후구공략

HUGUGONGNYAK

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
Not Available
RELEASE
December 24, 2022
CHAPTERS
130

DESCRIPTION

At first, Yona gave some major side-eye to the popular game "Concubine Walkthrough" until she got sucked into it—literally! Now stuck as the villain, she has her hands full facing the infamously cruel king, shaking off scheming concubines, and befriending NPCs. There’s only one way the Game Master will let her out and that’s to become the Queen! Will she be able to stay true to her honest and straightforward self despite the palace’s intrigues? One extra problem: she’s got competition...

(Source: Tapas)

CAST

Haetsal
Ran-Hui Seo
Li-Li
Yeong-Jeong

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

RoseFaerie
100/100
A hidden gem which does handles multiple storylines in masterful ways, and taking a fresh approach to otome isekai.
I'm left speechless. I wasn't expecting a plot this intricate. At first, I was sort of like, "Oh, this is like Sword Art online but with otome games, but it's super high quality with the storytelling." And I was half right and half wrong. This manga is a masterpiece that deserves better than for me to compare it to something as infamous as SAO. Concubine Walkthrough only shares the basic premise of being trapped in a video game. (Yes, I'm aware that there are other "trapped in a video game" isekai out there other than SAO, but that was the first one that came to mind.)

Concubine Walkthrough is a majorly popular mobile game that is now being adapted to virtual reality. Teenager Yona Lee finds herself playing this new VR game, but she finds that she can't log out until she clears the game and becomes empress. In order to do that she must survive the treacherous world of scheming concubines and seduce the cruel emperor. However, she is playing the villainess, the high-ranking consort, Ranhee Seo. And it's not just the regular concubines that Yona has to worry about, but the heroine and player character, Lili who usually brings about Ranhee's demise...

This manhwa has such a detailed and intricate plot, seamlessly weaving together three mysteries and storylines. We have the drama, treachery, and scheming of the court life, the mystery of how the game came to hold Yona hostage, and how Yona's real life had an influence on her current situation. The chapters feel longer and denser than the usual manhwa chapters. I feel like it took me much longer to read this than it did for other series. There's so much going on, yet it never feels like it's unnecessary or that there's tons of exposition. I had an easy time following along with the story and the characters despite my many questions. I hate it when the central mysteries are simple and easy to figure out, and so I love series like these where the story is intricate and makes you think and theorize.

It begins as a simple villainess reincarnation, but with more of an emphasis on how Yona Lee is not Ranhee Seo. It's obvious to the people around Yona that something is different, even though the conclusion is that "she's gone crazy and lost her memories". However, the more information we learn about the people in this world and the game, the more complicated things become. The author uses tons of gameplay mechanisms to her advantage, which helps make the series more creative. I think the only other otome isekai I've read that included items was The One Within the Villainess. (I'm not writing out the Japanese name because it's ridiculously long.) Even the battle of wits and the scheming feels a bit different with every character having strong motivations and refusing to trust their own allies. My favorite part involved a banquet that involved debunking a past scandal involving the former empress. (I know my friend who recommended this to me loves that part too.)

I could go in so much deeper about the plot and how amazing it is, but that would be too much work and go super deep into spoiler territory. And I don't want to ruin this experience for anyone, so I will only be including spoilers if I absolutely must.

While the strength of Concubine Walkthrough is the story, the characters are by no means weak. Yona Lee is smart, practical, and strong willed. She's kindhearted and virtuous, always striving to do what she thinks is right. Even when she's in Ranhee's body she never forgets who she is and retains her powerful sense of individuality. I think many isekai stories like this gloss over how the lead is a different person than the person they reincarnated as, but this one addresses it completely. Yona has to face Ranhee's questionable actions while also defending herself and preventing her own execution. She behaves so realistically as a modern girl trapped in a foreign land, and I love it. By her side we have the mysterious eunuch "Sunshine". Sunshine is a fitting name for his sunny, devoted, golden retriever personality. However, he hides his own, darker role in the game and a more devious personality. He's an incredibly complex and interesting character, and his relationship with Yona is so well done. The duality of Sunshine and his real role are played to their full effect.

As for our other two leads, Lili and Youngjun, in order to do them justice, spoiler territory must be entered. Lili is the player character in Concubine Walkthrough with her own stories involving her lover from before being a concubine. The main route and true ending of the game is by having Lili become the empress. Guess what, Concubine Walkthrough is a multiplayer game, and Lili is another player in this VR world. I initially could not get behind Lili, and her general disregard for the lives of others and her aggressive attempts at winning. However, as I acquired more information, I came to love Lili. I would get excited when I saw her again because her free spirited, overconfident little boy attitude combined with her sheer drive to win, and chaotic energy was so engaging. Lili is also being played by a teenage boy, which is honestly not that much of a surprise. He kind of reminds me of my younger brother when he plays games. I found his past to be so compelling. I honestly appreciate guys who adore girly things like in this case dolls and otome games, and I feel bad for how he received abuse for it. Just let my son play his otome games. Youngjung, the second male lead, and Ranhee's childhood friend, was not interesting to me at first. I got bad vibes from Sunshine from the very beginning, but with Youngjung I just felt like there wasn't much chemistry with Yona. However, the reveal that he is also a player who has lost his memories of the real world changed so many things. The way he grappled with his identity as both Do-Ha Seo and Youngjung was fascinating, and his obsessive love for Ranhee was taken in some interesting directions.

The side characters are also spectacular. I could gush about each individual one, but especially Ingpae and Dooyak. Alongside Yona and Lili, those two are my favorite characters in Concubine Walkthrough. Even the antagonists are well-done and fleshed out. I even found the literal psychopath character to be morbidly fascinating despite her rage inducing actions.

The art is breathtakingly beautiful. It's stylized and unique in a way that I don't normally see. I also love the color pallet. There are completely different pallets for both the game and the real world. The game world uses almost exclusively black/gray and dark brown with various shades of turquoise, coral, and pale yellow. I haven't identified much with the real world other than the prominent use of purple and darker colors. The flower art and drawings of the characters are gorgeous, and I think the style is just so unique and fitting for this piece.

I could honestly gush about Concubine Walkthrough for days on end. It's masterfully crafted in every conceivable way. It could go on for hundreds more chapters and I would not complain. I think the only issue I have with it is just that the ending feels like it's coming on too fast. I'm clearly approaching the end, since the story has ended (the translations, official or otherwise, aren't caught up). I just feel like it could have let the mystery unravel on its' own for just a little longer since there were plenty of creative ideas to use for this story. I just don't feel like I've read anything like this before, and I wish more people knew about this absolute hidden gem.
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