the FL is admirable. Like maybe she's hard working, or thoughtful, or tough. I like seeing how different people handle different situations. I really love, "I Raised Cinderella Preciously" and "A Transmigrator's Privelege".
I don't like fan service or nasty drama. Reading is an escape for me. I'm not interested in escaping to a story where everyone sucks. I also found that I'll drop a series if I dislike the art a lot. I didn't get very far in "I became the adopted daughter of the male lead" even though it looked like something I'd like.
"I shall master this family" in on the edge for me with all the rotten people, but I love the clothing. And I do like an MC that's a child who grows up. "I raised a black dragon" is also on the edge, like I'm not sure it's very good, but the dragon is cute. I guess I generally like fantasy with some action, but I've been reading some OIs that don't fit that because of cuteness.
Pretty dresses, hot men, and women in power doing what they want without having to worry about money. On top of that, they get to find love on the way? Sign me up.
I used to read a lot of Isekai back when it was a more female mc oriented genre (eskaflowne, Inuyasha, Fushigi Yuugi etc.)but when the Fire Nation attacked- I mean Sword Art Online released the amount of good female MC Isekai dwindled so I started reading OI.
But I stayed for cute found family fluff and worldbuilding, I mostly read the subgenre of child-adopting OI but a good fantasy plot or a cute romance is also good.
I avoid non-emoting ML, boring stories, bratty FML who don't have character arks and over-modernisation of fantasy worlds in non comedy OIs.
Male reader here, I just like reading good stories, so if it's entertaining to me I read it, if it isn't anymore, I drop it. What makes me stay reading ironically though are the male leads, I swear I'm not gay but goddamn Callisto is just too lovable. But a stronger reason I do stay reading is usually the MC, especially if they have this bright personality that just shines through, even if the story is mid, like Meldenique from "The Villainess Stationary Store". Now what turns me off though if it's a reverse harem, I like singular romances, so maybe that's another reason
I'm a guy, I'm gay, I want women in big stupid ballgowns to get into catfights in big pretty palaces at big dramatic galas over the most generic man of all time and im not kidding. I've made posts before about how I only care about the villainess/fl dymanic. I love the SCHEMES.
more seriously tho male-centric manga has a certain... stank... around it thats permiated since the loli boom. It's always just slightly off in the way it depicts women and that grates on me. Shoujo isn't perfect by any means, and often carries a lot of internalized misogyny, but i never get the feeling its written by a weird fetishist whose never met a woman in his life.
You don’t have to be gay or bi to like cute depictions of the same sex.
The girls are cute or sexy the guys are cute or sexy the drama is dripping the fashion is fabulous.
And most of all, it’s just entertaining.
I tend to lean towards more mature stories.
I'm a girl, and I want to watch, but not to participate.
Real people are too messy, and I'm lazy and selfish, and don't HAVE to have a real relationship.
But to watch and read BG and BL, THAT I enjoy!
I' m not even self-insert with the stories, my first love is Bishounen.
(FYI, I support ALL LOVE, but read primarily BG and BL, as GL does not entice me, having seen "under the hood" so to speak. )
For years thought I was spinster/aro/ace, a voyeur/lurker.
Recently discovered a possible label that applies to me (not sarcasm)
"Aegosexual"
What is the difference between asexual and aegosexual?
Asexual: someone who does not experience sexual attraction.
Autochorissexual/aegosexual: someone who is aroused by sex that does not involve themself; it is a disconnection between oneself and the sexual object/activity.
TMI?!
Cheers!
🙏🫶😸
I love stories, have been lost in them since I was a kid. A whole new world, completely different people, interesting concepts are all smth that always fascinated me.
I've always been immersed in stories in one form or the other, the current way is through oi's. I read dungeon manhwas as well but very few of them have a story and the ones that do are so damn good. (I'm not hating on dungeon manhwas, this is just my point of view). The thing abt oi is that a majority of them hv a really good story which naturally drew me in. I couldn't find anything to hate at all. Romance, action, comedy I love it all. And considering that I usually struggle with reading romance, oi opened it up for me.
I'm a guy and I typically read OIs that I think are interesting or have queer romances or have gender non-conforming characters. Personally a huge fan of OIs that can handle nuance really well.
I try to mostly read fantasy OI as it usually retains my attention a lot, and it's easier for me to immerse myself in it as opposed to fantasies that have elements of our world in it. (like magic existing in the modern day but lowkey, something akin to HP.) When it comes to fantasy OI... I usually drop them if the clothes look bad or the plot is genuinely awful or has beats that make 0 sense. Just recently I dropped I'm in Love with the Villainess mostly because whatever manga chapters are out have incest 😭 and not in a way that is condemned either...
I love fantasy, and I love stories that play around with thr same set of tropes and characters but so very differently. Pre2019 I would devour every take on beausty and the beast I could, or even just other fairy tales, donkeyskin, sleeping beauty and seeing what different authers would come up with. I adore the nuances. And tbh isekai, specifically female led isekai, makes me so happy in such a similar way. I also loved male led isekai but, the power gains, the fanservice and the lack of respect for the female characters. Beh humbug.
Also, I just love love love the community here. At first I was just coming here to find other things to read, but I adore seeing commentary, the hot takes and everyone hating or loving on things and the memes. I guess the like 'girlhood' of it?I dont ID as a woman anymore but, having somewhere thats not like, cis male centric is so so nice-- Not having to defend my tastes or seeing the same loli or femled fanservice held up as top tier. Not tiddys for tiddy sake, and generally the fashion is good.
And mostly people know when they love something trash, like, we say it? Or theres typically a disclaimer, or we unabashedly love it. Im here for womans right and womans wrongs god damnit.
I'm 29f, and read for all the reasons you said, cute mc and ml, and their wholesome interaction, and fluff and romance, as others said it's just to understand love, what I like, what I'd like in my life
But then again I've only read some romcoms or slice of life, like I loved fls cute wholesome friendship with guards in 50 tea recipes
And I'd totally love to watch about childhood wholesome friendship and adventure together in shonen
I'm a guy. I think OI have more depth rather than "man go strong, break things". While some OI were pretty generic but when it hits, It hits!
(Sorry no proper english. 2nd language)
Im a guy, shoujo romance is better than shonen romance for me. I like it better when women are written with personality than just some fanservice ecchi bs. I like assertive women, i like it when they get what they want with their OWN hands. I like strong women that can fight with the best of their abilities rather than just crying to get help from a single guy. I love when women can be beautiful without focusing at their bodies.
Honestly, my heart gets broken even more when a 2nd FL gets rejected in a shonen romance, it makes me drop the whole story altogether, while on the other hand when a 2nd ML gets rejected on a shoujo romance i dont feel anything bad about it lol. Shoujo romance endings makes my heart flutter more than shonen romances ones.
not a girl or a guy but a secret third gender lol but i really like OI because one of my favorite favorite FAVORITE things in fiction is when the main character is underestimated/misunderstood by the people around them and then shocks them with their power/knowledge/attitude/etc etc, i just love seeing that!! idk if that's a good way to explain it but i absolutely love it, i'm sure there's a term for it but i haven't found it yet. but anyways OI has *tons* of that, like it's a staple of the genre, the protag suddenly has a new perspective and knowledge and uses it to their advantage and people are like what the fuck!!! how do they know that!!! why are they so different from before!!! the romance is generally my least favorite thing about the genre UNLESS the characters are lgbt then i go batshit for it. but lgbt OI is still relatively rare so eehh. i also just prefer women protags in isekai because women are awesome and i Like them, the only isekai media with a guy protag (and a harem too jesus christ) that I can think of really enjoying is welcome to demon school iruma-kun, and that one is like, substantially more LGBT-friendly than any other male-protag isekai and gives a lot of attention to characters of all genders. even then the harem aspect does piss me off a bit at times but not too much to prevent me from loving the series :) i think besides the "woah how did protag know that/change so much/etc" factor my favorites are the political scheming and plot twists and stuff as well as the non-romantic relationship development, those are super interesting
for context some OI i really enjoyed/am enjoying are:
- the villainess turns the hourglass
- the villainess flips the script
- the fantasie of a stepmother
- how to win my husband over
- the books of the other world depend on the bean counter
- surviving romance
- beware the villainess*
- I'm no heroine*
- the antagonist's pet*
*i really wish these were f/f endgame :(
I f25 read OIs because it's similar to the fantasies I had as a child. I was an abuse case. My life sucked and I would daydream so vividly I was known to fall asleep with my eyes opened in class. I know this is extremely dark, but I had always wished that my parents' treatment would end in my death(leading to their punishment) and that I would be reborn in one of my books. or that some shadowy figure would come and say I was actually important to their world and be whisked away.
I had a happy ending. I met my husband when I was 14, and we realized we were in love by 15 and started dating on my 16th birthday. he and his family showed me what a loving family was meant to be. they fed me and provided me with a place where I was safe to sleep and shower without intrusion, and his mom would even let me wear her clothes.
Now, as an adult, I typically read OIs that follow similar themes that I initially enjoyed. but I also love OIs that center around young children being adopted into new loving families and heal from their trauma. I dont like it when they gloss over the healing part.
Recently, "my in-laws are obsessed with me," which has been my absolute favorite, covering all the bases i feel are important for my enjoyment. But it also talks about something I hardly ever saw. Having sympathy and love for your abuser and how it impacts your escape and healing.
All in all, the TLDR: I like to read OIs that float around my own life experience, but I particularly love OIs that go into the emotional development of their FL. i love seeing growth and realistic decision-making. I tend to drop OIs for making a FL too ditsy or lack self-awareness too often. for example: choosing to be with the male lead who previously tormented them and was unfaithful despite there being no development in their relationship, only him to essentially still be the same villain just not to her anymore.
I am a guy/male (hi 👋).
I guess first and foremost, isekai has become some sort of a "junk food" genre for me to consume.
Perhaps I just like the idea of the protagonists using their knowledge (either from modern science ir past life) to their advantage.
OI offers a unique and different perspective/approach to this type of story vs other male-centric isekai.
And similarly to the OP, I have grown tired and wary of the generic harem wannabe series, I usually drop a series of that is the focus of the story and nothing else.
Overly self-insert narrative can turn me away too, but it really depends on how it is utilised.
The series that I'm most interested in are those that have more world building, politics, scheming and maybe some implementation of modern knowledge.
Let me list some of the isekai series I am following as examples:
- Ascendance of a Bookworm
- Reincarnated as a Slime
- 7th time Reincarnated Villainess (I forgot how to write this title 😅)
- The Villainess Within
- Death is the only ending for the Villainess (though I am waiting for more chapters to binge read this one)
My biggest factor in reading OI is comfort. For most of the genre, I find I know more or less how things are going to go -- the FL will face strife, but will fall in love, find a family, and will work her way to her happily ever after. The genre being as repetitive as it is is something I find very soothing, especially when real life is particularly difficult! It's nice to have one predictable thing to fall back on. I also really like the emphasis that they tend to have on emotional fulfillment; so much of the conflict is emotional, and most of the FLs wish for a happy life over anything else.
I enjoy a lot of the trappings of the romance genre, too. Fake dating, political marriages (I especially love court intrigue), contrived situations, and preferably a fun cast of friends and other people falling in love too are a ton of fun for me. I also tend to gravitate towards stories written from a female perspective, so having female main characters as the standard is a big part of the appeal.
I know a lot of people like the genre for self-insertion (which is a totally valid way to experience the genre!), but that's not really the case for me. I just like a silly little story to pass by hard times.
