The wildness turns the clock is a popular villain revenge manhwa that follows the protagonist Aria Roscente, after she is nearly executed for her bullying of her sister Mielle Roscente. It is revealed in the moments before her death that Miele planned her sister’s death, setting Aria up to be the villain by antagonizing and manipulating her. As the ax swings down, Aria asks for a chance to come back and do her life again, and is given it. Arya decides to use this opportunity to take revengeWith the focus of causing Mielle to meet the same fate she almost did.
In the initial development of Aria Roscente’s character, The flavor of selfishness and hint of cruelty wafting around her is novel and almost refreshing for the genre.. It has the righteous shield of unjust persecution to protect it, and in a way feels like a deserved revenge. If it had been given to the antagonist of the story, or led to a true growth throughout the story, it could have resulted in yet another unique and refreshingly dynamic villain. However, as the story progresses, Arya’s cruelty to others and single-minded selfishness do not seem to fade, and the beauty of her continued success soars.
The wildness turns the clock Waste the most compelling premise
The protagonist’s victories feel too easy to be compelling
Although the story attempts to frame Arya as an underdog, and a commoner struggling to survive among nobility, it largely undermines its own effort by keeping the stakes low, with the primary antagonist Mielle being naive and childish in her efforts. It makes Aria’s victories feel too easy and unearned to be compelling. The manhwa even later reveals that Arya was of noble birth all along, Conflicting with one of the core themes of the story What had been built up to that point. It ends up reinforcing classism by implying that the source of Arya’s success and recognition is her noble birth after all.
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Moreover, while The story tries to frame Arya as a victimIt also blatantly acknowledges that she has the things she was accused of in her past life of her own will. She may have poked and prodded to start her behavior, but she still failed and was cruel to her sister, and at one point she remembers that she Tore out her maid’s tongue In her previous life. It is strange that she is repeatedly framed as a victim, and her crusade to do the same to Mielle is framed as righteous instead of hypocritical.
In this life, she is similarly selfish but decides to be manipulative herself, cheerfully taking advantage of the affections of everyone around her instead of outwardly abusing them. She even convinces herself that the love she grows for her mentor Sarah Loren (perhaps the only genuinely good person in the story) is a result of how easy she is to use. more than once, Arya says it would be “an insult to God” not to use others With the opportunity she was given, without ever exploring the idea.
Poor development of the main character undermined the story
There could have been something of substance here, if the right plot paths had been taken. In a genre that was known for its subversiveness, this eventually fell flat. The wildness turns the clock Could have shown how the class system turns Arya into a true villain and genuinely framed her as such instead of glorifying it, or allowed her to grow past her selfish obsession with revenge and attempted empathy for the people around her. instead, Arya continues to get easy victories, And be rewarded for viewing everyone around you as a tool.
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A resolution between Aria and Mielle felt like it was just one alternate universe away with Mielle’s last thoughts of regret and the revealed schemes of the people who support her. Mielle is revealed to be the victim of manipulation herself, but this too is never developed into anything meaningful. Even small details like Arya’s growing affection for her mentor Sarah Could have led to a more genuine internal confrontation for AriaBut instead she never investigates her cruel framing of the people who support her. She works hard to become more adept in high society but is completely lacking in emotional and moral growth.
It feels disappointing that the author left sooner than those on the table, making an otherwise engaging story an experience of slow descent into unpleasantness. It’s hard to root for Aria when she seems to be purely coasting on wish fulfillmentAnd she never really reckons with her abuse of others. Nor is it easy to revel in the continued humiliation of Mielle as Aria seems to. The opportunities to create yet another nuanced, interestingly developed villain within The wildness turns the clock were abundant, but unfortunately, often ignored.