What is this post about? It’s just me dissing the translated romance novels on Webnovel.
Introduction
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Let’s chat about the specific part of the WebNovel i.e. the Female Lead section.
While novels in the male lead have some variations in storytelling, but novels in the female lead have very few variations and are too generic. Novels in Male lead has a broad storyline, world, plot, powers, and more. It’s not that the novels in Female lead do not have these but they all follow similar plotlines which makes them full of cringe and cliches plots.
In this post, you will find me discussing(ranting) about this.
The Problem
All types of Modern or modern fantasy novels in Webnovel’s Female Lead, are similar in plots listed down below.
- MC is abandoned/kidnapped/lost after birth
- Grandfather finds MC and brings her back
- Father/Mother/Sister/Brother/Step father/step mother/Step Sister/ Step brother/maids/bulter/dogs/cats ALL hates her for no reason.
- Bullied every day by everyone for no reason
- Goes to school
- Everyone in the school except the fat girl hates her for no reason.
- MC gets bullied in school
- MC gets a good friend(except fat girl), and a boyfriend.
- They along with her step-sister/sister are the only ones who treat her a little worse than others.
- She trusts them unconditionally.
- MC wants to become an actor.
- After harassment, bullying, and a time skip, she is going to die.
- Before dying, she learns everyone betrayed her.
- Returns after few years(Time Skip) if Alive/She is reborn or Someone transmigrated into her body if Dead.
This is the general/important/most happen/must happen kinda plot in every Novel. I call it the Everyday Plot.
Examples of such novels are Reborn Aristocrat: Return of the Vicious Heiress, Imperial Commander: His Pretty Wife Is Spoiled Rotten, Reincarnation Of The Businesswoman At School, Mr. Xiao’s Unconditional Love, and so on.
After Everyday Plot, it is followed by Reincarnated to get bullied again where reincarnated MC has been bullied again while trying to get some revenge while ML, who is her husband/lover/no relation with her provides some help(in secret).
With this comes a little variation, where Male Lead is in Army or he is a CEO. Common clichés about the male lead include ML is a Cold and ruthless man, everyone thinks he is gay, he has some mysterious disease, or “his” doesn’t get up.
Everyday plot with Reincarnated to get bullied again was very popular a few months back.
There are 30+ novels in the Webnovel with these two themes. Webnovel milked these two themes until people slowly start to lose their interest in these types of novels.
Let’s look at the history of such trends.
Trends
First came the Misunderstandings theme where MC and ML clearly love one another but they don’t get together because of misunderstandings(Ex. His Breathtaking and Shimmering Light).
Similarly, Drugged-themed novels, lost/abandoned/kidnapped at the birth themed, Superstar themed, surrogacy themed, reincarnated in the past themed, transmigrated into the book themed, etc. came one after another but the plotline is still the same as above.
Full of cliches and cringes plot.
Webnovel also milked these themes until everybody started losing interest in them.
Trending theme nowadays is:
Master of All
Here the Female Protagonist whose age is around 16 to 19 knows how to do everything. She is able to hack NASA, knows university-level knowledge, comes out top in all kinds of online games, has awesome medical skills… Chinese medical skills that she can heal someone who is on the brink of death. oh yeah! she is also a world-class painter, musician, composer and for some reason, nobody in the whole fncking world is so beautiful as her. (Do comment if I missed some abilities.)
But Wait! This is not the main problem.
You know there are many novels in Male Lead where MC is also the master of All. But at least, they will make it seem somewhat logical with the existence of the System. But here, from chapter 1, we get the MC overpowered with no reason at all. oh yeah! They do say she has a high IQ. I wonder if that makes it seem somewhat logical.
Whatever we can just ignore this since this is not the main problem.
Here, the Everyday plot does not happen, instead, Everyday FaceSlapping happens where people who fight with MC get face slapped every day. Did I mention she fights against experienced soldiers and wins against them?
Example of such novels is Wife is Fierce, Don’t Mess With Her!, Miracle Pill Maker Bullies the Boss and so on.
The main problem is there are now hundreds of Novels that follow the same format. Webnovel is again milking this “Master of All” hardly and badly. They are still translating these kinds of novels even after there are more than 10 novels.
In the past, these themes came alone but now these come together. Now, Webnovel is recycling all the themes together with Master of All.
