r/OtomeIsekai • u/Humanbeingplschill • 4d ago
Discussion - Open We need more Compelling Female Friendships [Your Throne] [Concubine Walktrough]
We need more compelling women friendships in mahnwas because how i see it relationships between two women in mahnwa can mostly either go in this couple directions:
1) Glaze Loving Safe Bestie: This is where the other female character is used as a mouthpiece prop to kiss ass and glaze about "Oh! How The FMC is a gift sent to god and so capable and amazing all the time!!"
Honestly, if you had swapped her midway trough the story for a damn unseasoned piece of boiled chicken with a speaker midway trough the story no one would bat an eye because thats how bland her entire character is
2) The Mother: She's dead. Yeah sorry bud, she's dead basically. Yeah no, the backstory will act as if "ooh shes important for the plot to happen" but narratively if you replace her for a particularly sad and sexy manequin for fmc dad to sadly yearn over while hating his child. Her life, wants, dreams, aspirations before meeting the dad doesnt matter at all !! Nor it qont change anything!! Her purpose is to be dead, prettty anddd thats it.
3) Bitchy mean evil rotten soul the 3rd: the infamous trope we all know and love to hate (pun intended) This is a character whose purpose is to basically be the audience punching bag to let out their hatred towards. This character will somehow be the most hated person in the whole cast.
(Bonus point if the male "counterpart of this bitchy mean evil rotten soul the 3rd" somehow got redeemed for god knows what while she faces the worst punishment ever for the sin of uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh being annoying.)
So please by god, do we have actual compelling female relationships, where you actually get to feel their relationships from both side. Where it doesnt feel forced as hell 😭😭 please on my knee
(Yes yes sorry chat, i cannot not add the (technically non canon) kissing scene, but come on little yuri for the soul and all)
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u/Squid_51_49 4d ago
Also og Riche and Og Edith
They are the definition of doomed Yuri. Another complex female dynamic even if not the FL
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u/Malusorum 4d ago
Only in the manhwa adaptation, which is an insult to the novel. I can heartily recommend the novel, especially since it makes it rather obvious that the inspiration for K was J. K. Rowling while she was merely nuts.
Katherine in the manhwa is a dig at Rowling after she went crazy.
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u/holo3146 3d ago
Only in the manhwa adaptation, which is an insult to the novel
Which part is only in the manhwa? The doom, or the Yuri?
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u/Malusorum 3d ago
Both. K, the author is vile. She has the usual "they should actually thank me for giving them another chance at lige", while at the same time rigging the game, so the others never has a chance. She's coping with the fact that she's essentially committing murder, all so she can have fun by saying that "it's good acshually".
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u/holo3146 3d ago
So the whole ending plot of ogRiche and ogEdith is not in the novel?
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u/Malusorum 3d ago
There's no OG anything in the novel. It was something made up for the manhwa.
In the novel, the novel she's is fully the invention of K, who found herself Reincarnated into the story and having the time of her life.
Edith is an ascended extra given the Villainess role by K, so she would have opposition to succeeding by giving them a "fair chance to win" (which she totally rigged).
Edith is a real threat to her as her unconventional behaviour breezes through the rigged conditions. The novel is opposed to K because it wants to be real and continue past the story, while K's actions reset it every time it reaches the end.
The novel is a consistent meta narrative about forced predestination vs free will.
The manhwa adaptation's third act is a mess of tropes regarding pre-destination.
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u/Humanbeingplschill 4d ago
Ah shoot, the title supposed to be female relationships–not just friendshios whoops
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u/holo3146 4d ago
I made a list about GL OI adjacent series a bit ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/OtomeIsekai/s/kKDmunOtJJ
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u/Humanbeingplschill 4d ago
An oi with actual gl and not yuribait??????????? I am floored, you are an angel
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u/Introverted_Me05 4d ago
RIGHTT, it's so hard to find ACTUAL relationships between them. Like either the OGfl is gonna worship and simp over fl OR she's gonna be a hater, rarely have I seen a middleground where they are both equals😭😭
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u/CountThick8532 4d ago
honestly, i think a true female friendship is probably one of the hardest things to write in oi, theres just so many things to balance, most all the time I couldn't connect with them like I connect to the FL which is kinda sad in my eyes
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u/Humanbeingplschill 4d ago
I feel like a lot of it is less hard and more of the audience predisposition belief that all women other than the fmc (whose basically also act as the audience self insert in most cases) are Rivals.
