Okay. I've finished the vol 2 of this story. It doesn't get as bad as other ppl mentioned. Hiroko gets more relatable as the story progresses.

There is a reason why she acts like this. She used to have a crush on a senpai just like Ayaka does now, and that ended horribly which made her the way she is now. I really felt bad fot her and I totally understand her now. I haven't finished vol 3 but I'll reply with my thoughts after I'm done.

Yeah she's her most hilarious during the setup for sure! Glad you stuck with it and let the story explain itself. I think Volume 3 (the last one) is the best, so it would be great to hear your opinion on it (especially if you end up feeling differently). Also you're reading it in Japanese? If you haven't, you could also try "Black and White" from the same author. That just ended and is about as long as this one. Really different flavour though.

last edited at May 25, 2023 4:10PM

Are there any villainess yuri stories where the villainess is actually fairly effed up? I mean someone like Fukiko Ichinomiya from Oniisama e. She was a seriously nasty person.

Maybe I’m weird for wanting it, but there’s nothing like the thrill of digging into the twisted psychology of a screwed up villainess. Most of these villainess stories are cute, but I abandon them ‘cuz they’re just tsunderes in fantasy settings. Not much real villainy.

Fed Up Office Lady features a villainess as a love interest whose plans are legitimately evil.

Yeah, that was my example but it still falls into the same category as the commenter mentioned. We still don't know her full plans (as compared to the game version) and I doubt it goes fully bad without explanations/backstory etc. The author seems to be interested in the romance more than anything as well. It's still a story with a main couple comprised of a powerful tsundere and a woman who wants to save her. But that one was the closest I could think of, as well.

last edited at May 25, 2023 12:44PM

Are there any villainess yuri stories where the villainess is actually fairly effed up? I mean someone like Fukiko Ichinomiya from Oniisama e. She was a seriously nasty person.

Maybe I’m weird for wanting it, but there’s nothing like the thrill of digging into the twisted psychology of a screwed up villainess. Most of these villainess stories are cute, but I abandon them ‘cuz they’re just tsunderes in fantasy settings. Not much real villainy.

Yeah, it's just that most of the people writing these aren't interested in a psychological breakdown, they're in it for the romance and the tsundere ("I can save her"). A lot of the audience has been primed for that too by now; honestly, including me. In practice,"Villainess" is just another word for "Powerful Tsundere to be saved or do the saving."

last edited at May 25, 2023 10:19AM

I think this is the fourth or fifth series I've read with this start... looks good tho

Came here to say this. That intro has been overdone and is stupid at this point, but there could still be potential here.

since every manga out there has an generic start do you think every manga has an stupid start too? because there is not much unique manga starts out there so everything is stupid by your definition, is just generic but not stupid

Yeah the setups are often paying homage and generic for that reason. It's not until the second chapter that I get an idea of the story's potential direction. Even more so for these types. Characters seem interesting now though and I enjoyed her little shows of magic.

last edited at May 25, 2023 6:04AM

This implies that Hiroko has slept with women she's found attractive in the workplace before...SO THEN WHAT THE FUCK IS THE POINT OF THIS MANGA

This one offhand comment single handedly destroys the entire backbone of the story. If Hiroko is such a womanizer and jumps at the chance to sleep with a cute girl, WHY HAS SHE BEEN AVOIDING AYAKA SO DAMN MUCH!?

That's a good question to ask but doesn't break the manga. Just have to read to find out. Also remember that she used to be a womanizer but stopped recently. They discussed this in chapter 2 around the bar, when two of the women mention that her reputation now is different then before.

last edited at May 24, 2023 4:55PM

Hiroko is sweet, albeit under a good amount of pressure given her position. Can't imagine currying favor like that everyday in that kind of atmosphere. She must feel constantly worried.

I guess her refusal to believe that Ayaka is gay makes a bit more sense if every woman in her department is also blushing after her. Well, that or everyone who works there is gay, and no one's realized it yet.

That and she's really worried about what the office would think (and I guess what it would do to her career) if they knew she was gay. She's even wearing clothes meant for fending off the leeches.

