In most of these situations, it feels that these authors don't have anything meaningful to say about the “og heroine” and mostly uses her for cheap drama. And sometimes it's completely antithetical to the main narrative at hand???
It's very interesting to examine the different types of "white lotus" or evil OGFLs there are tbh. Some notable examples I have observed while reading:
“Isekai-ed person in the ogfl body” to match the villainess's situation (ie One Within the Villainess)
Person gets isekai-ed into an extra, and then that extra steals the OGFL's spotlight (Mobuseka)
OGFL is literally getting gaslit into believing she's the og protag by a *LITERAL GOD* and then gets dropped because ✨the new protagonist is sooooooo much better (deadpan sarcasm)✨ (Tragedy of the Villainess/My Derelict Beloved)
OGFL a SPY from another COUNTRY and the villainess tries to convince THE AUDIENCE into believing that a soup kitchen has the ability to bankrupt a kingdom's treasury and the narrative TREATS IT LIKE SHE'S RIGHT (god I wish I was kidding) (Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter)
Regardless of the method (and trust me, there are more I did not mention) the result is the same; a “annoying character" for the readers to complain rage against. Many of the punishments for these characters are humiliating and sometimes border on SA....which is... a choice.
I would also like to note that many of these grotesque-ish punishments are used when it revolves around OGFLs from video games wanting a harem, which is a strange trend (thankfully Mobuseka doesn't do that but there are otome isekai/adjacent mangas out there that are less than kind.)
This type of writing fall into the "no other women is better in comparison to the protag is good" or "women are evil and backstabbing by nature" trope I hate so much.
In the case of Mobuseka, it's the revenge fantasy vibe. The lazy sister of the protagonist gets her competence for wanting a harem (in where she's stuck with them) while her super cool protag brother gets fawned over by many women including but not limited to the literal queen of the country and mother of one of the OG love interests?? and is played for jokes and laughs?? (no harm or shade on the story but just baffled by the double standard)
There is no true "girls girl" otome isekai story, and if it is, most of the time it's there to make the protagonist look better in comparison to another women*, which fails the premise of being a "girl's girl" in the first place.
Most readers look at it from a Watsonian point of view, which is fine and makes sense!
You are meant to listen to in world justification...but sometimes it gets to a point where you read a manga/webtoon/novel...and you think about it too hard... and you realize a certain trend...and it's like oh, oh boy.
I need to clarify, there is nothing wrong with characters like these! I might not like them, but I know a lot of people just read for stress relief after their shitty 9 to 5.
It's just I wish there was more substance to these types of characters. Most of the time these characters don't really add anything to the narrative or the message the story is trying to tell, which is shame cause there is potential :P
*rare exception being Beware The Villainess but even that has it's flaws. (The Villainess is friendly with the OGFL and protects her from her horrible love candidates.)
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