kunii~<3's manga / #Fantasy(11)

mmmmmmrgh i was looking forward to it since the summary sounded fun and the cover looked pretty, but it's pretty boring in all honestly. the actual art is kinda messy but not bad, yet the story and characters aren't compelling at all, it's very cookie cutter uhhh also lowkey found myself more interested in adelina the bitchy sister haha, she's clearly a villain but she also worked hard and planned everything cleverly (except for whatever the heck the poisoned crown was) so i kinda wanna see how she did it lmao

yooooooo this is so cute?!! the fl, astelle, is actually rlly smart, like goddam I love her, she's so pretty and capable AND THEOR IS THE CUTEST BEING THE WHOLE WORLD I LOVE HIM TO BITS and yes, the ml, kaizen, is acc cute and cool too okay, so one thing I wanna get outta the way is all the comments hating on kaizen. I was really close to not reading since I hate the mc forgiving assholes in romance, but the art seemed good so I gave it a chance while scrutinizing kaizen very carefully. I legit went into reading this with prejudice against him, and he ended up being pretty likeable I believe the opinions are derived from spoilers? h o w e v e r the spoilers are from the novel in which I am assuming the ml is a massive asshole, but the manhwa is different! kaizen is acc rlly fun and cute, and he clearly has affection for astelle. buuut due to miscommunication there is obviously the portrayal of him being a jerk in the past. trust me when I say I've read a lot of these types of stories, I can spot an asshole ml or an annoying fl real easily, and these two are neither! they each have their reasons for their behaviours and actions, including why kaizen keeps distancing himself from astelle and why astelle feels the need to hide that Theor is their son. the story is very nuanced and (to quote the translators) you need to read between the lines to understand what is really going on, especially since this is from astelle's perspective and she doesn't know all the facts does this mean they havent made mistakes? of course not! while astelle hasnt done any real big mistakes I would say, there are a few mistakes from kaizen's side. I wish he would've believed in astelle more in the past and divorcing her after just a day was a kinda rubbish move, but then they were both teens and he was trying hard to navigate the harsh political landscape. plus you can understand why he's always so careful since her literal father is sucha big enemy. fr the astelle's father is the real asshole of the comic so yea, i'm rlly glad i acc read this, and to sum up this story is really interesting with gorgeous art and fun characters (yes, even the annoying redhead advisor is lowkey hot and also his interference just provides opportunities for astelle to be badass so that's great) also Theor is a blessing to this world and I would literally die for him, 100 percent my favourite fantasy manhwa child, if you're still waffling read it just for him also the translators are rlly cute and funny, their comments make reading less lonely and more fun, and I appreciate that they took the time to clear the air abt the negativity surrounding kaizen and some of the other characters anyway dont let the top comments deter you if you happen to read this, and go for it! keep in mind you need to be a bit of a smart reader to understand what is going on, even if the comic lowkey hands kaizen's perspective to you on a silver platter lmao

It's Shaia!!! He's just like Daato lol It's sad he feels the need to sacrifice his own happiness for his family's, but he's always been caring, like when he gave his teddy to Mika as a child. (Fortunately, him and Beryl will probably definitely fall in love <3)

Wow, Haru is incredible

loveee this, gorgeous art, gorgeous characters, I'm invested in everyone

Holy shit the mc is diabolical lol I like this portrayal of a demon's behaviour, Belial in the girl's body is certainly demonic, the way they plan and act is fun to watch, and their lack of care for human life is always present and likely won't change, but you forget about it sometimes because they know how to blend in Basically has black butler vibes, Mc reminds me of sebastian but without ciel as a moral collar, doing whatever is needed and also whatever feeds their belly to make the mother's wish come true

Hella boring, all the characters felt kinda shallow, loose ends are left loose, it wasn't sad at all tf why did I brace myself. They had a rlly interesting concept going by tying a new minority of witches into the horrors of ww2 and dealing with the aftermath but it isn't explored properly. Fr what is this story even about Also the thing between Lulu and Camillo was gross I didn't like it, I hate when there's a romantic tone to a caregiver and child. It's not played off like a one-sided crush either camillo is kinda creepy I only rlly like Nicole and fanfan lol

So fucking stupid what a waste of time, the beginning makes it seem interesting but I got invested for no reason The Mc was interesting at first but becomes a doormat and boring real fast, the emperor is a piece of shit and explaining away everything he did with "bro it's their norms" is stupid, he doesn't even change into a better person he can just hide it in front of the Mc like wtf him trying to abort the child without Mc knowing was scary and downright disgusting Also I hate hatee when the child and a parent compete, which goes hand in hand with the trope of the emperor only caring abt the Mc and hating / harming others due to his obsession like what an immature asshole I read the whole thing out of sheer rage and cringe, omg the main couple is sooo cringey, it's like a soap opera but without the campy I just realized this is so booktok dark romance hshdhxhxhdj no wonder it pissed me tf off, it's not a genre I usually enjoy The 2 stars are for kaim and seokju fr they and the translator kept me sane

This is so fucking funny holy shit, I can't believe I slept on this for so many years The main character is cute and likeable, he has a fun personality. I love all the other characters too, especially yerim! (Also I have a small big crush on sunghan--)