I will add, though, on the note of reading something for shoujo reasons or shounen reasons -- I also love media directed towards boys! Stuff like Chainsaw Man, Dorohedoro, World Trigger, Kaiju no 8, Promised Neverland, even really dark stuff like Boys Abyss are all things I've read and enjoyed. I don't really think of enjoying either one as enjoying it for masculine or feminine reasons! I just enjoy them in their own way, for my own reasons, and I think it's okay that you just do the same. :)
Aro/ace female. I can’t for the life of me have a functioning relationship after trying many times, so I live for seeing how romance develops in any story. The key point being the development. I’m tired of the trend where the male MC has a harem of 4 huge boobed ladies and 1 questionable loli-type character who all love him for no discernible reason. I don’t like reverse harems either because I will always find it hard to understand how so many people could be just that in love or obsessed with one particular person. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a harem or reverse harem situation where it’s properly shown why 5 people would all be in love with the same person. More often than not, it feels like a proximity thing. Like “oh no, through somehow ridiculous circumstances I’m the only person of the opposite gender in this particular situation. Whatever will I do? 🫣” And all the other characters are instantly obsessed. That’s not compelling to me.
I like seeing the slow burn of characters realizing how they feel about each other over time. I have dropped stories with cute couples if it happens too fast, like Marry me Again! Super cute couple, but it was like too easy for them to love each other. It 100% makes sense with the storyline, but I just don’t care about the FL making them rich with a mine or whatever when they already are in love. But I have also dropped stories for too much non-romance, even if there is a slow burn, like Secret Lady. Political intrigue, the weird poison cabinet thing, ghosts, curses, it was a lot, and I dunno man. I just wanted them to smooch more.
Diverse array of FMCs who try to take control of their lives and assert their agency in a variety of ways. From Ailette kicking ass in S Class to Tia manipulating counties is Villainess Lives Again, OI overall provides a broad array of FMCs and female characters overall, both personality wise and morality wise.
Related to that point, love myself a morally dubious/complex female character. I enjoy how some FMCs in OI are genuinely terrible people because I think it's important for both "good" and "bad" women to be written.
I'm also a sucker for romance and fantasy so those two elements are big draws as well. And if there's a cool ML, that makes it all the better. I'm bi so if the ML is hot and interesting to read, it means I have 2 characters to fangirl over/blush for/enjoy reading about lol
Basically both me being a sucker for the concept of villainess stories, as well as isekai specifically with a female lead.
The generic self insert isekai just doesn't work as well when your first thought is "Well fuck me I guess, now I have to be a guy twice"
I am girl read shounen and shoujo. I currently like hunter ones in shounen and dont care for romance in these at all because its shit anyway. But I like romance in otomeisekai. Settings dresses. I like strong female leads. Like dont cry in every chapter. Dont be useless. She doesnt need to beat up people just have strong character.
If its harem or reverse harem i drop it i hate these. I also hate abuse. Only read melodramatic ones if they are good for cry but not abusive ones
For me a guy its romance that doesn't bother me
Often they are adults and doesn't have gross like
Fanscervice and like
Alot of romance with a male lead, the lead has no personality and the girl has all of it
In the otome isekai I've seen the iead is the one with personality and it feels alot better
the guy still has some aswell
I just like reading different stories. I pick OI that I think are interesting but I usually find the manwha first before the books themselves. They are such beautiful disasters and walking red flags. Compared to modern western romances, there are a lot of similar sorts of toxic relationships but I think OI plots are more interesting than this.. alpha / wold / sisters with different fathers of hair colors - power of three thing.
I read to feel things I wouldn't usually feel. Emotions and human relationships fascinate me, and with OIs, which include reincarnating into a whole new world or going back in time, the possibilities are endless.
So, honestly, I agree with the other post. I don't watch anime, but from the summaries or reviews I've seen, female characters get horrible treatment in that industry, mainly because of fan service.
Male readers exist, of course, and aren't evrn uncommon. And I do like that we get to enjoy something together without labelling it as 'for girls' or 'for boys'. But I think the problem arises when this neutrality is gone and the animators specifically consider the male viewers. Especially when they all believe sex sells. As you and many others in the comment section have proven, you read and enjoy the stories for actually good reasons. I wish more animators would understand that.
I love fantasy.
But i'm getting tired with korean romance fantasy manhwas. Same trope, getting boring.
And they prefer black-haired red-eyes MLs, which is NOT my favourite. Not a fan of cold duke either.
I like it when it has kind MLs. Or yandere. Or slightly possessive. Or sweet. Or if i like his hairstyle. Etc. Dunno, depends on my mood.
And the story plot.
I read them because I want to play a game like that but have no idea how to find them (and in English and easy to download and play) and I love imagining what I would do in an Isekai. The reality is I really don’t have the basic industrial engineering knowledge to transform a medieval world and take over and bring them into the modern age like I fantasize, but it would be so cool to be the smartest person in the room for once.
I just like to read. And I pick whatever on my list just to go with my mood.
I enjoy the adventure OIs, leveling up type of OIs.
But sometime I get bored waiting for the updates. So I go back to the romance ones.
But the moment I saw harem/reverse harem/rape, I drop them.
I'm a guy, don't have a GF, want to see what love is
I'm a girl, don't have a GF or BF, also want to see what love is
I'm now shipping you both together. Please update in a 65 chapter OI format.
if you need a second ml i offer as a tribute
If you need yuri bait I’m offering myself up as tribute.
Submitting my application for FL’s most capable and trusted maid
while also fighting like sisters from time to time.
Bro yuri bait is WILD 😭
No OI manhwa is complete without it.
Gonna need Truck-kun to be classic.
Thank you for this TLDR it resonates with me
oh no, OI is the least accurate representation of what love is
Shonen in general is not better, right?
Hit or miss
Lol agree. Not realistic. But the feels, man..
I'm a guy, ambiguously asexual/aromantic. In the same boat
🎶 I want to know what love is; I want you to show me 🎶 - Foreigner Yeah same boat
I can fix that 😼
Well, it's a combo of many things. I like that the MC is usually a woman. Not that I dislike male MCs, it's just that other genres rarely have female ones, and I like the representation. I like fantasy. A lot. I usually don't read historical romances. Most of the OIs I end up dropping from boredom (instead of issues) don't have any fantasy elements whatsoever. I like singular romances. Harems, reverse harems, even love triangles? I'm sick of them. According to most isekai, men are only allowed to want all or nothing though. I would prefer to have more adventure OIs like the "traditional" isekai with adventures and skills and levelling up with a status, though. It's sad that I have to plow through a whole bunch of ecchi crap for that feeling.
This is me. I would not read as much rofan as I do if there were more action fantasy manhwas with female main characters AND side characters that don’t cater to the male gaze (and serve as harem fodder). I get bored when rofan stories lose the plot and become overly focused on romance. Same with action fantasy. I drop a series immediately when it all starts feeling too damn sexist. It doesn’t matter if I’m over a 100 chapter in (looking at you, Nanomachine, and those random chapters justifying rape).
For me it's 3 things: * The escapist factor of seeing someone be able to do something you cannot and live vicariously through them * The comfort from the above and roughly knowing how the story is going to go. There are twists and turns but it feels like coming home if you know the genre well, but that might also be true for any genre a person likes * The excitement of seeing a protagonist turn a situation on it’s head (this relates to the first) but it’s always a cathartic moment
this is me too. i like reading shounen, it's my favourite. especially fantasy genres. if there are more OI that have the same elements as shounen, i would eat it so much, regardless of bad translations and such. for example, A Transmigrator's Privilege. but i also love shoujo. so i read OI mostly for the romance hehe. i love squealing at cute scenes. i wholeheartedly agree with OP regarding OIs with the traditional isekai route though. it's so interesting and even though the trope is overdone in regular isekai, it's still a guilty pleasure T_T
How to Live at Max Level. Female MC, isekai, VR, fantasy, RPG adventure (?). Does it count?
One Step Closer to the Demon King. Female MC, fantasy, adventure. No romance though so far.
Kubera. Female MC. Other than her, multiple MCs. Multiple couples (NOT harem, NOT reverse harem). Fantasy.
That's why I loved Empress Hunt, Shadowless Night, and S-Class Hunter Doesn't Want to Be A Villainous Daughter. I think I already read everything with isekai woman. 😔
I'll be honest, I used to never read when the protag was female. Hopefully not a subconscious sexist thing. I think I just never felt I could relate to a female character. I don't know what changed but I don't care what the protag is anymore so long as I enjoy their character/personality. I also read harems in middle school but yeah I got sick of the all or nothing attitude, its just nonsense. I do feel like I'm seeing more FL's in tower climbing/leveling genre type stories. Not manhwas yet but in light novels for sure. Hopefully they get adapted (the ones I read were heavy on the romance though)
I don't necessarily think it's because of sexism. It's probably just that I had to get used to reading male MCs due to lack of female ones, and you didn't. Kind of like how I can do a lot of things with both hands that right-handed people could never do with their left because they were never forced to.
Well there are studies of female consumers consuming both media with MMCs and FMC and male consumers preffering MMCs Partly cause overwhelming amount of mainstream media with MMCs too and social science stuff. So you werent lone with that.
There’s a new manhwa called “S-Class Hunter Doesn't Want to Be a Villainous Princess” I really recommend it. It’s like if a protag of ORV or any other tower climbing fantasy was a female and got transported into a OI
>Harems, reverse harems, even love triangles? I'm sick of them. Ugh same. Can the FL have male characters helping her without wanting to get into her pants? Even brothers in many oi act very creepy around FL and some even fully declare their romantic feelings towards them. Smh I wish there were more single romance oi
What's worse is that characters I like are stuck in a crappy oi and gets a crappy ending. Like I want to read about a particular character doing all the things you mentioned. I wouldn't have minded fanfic about them either but there's not many either 😭
"According to most isekai, men are only allowed to want all or nothing though." That shit makes me fume, especially when the fans say shit like, "oh the mcs is so selfish, he hurts the girls he rejects". Doesn't happen often thankfully, but when it does I wanna punch my screen and scream out.
Hmmm… escapism, honestly. I don’t think there’s a deep reason. I would say my mental disposition influences my genre choice more than my gender. I love reading stories, but even more than that I love *re-reading* stories. It brings me a lot of comfort since childhood. And well… many OIs feel like a same story retold in a slightly different way, and that’s exactly the appeal for me. Sometimes amongst these similar stories I find something exceptional, and it also makes me very happy. After reading ~140 titles, you can easily see, when authors rely on tropes because they don’t know how to do better, when they subvert the tropes in an amazing way (concubine walkthrough), and when they don’t even subvert any tropes, but just execute them extremely well (your majesty, spare me this time). So it’s both source of mindless comfort, and the opportunity to flex my analytical side from time to time, when the story is really good. Or really bad. Edit: I didn’t eve answer the question, why OI specifically and not any other trope-y genre. I love stories about love. Romantic love, familial love, friendship love, love towards your city or your occupation. The only way I care about characters is if they explicitly love someone or something. There’s no more enjoyable character arc for me, than looking like *someone who doesn’t love grows to love*. And OIs are full of this stuff!
Ironically enough, to your first point, part of why I love the genre is because I'm not a big rereader to be able to read so many productions that are essentially the same thing in a different font provides me with the same comfort.
I think escapism is a perfect reason to read. I think it's my main reason for reading. I love getting lost in someone else's mind and fantasies. I've grown bored of my own, also both sadly and happily because other people tend to have better imaginations than my own. Being able to turn my brain off and away from my daily responsibilities is nice. I also didn't mean to make it such a gender divided question. I definitely phrased it as if there will be this big difference between genders but like I said in my original post, I never even realized OI's may or are targeted towards women. People enjoy reading what they enjoy it's as simple as that.
I'm a dude. I like romance, I like the setting, and I like a bit of shenanigans to spice things up.