It's interesting because they mention her age gap quite a bit in these chapters and there might be something to how her fear of being outed is more intense than someone like Ayaka's. Ayaka is younger and therefore maybe has a different outlook on things because of that. They have two altered perspectives.

last edited at May 24, 2023 3:04PM

Snake Princess is currently trifling. Another great chapter, this series is amazing with its subtle storytelling, attention to details and characterizations. Also lovely variety of facial expressions.

last edited at May 24, 2023 7:53AM

Given the way episodes 17 and 18 have gone, the bloody hand Miorine is holding would make more sense to be Prospera's. Taking the devil's hand in an alliance, even if it means the blood is on your hands as well.

I would LOVE some introspection from Suletta about how even though she's technically gotten everything she wanted, none of it feels complete without Miorine. But we'll just have to see what Sunrise has in store.

She did that introspection in the last episode. She questioned the idea of "gaining two" (for the first time) because even with everything else, she couldn't get over missing Mio. So that already happened.

last edited at May 23, 2023 9:27PM

That is quite the hair.

She's basically Mufasa. All she needs is to let out a little meow.

last edited at May 23, 2023 9:49AM

Cute. Hiroko doesn't know how much she affects Ayaka yet. She needs a recharge every couple days. But still that room needs some serious cleaning. Looked like a hoarders room for a second.

last edited at May 22, 2023 5:26PM

Seems like this entire plot would be over pretty quickly if Kase just told Fukami she was moving in with her girlfriend.

Ikr? But what if Fukami will be like "I don't approve of her! Have a race with me and if you lose you two should break up" Lol

Haha. Don't put that in the air.

Following this arc is still suffering but it looks like Kase is committed to moving out no matter what and probably coming out no matter what so I guess progress is progress.

What? How do you get that? She still hasn't called off the race so I wouldn't call that committed to moving out. As for coming out, this chapter was her tripling down on staying in the closet. Not only did she kept lying about her boyfriend. She also needed to qualify every mention of like, whether it's hers or her roommate's to make sure her roomie didn't think for an instant that she might be gay.
This chapter was Kase completely failing to make progress at anything, as is the norm for this arc.

Now the race is: "I'm moving but if you win you'll get to know why I'm moving." So the track friend can win this race and it will now be an opportunity for Kase to be honest, rather than anything else. She just did things subtly since it seems she doesn't want to hurt her. I believe Kase thinks Fukami will win the race and therefore expects to be honest. She wants Fukami to take a step forward and beat her.

Consider that: "if you beat me, I'll tell you why I'm leaving," contradicts "if you beat me I won't leave." The former is the last bet they agreed on. The terms should have changed. I say "should" because I have to carry a grain a salt with me at this point since this manga has done some weirdly inconsistent stuff. But I think it's pretty clear here.

last edited at May 22, 2023 12:37PM

Note; the scanlators changed the last page of Chapter 31 from this to this since it became clear that Fukami didn't (properly) confess just then.

Thank you for the notice!

If Kase redefines the race to "I'm definitely leaving, but if you win I'll tell you why"... that still won't change that they missed a good apartment because of her stupidity, but it'll be a marginal improvement.

Yeah, that's where I am at too. We're begging for crumbs at this point.

why must we take the long route of having the side character slowly realize their feelings only to then be rejected instead of the short route of revealing that her crush is taken by another girl which forces her feelings out quickly bringing the conflict to its emotional conclusion?

Also, agree but I think that's because this apartment move now feels like an end-game event, and she's stretching out the build-up to it, in an attempt to make it seem like a journey with an "earned" conclusion. I think it's been done terribly but I think that's the idea. I wouldn't be surprised if this all ends when they finally move in together. Last version was only 24 chapters.

last edited at May 22, 2023 9:19AM

Bar seems like a fun time. All the interactions between characters are so fun and dynamic. And Hiroko really doesn't want to be outed at work.

last edited at May 20, 2023 2:45PM

Has the raws already ended?

