We’re back with a Webtoon series feature, and this week we’re reading ‘Another Typical Fantasy Romance‘. The title is a red herring of course, since this series is very much anything but typical. Yes, the genre is romance fantasy, or rofan as per the Korean shorthand, and more specifically a regression isekai. It’s hands down one of the best in the genre, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who read and did not enjoy this one.
Another Typical Fantasy Romance
After the gods dropped her in the world of her favorite fantasy romance novel, Lithera was quick to realize that happily-ever-afters were never easy to get. She became the hero, she saved the world, she fell madly in love with the handsome and possessive prince and became empress. Shockingly (?) the obsessive prince turned out to be, well, obsessive. Shortly after Lithera managed to divorce him, he pulled a classic yandere move and stabbed her. Yikes.
Thankfully, the gods decided to give her a chance to re-do it, and turned back time. Given another shot at happiness, she is now determined to avoid the mistakes of her previous life, starting by meeting the sweet and caring Grand Duke she spent years exchanging letters with… Another typical female lead, another typical Northern Duke, another sudden marriage proposal. Will this story go the typical path we all expect?
The verdict
Lithera’s story does start out as a typical rofan, complete with red flag male lead, slaying a dragon and becoming empress. She did everything right. But that little red flag detail that we tend to willfully overlook my fellow readers, is what ends up being her undoing the first time around.
This time, Lithera has some serious relationship trauma to work through, and her body is also much weaker, so the dragon slaying will have to wait. When she sends a marriage proposal to Pellus Termaine, the “beastly” Duke of the North, she low-key still expected a bishounen to be honest; It’s still a rofan after all, right? Well… not quite. Pellus is far from the stereotypical male lead, both in looks and in personality; This teddy bear cutiepie is the greenest of green flags. Sure, there’s other male leads in rofan who are not red flags, but let’s face it, it’s a minority.
The way this author handles some of the common cliches and tropes of the genre is nothing short of brilliant. All while dropping truth bombs along the way like it’s nothing:
This screenshot was what got me curious about this series in the first place. And it did not disappoint. It’s sweet and it’s funny, and well, it’s really far from being typical. The leads communicate with each other honestly and clearly. If you hate drawn out misunderstandings, this series will be like balm for your soul, trust me.
The pace of the story has been very good, I don’t think we’re near the end quite yet, but there’s 80+ chapters available already so there’s a lot to binge. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoyes reading wholesome relationships and bordeline parodies.
