Chapter 18: The Girl And Her Fate
DISCLAIMER: I am bwing particular with regards to english translated online novels.
I do not claim to have read them all, for lack of a better metaphor. Nor do I claim of being any 'authority' in any of these particular fields of literature. I do not even have any background that would point to me to able to claim myself as such. But I think, at least I think, I have read enough material to be able to make a base judgment on the topics that I write about, to tell a story about the stories that I have come to know and love.
In a handful, if not many of these stories that I encounter, there exists one narrative that comes across as weirdly engaging. It drew to into their world and their stories, and oddly enough I really found it fascinating. But disclaimer here, because first and foremost, I was not even sure if the narrative and the story's flow was meant for me in the first place because I am a guy. And I am not sure if the stories like those were meant for male audiences.
What I am talking about here? What kind of narrative is it that gets me giddy and all when talking about it. Well oddly enough it is the retelling of the romantic stories that manifests itself in the form of 'Otome Games'. And viewing those stories from and through the eyes of one of the most important character in the story, the villainess girl. Her trials and tribulations, and her ultimate redemption.
Another disclaimer here, there if you check up on the annotations, they are tags in internet language, on these stories you actually see stuff like otome game and villainess girl and similar descriptions. It is hilarious, but they can be forgiven for lack of a better description.
So what are 'Otome Games'? Well these are games that is set around the notion of 'capturing targets', usually love stories, in this case the targets are males and as the player you have to navigate through your relationships with these male characters in this world where you can supposedly end up spending the rest of your life with one of the said characters at best, and end up dead or something similar at worst. The reason for all these conditions is because these games are targeted toward a female audience, and that the protagonists of stories like these are female. Hence my misgivings about even liking stories with these 'tags' at first.
Now what is it about this villainess girl and how is she connected to the stories? Well, simply put, she is the foil that gets in the way of the female protagonists and their male counterparts from fully realizing their romance. And following that logic, she does everything in her power to make it so that the protagonists and many if not all of the capture targets never get together. And as the narratives dictate, she must ultimately fail and must be swept aside to give way to the female MC and the male MC to finally achieve the story's end goal which, disclaimer, is up to the players' discretion.
So what is the deal? What is it that drew in the these stories? Well, if you have read what I have written in the previous chapters, you know that I have talked about the isekai genre of writing novels. The reason these stories about villainess girls become so much more than just a fun read, for me, is because of one aspect. The isekai aspect.
What do I mean by that? It is not so much about the idea of the people who plays otome games, usually females, transmigrating or reincarnating into the world of otome games, and do not get me wrong that is the case for almost all of these stories, and that they usually end up inhabiting the villainess girl, basically the mechanics. As much as it is about the fight to redefine how they value themselves as a person, finding within them the dignity and the respect they know they rightfully deserve because they are not tools nor fools that can be thrown away once used, and that this fight is not only for the one who transmigrated but also for the one who they had sadly but unintentionally replaced, and for the people that they love who will also suffer the consequences of their actions.
So for me, stories like these are more than just an adventure, more than just ending demon king and saving the world. It is a story about the redefinition of happiness, reevaluation of what it means to have a life well lived, and ultimately it is about the redemption of oneself. It is a story, it is a story about fighting fate, ending the demon king within us and saving our world not only for us but for the people we care most about.
And that is a story that I like. And I hope that you do too.
What do you think, let me know in the comments. Until then, peace.
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