Thanks to the announcement of its anime adaptation, I checked out The Laid-Off Cheat-Granting Mage.

It started off like any other exiled-from-party, power-fantasy / revenge slop, but in just a few chapters it degenerated into a wacky comedy.

This may not be the most accurate comparison since it isn't really a parody, but I was reminded of Konosuba and Isegure.

In other words, it is not like the typical wish-fulfilment slop. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and would check the anime out when it's released.

I've got two series I want to write about today, both with somewhat interesting ideas and enough issues to hold them back from being great.

The Rebirth of a Tyrannical Empress - main character ends up in a novel as the titular tyrannical empress and she does so a few days before the end of the story, when the original protagonist gets executed for her wicked deeds.
Where to start... I think the premise and the story itself are pretty enjoyable for the most part. There are the usual problems of no meaningful challenges (it's pretty much just "watch how MC and her crew dunk on the opposition") but it's still fun enough to read. Then the twists happened. I'll put them in the spoilers, for obvious reasons, but I'll try to limit myself to a few specific points.

Story spoilers

So, the main point of the initial conflict was how the powerful and fair empress turns into a tyrant. She ends up indulging in alcohol, men and abuse of power to the point that even her closest subordinate joins a rebellion against her. Pretty decent start, right?

Well, shortly after start of the "proper" plot we find out that the reason she became that way was due to one of the other people she trusted using drugs and alcohol to slowly push her towards this state, all so he can use her as a puppet and rule from behind the scenes. It's not a bad concept since it explains how the character like Yulia (the empress) ended up becoming the way she did. It also doesn't remove all of her responsibility for letting things go this far as project like this wouldn't be something that can be pulled off overnight. Going "he duped me" can only get you so far, especially when you're responsible for holding so much power.
Then comes the final stretch of the story and, surprise surprise, Yulia wasn't the one who did all of these bad things! Turns out another character took over her body during that time to destroy Yulia's reputation and use it as a springboard for executing a different plan for a third party! Why?

You literally remove the only negative part of Yulia's character and behaviour just to... what exactly? Make her even more of a goody-two-shoes than she already was? Keep her pure ("it wasn't her who slept with all those guys, I swear!") just so she can build her own personal harem from scratch (I haven't finished yet but that's where things seem to be going)? What was the point?

In the final stretch we also find that she's even more special than she already was so, you know, things start to feel pretty generic at this point. The worst part is that it doesn't feel needed since Yulia was already an extremely powerful character without this revelation.

Lastly, there's romance. I really don't care for it. It doesn't show up out of nowhere and it does makes sense from a story standpoint but I really can't bring myself to care about any of it. At least it seems to be heading towards a harem ending so there's a bit of a difference compared to all the other series I read in this genre.

I dunno. This story was pretty fun (I still have about 20 chapters left) but my interest ended up fizzling out as I kept reading. I feel like all of the additions in the second half of the plot serve more as a hindrance to the plot rather than worthwhile additions.
On a more positive note, I really love the art style. Characters, especially Yulia, are drawn in a specific way that makes them pop up and looks somewhat unique. I especially like how they draw Yulia as she ends up looking smug vast majority of the time, even if she's not trying to be. It's my favourite part of this manhwa.

Edit: I finished the remaining chapters, it was about what I expected with additional twist I wasn't a fan of. Oh well, at least I'm done.

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Surviving as a Maid - MC wakes up as queen's maid in a Boys Love novel where the king is gay, prefers his lover over his wife and regularly does things that disrespect her, undermine her authority and/or make things more difficult for the staff.

Decent premise but the story isn't anything special to be honest. It has some interesting aspects like the fact that MC might act out her role to avoid suspicion but never gets to the point of feeling that she IS the character she took over. This leads to her living with a never ending feeling of body dysphoria, to the point she's thinking about self-harm as a way of dealing with the thoughts that cause this state of affairs. She never actually goes through with it (another character gives her a way to helps her deal with a bit better) but it's a plot point that never really goes away (at least as far as I've read anyway).
It's also a plot point that doesn't happen particularly often in similar titles since MCs end up accustomed to their new role and bodies pretty quickly most of the time.

Unfortunately for me this is pretty much the extent of interesting stuff in the story. There are some cool ideas here and there, sure, but for the most part things are rather boring (and not in a "slow burn" kind of way). I've read about 50 chapters and I think that will be it for me - there's just nothing here to keep me hooked enough to care.

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The Rebirth of a Tyrannical Empress is honestly the bigger let down of the two. I really like Yulia, I love the art style and I think there could be a lot of interesting things you could do with the premise. Despite that, author decided to take an easy way out, sanding off rougher elements and leaning more and more on "happy good heroes save the day". It's not terrible but it is way less interesting.

Surviving as a Maid was the definition of "fine" from the start so I didn't have enough expectations to be disappointed with it. I'm sure someone out there will enjoy it more than I did.

One more update: I got too impatient waiting for its anime adaptation, so I picked up Uma Musume - Pretty Derby: Star Blossom. I ended up binging it because I simply can't put it down.

Some scenes actually gave me chills and made my hair stood on end. It's just so peak. I foresee it being just as amazingumazing as the Cinderella Gray anime once it gets adapted.