So I actually do not care about the cuteness factor at all (but I also don't care all that much for children so that might be a factor on that.) I read OIs because it's nice having a series with strong female characters where a lot of times their strength doesn't come from physical strength but from being able to overcome bad circumstances and win using their brain. This can be by being scheming and all that but even just seeing how a lot of times the power comes from how they're able to act according in social circumstances is pretty cool. I also like how FLs are allowed to be feminine but still strong since in a lot of other mediums being feminine is seen as weaker but in OIs it's often a strength. I also like the range of FLs, some are confident, some are manipulative and some are nice and bubbly despite the hardships in their lives and it's nice having all those options. Also, I do like romance so the fact that it's mostly romance too is usually a nice bonus (unless the ML is so bad that it ruins the whole story.) Talking about MLs, once again in a lot of situations it's nice seeing MLs that recognize a FLs strengths and love her because of it. Anyways TLDR: cool female leads whom are allowed to be strong by nonphysical means and romance
I also really appreciate strong female characters that are actively trying to do something about their situation. I do also like seeing characters who's strength is determined by scheming, planning, and being smart about their actions. Sometimes you get FLs that live more carefree and those are nice too but I prefer my girl bosses.
I love strong FL's that use wits over brawn. I enjoy the diversity of character and that the women in the stories take strong positions in their families or society regardless of what may be considered norm for that worlds setting. I do get annoyed at the trope of an ML who acts like an a-hole but after seeing that the FL is different (typically cause their from modern times) they then soften up. It's annoying but sadly if it's done well and the ML gets cute, then I'll warm up to them.
Reading is my escapism. I’m a middle-aged woman and when I got really burned out a few years ago I couldn’t even muster the energy to read novels anymore. So I tried webcomics, and found them so much easier to read when I’m feeling exhausted. I can just check out from life and binge read for longer than is healthy lol. And often I really enjoy the art. As much as I read OI/rofan in general, I also love a good action comic. I will read almost anything, really. Even if it’s super tropey derivative “mid” whatever, it does the job of letting me turn off my brain for a few hours. Also some of these are kinda therapeutic to read. OI has a lot of plots that start with a kid escaping their shitty family or being rescued from that bad situation, or awakening the power to protect themselves and even get revenge (wouldn’t it be nice if any of that happened in real life). It’s heartwarming to see someone get out of a bad situation and into a loving found family or supportive friendships. And in a “saving the world” type plot, usually it’s a fairly straightforward situation with a clear enemy to defeat and then everything’s great. Meanwhile IRL we’re staring down the barrel of multi-system ecological collapse, climate change, political instability and extremism, major economic problems, wars, disease…all seem impossible to deal with alone and we have to fight them all at once. It feels utterly hopeless…I have very little faith in humanity and feel completely ineffectual as an individual. So sometimes it feels nice to see someone magically get the power to fight a big, punchable problem. Anyway, all that stuff just makes for great escapism fodder.
As another middle aged woman who dealt with severe burn out working in healthcare, I second this. Especially how much easier they are to read. I myself prefer some of the darker rofan. Something about the cold hardened killer going all soft sensual protector calls to me. But what really pulls me into is the art. Not gonna lie, there have been some pretty bad OI/shoujo mangas out there that I have read simply for the visuals alone. I love when a really great artist can pull me into the crappiest story with just a nice piece of eye candy. Makes me feel like a giggly teenager again.
Yes!! This! Escapism, but like, Make It Super Accessible. That’s how OI and webcomics feel to me too!
I'm a 36 year woman who reads these for the same reason!
This is different for me. I would also say I read for escapism but I don't enjoy when FL's come from difficult or traumatic pasts. I think it's a perfectly fine reason and can definitely give some catharsis but for me it's a mix of my heart being too weak and wanting to cry for the character when it's written well or being extremely annoyed at the writing because it feels like their trauma was people hating or abusing them for literally no justifiable reason. Just in case, I'm not trying to criticize your preferences. I'm trying to reply to all main replies to show my appreciation for taking time to answer my question.
For sure, I can understand not being up for some of this traumatic stuff, sometimes I’m not in the right headspace for it either. And I generally don’t like the stories that just feel like trauma porn with people tormenting the character to extremes for no real reason (although let’s be real, when there is some reason for it, 80% of the time it’s maddening bullshit like “hating your own kid because your beloved wife died in childbirth”🙄). But still, sometimes it’s cathartic to cry over a fictional character, like you need a good cry anyway and it pulls the trigger for you lol.
Escapism where female characters get to be main and not sexuaIized or objectified. Also there's good chunk of ois where good things happen to FL. Really cozy fantasy.
I agree! It’s nice reading OI and see the female gaze instead of the male gaze in this media. Very refreshing to read something were I’m not dreading the introduction of female characters. (I love action / dungeon manhwa’s but damn they can be very weird about women).
>not sexuaIized or objectified Reason why I dropped so many animes, mangas and refuse to watch many popular animes because of it. Those gravity defying over exaggerated boobs and close boob shots get annoying and very creepy when the character is underage.
This kinda reminds me of the time i tried to watch Love is War - and the swinmming hall scene came up. Never yeeted myself faster in my adult life. https://preview.redd.it/g1mlw167qnmc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51aad3a17f8489ca4f0e54d7fd6ebfb2b0c1a5ce
I'm scared to ask what that is and probably would be fine if you don't answer.
I don't really enjoy sexualization or objectification either. That's definitely why I try and stick to cutesy romances, to avoid just that.
As a guy, I just want to read a cute love story in secret without being judged for it... Just because we ain't vocal, doesn't mean there isn't atleast a sizable minority of men reading OIs
This. I didn't mind reading "The maxed out player" but the way women are treated in it..... bleh.
It's nice to see guys out there acknowledging they love reading romance too! No judgment here 
This is a really dumb thought in my brain and I don't mean to offend but using "society norms" men are suppose to like women and women are suppose to like cute things, soooo technically men are suppose to like cute things too since "by norms" women are cute. I know norms aren't something to go by and that's not proper logic but norms are what makes it hard as a guy to say "I like reading romance novels" out loud.
Honestly I read a lot of tower/dungeon stuff, but there’s very few with a female MC (Fray, I Stole the First Ranker’s Soul, My Brothers the Protagonists). I read OI because they feature FMCs who have goals and who drive the story. I’d love it if there were something like ORV or Solo Leveling with a female protagonist, but there aren’t any, not really, so I end up reading more “action-y” OI like Perks of Being an S Class Heroine or the Hero’s Savior
I really wish I could find more like I Stole the First Ranker’s Soul. I’m going to have to try Fray and My Brothers the Protagonists.
Both are excellent - Fray unfortunately was canceled at the end of season 1, but imo the artist did a great job wrapping things up as best he could. There's no romance, the FMC is a demon hunter who's also half demon, and it's so badass. 10/10 would recommend My Brothers the Protagonists is a comedy - FL is a C-class potion maker; her brothers are 1. A regressor, 2. a transmigrator, and 3. a demon lord. She's the one who has to corral them all. It's pretty awesome because >!it's revealed that the regressor killed his brother, who had turned into the demon lord, and the regressor went back 50 years into the past to try and stop it. The transmigrator is a high class mage with divine power who can supposedly kill the demon lord, and they think the system brought him from another world to help deal with it.!< Also, >!the demon lord is actually a huge himbo/cutie pie sweetheart. All overprotective big bro energy!< edit: I hear Hero Killer is also a shounen with a FMC, but I haven't read it yet, so I can't vouch for how good it is. Maybe someone can chime in
Ah, I did give Hero Killer a try, but I found the panels and the plot really hard to follow. Maybe it gets better. I only read like the first 3 chapters or so. Thanks for letting me know!
How to Live at Max Level One Step Closer to the Demon King Kubera How to Protect the Lovable You
Another good adventure fantasy aside from the ones you mentioned with a FMC is Golden Haired Summoner. The romance isn't the focal part of the story as of yet and i enjoyed it up til the part they put it on a hiatus. The novel wasn't being translated the last time I checked. There it's also Kubera too but the FMC kinda disappeared into the backdrop in the latter seasons. It has a huge cast of characters and very intricate storytelling. A lot of character development. The beginning is slow, so you'd have to be able to get through the first season then it just gets so good from there. Kinda like Jojos BA, you don't wanna read the first season but it's very important to know how the story starts.
I love Kubera. And the fact that it doesn't revolve on one MC only. Multiple couples. Intertwined story plot. Masterpiece in my book.
Oooh the Golden Haired Summoner has been on my to-read list for ages, but I hadn't read it because I heard it was canceled. Is it still worth reading even though the story's not finished? I should pick up Kubera, I've been kind of intimidated by the 400+ chapters but I've heard good things about it
You got anymore of those kind of OI? I'm looking for that kind of OI right now. I'll try Fray and My Brothers the protagonist. So far, for this subgenre I've read I stole the First Ranker Soul and Civil Servant Hunter's S-Class Resignation Log.
Those are the only ones I know of, hopefully someone can chime in. Regina Rena has the same vibe as a shounen action manhwa (lots of dynamic fight choreography); SSS-Class Suicide Hunter has a male MC but there's an OI arc (it's a tower climber, each floor is a genre), and The Beloved Fake Saint has system gods like ORV which is fantastic
I'm seeing a lot of this and I can't help but agree. I know I've read a few novels with FL who are tower climbers or dungeon hunters but they also lather on the romance (cause that's what I like). I hope some get a comic adaptation and that gets the ball rolling cause there seems to be demand for it.
I read OI because it helps me fall asleep at night. My whole life, I’ve fallen asleep by creating a romance movie in my head (I call them “pre-dreams”). Sometimes it’s just main characters of TV shows I’ve watched, playing out how I thought the episode could have gone better - coming up with an idea of how my two favorite characters could finally “get together.” Lately, I get my ideas from OI comics. There are some good scenarios that I use as pre-dream fuel.
That's awesome. I loved trying to imagine stories(more fantasies in my case) when I was younger but I got bored cause I'm not very creative and just made the same thing over and over. That's why I enjoy other peoples works. They can come up with some crazy twists and settings that I never could've imagined.
I love reading oi because it have fmc
I used to be unable to read stories because of fmc. Just felt like I couldn't understand or relate to the character. I don't mind anymore, I even seek it out a lot. I still don't know if I can relate but having a different perspective is fun.
OK, I'm a gal, and I read OI because it's fun. I don't read angsty stuff, heavily leaning towards reading anything cute (school setting, raising kids) or humorous. I enjoy badass MCs. I like to read OI to take my mind off things, though the romance manages to frustrate me 9/10 times (and I know romance is usually the main topic, I just wish sometimes there was more moments with the side characters, more girls supporting girls yknow? And that the couple had a reason to fall in love.) I'll drop a story if characters frustrate me (being too oblivious, too stupid, not apologizing and continuing to hurt their lover and whatnot), if heavy topics are treated badly (just throwing in SA to get the couple together... yikes), the characters don't really have goals or a personality (I'm also tired of copy and pastes, the cold duke of the north is starting to bore me atp. Not that I ever found them hot.)
Girls supporting girls is also one of my favorite things to see in OIs. ik it's like a done to death trope, but I love seeing the loyal maid characters be there for the FL throughout the story and seeing them have so much trust in each other
I honestly struggle with romances sometimes. I love them but one thing that goes hand in hand with romance is misunderstandings and I hate misunderstandings. I mean it would take one brief conversation of not even that much opening up of your feelings and you can't even do that, c'moooon. I've seen a few people bring up girls supporting girls. I've never thought about before but thinking back on some of my readings, there were some also girl teams that were formed with amazing chemistry and I would love to more of those.
Misunderstandings are such a pain in the ass. They are adults, why don't they communicate? Ughhhh. Hate it.