Like in Ma’am You Have Been Uncovered and Miracle Pill Maker Bullies the Boss, there’s Master of All with abandoned/lost themes with the same plot over and over again.
Like hating MC for no reason, cheating arc where MC is suspected of cheating and need to clear the suspicions and many more clichés. The new novels are recycled with these plots again and again in Master of ALL with different themes.
I don’t know much about the historical novel but I am sure the same type of recycling of plot happens in them too.
Just Why?
My Problem is not that Webnovel is recycling all these themes and genres and producing “new” novels. My problem is why are these so fnking similar. Why is there nothing new in romance novels?
Just Why are not the authors trying to add something new?
Webnovel promotes such behavior by translating them on and on. Just why?
Why are people liking them so much and spending money on them?
Why would anyone spend money to read similar types of novels?
There are so many good romance novels on Webnovel like When A Snail Falls in Love, Secret Wardrobe Of The Duchess, Our Glamourous Time, The Villainess Turns the Hourglass, Muchuan and Xiang Wan, etc. Some of them even got dramas adaptation.
Why aren’t these novels mainstream? Why aren’t there many novels similar to these?
The Reason
My opinion is that these novels are a type of “junk” that people shouldn’t eat but eat anyway. Novels in the Webnovel Female Lead Section is full of these junks and there are many junkies who can’t stop themselves from consuming them and so they gladly spend money on them.
Some may argue that different people have different tastes. If you don’t like it doesn’t mean others have to dislike it.
True.
But Help me understand this.
Even then You know how the story is going to progress. You know what’s going to happen.
You know if MC is kind, she is going to get bullied, r3ped, and betrayed. If she is badass, she is going to punch someone but get bullied, r3ped, and betrayed. Then rebirth with Male Lead incoming and revenge with some help.
Revenge is also the same.
Another cliche is the male lead who is either an army officer or a CEO. He is the same in most novels with only a different name.
I am afraid I am seeing the same pattern in the Originals novels in Webnovel.
Anyway, you have the freedom to like anything. Just think about your choice.
It’s not like male lead is any different but they are not that bad. There’s some junk but moderately.
That’s it for the rant.
What do you think? Do comment. I will love to hear your thoughts.
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WN being made for snack that you could eat nonchalantly with the quantity what’s matter a things for wasting time better than daydreaming alone.
They said it all in their series for authors. Cliche sells. People will look for similar novels from the ones they read, to feel the same thrill again. It’s like enjoying chocolate. You will buy chocolate again, even knowing it tastes the same, or slightly the same.
The feeling of being a secret special person and be discovered and picked by someone who realizes you are a hidden gem seems the root of all romantic cliches. If you see it, it’s not about the woman changing her behavior and consciously making changes to overcome her problems, but doing nothing different (sometimes the world around her is what changes) and being finally noticed as perfect.
Wahahahahahahah !!! I used to read a novel. This novel has a character, she is a god but, she transmigerated into a novel worlds to help the person she love who supposed to be a Villainess inside the novel. She goes into different novel, trying to help the villainess, the MC knew she is a god and she has many power, but in each worlds, she chose to suppress her memory about the Villainess real identity for certain reasons. Anyway, in one of the world, she said to the villainess why she like to see the type of story with these kind of cliche plots. She said, ” most people like to see this novel because they like to imagine themselves as the female protagonist, having many talents, being chased by handsome and rich guy, being protected, talented , beautiful and so on.. but, many people don’t like this kind of story because they can’t put their own self inside the character so, they can’t and don’t want to understand the character. But, for me, I put my perspective not as the main character, but as a god watching the human funny interaction. It give me a lot of enjoyment watching them interact, that’s why I love this kind of story.”
She talk to the Villainess. And when the villainess heard her explanations, she looks back at the drama and put herself in one of the side character and not the main character. Only by doing that, she feels the story is more tolerable.
Well… As for me… If I were any of the character in this kind of novel, I hope I am someone who is more powerful than the male lead. If I find the female protagonist is pitful, I will helo her. if I find the Villainess is oitful, I will also help her. Because, most of the cliche story has the male lead is more evil than the so called Villainess and the villain in the story.
You forgot the part of the FL always being naive ,calm and unfortunately….. Foolish. The Ml is always harsh,cold and handsome and he must ,I repeat he’s always a CEO and rich and also powerful.