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Story: 8

Palace Meidi is split into 3 major sections: youthful innocence/learning, adolescent complacency, and young adulthood maturation. The split is done cohesively to showcase the shift in the main character’s physical and emotional growth. Pacing wise, the first two sections take up the majority of the text, leaving the last section feeling a bit rushed.

If you came to this thinking that you’d satisfy your craving for displays of romantic affection, this may not be the story for you. Having a story with an impossible love does make the few romantic moments more earned and emotional, however, it will leave some wanting more from the ... main pair as the last section closes.

Dramatic tension between romantic rivals (the male rival in most cases) and general childish naivety about love play a major role in inhibiting their romantic progression. Though some more impatient readers may feel that these inhibitors overstay their welcome, they are kept to a reasonable amount without becoming cartoonish or overly cliché.

Overall the story is reasonably well paced and structured, the plot is heartwarming, but not especially noteworthy, and the drama is kept to a reasonable amount.


Art: 7

The art style prioritises the immediate surroundings, doing away with unnecessary background details. Some might call this lazy, but I view it as a stylistic choice. This minimalistic approach to the art allows the background art that is there to visibly attract more attention. It is often well detailed, especially the drawings of animals, patterns on clothing or in world art, or trees.

Overall the art isn’t a standout quality of Palace Meidi, but it certainly adds nuance to a reading experience.


Characters: 8

The three most important characters are the main protagonist, the female Emperor and the main male love rival. They are all given a fair amount of characterisation, enough to showcase them as fully fleshed out people. Character motivations are all clearly defined and the logic they follow is consistent throughout, aside from the male love rival near the end.

From the moment he is introduced, the male love rival’s only purpose is to inhibit the romantic progression of the main couple, this limits the believability of his supposed hidden affection towards the main character that is exposited near the end of the story.

Overall the characters are diverse enough to avoid confusion both in personality and design, the main cast are fleshed out and given well defined character motivations that are followed consistently, and the protagonist goes through visible and meaningful character growth both mentally and physically.


Personal Enjoyment: 7

I read this for the hope of more overt displays of romance, but I was disappointed. One thing I especially hated was the constant “I didn’t know it at the time but…” exposition that foretells events. I always prefer foreshadowing to come visually or through dialogue instead of the narrator’s exposition. Despite that, I still enjoyed the story overall, but my shipping trash self wished there could’ve been more romantic moments. I won't be rereading this series any time in the future. Because of all that, I don’t think I would go out of my way to recommend this series to fellow romance manga fans.

Also, if you read this review before reading the story, be sure to take note of the trees. I loved the stylised vibe of them.


Overall Grade: 7.5/10