Although the genre is too overly criticized for being formulaic, isekai series that do break the mold completely, like the isekai manhwa, How to Survive a Romance Fantasy, stand out because they are so blatantly subversive. Many critics overlook the fact that there are a healthy number of isekai that do, in fact, find their own way of innovating the genre’s many overused tropes, but few accomplish this as completely as How to Survive a Romance Fantasy.
How to Survive a Romance Fantasy can essentially be loosely defined as a blend of the highly popular villainess convention and the “living the slow life” trope in many of today’s isekai, except it’s so much more than just a combination or subversion of the two.
Regarding the former, many protagonists are reborn as the villainess from a game or novel whose character is destined to die. Usually, they try to escape their unfortunate fate by using their unprecedented knowledge of the Isekai world to their advantage. However, it’s always within the confines of the game or novel. This isn’t the case for Ji-eun in How to Survive a Romance Fantasy by Sing-Nanda. She runs away and tries to live a completely different life that has nothing to do with the plot line. And she’s not the only one to do so.
The Villainess Hides Her Identity Along With The Prince and Heroine
Created by sing-nanda
Ji-eun is joined by Cheolsu, who becomes the imperial crowned prince, and Yeonghui, who’s isekai’d into the heroine and destined empress of the novel. Like Ji-eun, Cheolsu and Yeonghui don’t want to deal with what their characters are meant to experience in the novel and try to live a completely different life. From this description alone, some might say that this is a set-up for well-known isekai “slow life” trope. There are many series like this where protagonists just want to level up quietly in the woods or to pursue some random skill. Aside from the fact that this series doesn’t have any leveling up and none of the protagonists actively devote their life to what their character is naturally good at, How to Survive a Romance Fantasy focuses on a unique plot line that drives the story instead: they end up working together without knowing who the other is.
Although Cheolsu and Yeonghui quickly discover that both of them are reincarnated from the real world, they refuse to share the fact that they are the novel’s heroine and prince due to the understandable fear that this knowledge could naturally set events in motion that will draw them back to their respective roles. By chapter 7, neither of them is aware that Ji-eun reincarnated as well, but since Ji-eun is also keeping her identity a secret, they are also unaware that she is the novel’s villainess as well. Many series have featured protagonists who want nothing to do with adventuring, like in I Shall Survive Using Potions!, but in that story, the protagonist’s identity is known, and she keeps getting drawn into unwanted adventures. This has yet to happen as of chapter 7 of How To Survive In a Romance Fantasy. And since it’s mostly told from Cheolsu’s perspective, the story has only really explored his efforts at keeping his identity a secret, which is complicated by the sudden presence of soldiers who could recognize his face.
Like the first seven chapters on WEBTOON, it’s quite likely that How to Survive a Romance Fantasy has already continued to innovate the Isekai genre. Manhwa fans who would like to read past chapter 7, however, will have to download the app to discover the many more ways How to Survive a Romance Fantasy continues to completely upend the isekai genre.
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