#wolhet

I got an ad for this when I opened Webtoon recently and gasped out loud. One of my all time favorite comics, I read this one before it hit Webtoon and will absolutely be rereading it week to week as it's moved to the site. I cannot recommend it enough, and here's some of why.

(Though I've read this before, I will mostly stick to panels and events that can be found on Webtoon!)

Another Typical Fantasy Romance is, despite its name, a really fresh, interesting take on isekai and its tropes. Lithera has already followed the original path of the novel on her first go—saving the world, marrying the male lead, and becoming empress—and found it didn't end happily ever after. She divorces the original male lead due to his controlling behavior, and when she does, he ends up killing her, sending her back to the start again. Knowing what kind of man the male lead truly is, Lithera decides to find an ending that will truly make her happy, rejecting the novel's plot entirely and trying to carve her own happy ending.

As suggested by the plot itself, the novel subverts a lot of common isekai tropes and traditions. While it definitely follows many conventions of the genre, I find the places where it does stray make it a very interesting and unique work.

The biggest part of the plot that makes this comic stand out is the fact Lithera trusts Pellus with the story of her transmigration and reincarnation very quickly after meeting him. Most isekai comics only bring this sort of thing up at the very end, assuming the female lead tells the male lead at all (or she isn't found out by a side character, which also happens). It's pretty neat to see a story where all cards end up on the table from the get-go, as well as how much that impacts the bond, trust, and communication between the main couple.

Lithera's letters to Pellus come back in time with her, and he's already read them by the time Lithera arrives to ask his hand in marriage. It's an interesting spin on their relationship, as Pellus is aware, to an extent, about their past lives. The first timeline comes up often, and I find the way it bleeds into the current story to be a very fun subplot, especially in the later arcs. I won't go into too much detail there, but I will say, the way the letters weigh on Pellus in particular was pretty fascinating to me as the story unfolded and we learned more about him.

Speaking of Pellus... Another place this comic breaks traditions and tropes in the genre is in character design. While Pellus may fall into a traditional role of a romance fantasy male lead as a "cold duke of the north" who turns out to be secretly gentle and kind, he doesn't much look the part of a fantasy's male lead. He looks a lot more realistically like the sort of solider you'd actually expect to spend decades fighting powerful monsters and be labeled a "beast," with a large build, longer hair and facial hair, and heavy scarring on his face and body. It makes him an incredibly unique, stand-out male lead from the moment you meet him, even before you see what he's like as a person.

(And, if you're wondering: No, he never shaves or gets a haircut. I know I've mourned the loss of similar male leads, but Pellus keeps the unique design!)

There's nothing wrong with the "normal" look of male leads in isekai and romance fantasy, but there definitely is a "normal look" in this genre. A lot of male leads look pretty similar, and while each one looks very nice on his own, it's nice to see a different design for a male lead. Pellus's design was a huge selling point to me when I picked up this comic, and I only enjoyed him and the series more the more I read.

While I'm on designs, I also quite like Lithera's design. There's something about her that really stands out to me among female leads, but I've never been able to put my finger on it. I think it's the shape of her eyes, but I'm always drawn to her face and really enjoy her smile.

The art in this comic is also just really pretty in general! These two aren't the only ones with neat designs, though Webtoon hasn't met many of the other side characters yet for me to show them to you. Maybe in a few months I'll come back and add them in a reblog of this post.

Since there isn't much comic out yet, I'm going to circle back to Pellus, as most of the comic so far has centered him (and he's probably my favorite character).

In high society, Pellus has the reputation of being monstrous and terrifying. Some of this was intentional on his part for reasons revealed later, but whether he fed into it or not, it isn't without costs. Being known as subhuman is obviously damaging and isolating, and much of his arc deals with his struggles with his self-imposed image as a beast. Other people tend to assume the worst of him, to the point he himself tends to believe he's a monster or worth less than the people around him. Seeing him dealing with this is a fascinating arc that stretches the whole comic, both with us learning why he came to portray himself this way as well as seeing him learn to acknowledge how untrue it is and much it's hurt him.

It's also fun to watch as Lithera not only helps him grow his self esteem, but how he and Lithera begin to use this image he's created to their advantage. Both of them work well together, playing into each other's strengths and supporting each other's weaknesses.

Both Pellus and Lithera have their own insecurities and issues from their lives before their marriage. Pellus's self-image and Lithera's trauma from her relationship with the original male lead are two major points of pain for the both of them, but through their trust in one another they're able to work through anything that is thrown at them, be it in their past, their present, or their future. They're a very sweet, wholesome couple, and a top tier relationship if sappy romance is your speed.

(I don't think this first image has come up in the comic's Webtoon release yet, but it was too perfect not to use here!)

Pellus, Lithera, and their relationship are definitely the biggest strengths of this comic, but there are way more characters then just these two. Lithera's parents, Pellus's staff, Lithera's friends and allies, and the antagonistic royal family make for a large cast of engaging characters. I can't go into too much detail, as most of them aren't yet in the webtoon version, but I will say I enjoyed watching Lithera and Pellus recruit each member of their little team as the comic progressed when I read it the first time. The way Lithera uses her knowledge of the novel and her first life to help her befriend and help the larger cast of the story, turning many of them into true friends and allies in a way she did not have in her first life, is very rewarding.