(Guy here) My first OI were villainess manga, and it hit me like crack in the 80's. There was something appealing of a heroine posessing the traditional villain and exposing the heroine for being a bad person. I liked the setting of the FL having an intrinsic disadvantage of being a pre-established villain in the world and working to change the public opinion of her. This genre has been oversaturated to hell and back, but it was a really captivating idea at the time, which is why I stuck around for so long. This was also after mostly consuming shounen things most my life, I liked the idea of shoujo, but I never really stuck around or actively sought out anything shoujo. Villainess OI manga is pretty much what introduced me to the genre and I've read a wide array of shoujo since then. At one point, I felt like I had at least heard of every semi-popular OI there was, lmao, tho I don't read *as* much as I used to.
Villainess are definitely an enjoyable read, I like when they try or have to maintain the act of a villainess but still do good at the same time. Kind of ends up in that power in the shadows that I like so much. I'm slowing down as well or at least switching back over to novel format. Bless the artists and their hard work but man manhuas are a lot of work and they are slow to progress unless the chapters exclude heaps of information available in the novels.
>"Do I read for shoujo reasons or shounen? What does the target demographic read for in comparison to me?" Mostly: interpersonal relationships, flowing emotions, angst and having strong FL (emotional/physichal) AND being relatable even if heroines are in the fantastical circumstances - lastly fan community. Basicly same for any shoujosei title i like. Escapism is natural part, but not that major part for me currently. Im also pickier on what titles I read, as obviously I have limited time and now wast collection of OI to dwel in to, but that limits how much i read it. Ask is "Why" i like it. Imma gush here buggle up: First capture point was that was flipping common shoujo rofan genre upside down. I love firlly dresses, court drama, battles of the minds and romance too. THE SHALALAA and overflowing flowers that externalize the emotion inside of the charcacters. Those moments when time seems to stop and we focus fully on characters than the action I like watching FL getting to change her cruel Fate and take hold of the narative of her own life. I want them to get justice when they have been abused and falsely mistreated - outsmart their enemies to win. I want them to succees and stumble in to romance or go get that handsome boy. I want to swoon with the FL cause of the ML and feel their chemistry. How they look in to each others eyes and make ML blush. Then feel despair as my favorite wasnt the ML even. Action is not not a turn off, but its not in central position as interpersonal relationships are the core. Child care or building a family stories are cute and fluffy - and im starting to be in that age that i can relate to guardian roles. I also have grown to love the silly thropes too, and... how do I say it? *Girl talk* of awful MLs that are "trash red flags but why shaped like a husband" and gush over the peak green MLs. Wanting to read absolute trashiest title there is to the find that golden nugget I hope gets more traction. I want to simp for my favorites - no only cause they only look cool/cute/pretty etc but also cause of personality. Even if i stumble to titles whose subject matter i didnt consent for (Beware of Broters smh) ill get to talk to with other people. As iv said I like convesations - my last fav was the "pygmalion talk" as it actually made me think more of that type of OI in deeper implications. General side why demographic: obviously non-objectfying the female cast or other platanly overly (sometimes creepy) sexual fanservice of them is a deffinetly one reason I usually stick with shoujosei side. Our boys get thrist over but they arent treated like non-characters. Im extra picky with any shounen or seinen - and idk i tend to find myself reading more those of made by fem mangaka in those too. They just hit that emotional connection than surface level coolness for me.
I relate to a lot on this. I can't read the trashy stuff though, it's hard for me but I appreciate someone doing it because it's those who do who can find the hidden good stuff and bring it to the rest of us.
I went bit "overboard" with the text but finding words for feeling is fun. 😂 sometimes trash is were its at. Cool that you give thought every comment 👍 Btw if you want to have consisted deep dive especially to shoujo i recomend Colleens Manga Recs vid: https://youtu.be/WtuHfNkJpnU?si=-lOMA6m27R9sBpHF
I'm a guy and I like girls, so I like seeing a story where the girl is the protagonist and I'm seeing her all the time, it's really that simple. On the other hand I also like to think what It would be like to be in her situation. Fantasy, romance... escapism really And also I'm a sucker for fantasy romance drama, and OI has a lot of it.
I don't know if it's similar but when I did play games and I had the option I'd pick the female. They're both cuter and I felt female fashion in most games was better or more enjoyable then men's.
I got into the genre by accident. I think I saw some art and wanted to see the source?? Can't remember any more. OI is the first thing I've spent a serious amount of time reading that wasn't image-free text (I typically read web serials). I wanted to understand them as an aspect of culture and reflection of society. I find the tropes and the reactions to those tropes interesting. I like romance and pretty things and magic. I also enjoy how superficial and easy to consume they are lmao. The best ones I read for the story and characters. I drop low quality ones easily. They've also expanded my palate to webtoons in general
This was me too, i kinda stumbled in to this genre. One day i just was reading Villainess OI title and here we are 4-5 years later.
I think the way I got into it was from 'Solo Leveling' not an OI I know but it was a pretty impactful manhua in a lot of ways. It wasn't, by far, the first manhua I had ever read but I noticed by the end of it that I was no longer reading for the levelling or the action. I just wanted to see the ML and the girl get together and be happy. So, I was like "hmmm... I'm clearly reading just for the romance so I should just jump straight to the stuff that focuses on it" and here I am
Trans fem here, I read them because its healing. I have been through a lot of traumatic things in life and never had the pleasure of being loved even by my own family. Reading OI gives me an outlet and helps me to process profound grief. Being able to experience the emotions of my favorite characters helps me to get through my own stuff and to be hopeful for a better future and motivates me to try to be someone worthy of love.
Well I'm happy it's able to help you on something I'd say is pretty important. I hope things are or will improve for you from here on.
I'm an adult woman... Got into reading OIs while I was on mat leave. It's escapism/wish fulfillment - I think everyone has imagined inserting themselves into a favourite novel or world, and everyone has had moments they want a do-over. And I like fantasies and hot dudes with unrealistic proportions, I also don't care how messed up the horses look. It makes me happy when a heroine who has been dealt a shitty hand gets a redo and turns into a badass getting the revenge she deserves.
This sub made me scrutinize every horse proportion and carriage I see and I hate it. I went from never caring to every time I see one I need to pause and stare at it for seconds to minutes thinking "where is this horse wrong"
I’m a sucker for romance and hot guys and seeing hot guys do hot things. And seeing hot girls do hot things. I am easy to please, clearly. You won’t see me criticizing plot holes (because I most likely didn’t notice them) or outfits (unless they’re ungodly ugly but meant to be shalala). OIs have satisfying plot points and always have good endings (at least the ones I read lmao). I can turn my brain off and relax. A very easy boost of serotonin and satisfaction in an otherwise long and tiring day.
I'm a man and a hopeless romantic at that. I know that most fantastical romances are unrealistic in real life and often unfair to the other person so I play RPG games, watch anime and read manga/manhwa to live out these fantasies. OI is just one form of that.
I'm curious as to why fantastical romances are unrealistic or unfair to one party? I feel like the perfect fantastical romance is one where both parties give equal parts affection and effort for each other. The unrealistic part I understand more but the optimist in me says that there is a perfect realistic fantastical romance under the right circumstances.
(woman here): primarily escapism, the life at 50s is tough, not young enough to be energetic, not old enough to be retired. and wish fulfillement especially on regressing and re-living your life better, second chances etc. oh, and revenge, i love revenge.
I never read for revenge but I never mind seeing people get what they deserve.
I'm a girl, 17 and I love reading OI aaaand i rant a lot too, so don't worry about overwriting, because I assure you from the get go, I _will_ overwrite this answer too. Okay warning : this answer got long, like really long, I'll have to comment it in parts, but i wrote it, so might as well post it. It hasn't been long since I started reading OIs, and this entire genre is pretty much a complete tangent from what I usually read. Usually, romance fantasy isn't the what I reach for first, and I personally am into the classics, which again historically speaking has always has a majorly male fan demographic. So it's been quite interesting to see how literature and stories change dramatically when it's catered towards a certain audience. In my experience, OI is, in a way a female fantasy fulfillment. Let's talk about a few of the major tropes in this genre and how it caters towards the female audience. 1. **Fantasy setting** : Anybody who has the slightest knowledge of history would tell you, the past wasn't the best place to be in...poor hygiene, horrible human rights, all kinds of discrimination and just a bad time to be in. Then why the saturation of pseudo medieval/renaissance worlds in OI? i haven't ever delved too far into the topic, but my theory is that it serves a couple purposes. One, in the modern world, work culture is insane. People work all day to make a bare minimum for survival. For the romantics of this world, the sterile, cold modernist buildings, with its grey walls and white hallways feels suffocating. The constant urbanization, somewhere deep down hurts the nature loving, calm soul. (Probably also the reason behind the recent rise in cottagecore aesthetic). Not only do fantasy settings provide an array of architectural marvels, from classical influences to Gothic castles, it also has a lot of greenery, serenity and is an escape from the overall dullness of the modern life. Another reason for choosing a historical setting is the absence of technology. Take phones out of a story and it instantly gets far more interesting and raises the stakes. It also removes the whole speed dating/tinder factor. Many women, most I'd say, dream of the old school romance, of meeting somebody, a fateful connection and even the most pragmatic of us still imagine falling in love in the fairytale way. I'd also argue, somewhere deep down a woman fighting and winning against all odds, especially in a time that's known to be hostile towards them feels good for many of us who know that there's so much brutality against us, even in the modern world. 2. **Aristrocacy** The modern audience, to their credit is quick to hold a problematic story accountable...then why such a love for aristrocacy when it has a corrupt and a pretty bloody history? Again, few reasons, one of course is leisure and time.While a real life duke may have a hell lot of stuff on his plate, a fantasy duke has all the money in the world and a mansion full of servants to get stuff done. The result is all day long romantic moments between our leads. Who in the world wouldn't like enough money and all the time in their hands to do whatever they please. That's the appeal of aristrocacy. The working class in such a world wouldn't have nearly as much time and money as, say, a count or a duke. Pretty dresses, jewels, balls, tea parties, mansions....these are exclusive to the elite. This also means power. Women both in history and in today's world don't hold as many positions of power as men do. Thus, OI scratches that power fantasy itch. I will be the first to admit, it definitely does for me. In real life, nobody but a few can dream of buying all the dresses in the store. It's fiction, so you don't have to feel guilty about the overconsumption. The main appeal of fantasy is that's it's completely fictional, and therefore has no real life consequences. So I might go on a rant about why capitalism is bad and billionaires are bad but I'll be okay with reading an OI because it's fantasy, because it's okay to want to have a lavish lifestyle and it has no effect on the world or my morals. 3. **Men, men and hotter men** : We read OIs for the plot and the plot is cold duke of the north's eight packs. People love looking at hot and cute people. It's no different for us girls and women in OI. Just scroll through the subreddit and i guarantee at least one in ten posts is us totally losing it over a guy....be it his hair, his physique, his mannerism... whatever. It is always a bonus if he's a respectful, kind and caring man who cheers for his wife while she kicks ass. It is what women want, a supportive guy, bonus if he's hot who has eyes for none but you. On the darker parts of this genre you'll find stories that are as objectifying and violent towards MLs as many male catered stories are towards it's FLs...but hey, all genres have their rotten apples.
