[01] Complex characters (seinen)
[01] Complex characters (seinen)
Don't expect many harems with characters who can't think for themselves or fall in love with the MC before page 1. Many might have a slow moving plot... have to invest yourself into the characters to find the tragic, beautiful and poignant!
First, some English original webnovels that are superb and easily googleable (in order of best characters, not necessarily plot):
1. Trailer tr*sh
2. Iron Teeth
3. Castle Kingside (rewrite)
4. Metaworld Chronicles
5. The Good Student
6. Worm (Parahumans)
7. AnimeCon Harem (18+)
8. Mother of Learning
9. Selena's Reign
10. Double Blind: A modern litRPG
11. Tidal Lock (unfinished)
Note that I've been recently pruning and updating the list to remove some that were just good stories with average characters and move them over to new lists that are top of their genre. You can see all my rec lists at https://www.novelupdates.info/user/10378/tallrice/
First, some English original webnovels that are superb and easily googleable (in order of best characters, not necessarily plot):
1. Trailer tr*sh
2. Iron Teeth
3. Castle Kingside (rewrite)
4. Metaworld Chronicles
5. The Good Student
6. Worm (Parahumans)
7. AnimeCon Harem (18+)
8. Mother of Learning
9. Selena's Reign
10. Double Blind: A modern litRPG
11. Tidal Lock (unfinished)
Note that I've been recently pruning and updating the list to remove some that were just good stories with average characters and move them over to new lists that are top of their genre. You can see all my rec lists at https://www.novelupdates.info/user/10378/tallrice/
60 Followers
Created: Oct 29th, 2019, Updated: Mar 7th, 2021
Created Oct 29th, 2019
Updated Mar 7th, 2021
0 Chapters Every 9311 Day(s) 2099 Readers 7 Reviews N/A
Complex characters with... a merchant travelling through fantasy Northern Europe with a witty, shapeshifting wolf.... more>>
132 Chapters Every 19.4 Day(s) 10766 Readers 98 Reviews 02-02-2025
Complex characters with... foodgasms and romance born in rivalry.... more>>
50 Chapters Every 122.5 Day(s) 3751 Readers 39 Reviews 08-04-2020
Still, Wait For Me focuses all throughout on the regrets of the MC's first life and his tender but conflicted romances.... more>>
118 Chapters Every 171.3 Day(s) 13598 Readers 165 Reviews 12-24-2018
Complex characters with... reincarnator bringing food, paper making and new magic into a surprisingly politically complex kingdom.... more>>
0 Chapters Every 1860 Day(s) 3080 Readers 64 Reviews 06-30-2020
Complex characters with... military strategy, camping and politics.... more>>
148 Chapters Every 39.5 Day(s) 2830 Readers 68 Reviews 07-09-2024
Complex characters with... bloody court politics between gritty, plotting nobles, ancient immortals and superpowered gangs. ... more>>
95 Chapters Every 46.3 Day(s) 2435 Readers 15 Reviews 08-02-2025
Complex characters with... reincarnated modern inheritance politics.... more>>
98 Chapters Every 161 Day(s) 12771 Readers 230 Reviews 03-17-2019
Complex characters with... gender bender romance.... more>>
101 Chapters Every 441.3 Day(s) 7201 Readers 140 Reviews 09-29-2023
Complex characters with... game system empowered haunted house attraction manager who slowly gains spooky powers.... more>>
441 Chapters Every 146.5 Day(s) 22685 Readers 573 Reviews 05-26-2021
Complex characters with... a beautiful prince chasing the wise regressed princess.... more>>
21 Chapters Every 82.6 Day(s) 22111 Readers 399 Reviews 11-19-2023
Complex characters with... OP omniscient author who ends up having more romantic troubles and misunderstandings than he expected, while saving the world.... more>>
55 Chapters Every 208.9 Day(s) 24206 Readers 319 Reviews 11-26-2017
Complex characters with... an anti-hero who reincarnates as one of the 72 demons of the Ars Goetia.... more>>
21 Chapters Every 129.2 Day(s) 3918 Readers 89 Reviews 04-26-2020
Complex characters with... a regressor who actually acts his age!! He's very pensive and thawing from his cynical and family oriented bread winning habits to... more>>
20 Chapters Every 150.3 Day(s) 24023 Readers 470 Reviews 07-09-2019
Complex characters with... a down-on-his-luck gambler who gets a dream of his tragic future and wisens up to become the hero of a fantasy world.... more>>
373 Chapters Every 116.3 Day(s) 18820 Readers 165 Reviews 01-17-2021
Complex characters with... OP dungeon crawler who levels up in a game world.... more>>
0 Chapters Every 1951 Day(s) 4322 Readers 46 Reviews 04-12-2020
Complex characters with... a run down opera performer regressing to bring his skills back to his youth in a music school.
163 Chapters Every 125.9 Day(s) 18935 Readers 127 Reviews 09-20-2022
Complex characters with... a lich king leading his army to invade fantasy world.... more>>
#24God of Music
346 Chapters Every 74.8 Day(s) 7440 Readers 49 Reviews 06-01-2022
Complex characters with... an MC going through different phases of musical development.... more>>
#25Youjo Senki
9 Chapters Every 395.7 Day(s) 6946 Readers 28 Reviews 04-04-2017
Complex characters with... reincarnated salaryman in a fantasy-Russian magical army in WW2.
Comments (4)
Thanks so much Ruriva! I was just going over my wish list today so this is a good time for me to start on some of your recommendations! I'll add them in once I have a chance to read and figure out how they fit!
Glad you enjoyed Mother of Learning! Once of my favourites!
From your list i found that you have included more seinen books so i don't know if my books will appeal to you. However even i like my mm/mf romances with good amount of braincells so if you have no problem with josei/shoujo romance, as such my list have 12 to 13 such novels
https://www.novelupdates.info/viewlist/2297/
Thanks HealingScars for the suggestions and first self-prom-*cough* comment. For sure, my preferences are seinen, but like with Reborn as My love rival's wife or rebirth of the malicious empress, a good josei can equally capture my attention.
Although I have not yet tried them out, Lucia and Ill-fated consort, both of which are on your list, have both caught my attention before. I definitely plan to check them out.
I see a lot of the others on your list are yaoi. I've usually had a lot of difficulty immersing in yaoi novels before. I might try one out if you could tell me which is the least relationship/smut focused. Might also help if the plot was quite tense from a political or action or economic, etc current.