Yeah it's complete. 3 volumes. 24 chapters. She normally does shorter series of about this length or less.

last edited at May 18, 2023 8:02PM

I am surprised they haven't recognized each other at first glance.

I mean, realistically, how? xD

The same way they, realistically, have been reincarnated as characters in a book. :-)

Do either of them know the light novel well enough to tell if people are acting out of character?

No they're strangers to each other and there's no reason strangers would reveal their secrets to each other. That's not really a natural conversational starter and neither of them know the other also got reincarnated.

last edited at May 18, 2023 4:36PM

Was she, though? In the the first chapter she appeared in, she blew up one of Ayana’s attempts to get through to Hiroko by knocking on the stall door. Then, the next time she appeared, she told Hiroko that whatshisname also like fried chicken, intentionally obfuscating Ayaka’s next attempt to woo Hiroko and getting us into the current misunderstanding phase. Heck, most of her wingwoman-like actions have just been her acting as a friend (even inviting Hiroko to go shopping with them was done mostly to convince Ayaka to come along). It was clear from the previous chapters that she was going to have a bigger role, but it wasn’t clear whether it was going to be “wimngwoman” or”rival.”

Yeah, she's been unconsciously doing this for a while, in the background. Risa is lovely, though. She handled that well and didn't make it an issue once she realized what she was feeling. Actually, everyone at the office has been nice, including Yuuya. They have a nice camaraderie in that office that's fun to observe. Ayaka also verbally realizes the mountain she has to climb to get through Hiroko's density; though it seems she's started getting through to her without realizing it.

last edited at May 18, 2023 2:28PM

Um, you have a point, but not in relation at all as to what you were replying to? Why reply to a group of people saying the spoilers make the plot sound interesting by basically saying some people won't like it based on the list of plot points?

It is actually useful - especially in the thread you were replying to (and in my opinion too), because putting it in the context of where the story is going makes it not seem like an endless status quo going around in circles thing.

Yes, 100%. I was agreeing with them and elaborating. The intention behind the dump of spoilers was really to scare people away. I was specifically responding to that intention and trying to provide context for (and dissuade) those who would otherwise put something down because of an incomplete list of plot points. I think this story I quite fun and interesting and would hope others don't put it down simply because of a list like that, so that was the impetus. Just didn't appreciate the reasons behind the dump.

I didn't see Risa being in love with Ayaka as much of a twist per say and I think that's cause I was paying attention to how much she was paying attention to Ayaka. I think it would've been more of a twist if she just turned out to be violently homophobic lmao.

Yeah, Risa has been watching them for a bit, if you go back. She's had little hints throughout and now we get it confirmed. Guess she needed a little push to realize why she was a bit fixated on Ayaka.

last edited at May 17, 2023 9:32AM

Did not see that twist coming, I kind of thought Risa was going to help them get together.

Yeah but at least she's not an ass about it. She can't help her feelings but wants to give them space since she knows her friends feelings.

last edited at May 16, 2023 3:32PM

while I enjoyed the second chapter, it kind of made me wish this wasn't isekai lol. both the villainess and the demon lord actually have really interesting backstories and character concepts, and with them meeting as kids I don't really see what the isekai element adds.

regardless though, this is still quite fun. thanks for the translation!

They both get to have interesting machinations and plans. You're basically getting two all knowing game breaking Isekai protagonists instead of one. It's fun to watch them both attempt the same things but from different angles and based on their different personalities. Plus since they don't realize who the other is it also makes their interactions more interesting, as they seem to fall for each other (unknowingly) all over again. They're kind of competing against each other and not at the same time, all without realizing it. All of this then feeds into the other characters interactions and plans from outside forces. And since they operate on opposite sides of the story (eventual demon lord?, "light side"), it also allows for perspective shifting without breaking any narrative patterns. The concept is actually really clever and wouldn't work nearly as well without the Isekai start (or an equivalent replacement). Because of this it works really well as a novel too.

last edited at May 15, 2023 4:59PM

Is it bad that I skimmed those spoilers and just got even more interested? Idk, I'm enjoying the trainwreck, don't quite get why people are so up in arms. Again, may just be personal experience talking, but this feels like a "reality is unrealistic" sort of thing.

yeah me too i'm way more interested reading all that.