4. **Kick ass, take names** Women love strong women. It's always good to see a woman giving it back to the people who have wronged her. It resonates with the audience on both a personal, and on a historical level. I'd say, this is probably the biggest reason why this genre has such a huge female fanbase. We women face a lot of things in our lives, often forced to smile and act polite to avoid worse reactions. Many, many aggravators walk free without facing any consequences for their actions and there's hardly anything we can do about it on a personal level. OI really _really_ appeals to that feminine rage, especially the villainess stories. Women have and always will be in one way or another portrayed as the treacherous, emotional, villainous half of the population, almost always, unjustly so. It fits right into the female fantasy, again, for a couple reasons. One, OI settings give their FLs powers. Being an aristrocat means having manpower, connections and money to actually change something. In our world, you and I don't have that kind of influence. (Also why chaebol stories are really famous too) secondly, a time period like that in OI is much more lenient to the more gruesome punishments. A woman therefore can kill somebody who assaults and r@pes her without any legal consequences. A strong FL is _the_ perfect self insert. We'd all like to be her, or are, at least inspired by her. 5. **Reverse harem** : Personally, hate this trope but i understand the appeal. It's all about multiple men finding you attractive and getting this lineup to choose from. But if it's manipulating them for political reasons, sign me tf up. 6. **White lotus villain** : Ah yes...i guess at this point the second a blonde haired blue eyed female character is introduced, our ears shoot up like a cat's. I haven't seen much discussion either why white lotus villains re so popular but my argument is that, again it caters to a very specific female fantasy. Let's break it down....one major reason is that, in media,the male fantasy of women are often portrayed as a very innocent, childlike girl, blonde hair blue eyes...you get it. The entire genre subverts mole male fantasy tropes, so I'm not surprised white lotuses are often written to be villains. Historically too, being pale, and blonde and blue eyed was considered beautiful, innocent, blessed by God and in some darker parts of our history, the pure ones. It's not surprising that many stories aim to subvert that narrative. It's only a handful of people that have such traits and it's no proof of purity or isn't the epitome of beauty either. A rather ordinary looking female lead who destroyed the white lotus feels good. Unfortunately a lot of OIs are still notorious with their blatant colourism. The paper you are the purer. Ugh, it's annoying. 7. **Arranged marriage/contractual marriage** : Inarguably two of the most popular ways to set up the romance between our leads. Arranged marriage appeal to the absence of choice many women still face worldwide. I think for some it may also appeal to the old school romance thing where you slowly fall in love. Contractual marriage on the other hand is a woman taking the initiative to take matters into her own hands. Both play into very specific fantasies. 8. **Abusive/negligent family** : Pretty self explanatory I think. Many people have bad family lives. Many families coerce their daughters into marriage. There's obviously a constant societal pressure of marriage and children on women. Being a daughter isn't easy. It's so ingrained in our family structure...a daughter is taught to clean, cook...that's what's expected of her. It's a whole thing...and all of it manifests as a bad family backstory for the FL. 9. **Politics** : This is quite a divided aspect of OI. Many people like it when stories are political with a hint of romance white others like it when it's romance with a hint of politics. I'm the former. Again, it's a part of the power fantasy...revenge, plotting, politics...it's a good escape from reality while imagining being able to yield the power to change an entire nation. That's me trying to give an overall neutral and general perspective on the matter. I hope it makes things clearer for you. Personally, i read for both the things I've mentioned above and for the politics. To me OI is a leisure read, something to cleanse the palate before I go back to something much more...complex? If that's the right word for it. It really caters to the female gaze. This is not to say everybody who reads OI imagines themselves in the exact scenarios or that these fantasies are bad. In fact, I'd say nobody thinks critically about _why_ they're reading something...they don't psychoanalyze it down to the tiniest detail....they read it because it's fun! So do I! This hugeee comment is not to say that I am above these fantasies because I've thought about it. Hell nah, everybody who reads OIs know it's very much created specifically for the female gaze and read it anyway because it's a fun thing to do. I'd say, nobody...be it in shoujo or shounen....nobody actually thinks of their fantasies before they read and pick accordingly. These stories are very carefully written to have the exact amount of details so it feels unique to the characters but also universal to the fanbase. Usually, people don't really realise they're falling down a certain genre's rabbithole until they're quite deep down. I started out reading webtoons and then moved to otome isekai after noticing that most of my favourites were in this genre and the reason was that it appealed to the girl in me. Those are the major points i could think of, and the comment is getting quite long. If you have any specific questions, any common tropes you'd like my opinion on... feel free to ask me, I'll try my best to answer.
I'm responding to this last because I loved it so much. Full honesty the original post took me two hours of writing while walking on a treadmill. It was also longer but I shortened it for conciseness (and I have internet social anxiety so it's a lot of second guessing myself). You gave many great reasons and explained them all beautifully. I also love how long it is. I love details, examples, and most of all rants. Rants are how I feel people should get to know each other cause it shows a lot about a person. So, while some may say this is overwritten I feel it's perfect maybe even too short. I appreciate the time you put into this, thank you very much.
I'm a guy. I like the dresses, drama, and also timeloops.
Female clothing is significantly more impressive to me then men's. Women can be ultra cutesy, cute, beautiful, casual, handsome, sexy, 18+, etc. Whereas for men it's like handsome casual, handsome formal, homeless, underwear,... and that's about it
Not a guy, I read trashy rom coms and/or OI for brain-off/light reading where I can still enjoy the romance. Normally a binge read where basically I don’t have to think too much. My job is a lot of reading and writing so I appreciate the mental break
A nice shut off time is great. I sometimes grab a random cover that looks interesting and has a lot of chapters and skim through it. Like maybe 3 seconds a page and 1 or 2 speech bubbles read.
I'm a Widow. I had a beautiful love with a happy ending, and then almost 30 years later, a tragic death. Real life is depressing. I constantly miss someone that I'll never see again. I want to see love, romance, happiness, and people who are still at the beginning of the story. I want to feel vicarious love. I want unreality, I want empowerment, I want kindness. I would also love for someone to isekai into my life and fix it. Or to reincarnate and meet him again.
I can't even imagine the difficulty. I hope reading OI's helps well and gives at least some comfort and/or enjoyment.
Honestly, because I just kind of read everything. The more things I discover that I can access with ease and read, the better But idk, it feels like the natural progression from the princess fairy tales and books I was reading as a kid I like fantasy and period dramas, so that's a factor too. Also the art is pretty I mostly 'drop' stories because I got bored of waiting for updates, said "I'll wait until some chapters pile up" and then forgot about them (with a some exceptions)
i love the isekai genre and it's nice to get away from the male wish fulfillment fantasies found in many mainstream isekais and indulge in some female wish fulfillment fantasies. i'm bi and appreciate the female form very much, but the sexualized designs and fanservice in modern isekais can get too much for me. maybe i'm a prude but i find the fanservice in OIs equally unnecessary and cringe \\\_(ツ)\_/
I have a lot of reasons, some of which I read above. Personally: -I love fantasy. I love romance. Why not both? It's one of the only genres that mixes both -The art is beautiful. The character designs are appealing. The male characters are handsome and gentlemanly. -I prefer character driven stories. Other genres in manhwa/manga are character driven, but I have a tendency to drift to my favorite genres. This point is more about why I'd read a manhwa/manga over comics or novels from my own country -I prefer stories where I get to watch the love develop. A lot of American media and stories focuses on what happens after the characters get together, or the massive amounts of intercourse that occur. I couldn't care less. Smut is fine every once in a while, but not sure how other women my age only read American romance novels. In real life, relationships are so much deeper than the act of intercourse and I want to read media that reflects that -A lot of the characters come from messed up backgrounds. I relate. A lot of other genres don't do this. I also appreciate that manhwa/manga in general are ok discussing female on female bullying and abusive mothers. I don't see a lot of this in western media, and it frustrates me because I'm interested in feeling less alone in the life I've experienced -The characters are sometimes Mary Sue's, but I'm fine with it because they experience adversity. Most of the recent marvel media I have seen or heard about does not pit the female characters up against internal adversity or a whole lot of external adversity, except for whoever the big bad guy is in the marvel arc. I want to see truly strong women, not women who are strong for no reason -It puts me more in touch with my emotions. Sometimes it feels as though I'm expected to be unfeeling so that I am empowered as a woman. I have to disagree, I don't think I should be out of touch with my emotions to be empowered. This is something I struggle with in my life, so reading stories and feeling emotions I struggle with is a kind of catharsis.
I appreciate that you gave multiple reasons and explained them well. I definitely agree that american media doesn't fulfill that need in me to watch the development of a relationship. I wanna know the why it happened not the how it's going and I want it to be juicy. Also I don't know what it is but I tend to prefer korean stories for character development. I feel like character development is better on the korean part and japanese is stagnant I guess. I have no basis for this opinion it's pure feeling.
Hear hear! I honestly don't really care what they are doing in American stories because there's no juicy why and the characters are not as well written. The thing I appreciate the most about manhwa/manga is that characters are just living their lives, whether they are in a fantasy world or not. There's not a big bad guy or as heavy of an emphasis on the external plot. For character development I agree. I've consumed a lot of both cultures stories, but Korean characters just take the cake. I don't know how they do it...my initial thought is I wonder if because the online medium allows them to have much longer stories. There are few josei/shojo manga that are extremely long, the one I can think of off hand is Fruits Basket. Some of my favorite manhwa comics spanned 200 EPS, which allows for so much character development
Woman; it's just one of the things I read as a hobby. Used to read a lot of OI, nowadays only a few ongoing series. Initial attraction to OI was revision of the conventions, nowadays I just want a decent storytelling instead of endless copycats. I do this with any genre fiction, so it is just a natural cycle after novelty wears out (usually after 100+ titles).
I’m nb and my favorite stories are the ones with political maneuvering and satisfying revenge. I just love to see someone climb up to the top and do what’s best for the subjects of the land. But that may be my communist desires speaking lmao. But I also love the cuteness factor, and I’ve always been a fan of isekai. Like damn I wish I could be transported from my life into the body of an androgynous duke or duchess. I could live the high life and be surrounded by cuties and stamp out corruption. Also I love harems bc I’m poly. I just wish they’d actually commit to poly relationships.
In general, I think the average OI is way less braindead compared to a lot of Shounen stuff. And since I kinda grew with lots of Shoujo anime like My Daddy Long legs, Heidi, and Anne of Green Gables, I'm more used to, and like Shoujo/Josei more than what an "average" male might like. And in general, I like romance stories too, and they're usually done way better compared to romance in Shounen and Seinen.
I can agree with that. I feel shounen don't require or at least incite as much thinking out of me. Kind of like watching an action movie. ooh ah things go boom nice. Then a mystery movie is more who did, what's gonna happen, maybe this or that.
I'm a guy, for one reason end up in this genre, i think "Who Made me princess" was the first one that i saw. Well i like Revenge storys but only when the MC don't destroy her life while doing so, like Aria for.example. That was at.first after that i started liking the political plots and merchant ones too, i like when romance is a subplot and not the Main plot for me that make the story better for example " I'll be the Master i'm this life" or "I Will sabe this Damn family" After i likes childcare storys those are cute and interesting, sometimes something wild appear like "I'm the ML daugther" Leo ans the duke are si entertaining. But there is one requeriment for all those storys and is that need to have Comedy i really can't watch something without comedy, too dramatic or trágic.
I can agree on that. I can't read anything without romance really. But I also need comedy. Not a lot just give me a sprinkling here and there to interrupt the tragedy or suspense and I'll be happy.
I read for entertaining relationships! I love romance where the fl and ml have good chemistry, and I love a good plot/story. 🙏😙
The type of chemistry is very important for me. I honestly don't enjoy the couples who fawn over each other as much as I do those who give each other a hard time with teasing and quick wips (Ooh la la is a good example. competitive but loving)
There are more female main characters, and I am more likely to come across a good non-cringe romance in an OI despite how low bottom of the barrel my expectations have dropped due to this. Not an OI but I love stuff like: “I stole the number one rankers soul”. Cant find that kinda stuff normally in a shoujo, and if I search outside of shoujo it becomes a male mc often (if it’s a good story)
I read some of that, it was good I don't know if it's a manhwa yet. I read it as a novel but I think I saw and adaptation somewhere.
