Story (6/10):
The story is of one about a modern girl getting sent back in time by an evil queen hoping to take her body for a ritual. The MC finds herself surrounded by many physically strong men of high social status. The story is definitely a harem romance type.
Art (8/10):
I actually liked the art. Though the art progressively got messier, it fit the ambiance of the series in a sense. It is hard to describe unless you read the manga. As someone that does not mind different types of art and how bad it can get, I can still read the series. This does not mean that everyone can tolerate the art though. However, I can say that the art in the beginning is fantastic. The details are there and the clothes designs, specifically, are elegant.
Characters (4/10):
This is where I believe the manga lacks significantly in, where it is also the reason why I did not enjoy the series very much. Many reviewers constantly bring up how the MC is different from the typical female, weak character. However, I see the MC as a stereotypical magical girl. As a "magical girl," she has a special ability that none others have. This makes her special, but as someone who has read many manga in the shoujo genre, she fits the pattern of one that uses that power to gain attention in order to secure her spot next to her loved ones (I know its a "duh" that's what the main character with super powers should do, but you will see later on how she carries herself in the series). In other words, she gains the praise of other male characters to stay where she is, but in the end, still relies heavily on them to save her.
Furthermore, though people say she is strong-willed and smart, she may be this way in some instances, but she continuously lets male characters take advantage of her. IT'S RIDICULOUS. You see that she has gained powers, but she STILL let's herself stand weak against men! For a majority of the series, she makes it acceptable for the men to manipulate her to the point where she realizes too late that she will be raped! In MANY instances, she is on the verge of getting raped until another male character or other side characters jump in to save her. That is also another thing I would like to bring up.
She saves some people with her powers is some nonchalant way where everyone is overly joyed and is unnecessarily surprised by, but she is always saved by some male character! Whether it is against enemies or whether she is being sexually assaulted, she is almost always saved by men. I see her special ability as a facade that many readers do not uncover and see that she is the weak girl always being saved.
There is also little character development in the male characters. They do become nicer to the MC, where in the beginning, they only saw her as a helpless female. They started to have more respect for her, but in the end, they constantly showed their sexual desires for her. There was little development in their outlook on her as a sex toy, though they do start to let her have more of a say in what goes on.
The evil characters also have a great lacking in character development. The queen specifically, does not learn from her own actions. It is actually sad because you barely learn much about her. She has the same level of development as she did in the beginning of the manga.
Enjoyment (5/10):
I honestly did not enjoy the manga very much. The art was good, not consistent, but good, however, the characters really downplayed the series; the characters are supposed to be the main point of focus to make a series great and I did not see great character development. There were poor messages portrayed in the manga where sexual harassment was an acceptable occurrence from both genders, though obviously, not as acceptable from the female side than the male side. The opinions of other readers saying that the female character was "different" from others because she was smart and strong really made me sad in which it just showed that other readers did not see depth in the psychological mindset of the characters. I may be reading into the characters too much, but it was just too obvious for me not to point out (I am absolutely not saying everyone does not read into characters at all, I just see a different side of the story). Though I did find myself wanting to read it to pass times. There were some instances where I just kind of mindless-read for the plot to continue, with the tolerance of some degrading actions from some of the characters.
Overall (5/10):
If you like to pass by time and just read about the epic adventures a girl traveling through time who experiences a constant danger of evil, it is an interesting series to read. So those that enjoy shoujo, romance, some smut, and historical manga, would be assumed to like the manga. If you also like to read something very light-hearted (mindless, but not extremely mindless reading), then read this. However, if you like true character development and are looking for true female main characters that are strong and smart, do not read this because you will see that the female character is only praised for her powers and doings by the male population in the series, not necessarily praised for her true independence.
Personally, I liked how you could mindless-read and understand the plot without problem. It was the character development that I was hoping for that let me down. I get that the manga is historical so some of the actions are shown to be more acceptable according to the time period, however in my opinion, if there was more character development all around, then the actions of some would not be criticized as mindless and sporadic. Also, if the female character did grow into one of more significant independence and more self-reliance in her own capabilities, then the actions brought upon her would have been seen as more sympathetic.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! (:
