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Oct 15, 2025
I firmly believe that My Beloved Oppressor, or MBO, from now on, is one of the most unique manhwa stories I've ever encountered. It's right up there on my personal list of unforgettable ones such as Who Made Me a Princess (WMMAP), On the Way to Meet Mom (Mom), and Solo Leveling (Solo), among other titles.
If you noticed, they're mostly fantastical stories with vivid and wonderful worlds that spark my curiosity. They've all got magic, demons, mana, and the like. MBO, however, has none of these things. It's grounded in reality, so much so that it sometimes feels almost ridiculous and exaggerated.
Almost.
I usually avoid stories
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like these because they remind me too much of how bleak our reality is. Fights happen all the time, corruption is rampant in every government, and most humans are, well... unpleasant. I read manhwa to escape from it all, but I realized, too late, the real reason why I read them in the first place.
WMMAP is a reflection of misunderstanding and second chances.
Mom is a reflection of unconditional love.
Solo is a reflection of self-sacrifice, of shouldering the world's problems alone.
MBO, on the other hand, is a reflection of obsession and mania, and that would normally put me off. But it was told in such a realistic way that I couldn't help but feel a connection to the ML and FL, even though I've never experienced anything like that myself. I've never loved someone as fiercely as Heiner, or given up everything as completely as Annette. But their actions felt real. Their thoughts felt real. And the consequences of those actions felt real, so much so that I was crying near the end.
The author clearly put great care into the storytelling. I was genuinely excited to turn each page. The inner dialogues were, yes, dramatic, but people in real life are like that, too. We jump to conclusions. We run away at the first sign of danger or hopelessness.
Most manhwa stories are somewhat diluted or censored to appeal to a wider audience, but MBO isn't afraid to show how terrible people can act, think, or feel when it comes to love, and that life doesn't always have a happy ending.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 11, 2025
To sum it all up, this series was beautiful. From the way it carried its message, to its tone, to its characters, to the morals and emotions portrayed in its storytelling... I finished reading it in awe.
That should catch your attention. Philia Rosé is definitely not your run-of-the-mill manhwa where you turn off your brain, gloss over the dialogue, and focus solely on the art style (and those gorgeous MLs and FLs with bulging biceps and wildly disproportionate hips-to-butt ratios). You'll need every brain cell firing on all cylinders to keep up with what's going on. There are so many interwoven stories, it's almost crazy
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to think it would all come together. But it does. And it was worth the three days I spent reading it from start to finish. I'll be rereading it too, which I normally don't do.
If "complicated" is a word you've deleted from your vocabulary, and avoid like the ex you still secretly text, then this one's probably not for you. If "humanity" is another word you've lost touch with, don't strain yourself either, because this story will show you what a "human life" really looks like.
Without getting into too much detail, I'd say it's messy. It's not pretty. It's hard to explain, because it's fantasy. But that's exactly what made it so beautiful. Because that's what life is. Ups and downs, existential crises, self-doubt, mistrusting the people around you... And because this is fantasy, the characters were able to climb those hurdles and become better versions of themselves (which, I guess, is a bit of a spoiler). But man, what a roller coaster.
I would definitely recommend giving this a read, if you have the patience for it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 3, 2025
I'm not sure why, but the first three episodes were funny. After that, they just weren't.
Let me start by saying I've never watched the original. With all the hype surrounding this remake, and having just finished the masterpiece that is Dandadan, my expectations were high. A Mappa-produced adaptation seemed like the perfect choice for my next binge. And at first, it delivered. The first three episodes, as I mentioned, were genuinely funny. The animation was top-tier, the story flowed well, and the characters stood out. I had a gut feeling this was going to be worth watching because I was having such a great time.
But
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by episode four, something felt off, and I can't quite put my finger on why. The formula was the same, but all of a sudden the jokes weren't landing, the new characters felt annoying, and the situations became so over-the-top that they lost their charm. I don't know exactly when or how it happened, but I developed an ick for the show, so much so that I've lost all desire to continue. I'll leave it at seven episodes and move on to something else.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 28, 2024
The first two seasons were absolutely perfect! The art style was stunning, with beautiful and detailed illustrations, featuring some of the best portraits since WMMAP. The story was both engaging and interesting. The dialogue struck a great balance between comedy and serious undertones that really drew me in. The characters were well-developed and multifaceted, each with their own unique personalities.
However, I recently started reading the third season, and that's where things began to go downhill for me. While I'm on board with the overall direction, there's this one plot device that gets really old and annoying: the FL (Lili) keeps flip-flopping. She's the most wishy-washy
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character I've ever encountered. She'll say one thing and then, just a few panels later, do something completely different. Sure, the author established her as indecisive, with no solid plans for her future and difficulty revealing her ultimate secret as a transmigrator. But even when she does make a decision, she immediately backpedals. I feel so sorry for Josh this entire season because he keeps holding on to a girl who can't make up her dang mind.
There's a limit to this kind of plot device, and I think this series has reached it for me. I won't be finishing this season because, even if it does eventually pay off and Josh gets the girl, the author would need to deliver the most epic, romantic reveal ever to draw me back in. Given the current direction and its faithfulness to the novel, I highly doubt that's gonna happen.
Also, the third season just doesn't vibe with its own title. It made sense for the first two seasons when she was "the little lady behind the scenes" of her older sister's love life, but now she's become "a girl with four guys in her pocket." Everything after the second season should've been a sequel title, a spin-off, or a side story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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May 15, 2024
The English translation of this manhwa was badly edited. They had the opportunity for puns since the story has this bit where Yeonu mixes up her idioms, but they wasted it with bad editing. My eyes were sore with each chapter reading the ESL-tier sentences. The reading experience was just as terrible as the scanlation-level translation that unofficial groups have.
It reminds me of another manhwa that got the same treatment, "The Return of the Disaster-Class Hero". Beautiful art style and panels marred by ugly translation and bad editing. It was goddamn awful, and I felt the same way with this manhwa. A complete waste of
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an art piece because someone couldn't be bothered to QC their translations.
I would highly recommend reading it in original Korean. Heck, go for any translation other than English because it's not worth the time. Otherwise, great art, beautiful story, and a really deep message for anxiety and twisted destinies. Just don't read it in English, for the love of God.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jul 6, 2023
Definitely not nowhere near halfway through the series yet, but I got so fed up with the MC that I just had to write this review. Might change my mind as I read more episodes. Might also not. Seeing as how its score is over 7, people generally found it appealing. But not me, no. Not yet, anyway.
There's this cliché that, when the MC's more of a thinker than a doer, they have tons of internal dialogue. That's not necessarily a bad thing... when done right. The viewers can follow the MC's thought processes and act super smart, cool, etc. But when it's done wrong,
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it gets tedious. Overbearing. Boring. Frustrating. MC thinks, "I know this other character super well and they won't definitely do the worst action possible--" Oops, the other character actually did the worst possible action at the moment. MC thinks, "These people won't do anything unexpected because only insane people would--" As the other characters say, "Hold my beer!" and proceed to do the most unexpected thing because, news alert, they're in an apocalyptic world and, of course, any survivor would be a little more unhinged than the usual. What was the MC expecting? Civilized tea parties in a zombie-infested town where it's every human for themself?
It's just too much. And happens far too often. I've never been so frustrated over a character until I read this series. MC's choices are based on the assumption that he can think things through very logically, but when other people don't do what they're supposed to do, he's lost because he hasn't thought that far ahead. It's crazy.
Giving it a 5 since I'm still a fourth on the way in but, if I could quit this series now, I'd give it a 1.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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