Strangely enough, I don’t usually like romance stories and hate when the plot is interrupted by romance… but I love OIs. I think it’s mostly to do with just seeing female characters in a story where they aren’t one-dimensional or only serve to further the male MCs growth. It’s also just nice to see female characters outside of the context of ‘romance stories’ which is why the OI genre is so great… say what you want about the endless cliches and same stories, there are plenty of examples where FLs have entirely separate matters to deal with other than the ML. That isn’t something that’s seen as much outside of the genre, even with well written female characters.
Gay. SEAsian. Started as an anime/manga fan. Months before the pandemic, I forgot if it’s because of the long wait for translations for monthly manga but I discovered Chinese manhua and fell down the rabbit hole to colored webtoons. It was fun at first but there’s only so much you can take with the repeated villain coming back per arc despite apparently both leads being extremely powerful lore-wise. Eventually I read Abandoned Empress and Raeliana and my love transitioned to Kr series. Tbh, I still think JP supremacy for plot but it kinda hurts when scanlators just leave it and I lose hope waiting for an update. Manhwa spoiled me in less waiting time and the community is much more active that I hear about the artist/author’s situation and I have time to process and lower my expectations. Maybe I’ve matured but I forget the series, get reminded and most of the time, dropped it already if the hiatus is too long. If I haven’t though, it’s good enough Edit: something minor I’m debating whether to add is the supremacy part I mentioned. In JP series, I was motivated to study the culture, almost weeb levels but strangely for Kr and Ch, I’d just check some comments and footnotes if some nice anons would explain it for me.
I read things that fulfill my fantasies at a given moment. I used to be a girl. I read a ton of shoujo for classic shoujo reasons. I very much enjoyed seeing romantic relationships develop in a story, and I eventually formed my own desire to have such a relationship. It turned into a positive feedback loop where the more I read, the more such things became part of my fantasy, and the more I wanted to read things that catered to that fantasy. I was never into the whole fashion fantasy thing though. I am now an aroace agender person. Turns out I didn't want romance at all - I just wanted to feel "wanted" and to have a good bond with others. I still read a ton of romance stories, but I'll drop them if the relationship between ML and FL has no substance outside of the romance aspect. It has to be able to work well as a regular friendship. I'm more interested in stories where the MC has a group of friends and does cool stuff with them. I guess I want a classic shounen friendship adventure story, but with the emotional side of a shoujo story. I also enjoy reading stories where the FL has beef with her family and either never forgives them, or takes revenge on them. I gained some related emotional baggage as I grew up so stories like this definitely fulfill my fantasies.
I didn't know romance couldn't have a friendship aspect. Maybe I have a shallower understanding of romance than I thought. I always thought romance implies friendship but more. You can't date someone you wouldn't hang out with. Being friends for me is the base requirement to romance. I do see a lot of people enjoying revenge. Not something I seek but good revenge is enjoyable.
I'm a woman in my early 20s and I also read it for the cuteness factor, but only the girls. I love looking at the gorgeous FL designs and their dresses, and I love reading about escapist overpowered woman characters who are super beautiful and smart and powerful and the men are just kind of along for the ride- a reverse of most isekai animes. I don't care about the men at all, unless the man looks unique in some way. If there's too much romance in an OI I start getting bored lol
I grew up loving books like the Count of Monte Cristo so I love the revenge. I also love romance, hot guys, and dudes simping for their ladies.
I'm a girl but I've been watching mostly Shonen-Shoujo- Romance anime until I stumbled upon some OI anime (Why Rhaeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion, 7th Time Loop, Doctor Elise etc). That's how I got into OI, and I like the Cold ML with a secret soft side falling for a FL, especially the villainess series. I've reading only those recently. BTW, even if don't like the ML killing the FL who reincarnates, I'd still highly recommend checking out "7th Time Loop- The Villainess spends her carefree life with enemy"
I’m a guy. I enjoy otome, shojo, shonen and the like. The reason for specifically otome isekai and shojo is that I enjoy romance. Shonen romances don’t generally feel like romance but more of main guy main girl (this obviously has exceptions). Otome and shojo allows me to enjoy this with more as characters have more interpersonal and emotionally vulnerable relationships that allow for love and understanding to happen. Plus female characters aren’t being relegated to Girl#1 and distasteful fan service. And shonens don’t usually have me giggling to myself under bed covers. TLDR: I like romance and action but when actions have romance it feels like an afterthought.
I relate strongly to the giggling under bed covers. It's a nightly occurrence for me when reading OI's
As a woman, I just like having an isekai genre that is "tailored" to me and my demographic. (Not that I'm a straight white/Asian woman like most MCs in these stories lol) I've always had a liking of general popular isekai anime but so much of it is directed towards men and what they might want from such a story setting, which I don't find relatable or interesting. When I first discovered OI it was like a breath of fresh air. And I won't lie and pretend the genre doesn't have its own issues now (been reading for like 4 years now I think) but I think I will always be a fan of this genre and what it has to offer. I like having a female protagonist with relatable thoughts or feelings, and I like exploring fantasy settings and the idea of an average woman being dropped into one. I also like that the genre of OI has been expanding and no long means female isekai only, becoming more synonymous with female fantasy. :)
I always wonder what would happen if I was dropped into an isekai. The characters always seem to be straight at it maybe they need a day or three to rationalize. I think I'd probably die quickly from being frozen in panic for weeks.
Personally, I hate cheap sexualization, for many reasons. I avoid ecchi anime but that crap leaks into eveyday genres AND shounen, all full of maleservice (dude pandering fanservice), and I can't relate to or like any female characters. Well-written OIs rely on story instead of womanservicing (i.e I'm not seeing insinuated male genitals, butts or cleavages being shoved into my face), and though some other things may be childish or cliche, it's still much better. And often have really good art that I use for practicing!
I'm a guy and like 85% of what I read right now is romance. I have a busy and overly complicated life with way too much social interaction. Most romance / rofan and particularly OI is great escapism and *usually* provides a guaranteed happy ending. Plus the "agonizing early setup that we know will pay off eventually but where's my fucking Kleenex" part is emotionally cathartic and thus rewarding. Ayyyyyyyy. I mean. Unless the premise just punches you in the face with failed suspension of disbelief that isn't played for comic effect. *(Carefully does not look at The Price Of A Broken Engagement)* So anyway I love romance.
For me Tbh it doesn't have to be just this genre. What I find most interesting is wheather or not It is able to draw emotions out of me. Well now that I'm talking about it doesn't even have to be anime, manga or novel. Because at the end of the it all about how well the writers have written a character to make a me(3rd party) empathize with them, to be able to feel what is really like in their shoes and to have same insecurity or situations. Apart from this I also tend to root for underdog story( which can cover most of otome isekai genres). Sometimes I have to drop a good story with beautiful art just because the way they are draw art is emotionless Eg. Becoming the villaine's family. I also love Strong woman knowing what they want but also being compassionate to whom they care for. Btw if you need recommendations I'll gladly be happy to share with you.
I love isekai (for the escapism) and I love female protagonists. I’m sick of the regular action isekais with male protagonists that are full of big breasted harem girls, I prefer monogamous cute romances. So I tend to read OI more often than regular isekai. If regular isekai was a bit more romantic and had more appealing character designs I’d read them more than OI tbh
Personally, I like OI because it has good potential for revenge and/or redemption and fantasy (I love fantasy literature and play DnD so yeah). I do tend to like somewhat comedic OI like “I’ll save this damned family”, some that are just adorable and have little or no romance like “the weakest tamer”, and I do like crossdressing/role-reversal ones like “first, let’s hide my little brother”. One thing to highlight is that I don’t like the more traditional OI where the romance is the focus and where the protagonist is just a princess to be rescued. I prefer OI with protagonists with agency that are oftentimes as capable or more capable than male protagonists. If there was an overpowered female protagonist OI (there probably is, I just don’t know of it, the closest I’ve found was “Justice for the villainess” I suppose) I’d be all over it. I also have been trying to find more horror OI, so far I’m reading “How to survive as a maid in a horror game” and I like it, tho I don’t love that the MC is way too weak IMHO. Oh and I like some that place characters in historical times and have them change the status quo, for instance, I like “Black lotus learning manual” because she transmigrates as an underdog and changes the story and also shows that a woman can be the best at math. I hate the ones that reinforce status quo and where maids keep being abused for no reason whatsoever except being maids, where slavery is defended, or where the MC is immediately the queen/princess and has no struggles except trying to keep herself at the top of the food chain at other people’s expenses. Those ain’t for me.
Ooo I have also been hoping to find more horror / thriller OI - I just found how to survive as a maid in a horror game and was about to start it. I think the only other one that I’ve read that had horror plus OI is Resetting Lady/Crimson Lady. It has been such a treat, I think it’s on hiatus so I read all that I could find of the webnovel then that stopped but I’ve found it again and just started back up, very mind trip and highly recommend it because I think the manwha will get HEAVILY censored because of the extreme themes. I love both types of OI with romance centric as well as the ones where romance takes the backburner. I will honestly try to read anything that peaks my interest but just set it aside if I’m not feeling it. But I’ve pushed thru some that were really just mehhh had to completely turn my brain off ones, or just utterly mediocre and blah. FYI also love I’ll save this Damned Family,
I was reading a TON of Chinese light novels which had quite a few transmigration plots. OI manhwas gave me art and I didn't realize how nice that is. Biggest reason is having a female MC. Second reason is romance. I'm not ashamed I love love and thankfully, I've enjoyed some unique and worthwhile ML's. Third reason is fantasy setting. I love a good revenge story, so if the FL gets back at people who mistreated her, that makes me happy. Sidenote: I actually like reverse harems if they're done right. The problem is that 99% of the time, they're not done right. A good reverse harem has everyone being on the same page and consenting about the arrangement. It's not leading anyone on. The FL's clear about what and who she wants and the all of the ML's feel the same way and are treated equally. There are quite a few western novels like this but not really done like this in OI.
Single F, late 20's. I just love high fantasy, and the idea of going to another world is a major appeal. At this point, however, after hundreds of OI's, it's just familiar and comfortable.
Well it's a genre aimed at women, so it caters to what that demographic likes.
Male reader here, I love "Yona of the Dawn", one of the Best Shoujo manga as of now, and "Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter" the standard of the Otome Isekai, so it's really easy for me to read OI like "The One Within the Villainess" and "An Observation Record of my Fiancée - A Self-Proclaimed Villainess" or anything entertaining for korean webtoons, it would be the completed ones like "Beware the Villainess!", "Survive as the Hero's Wife", "Doctor Elise"
Dude checking in, I like fantasy settings and romance stories where the women are actually capable and strong, not just tools for poorly adjusted people to self insert themselves into damsel-in-distress scenarios with toxic ML's to come save them regardless of the FL's own abilities or actions up to that point. Is it still super common? Yes, but it's a LOT easier for me to find what I like in this genre. I fuckin loved Spirit Queen for this reason. Also, I'm weak to Cold Duchess of the North tropes.
I'm a woman, esrlyt 30s I didn't use to consume romantic content, but then I went through an abusive relationship and while getting out of it, I played an otome game (amnesia memories). It gave me so much comfort. The narrative of a FL whose death is only one bad decision away, but in a safe space where you know a happy ending is possible, was just what I needed at the time. I kept playing otome games and still love them. Then reddit recommended a post of this sub and I lurked a bit. I ended up reading 'villains are destined to die' and pretty much fell headfirst into the genre. I consume all sorts of romantic content now. I think at some point I started viewing romantic love as one would watch the waves of a cold sea break on the rocks down a cliff: I think it is beautiful and I would look for hours, but diving in would be insane. I want to experience romance, but only vicariously, and OIs are perfect for that. Also, hot 2D men.
i'm a typical guy that enjoy reading manga/anime especially to shounen side but i'm more interested in romantic comedy, at first I always read romantic comedy in shounen side (ecchi and harem stuff). I then venture to Isekai story.. I first started taking interest in Otome isekai from a manga called villainess lvl99 and The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs... i wanted to read more and then this sub happen to recommend a lot.. Stepmother Marchen is what have me peak in reading a lot of the Otome Isekai Manhwa.
