The webtoon industry is on the rise thanks to several anime adaptations, and Crunchyroll has played a huge role in giving these anime a global platform. One of the biggest projects is The Remarried Empress, a controversial romance fantasy. The series was first released as a manhwa and light novel around the same month in 2019 before getting an English release. While the manhwa and light novel have already ended, fans have something new to look forward to next year with the anime premiere. However, the series is hated for poorly handling sensitive themes, especially with the way it villainizes a young slave girl who later became the Emperor’s concubine.
The story glosses over the issues of slavery while treating them as inferior to ordinary citizens. Despite having love for her kingdom and its people, the Empress never cared for the slaves and purposely ignored their suffering due to their lower status. While the story stays true to its themes, considering how the royalty will be blind to the suffering of the less privileged and even look down on them, many readers criticize the thoughtless portrayal of such themes. Regardless of how you look at it, the series is hated for all the right reasons. This is why these three romance fantasy webtoons deserve an anime adaptation much more than The Remarried Empress.
Whether it’s the cinematic art style, the emotional depth, or the realistic character development, this webtoon deserves a lot more popularity than it already has. The story follows Shuri, a young widow who was left to manage her late husband’s vast fortune and his four children. Despite being young and having no experience managing the household, she does her best to raise them even though the boys never hid their hostility towards her. Shuri is finally free from her responsibilities when her eldest stepson remarries. However, she never expected time would reset to seven years in the past. It was the night of her husband’s funeral that life took a drastic turn. As the story continues, she takes a different path, hoping to set things right and even find her own happiness along the way. The series has been ongoing since 2021, and it has shown one of the best plotlines in the webtoon industry.
You can rarely go wrong with the found family trope, but this historical fantasy is a tad different from the usual transmigration tropes. The story follows a young girl who woke up as Aisha Heathcliff in the same world as Abel Louveremont, the main character of her favorite novel. As Abel’s fangirl, she wants nothing more than to meet her favorite character, who is currently a young child. However, one thing leads to another, and before she can realize it, she somehow gets engaged to his dad. The story begins with a common plot, but it later unravels the truth behind her transmigration and the connection she had with Abel and his father. The story is often emotional as it focuses on tragic backstories, well-written characters, and the curse that shackles Aisha. The main story has already reached its conclusion, while the manhwa is currently focusing on the side stories where Abel is a teenager.
This gorgeous story follows yet another unique transmigration plot thanks to its exceptional writing while also handling sensitive themes of trauma. The story centers around a young woman who died in an airplane crash while thinking she would finally escape her hellish life. However, when she woke up as Rudbeckia de Borgia, a minor villain from a novel, she realized she had fallen into another nightmare. After being tortured by her current family, what awaits her is dying at the hands of her husband, Iske van Omerta. However, instead of giving in to fate, Ruby does everything she can to seem harmless and get her husband on her side. The story portrays Ruby’s PTSD, anxiety, and eating disorders as a consequence of the abuse she suffered. Instead of using her trauma as a plot device, these themes drive the narrative. The third season reached its conclusion on a massive cliffhanger while fans await updates on the series’ return.
Do you agree with our picks – or have a romance fantasy webtoon you think would be a better choice than The Remarried Empress? Share your hot take in the comments.
