Warning: Contains discussions of eating disorders and abuse that may be triggering for some.

Manhwa, much like many other mediums of entertainment, often serves as an escape from reality and the villainess genre is no stranger to this concept with its typical isekai fantasy setting and gushy romances. As an avid fan of villainess manhwa, I've certainly read my fair share of lighthearted romances as well as cathartic revenge stories, but no other series quite spoke to me as much as How to Win Over My Husband, the main reason being its authentic portrayal of eating disorders.

While manhwa generally aren't afraid to explore darker themes, oddly, not many touch on the topic of eating disorders, leaving the area grossly under-represented. As such, How to Win Over My Husband and its protagonist Ruby stand out as a breath of fresh air in the over-saturated genre, and as someone who has had a troubled relationship with food for years, the series not only gave me the representation I didn't know I needed, but also a nuanced portrayal that all but brought me to tears.

How to Win Over My Husband Naturally Incorporates An ED Into Its Story

Ruby's Eating Disorder in How to Win Over My Husband Feels Real, Not Contrived

Judging by its title alone, How to Win Over My Husband initially seems to be a typical fluffy, otome isekai manhwa. However, chapter #1 quickly makes it clear that the series isn't all that its title makes it out to be. The series essentially revolves around a 21st-century South Korean woman reincarnated into a novel called Sodom and the Holy Grail after dying in a crash as the villainess of the story, Rudbeckia De Borgia.

Ruby's eating disorder isn't just another descriptor meant to add depth to her character, but a clear product of the miserable lives she's led so far.

One of the first things readers learn about Rudbeckia or Ruby is that she suffers from anorexia, and though this fact is quite blatantly revealed, the series incorporates the eating disorder into her character quite well. Ruby's eating disorder isn't just another descriptor meant to add depth to her character, but a clear product of the miserable lives she's led so far.

Be it an otome isekai or a shōnen power fantasy, most contemporary manhwa have begun giving their characters some form of trauma, though this is mostly for the sake of giving them a backstory or a shallow attempt at character depth. However, in the case of How to Win Over My Husband, every aspect of Ruby's character, from her constant need for assurance and her distrustfulness to her eating disorder, is closely tied to her miserable environment, with her eating disorder even coming to play a part in the plot by linking her to her late mother-in-law.

Having suffered extreme abuse both in her previous reincarnation and in the current story, Ruby finds her eating habits are the only thing she has control over in her life, a revelation that instantly guts readers. Moreover, Ruby often turns to purging for comfort. In a way, her eating disorder becomes a self-soothing mechanism for whenever she finds herself in emotional distress, becoming her way of preserving her sanity.

As the title implies, Ruby's goal is to win over her husband and his family and simply survive in a new foreign land where she's surrounded by people who despise her and her family and, in such a situation, her eating disorder comes to feel like her only friend. This sentiment is one that many who struggle with eating disorders are painfully familiar with, and How to Win Over My Husband conveys this toxic attachment impressively well.

How to Win Over My Husband is Surprisingly Well-Informed on EDs

The Manhwa Takes A Much-Needed Sympathetic Approach Towards EDs

Besides the surprisingly realistic portrayal, another thing How to Win Over My Husband does surprisingly well is incorporate finer details. One excellent example of this is Russell's sign, which is the presence of calluses or scars on one's knuckles from habitually inducing vomiting. Russell's sign plays a fairly important role in How to Win Over My Husband by having one of the characters find out about Ruby's eating disorder after spotting this particular indicator on her hands.

By including this particular detail, How to Win Over My Husband not only comes across as well-informed but also educates its readers who may not have been aware of it prior to reading the series. Furthermore, the series also takes up a sympathetic approach towards those struggling with an eating disorder, making it a point to bring up that it isn't something Ruby can "fix" overnight.

While certain characters like the head maid do refer to Ruby's anorexia as a "bad habit" or call her "cursed" and are reprimanded for it, the series also makes it abundantly clear that Ruby isn't doing what she does for attention, steering clear of a commonly held misconception that eating disorders are a cry for attention.

More Manhwa Need to Learn How to Tackle Sensitive Matter From How to Win Over My Husband

Eating Disorders Need More Proper Representation

Overall, How to Win Over My Husband is a heartbreaking story of strength and resilience and, while eating disorders are only a small aspect of the story, its inclusion alone helps hundreds of thousands of readers better sympathize with Ruby. Though I may not have experienced even a fraction of what Ruby has been through, her struggles with anorexia spoke to me on a deeply personal level — an experience I have never quite had with a manhwa before.

Having said that, it would certainly be nice to see more manhwa freely tackle struggles such as eating disorders, which aren't talked about nearly enough. Popular media as well as social media tend to either downplay or glamorize eating disorders altogether, making such representation even more necessary in the present day and age. As such, hopefully, more manhwa will take a page out of How to Win Over My Husband's book on how to address such sensitive matters with care and respect.

How to Win Over My Husband is available on Tapas.