Reviews for Miss Not-So Sidekick
Back to MangaMiss Not-So Sidekick is a comedy, Otome Isekai. It's ridiculous and remains fun through the whole thing, especially the main character, Latte Ectrie, who after reincarnating into a side character from a romance novel she read decides she wants to see all the "action" up close. And so, she does... by following the female lead and watching her interactions with the three male leads, going so far as to invent popcorn so she can stuff her face while watching. At its core that's what this manhwa is, Latte Ectrie getting in the way of moments that should be getting the fish (as she calls the maleleads) closer to the fisherman (the female lead). While the manhwa does eventually venture into the territory of romance the story is still primary focused on comedy (her love interest is just as nuts as she is lol).
I know a lot of people are turned away due to this series art, but the art contributes to the comedic tone incredibly well. The expressions that the characters make further the comedy and I have no doubt that this manhwa wouldn't be as funny without this unique art style.
Miss Not-So Sidekick keeps it's comedic and lighthearted tone through the whole manhwa even when it becomes more plot focused towards the end. The plot itself is quite standard for an Otome Isekai, nothing too special.
Overall, the comedy is solid, the characters are fun and memorable, and the art is unique and helps the manwha to stand out. It's a good time.
TL;DR absolutely phenomenal manhwa. At first, it starts as a good comedy but close to the end of the main story, it turns into an absolute must-read meta story for anyone who's tired of otome clichés. The art is legit the only criticism I can give, and even then it's still beautiful, especially the comedical facial expressions Characters: at first glance, most of the main characters start out as typical otome stereotypes. The charming prince, the honorable knight, the mysterious mage dude, yada yada. But they are memorable and likable, especially once they start growing as people. The side characters are charming and lovely - evenweeks after finishing it, I still remember Gandalf, the butt head dude, etc. The naming sense is quite funny since except for the male leads and the original female lead, everyone else has sh*tpost names
Character development: Amazing. A story where the characters aren't one dimensional, thank goooood - you can actually see the male leads, the MC and even the female lead all slowly and subtly change during the story. Not only that, you can see how their relationships change over time and it gets you so invested into the story
Plot: What might at first look like a comedical gag manhwa that almost seems like a random internet sh*tpost ends up becoming really meta and deeply exploring both the impact and reasoning of a lot of tropes that are shown in otome manhwas.
To avoid spoilers, I won't go into it in great detail, but it's definitely worth it, especially the last chapters of the main story. I'll give you a gist of what happens on the first 5 or so chapters:
It's the story of a girl who one day gets transported to the world of a reverse harem novel she read - super cliché, right?She incarnates a random side character, but as a side character, for the first ten years of her new life, she can't even find the male leads. She can't even remember the details of the novel, like a normal person. And even when she meets the male leads, naturally none of them have any reason to like her. So she decides to simply watch the main story unfold by itself, but her actions slowly start distorting the original story and slowly making the characters change
The plot has a nice ending that wasn't rushed and even has 30+ chapters of epilogue for more content. I was very satisfied by the pacing
Romance: Pretty great. No sh*tty misunderstandings, no random questionable harem endings, no sudden forced romance without chemistry - our MC is such a sigma gigachad in her own romance and even in helping everyone make their feelings clear as day to avoid drama. My only issue is with the male lead - he's a bit too possessive for my taste, but if you dislike him, don't worry since the author wrote alternate endings for the other male leads
Art: probably the only thing that might seem off-putting. For male leads who're supposed to be super handsome, they look kinda iffy. But the unique style really grows on you
Overall, one of the best otome isekai manhwas I've read. Really a breath of fresh air after being drowned in a sea of generic tropes like "Reincarnated as a villainess who ends up acting good and inevitably seducing all the male leads" or "Reincarnated as side character who ends up making everyone fall in love with her" or "Reincarnated in a random novel and for some random reason I can remember every single detail, so I will use it to become OP and have a harem" or "Isekai'd into a novel and using my modern world science knowledge I built some random military logic defying business"
The jokes are bad, the characters have no reason to love the "protagonist", the world doesn't even try to stand out from the others in the genre, maybe trying to become a parody, but everything is so badly-written, the art is a caricature, so I understand why it is bad. There is so much repetition in the conversations so much about "he is so handsome". The real main character appears so much in the story of the "protagonist" that all the encounters with "the male leads" being in the same place and doing the same things don't make any sense. I didn't read much, butit is so boring that I can't keep going, even though I really like the genre. I understand that this is a parody, a commedy, but it is not funny at all. This was the fastest drop in the genre, for everything I've read so far. Truly bad.