Apr 26, 2015
I’ve got to the ninth chapter and to the boiling point, so I’ll write a review, despite not having completed this manga or being a part of the target audience. It’s just that the beginning is very good, but the development is disappointing, despite the (mostly) beautiful art.
The art is the easiest aspect to judge, since it’s really pretty, aside form a few odd frames here and there. The male MC is gorgeous, as he should be, and I appreciate the well-done palace interiors (they do really look like something from a XIX century European aristocratic residence). Oh, and also many may decide upon reading
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or not reading the manga based on the fact that the female MC is a megane.
The premise and the first couple of chapters made me very enthusiastic as well. The obvious attraction is the unique personality of the female protag – at the beginning she seems to be a very realistic and collected girl, who can hold her own in her complicated circumstances. She has her own interest – she likes gothic novels, which is rare and endearing, she knows the value of wealth, that she needs to maintain the status of the family, and she is not naïve.
Or is she? *sigh* Why does it happen so often?.. By the fourth chapter the plot gets to the part of adding new bishies, which is a plus, I guess, but the protag’s personality stops developing. Her outward naïve personality becomes her true one or something - it’s truly hard to explain. Her tyrant husband shows signs of cruelty and threatens her, but this is laughed off as nothing important – just a tsun side - nor does the heroine reflect on it. Maybe it’s covered in the LNs, but here we don’t get any explanation of why she starts to believe that her husband, against who everybody warns her, won’t harm her. The same is true for her dealings with some other characters. And this stupidity really does wear the good sides of the story away.
I can’t say that the romance part also got anywhere, like, it wasn’t even present to be honest. The comedy and hints on political intrigue take the space. That’s fine by me, but may be disliked by some readers. Btw, unexpectedly this manga touches upon some interesting political issues on, say, a middle-tier YA novel level. Decide for yourself, if it’s a plus.
So, basically, the story starts off very good, and it’s definitely worth to read for a few chapters, but lately it degrades and balances off its non-stereotypical heroine with a barrage of other clichés – the misunderstood dark guy with complex past, the loud annoying midget barging everywhere, the playful blonde assassin (ugh), “food eaten together is tastier” and so on. Some of the topics could’ve been interesting, if they had been studied more in-depth.
I must say that I am disappointed by wasted potential, even though I must admit this manga at least had said potential, unlike many romance works.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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