Even before that though just reading the dialogue of this chapter, I get the feeling all the haters are kinda misreading the character and reinforcing their own bias. "Why is she so oblivious? How could a supposed womanizer be so blind?" But here we see it isn't just that Hiroko's too damn dense to see Ayaka's crush; rather as her work superior she's so in her head suppressing her instincts to go after this cute girl (because of gossip? workplace dynamics? is she afraid of losing her job? of Ayaka losing her job because of her? Is the combination of being her superior and a lesbian too scandalous?) that she second guesses and rationalizes all the obvious signs. Its not like this stereotype emerges in a vacuum. Under the perfect senpai veneer she's incredibly, tragically, high strung. So to me its less of the usual generic dense lesbian yuri parody and more an exaggeration of how homophobic workplace dynamics create this kind of eternal misunderstanding.

Anyway, Ayaka's sad faces are funny I don't see the problem. Definitely gonna stick around

Execution is extremely important. And a bullet list of plot points does not show nearly the full picture. Knowing what happens, I don't think that list (or any story reduced to a list of plot points) is very fair or useful (last volume is fun also). But whatever. When people don't like things, they really don't like it.

As for Ayaka's sad face: they are a highlight. But it's even better when she does take charge. You know she's never down for the count, she's very strong willed.

last edited at May 15, 2023 11:03AM

Transcript (based on Youtube's auto-captions and my ears where it seemed off):

でも、百合漫画なんでちゃんとこの男子は恋愛にこは絡んでないです。
見ての通り険悪な関係性なんで安心してもらって。
今回の絵で百合漫画っていうのなんかすごい信じてもらえないからすごいですね。
なんかちょっと…この契約な感じとか…なんならこう男女物の恋愛漫画でこういう雰囲気の剣カップルみたいのもいるじゃいないですか。
こんなこと言うとすごいダイアナちゃんに怒られそうだけど…
ダイアナちゃんにもグランくんにも怒られそうだけど、あの、こういう雰囲気の剣カップル…男女、恋愛漫画っぽさも、例「？」はある。
全然そんなことないんで、ちょっと安心していただければ。

Rough translation:

"But it's a yuri manga, so this boy isn't involved in any romance. As you can see, it's a hostile relationship so please be at ease. You can't believe its a yuri manga based on this drawing, right? Somehow it feels a bit...like a contract...sort of like, a het romance manga might have a sword couple with this sort of vibe. Though Diana-chan would get pissed at me for saying this... Both Diana-chan and Gran-kun would be angry, but um, there's precedence to have a sword couple with this of vibe, like a het romance manga. But it's not like that at all, please be assured."

Basically the upshot is "it's a yuri manga so Diana x Gran isn't happening don't worry" lmao.

(Also Diana sticking her tongue out is super cute.)

Thanks for that!

Lovely series.

It just makes me wonder what sort of thing Ayaka will do next to try to get Hiroko haha.

I love seeing Hiroko flustered because she thinks it's accidental haha.

Yeah those two feelings are it. It's comedic, has some "drama" but it's light. I love it builds from it's fun premise and builds it's characters. I also love how Yuuya has no idea what's happening, he's just caught in the crossfire.

last edited at May 12, 2023 3:39PM

I note again that the end-art of the chapters shows Natori being pulled apart by Lapis and Diana, no prince in sight.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/the_fed_up_office_lady_wants_to_serve_the_villainess_ch05#34

That is the translation group's chosen picture for it's credits page. That's not what ends each chapter in the original releases, if that's what you mean. It wouldn't matter either way though, that image doesn't mean anything besides what we've already seen (that Diana has a crush). Doesn't say what will happen. Neko has drawn images with Diana and Prince anyway (actually she did a live stream of one of them). So it does seem like they'll have some sort of relationship whether that's friendship, romantic, or not. He's also in a good amount of side art of the story. He's a major character, including that boy we saw with Lapis for about 5 seconds.

last edited at May 11, 2023 6:00PM