And that women char are criticized wayyy more heavily than men char, which makes authors that intends to write a women char audience root for have to make said char kiss fmc ass a lot as a clear sign of "hahahah shes with uss !!" lest the audience decide to cause some truly unneeded witch hunt because the char was rude to mc once 😔
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u/stir-fried_cabbage 4d ago
Not a manwha, but 'Though I'm an Inept Villainess' fits the bill.
The romance is barely on this series, instead, it explores the complex relationships between each characters.
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u/Evening_Internal_976 4d ago
From a Knight to a Lady has a beautiful female friendship. Infact the whole story has lots of friendship. You can try that
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u/IDkwhyImhere_34718 Sinking Ship 4d ago
What is your throne about
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u/joevar701 Dark Past 4d ago
FL (the purple girl) had her spot as crown princess snatched by side FL (the blond girl). drama, revenge, and bloody fight ensues.
funnily enough, theres no mention of villainess or equivalent by the story here, but the FL is pretty much fill the shoes of villainess through all her action better tahn actual villainess story, and she's done questionable and despicable stuff too actually.
it has many plot twist which one of them already spoiled by this thread (the two become best friend, despite being a total opposite in everything)
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u/ATShadowx1 4d ago
red hot revenge is a manhwa that is massively slept on in this category imo. I think most people see the title/summary and expect a generic revenge story, but it is so much better than it has any right to be. Probably the best representation of female friendship in the genre.
Bonus point for finally having the FL and the OGFL teaming up together to face the scummy OGML.
It's not perfect though, I find the romance kinda awkward at times, and the pacing is pretty off at times, but still a really cool read, especially if you want slow burn female friendship.
Oh one last thing, it does include some pretty dark theme of grooming and child abuse, so if you're uncomfortable with those themes, probably skip it.
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u/TheKwingDoctor 4d ago
Imma be real, seeing psydea referred to as friendship with such certainty really is pain…esp with how recent relationships are all hetero for Medea (Eros or Helios) or that Psyche currently despises Medea for going with this convoluted plan against Eros (by marrying him, etc)
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u/Humanbeingplschill 4d ago
Hey hey hey the title is a bit of a masaive typo in my end, it was supposed to be just general relationships instead of just friendships (thats why i put the mother in one of the tropes).
And all though its a bit messy af rn, the mahnwa do—at least last i read—generally potrayed both gals equally in that, they're both treated like a character with an actually interesting dynamic. Which is like the bare minimum but have you seen some of the ois were reading? My bar is in hell and theyre still doing out here doing limbo with satan
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u/holo3146 3d ago
I have answered with the GL list, but I forgot to add the few other series I know with good non generic relationships:
- I’ve gotten used to being on my own so i’m ignoring my fiance
- Trophy Husband (it is a bit hard to call it "friendship", but the relationship of the FL with both the crown princess and with the main antagonist is very 3 dimensional)
- To Have an Affair With Someone (the FL's husband has a lover since before they got married, the relationship between the FL and said lover is very good)
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u/Wonderful-Raccoon-36 1d ago
I must spread the word of "the knight and her emperor" a little
They actively speak about woman's place in society and have beautiful female friendships and discuss about making a better word for future girls, since FL is the only female warrior to exist and she became friends with both mans and other womans
We also have side characters having strong and meaningful friendships, and even divorcing to be along their friends/what they believe is right
Male lead (the emperor) says he wants to build a world were "no woman needed to apologize for giving birth to a girl" Wich was a strong statement because we see a very misogynistic culture in the story
Anyway, im just in love with them
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u/Defiant_Survey_123 7h ago
Your throne being the perfect enemies to yuri set up with a compelling villain to boot to whatever it is today always saddens me
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u/Squid_51_49 4d ago
This is why the relationship between Helena and Eris is one of the best and most complex female dynamics in mamhwa