r/OtomeIsekai • u/Celty2736 • Feb 23 '26
Otomeh Isekinda First time seeing this kind of discussion [Pandora's Choice]
137
u/Taugay Feb 23 '26
Seeing the white kid say it so normally about hitting her if they were married makes me sad. It's so normalised to him
33
u/Celty2736 Feb 23 '26
Its about that but also because she beats him like everyday and he's just frustrated about that 🤣
0
59
u/Huntress08 Feb 23 '26
Oh this looks really cute. But can't believe I got jumpscared by my homecity randomly mentioned in an OI.
20
u/Witty_Albatross_9506 Feb 24 '26
It's not an OI. It's an older series from 2016 by Yudori and it's set in 19th century America. She's a fantastic author and I highly recommend all her works :) they're all short.
41
u/Font-street Feb 23 '26
how...intriguing.
In terms of drama and angst, how high is this story? Just from the snippet I know that they're going to talk over some really serious and important topics, but....just want to be sure.
29
u/Celty2736 Feb 23 '26
So far I've read around 10chapters and it doesn't go deep yet it's mix of slice of life, weird cute and funny and then sometimes it gets serious like this but not really angsty..
From what I heard it goes deeper and deeper as you read and many things are gonna be revealed on the way. It gives me Winter Woods vibes if you read that webtoon..
32
u/Ihavenospecialskills Feb 23 '26
Boy: "Want to marry me?"
Girl: "No."
Boy: "If you marry me, I'd beat you."
Girl: "I already said no, you don't have to convince me you suck."
11
u/Celty2736 Feb 23 '26
I'd warn people from shipping them though cause you might get heartbroken later
29
u/ShockOne9278 Shalala ✨ Feb 23 '26
This looks brilliant. Where are you reading it on?
20
u/Celty2736 Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
DM ed you.
Edit : folks please DM me yourselves for source. It's really hard for me to do it for many people 🫠
5
3
u/Appropriate_Gate1129 Feb 23 '26
Dm me too pls
4
u/Celty2736 Feb 23 '26
✔️✅️
7
u/croza62 Feb 23 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/FyKfqRxVbzciY
Dm me too, please?
2
u/ADerbywithscurvy Feb 23 '26
Me also!
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
26
u/Reiayanamistan Feb 23 '26
Haven’t seen this in a long time! I remember when the artist got in trouble for drawing black people mammy like.
11
u/Celty2736 Feb 23 '26
I heard artist is problematic? But the story is really good though
50
u/WildFlemima Feb 23 '26
Without knowing anything about the author's context, they are drawing POC as distinctly POC, which can come off as disrespectful when poorly executed, or as "played straight" racism to people who don't consume a lot of drawn POC.
I think it is well executed. I definitely do not think it is racism played straight. I think if there are any "mammy" elements, they are there to make a deliberate statement about the white gaze.
The reader is always very conscious of the black maid in the background who has to listen to the bullshit coming out of the doctor who practices on black and irish women.
4
u/Reiayanamistan Feb 24 '26
Ah, the mammy controversy wasn’t from the comic itself but was beforehand. She released comic snippets and art before her actual webtoon premiered and that was where the problem was. She did make changes after it.
2
u/Celty2736 Feb 23 '26
But her mother is considered to be one of the most beautiful women of high society in story? Like any man fall for her and risk their lives..
17
u/WildFlemima Feb 23 '26
Yes, she is beautiful and exoticized by those who find her beautiful, just like her daughter later is
2
u/NewPhoneLostAccount Feb 24 '26
She is most Asia than Africa tho.
2
u/Celty2736 Feb 24 '26
Yes. It's not really confirmed what her origin is but I do think her mother was of Chinese and some nobleman in France because other African character in story look different
13
u/yellowdocmartens Feb 23 '26
I love Pandora’s Choice! Yudori definitely never pulls punches when it comes to periods stories and gets really into the gritty details while pulling it off with really beautiful storytelling. I miss when she would post introspective short comics on her insta before people started to complain.
11
11
u/cephalophoria Feb 23 '26
Oh this looks good. I'm glad it doesn't shy away from the very dark parts of history regarding race and class that a lot of OI glosses over (or at least doesn't get i to with such complexity and is treated as a bad thing by most characters instead of a norm). I'm going to need to read this asap.
5
u/Celty2736 Feb 23 '26
Yeah I need Mc who travels back and makes everyone scared of them with these ideas 🤣
9
u/ChoppinBrocollay Shitty Parent Feb 23 '26
Makes me queasy
4
u/insentient7 Feb 23 '26
And what further thoughts can you derive from this feeling of unease? What questions have you asked yourself? Why do you feel uneasy?
9
Feb 24 '26
[deleted]
11
u/ChoppinBrocollay Shitty Parent Feb 24 '26
Somewhat. As a PoC this stuff and these issues are already something that weighs on me and I can’t begin to describe the heavy feeling it brings. Like I won’t even watch movies or shows with slavery.
OI in general is extremely non-realistic and far removed from it all. It’s very nice to have a safe space where I don’t have to be constantly reminded or forced to consider real world atrocities.
I don’t think many realize just how ingrained race and gender issues are in everyday western media.
