There were more otome-inspired isekai books (with or without explicit villainesses) than ever this year. This is just one of many titles J-Novel Club added to their library this year.
LADY ROSE JUST WANTS TO BE A COMMONER (Lady Rose wa Heimin ni Naratai), based on the light novel series by Kooriame and designs by Hidakanami, with art by Yura Kiyose. First published in 2018 and first published in North America in 2023.
PLOT:
Like so many stories, this begins with the end of an engagement. Felicia Schwarose couldn't be happier about it, though. She knows this story all too well from her time watching it play out in her favorite otome game, and she knew that going forward with that marriage would only lead to her death. She's perfectly content to abandon her noble life for that of a humble baker, but the other noblemen/love interests have different ideas. They want to clear Felicia's name or claim her as their own, and it's going to take all of Felicia's cunning and knowledge to dodge their advances and continue her carefree life.
STORY:
Even without the info I noted above, you can tell that this is an older take on the 'reincarnated into an otome game' concept. Most of these sorts of isekai manga toss that sort of info at the beginning, if they bother with it at all. Meanwhile, Lady Rose is constantly conscious of all the usual otome game things like flags and routes and character types. I can't say that this sort of throwback thrills me, as I'm hard-pressed to think of a series that was improved by such self-awareness.
The bigger problem is that this is a story that is crying out for a little more zaniness. This has the makings of a farce, with Felicia having to deflect her way out of her encounters with her ex-fiance's stalwart older brother, an earnest young lord, her creepy adoptive brother, and the gossipy nouveau riche spymaster, all while trying to keep her profile low in her sleepy new hometown. Yet most of the time she's simply able to calmly talk herself out of these situations, even if her inner monologue may be freaking out. It wants for a bit more slapstick, a few more misunderstandings, a bit of chaos to inject into this otherwise lifeless and repetitive premise.
The closest we get is Nancy, a clumsy and loud-mouthed nun who befriends Felicia. Even then, her purpose mostly seems to be a tease towards this turning into one of those reincarnated 'saint' stories, which would just make things worse. That's not even getting into this manga trying to make "saintess" a thing which no...just no. We also don't get a complete sense of Felicia as a character. Sure, we can understand why she fled from the pressures of nobility and her least favorite character in the game, but is there something particular that drew her to baking? Or would any job suited her, so long as she could hide away from the world? I'm just saying, if you're going to write a story about diverging from the plot, at least have some fun with it.
ART:
Yura Kiyose's take on the characters definitely seems to be less doe-eyed and simpering than the original light novel artist. She doesn't take any great liberties with the designs, but they definitely come off as a little sharper and older in comparison. That's about as creative as Kiyose gets, though. She tries her best, but there's only so much she can do to visually liven up a series that mostly consists of calm conversations with a bunch of fancy otome dudes. Hope you enjoy looking a lot of nondescript rooms and village streets because that's what you mostly get here.
RATING:
This manga is published digitally by J-Novel Club. This series is complete in Japan with 6 volumes available. 4 volumes have been released and are currently in print at most major digital manga sites.
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