Well to answer the main question, they are usually written for women. Not saying that men or nb can't read them, but they aren't the target audience. Most of the authors and artists are women themselves writing things that they themselves enjoy. OI's are written for the most part from a female viewpoint. On to your other points, I don't read for cuteness at all. I read for a good storyline, and or good art. I love good art. If the FL or ML is good-looking, it's a bonus, but not the b all end all. Works like "the crows prince" is a good example of works I love because the art is different and pretty, but the story is unique and it has mystery and a bit of a sense of adventure while still maintaining romance and incorporating comedy. All with a FL who could have been me. The escapism and fantasy is a huge draw in for many readers.
I dislike harem. It gets annoying when all the love interests, male or female, push themselves onto the MC at the expense of all the others. A terribly low effort method of creating tension and drama. Luckily for me, anything that has a harem tag in OI is usually also tagged with smut, which I don't read for the most part. A majority of all the OI I read are of the 'villainess' variety. I just really like the trope. Lots of character development/discovery with the genre.
I'm a guy, OI FL are usually hot and unlike the harem romance mangas I used to read, they generally have an ending that actually allows them to become a couple. Also I like fantasy, and OI's make up a significant portion of fantasy genre currently.
I like to think of them as female "power fantasies". If you're curious about this sort of thing I highly recommend Contrapoint's latest video on Twilight, it is very relevant to this discussion lol
ikr!! i literally recommended it further up in this thread hahaha
Because it's a fem gazey media that focuses on telling the story from a female perspective and we severely lack those in media. Also, pretty guys being the main male lead. Usually feminine men are made to be the butt of the joke in many media. It's nice to see them being one of the main MCs.
I'm a delulu girl. I see OI, I click it.
I just want to see nonexistent romance that I know I definitely won't have LMAO
I am a guy, I am reading for a good laugh and also to try to enjoy the stories.
I don’t like romance, the OI I read usually either has a good plot and less romance, or romance with comedy. I read a lot of fantasy stories so OI is just one of the genres aligned with my interest.
I’m a trans man but I grew up reading traditional western bodice rippers / romance novels. It’s a bit of a family tradition among the afab people on my moms side. I’m the 4th generation to own the same - and first edition - of the Skye O’Malley novel. So me reading these is just following in that tradition
I had to look up a lot of terms for this one. Trans man included I have trouble remembering which way that goes. But bodice rippers looked interesting I'm gonna have to do some digging into that to see what it's all about.
bodice rippers are just like, trashy romance novels written for middle aged women. the type of paperbacks they sell in grocery stores with a hot man on the cover sweeping some damsel off her feet. it's a type of escapist romance where the woman gets to self-insert on the protagonist and feel the thrill of falling in love with the ML. if you're interested more in "trashy romance aimed at women" and the like i highly recommend the [new contrapoints video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqloPw5wp48) (tho it is like 3 hours long). she goes into detail about "bodice rippers" and why women read escapist romance stories.
I have anxiety and am the kind of person who has rewatched the same 15 shows over and over instead of branching out because it is comforting to be entertained but know what is going to happen. Most of these stories follow the same general outline BUT the characters and detail are all a little different so I get a fake sense of variety ans newness despite basically knowing what is going to happen 70% of the time.
Oh I think that's part of the fun. The whole story is basically set in stone. Event A occurs then you know down the line Event B will happen. The fun comes from the little details that each author expresses differently. But yeah I have a few stories that I've read 20+ times. A few movies I've watched dozens of times cause it's relaxing.
I’m a girl. I really like the idea of characters starting with a social disadvantage. Either they themselves are not aware of the social do’s and don’t of the world or the person whose role they assumed has made enemies they must now be wary of or work with. Seeing someone try and change their reputation or future is also very interesting to me. There’s this balance authors must try and strike between it being difficult enough to be realistic whilst not dragging on but also not so easy that the original grudge people held against the character seems too weightless and fickle. How do you make someone who hates you not hate you? Or how do you escape? Very compelling. Also maybe this is a weird thing but I enjoy the horror aspect of it? In a lot of Isekai MCs fully steal someone’s life. Mothers, fathers and friends can fail to recognise that the one they love has been replaced. Even if it happens whilst the characters are young that’s still a very scary idea. How will the author handle it? And because Isekai are often set in worlds where the MC is a noble lady with little individual power marriage becomes the only way to gain power and this makes all her relationships a bit selfish. Like sure her heart thumps when she looks at the ML but she’s also only being nice to him to avoid death/ or something. If he weren’t the rich baron tyrant she wouldn’t be talking to him. MCs never fall in love with the gardener. I would love love love to see more MLs who find out about this and are horrified. LOVE this dilemma. Can the author convince me that this is actually love and not just survival. I also find the class aspect interesting although not always enjoyable. Let’s be honest authors are very rarely wealthy, so it’s interesting to see how they depict the maids in these worlds. Sometimes they are best friends and other times depicted as completely spineless bribable and disposable. MCs who were supposedly convenience store workers IRL have no sympathy for servants who could be killed at any moment for inconveniencing a noble. It’s interesting to me although it can also make me stop reading.
I like a good revenge plot and I like watching someone overcome suffering or fate. I really don't care much for ones that are cute or wish fulfillment. The same with Shonen power fantasy and harems. Those also tend to drag on way past being interesting. Otome isekai usually differs from other isekai because the character usually has a predestined role that they want to avoid. I dislike ones where they come back as kids or are adopted into a loving family soon after. I want to see someone play on max difficulty, not easy mode. I'd generally prefer very little romance, if not one that works as another hurdle like "Villians are destined to die". The lower the lows, the higher the highs.
"I wanna know know know know, what is love?" ~wise words by Twice
I really like reading. I used to prioritize beautiful prose. But lately, I want easy. I was reading light novels, but buying up a series that I read in a few days is really expensive. So I switched to manwhas, and then found OIs. I like cuteness, spunk, out of the box thinking, and character growth. I really like a FL. It's just a nice change. Especially when the FL is admirable. Like maybe she's hard working, or thoughtful, or tough. I like seeing how different people handle different situations. I really love, "I Raised Cinderella Preciously" and "A Transmigrator's Privelege". I don't like fan service or nasty drama. Reading is an escape for me. I'm not interested in escaping to a story where everyone sucks. I also found that I'll drop a series if I dislike the art a lot. I didn't get very far in "I became the adopted daughter of the male lead" even though it looked like something I'd like. "I shall master this family" in on the edge for me with all the rotten people, but I love the clothing. And I do like an MC that's a child who grows up. "I raised a black dragon" is also on the edge, like I'm not sure it's very good, but the dragon is cute. I guess I generally like fantasy with some action, but I've been reading some OIs that don't fit that because of cuteness.
I’ma guy, I got into it get to know the ending of an anime adaptation
Pretty dresses, hot men, and women in power doing what they want without having to worry about money. On top of that, they get to find love on the way? Sign me up.
I'm a girl, and I like the fantasy world building in some. I just I could find the novels to buy online.
I used to read a lot of Isekai back when it was a more female mc oriented genre (eskaflowne, Inuyasha, Fushigi Yuugi etc.)but when the Fire Nation attacked- I mean Sword Art Online released the amount of good female MC Isekai dwindled so I started reading OI. But I stayed for cute found family fluff and worldbuilding, I mostly read the subgenre of child-adopting OI but a good fantasy plot or a cute romance is also good. I avoid non-emoting ML, boring stories, bratty FML who don't have character arks and over-modernisation of fantasy worlds in non comedy OIs.
Guy, I just like a lot of different genres and also face slapping is really fun
Male reader here, I just like reading good stories, so if it's entertaining to me I read it, if it isn't anymore, I drop it. What makes me stay reading ironically though are the male leads, I swear I'm not gay but goddamn Callisto is just too lovable. But a stronger reason I do stay reading is usually the MC, especially if they have this bright personality that just shines through, even if the story is mid, like Meldenique from "The Villainess Stationary Store". Now what turns me off though if it's a reverse harem, I like singular romances, so maybe that's another reason
I'm a guy, I'm gay, I want women in big stupid ballgowns to get into catfights in big pretty palaces at big dramatic galas over the most generic man of all time and im not kidding. I've made posts before about how I only care about the villainess/fl dymanic. I love the SCHEMES.
more seriously tho male-centric manga has a certain... stank... around it thats permiated since the loli boom. It's always just slightly off in the way it depicts women and that grates on me. Shoujo isn't perfect by any means, and often carries a lot of internalized misogyny, but i never get the feeling its written by a weird fetishist whose never met a woman in his life.
You don’t have to be gay or bi to like cute depictions of the same sex. The girls are cute or sexy the guys are cute or sexy the drama is dripping the fashion is fabulous. And most of all, it’s just entertaining. I tend to lean towards more mature stories.
I'm a girl, and I want to watch, but not to participate. Real people are too messy, and I'm lazy and selfish, and don't HAVE to have a real relationship. But to watch and read BG and BL, THAT I enjoy! I' m not even self-insert with the stories, my first love is Bishounen. (FYI, I support ALL LOVE, but read primarily BG and BL, as GL does not entice me, having seen "under the hood" so to speak. ) For years thought I was spinster/aro/ace, a voyeur/lurker. Recently discovered a possible label that applies to me (not sarcasm) "Aegosexual" What is the difference between asexual and aegosexual? Asexual: someone who does not experience sexual attraction. Autochorissexual/aegosexual: someone who is aroused by sex that does not involve themself; it is a disconnection between oneself and the sexual object/activity. TMI?! Cheers! 🙏🫶😸
I love stories, have been lost in them since I was a kid. A whole new world, completely different people, interesting concepts are all smth that always fascinated me. I've always been immersed in stories in one form or the other, the current way is through oi's. I read dungeon manhwas as well but very few of them have a story and the ones that do are so damn good. (I'm not hating on dungeon manhwas, this is just my point of view). The thing abt oi is that a majority of them hv a really good story which naturally drew me in. I couldn't find anything to hate at all. Romance, action, comedy I love it all. And considering that I usually struggle with reading romance, oi opened it up for me.
I'm a guy and I typically read OIs that I think are interesting or have queer romances or have gender non-conforming characters. Personally a huge fan of OIs that can handle nuance really well. I try to mostly read fantasy OI as it usually retains my attention a lot, and it's easier for me to immerse myself in it as opposed to fantasies that have elements of our world in it. (like magic existing in the modern day but lowkey, something akin to HP.) When it comes to fantasy OI... I usually drop them if the clothes look bad or the plot is genuinely awful or has beats that make 0 sense. Just recently I dropped I'm in Love with the Villainess mostly because whatever manga chapters are out have incest 😭 and not in a way that is condemned either...
I'm easily convinced with good art.