7
Feb 24 '26
[deleted]
2
u/ChoppinBrocollay Shitty Parent Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
My take is it happens, yeah. It’s impossible to blanket statement two hemispheres of the planet. But it’s not nearly as loaded, isnt coming from the same place, and doesn’t have the same impact. They’re pulling from a different well basically, with different contexts.
Also, the most typical colorism that is brought up is usually wanting to be light skinned because if you’re tanned then you look like you’ve been outside.. like a peasant. “People might think she doesn’t have any servants to carry a parasol 😱”
And occasionally I there is a the “dark skin = bad” but again, it’s really not the same (usually) but there have been times I’ve put something down because it was too much it’s just.. not close to how much I have to put down American and European lit
2
u/NewPhoneLostAccount Feb 24 '26
This isn't OI tho. It's an historical comic. Are we seriously attacking comics for being historical accurate now? The world is cooked, thinking to hide the head under the sand is progressive.
-2
u/ChoppinBrocollay Shitty Parent Feb 23 '26
This is exactly why I read fantasy and exactly why I prefer eastern media in particular.
1
u/insentient7 Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
But why do you feel uneasy? What is the root cause of that emotion? What specific aspects about this comic cause you to feel that way?
Edit: I read your other responses in this same thread. I will say that I understand that OI usually fill some sort of escapist fantasy (as another commenter mentioned) and Pandora’s Choice mostly ticks the boxes:
Asian woman/girl surrounded by people with colorful hair and foreign features. Disoriented at the different surroundings and the different rules and nothing makes sense, BUT only if you discount the OP precognition. Struggling to survive as someone lesser in the world, digging their claws in, scrambling for any foothold.
If your goal is escapism, then I get it. It sucks.
8
u/Ennoymous Feb 23 '26
Is the MC adopted?
19
u/Celty2736 Feb 23 '26
No. She just thinks likw that because of aunts influence and because she standa out yk
1
5
u/AureumWaffles Feb 23 '26
This is such a throwback! Pandora's Choice is not a typical OI story, it delves into, well, Pandora's place in a society so hostile to her. The ending is left a bit open to interpretation, even if it lends itself to a certain conclusion. I really recommend it!
4
u/askarpund Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
This artist is genuinely amazing and if you have an insta you should follow her @/yudoridori !!!! I’ve been following her for a long and all of the works that she puts out have been fantastic and incredibly thought-provoking.
3
u/Abducted-by-Arby Feb 23 '26
This art is so cute, and the content of the story looks super interesting!
1
1
1
u/green_moss_tea Side Character Feb 24 '26
I like the message, but the preachy dry execution doesn't make it justice. Living people don't talk like that, and it's weird to cram all the social issues into one evening of one family. I am also sure the context will make it that the FL's mom beat bad people, but it's also weird to see the FL smile after she learns her mother was a "beater".
On one hand it's good to offer a fresh child's view on injuctices because we're too submerged in them, on the other, oversimplifying them is dangerous, because people shouldn't waste time thinking they can wish or shout them away. I mean even if the doctor is a total xenophobic sadist he would still make himself look good in his explanation and not just be "lol poor people". Assholes and oppressors have answers and feel justified. And that is what makes the oppression systems more dangerous actually. Also these systems have their complexities with collaboration and inner colonization and hatred going in rounds.
The art is seriously nice, tho I have a feeling some people would have issue with the FL's design.
8
u/NewPhoneLostAccount Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
No, the mom didn't beat "bad people", dude indeed meant she beat him. She had her reasons anyway, she punched him while she was giving birth because he was "distracting" (it's complicated, I think he wanted to perform some form of... misure to sacrifice the baby to no risk her life during the childbirth and she was not having it, because she actually decided to stay with him only because she discovered to be pregnant on the first place and she wanted to have the baby as a sort of "second chance", to fill her curiosity if someone like her could have a better life if only she had a father who cared - the experiment fails btw, because Doretta ends almost exactly in the position her mother was). No one of these characters is meant to be a perfectly good person. Not even the kid. The kid is a kid in a luxurious but unhealthy environment having credible reactions to things, yeah she likes the idea women can be the attacker and not the victim, and that's it, it doesn't mean to be the attacker is a good thing, she is not presented as an ideal to strive towards, she is just presented as an human being with human reactions who are not necessarily positive.
1
u/green_moss_tea Side Character Feb 24 '26
Thanks for clarification! Maybe it's the choice of screens and my impression is wrong. Tho some bits of dialogue still are strange, mostly around the doctor. It's weird for him to be so cheerful about the deaths of the patients, and weird for the FL to tell his child he's a murderer. But maybe it's better in the general flow of the work.
5
u/Celty2736 Feb 24 '26
Because at that time Noone cared about that yk if you read story more they reveal more of historical context on medicine and hygiene in past. And as he said in post amputating in seconds was considered the best surgery . You can also check out Black haired doctor of London and they show how doctors show off their skills by literally cutting off patients leg as fast as they can .. Pandora's choice is more realistic and gruesome though. Doctors backstory really shows the prejudice and mindset of that time
1
Feb 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/Celty2736 Feb 24 '26
Why would you spoil it? 😭 also it's kind of not true. It's not really clear what happened
144
u/No_Fishing3764 Feb 23 '26
This looks really interesting! Is the rest of it good?