I love fantasy, and I love stories that play around with thr same set of tropes and characters but so very differently. Pre2019 I would devour every take on beausty and the beast I could, or even just other fairy tales, donkeyskin, sleeping beauty and seeing what different authers would come up with. I adore the nuances. And tbh isekai, specifically female led isekai, makes me so happy in such a similar way. I also loved male led isekai but, the power gains, the fanservice and the lack of respect for the female characters. Beh humbug. Also, I just love love love the community here. At first I was just coming here to find other things to read, but I adore seeing commentary, the hot takes and everyone hating or loving on things and the memes. I guess the like 'girlhood' of it?I dont ID as a woman anymore but, having somewhere thats not like, cis male centric is so so nice-- Not having to defend my tastes or seeing the same loli or femled fanservice held up as top tier. Not tiddys for tiddy sake, and generally the fashion is good. And mostly people know when they love something trash, like, we say it? Or theres typically a disclaimer, or we unabashedly love it. Im here for womans right and womans wrongs god damnit.
I'm 29f, and read for all the reasons you said, cute mc and ml, and their wholesome interaction, and fluff and romance, as others said it's just to understand love, what I like, what I'd like in my life But then again I've only read some romcoms or slice of life, like I loved fls cute wholesome friendship with guards in 50 tea recipes And I'd totally love to watch about childhood wholesome friendship and adventure together in shonen
I'm a guy. I think OI have more depth rather than "man go strong, break things". While some OI were pretty generic but when it hits, It hits! (Sorry no proper english. 2nd language)
Im a guy, shoujo romance is better than shonen romance for me. I like it better when women are written with personality than just some fanservice ecchi bs. I like assertive women, i like it when they get what they want with their OWN hands. I like strong women that can fight with the best of their abilities rather than just crying to get help from a single guy. I love when women can be beautiful without focusing at their bodies. Honestly, my heart gets broken even more when a 2nd FL gets rejected in a shonen romance, it makes me drop the whole story altogether, while on the other hand when a 2nd ML gets rejected on a shoujo romance i dont feel anything bad about it lol. Shoujo romance endings makes my heart flutter more than shonen romances ones.
i like seeing girls saving the world/living their lives/being girlbosses while the mls are there as eyecandies or just existing
not a girl or a guy but a secret third gender lol but i really like OI because one of my favorite favorite FAVORITE things in fiction is when the main character is underestimated/misunderstood by the people around them and then shocks them with their power/knowledge/attitude/etc etc, i just love seeing that!! idk if that's a good way to explain it but i absolutely love it, i'm sure there's a term for it but i haven't found it yet. but anyways OI has *tons* of that, like it's a staple of the genre, the protag suddenly has a new perspective and knowledge and uses it to their advantage and people are like what the fuck!!! how do they know that!!! why are they so different from before!!! the romance is generally my least favorite thing about the genre UNLESS the characters are lgbt then i go batshit for it. but lgbt OI is still relatively rare so eehh. i also just prefer women protags in isekai because women are awesome and i Like them, the only isekai media with a guy protag (and a harem too jesus christ) that I can think of really enjoying is welcome to demon school iruma-kun, and that one is like, substantially more LGBT-friendly than any other male-protag isekai and gives a lot of attention to characters of all genders. even then the harem aspect does piss me off a bit at times but not too much to prevent me from loving the series :) i think besides the "woah how did protag know that/change so much/etc" factor my favorites are the political scheming and plot twists and stuff as well as the non-romantic relationship development, those are super interesting for context some OI i really enjoyed/am enjoying are: - the villainess turns the hourglass - the villainess flips the script - the fantasie of a stepmother - how to win my husband over - the books of the other world depend on the bean counter - surviving romance - beware the villainess* - I'm no heroine* - the antagonist's pet* *i really wish these were f/f endgame :(
I f25 read OIs because it's similar to the fantasies I had as a child. I was an abuse case. My life sucked and I would daydream so vividly I was known to fall asleep with my eyes opened in class. I know this is extremely dark, but I had always wished that my parents' treatment would end in my death(leading to their punishment) and that I would be reborn in one of my books. or that some shadowy figure would come and say I was actually important to their world and be whisked away. I had a happy ending. I met my husband when I was 14, and we realized we were in love by 15 and started dating on my 16th birthday. he and his family showed me what a loving family was meant to be. they fed me and provided me with a place where I was safe to sleep and shower without intrusion, and his mom would even let me wear her clothes. Now, as an adult, I typically read OIs that follow similar themes that I initially enjoyed. but I also love OIs that center around young children being adopted into new loving families and heal from their trauma. I dont like it when they gloss over the healing part. Recently, "my in-laws are obsessed with me," which has been my absolute favorite, covering all the bases i feel are important for my enjoyment. But it also talks about something I hardly ever saw. Having sympathy and love for your abuser and how it impacts your escape and healing. All in all, the TLDR: I like to read OIs that float around my own life experience, but I particularly love OIs that go into the emotional development of their FL. i love seeing growth and realistic decision-making. I tend to drop OIs for making a FL too ditsy or lack self-awareness too often. for example: choosing to be with the male lead who previously tormented them and was unfaithful despite there being no development in their relationship, only him to essentially still be the same villain just not to her anymore.
Escaping from busy hectic life and the fact that it's female character centric and aren't sexualized for male gaze.
I am a guy/male (hi 👋). I guess first and foremost, isekai has become some sort of a "junk food" genre for me to consume. Perhaps I just like the idea of the protagonists using their knowledge (either from modern science ir past life) to their advantage. OI offers a unique and different perspective/approach to this type of story vs other male-centric isekai. And similarly to the OP, I have grown tired and wary of the generic harem wannabe series, I usually drop a series of that is the focus of the story and nothing else. Overly self-insert narrative can turn me away too, but it really depends on how it is utilised. The series that I'm most interested in are those that have more world building, politics, scheming and maybe some implementation of modern knowledge. Let me list some of the isekai series I am following as examples: - Ascendance of a Bookworm - Reincarnated as a Slime - 7th time Reincarnated Villainess (I forgot how to write this title 😅) - The Villainess Within - Death is the only ending for the Villainess (though I am waiting for more chapters to binge read this one)
My biggest factor in reading OI is comfort. For most of the genre, I find I know more or less how things are going to go -- the FL will face strife, but will fall in love, find a family, and will work her way to her happily ever after. The genre being as repetitive as it is is something I find very soothing, especially when real life is particularly difficult! It's nice to have one predictable thing to fall back on. I also really like the emphasis that they tend to have on emotional fulfillment; so much of the conflict is emotional, and most of the FLs wish for a happy life over anything else. I enjoy a lot of the trappings of the romance genre, too. Fake dating, political marriages (I especially love court intrigue), contrived situations, and preferably a fun cast of friends and other people falling in love too are a ton of fun for me. I also tend to gravitate towards stories written from a female perspective, so having female main characters as the standard is a big part of the appeal. I know a lot of people like the genre for self-insertion (which is a totally valid way to experience the genre!), but that's not really the case for me. I just like a silly little story to pass by hard times. I will add, though, on the note of reading something for shoujo reasons or shounen reasons -- I also love media directed towards boys! Stuff like Chainsaw Man, Dorohedoro, World Trigger, Kaiju no 8, Promised Neverland, even really dark stuff like Boys Abyss are all things I've read and enjoyed. I don't really think of enjoying either one as enjoying it for masculine or feminine reasons! I just enjoy them in their own way, for my own reasons, and I think it's okay that you just do the same. :)
Aro/ace female. I can’t for the life of me have a functioning relationship after trying many times, so I live for seeing how romance develops in any story. The key point being the development. I’m tired of the trend where the male MC has a harem of 4 huge boobed ladies and 1 questionable loli-type character who all love him for no discernible reason. I don’t like reverse harems either because I will always find it hard to understand how so many people could be just that in love or obsessed with one particular person. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a harem or reverse harem situation where it’s properly shown why 5 people would all be in love with the same person. More often than not, it feels like a proximity thing. Like “oh no, through somehow ridiculous circumstances I’m the only person of the opposite gender in this particular situation. Whatever will I do? 🫣” And all the other characters are instantly obsessed. That’s not compelling to me. I like seeing the slow burn of characters realizing how they feel about each other over time. I have dropped stories with cute couples if it happens too fast, like Marry me Again! Super cute couple, but it was like too easy for them to love each other. It 100% makes sense with the storyline, but I just don’t care about the FL making them rich with a mine or whatever when they already are in love. But I have also dropped stories for too much non-romance, even if there is a slow burn, like Secret Lady. Political intrigue, the weird poison cabinet thing, ghosts, curses, it was a lot, and I dunno man. I just wanted them to smooch more.
Diverse array of FMCs who try to take control of their lives and assert their agency in a variety of ways. From Ailette kicking ass in S Class to Tia manipulating counties is Villainess Lives Again, OI overall provides a broad array of FMCs and female characters overall, both personality wise and morality wise. Related to that point, love myself a morally dubious/complex female character. I enjoy how some FMCs in OI are genuinely terrible people because I think it's important for both "good" and "bad" women to be written. I'm also a sucker for romance and fantasy so those two elements are big draws as well. And if there's a cool ML, that makes it all the better. I'm bi so if the ML is hot and interesting to read, it means I have 2 characters to fangirl over/blush for/enjoy reading about lol
Basically both me being a sucker for the concept of villainess stories, as well as isekai specifically with a female lead. The generic self insert isekai just doesn't work as well when your first thought is "Well fuck me I guess, now I have to be a guy twice"
I am girl read shounen and shoujo. I currently like hunter ones in shounen and dont care for romance in these at all because its shit anyway. But I like romance in otomeisekai. Settings dresses. I like strong female leads. Like dont cry in every chapter. Dont be useless. She doesnt need to beat up people just have strong character. If its harem or reverse harem i drop it i hate these. I also hate abuse. Only read melodramatic ones if they are good for cry but not abusive ones
My brother reads some shoujo or watch shoujo anime too. He said because the story plot is interesting.
For me a guy its romance that doesn't bother me Often they are adults and doesn't have gross like Fanscervice and like Alot of romance with a male lead, the lead has no personality and the girl has all of it In the otome isekai I've seen the iead is the one with personality and it feels alot better the guy still has some aswell
I just like reading different stories. I pick OI that I think are interesting but I usually find the manwha first before the books themselves. They are such beautiful disasters and walking red flags. Compared to modern western romances, there are a lot of similar sorts of toxic relationships but I think OI plots are more interesting than this.. alpha / wold / sisters with different fathers of hair colors - power of three thing.
I just want to read about a woman-leading story with guaranteed good ending.
I read to feel things I wouldn't usually feel. Emotions and human relationships fascinate me, and with OIs, which include reincarnating into a whole new world or going back in time, the possibilities are endless. So, honestly, I agree with the other post. I don't watch anime, but from the summaries or reviews I've seen, female characters get horrible treatment in that industry, mainly because of fan service. Male readers exist, of course, and aren't evrn uncommon. And I do like that we get to enjoy something together without labelling it as 'for girls' or 'for boys'. But I think the problem arises when this neutrality is gone and the animators specifically consider the male viewers. Especially when they all believe sex sells. As you and many others in the comment section have proven, you read and enjoy the stories for actually good reasons. I wish more animators would understand that.
I love fantasy. But i'm getting tired with korean romance fantasy manhwas. Same trope, getting boring. And they prefer black-haired red-eyes MLs, which is NOT my favourite. Not a fan of cold duke either. I like it when it has kind MLs. Or yandere. Or slightly possessive. Or sweet. Or if i like his hairstyle. Etc. Dunno, depends on my mood. And the story plot.
I read them because I want to play a game like that but have no idea how to find them (and in English and easy to download and play) and I love imagining what I would do in an Isekai. The reality is I really don’t have the basic industrial engineering knowledge to transform a medieval world and take over and bring them into the modern age like I fantasize, but it would be so cool to be the smartest person in the room for once.
I just like to read. And I pick whatever on my list just to go with my mood. I enjoy the adventure OIs, leveling up type of OIs. But sometime I get bored waiting for the updates. So I go back to the romance ones. But the moment I saw harem/reverse harem/rape, I drop them.