Sleeps In Sunbeams's manga / #Historical(123)

A lovely story with quite a few moments that tugged at my heartstrings. The Heroes love for Louisa was deep and true, and he never gave up on the girl he loved. The end of the story was the bittersweet style of a life well lived surrounded by love. It’s enough to make you shed a few tears and yet feel happy at the same time.

This was a nice foray into an isekai story without getting entrenched in hundreds of chapters that often feel are filled with needless plot tropes. Erika is cast into an otome game as the villainess facing death in every plot line. Even worse, the game is infected with a bug that is causing some serious interference. The things I enjoyed were the friendships made by Erika, her cheats and her romance option. There were some unexplored things like the impact of the white king and the heroes journey that made this feel like book 1 in a longer series though. Both would seem to be too important to leave unresolved and their lack does distract from the feeling of story completion.

A cute, short Ikeman story where heroine Licca Belmonte has very little memory of her previous life other than the few that stir from a pop up screen when she meets Geralt. I thought the story was nice, it wasn’t piled with loads of melodrama and them growing up together and eventually falling for each other is a sweet trope. I was puzzled over the affection meter and never managed to figure out why the scores moved as they did. All in all, this was a nice, easy read for a rainy afternoon.

I enjoyed the story very much. Hildegarde was the pope in this story, reincarnated from a powerful CEO in Korea who did many charitable deeds. Enough to be deemed a special soul and given the choice to follow her sisters soul and dedicate herself to their happiness. I liked her impressive powers and the golden eyes, hair and power effects that were all filled with light. She was also good at reading people and cared about a safe world. Contrastingly, her love interest was the dark haired Emperor with the OTT need to protect his Hilde. He had an intensely possessive nature that needed a strong person to manage and red eyes that are reminiscent of the many people he has ruthlessly killed. I love a dangerous and possessive guy, but I would want him to also respect boundaries. So the way Hilde managed to get Caleb to reign in his murderous inclinations was something I respect in a FL. Also, very handy to heal what he did coz he started as a bit of a violent brute. I enjoyed the story. For sure it was about saving the world and dealing with corruption, but at all times it was also very evident to be a love story. The way the Emperor totally adored Hilde was reflected in his actions, his gaze, his words, the occasional hint of a blush and in what he was prepared to sacrifice for her (pretty much everything just FYI). Hilde’s growing affection for the Emperor was a different dynamic of being drawn against your will at first, to seeing beneath the rumours and stories and judging him by his constant care and attention. There really was a fated mate/ soul mate feeling between them both. So read this for the love story of two who are more intertwined than you realise at first, and who will always find each other in the end.

A nice little isekai story based on the novel by Kuru Hinata. Sixteen year old Nosake Sumire transports to a different world; the land of Gladitoria. Appearing in the room of Violand Ole Lesuic (26 yo), Sumire is instantly attracted to the rather stoic older man and after some some introductions and time figuring out how she appeared in this world, Sumire happily seduces Vio for the comfort she finds in his arms. The rest of the story follows the beginning steps of determining whether travel between their world goes both ways, meeting Vio’s large and highly ranked family, forming friendship with an ivy butler and Sumire and Vio falling for each other. There are a lot of unresolved story points by the end and I believe that this short manga would have benefited from less extra characters and more time between Sumire and Vio talking or doing things together to make any love like feelings believable. Overall, it was cute yet lacking in real character connection.

A reborn noble in an otome game with the memories of her past self, Karen was engaged to a prince and had a dark fate in store when the heroine arrived. Her childhood friend Hansel was a cursed child, alienated by his colouring and marking. In adulthood, Hansel becomes the princes attendant and keeps a cool distance from his engaged childhood friend. The rest of the story follows Karen and Hansel falling for each other as the prince is readily swayed from his fiancée by Alice. There are some good lovemaking scenes and a happy ending, but it feels like there was much that was unexplored (eg what made a cursed marking cursed? It seemed to have no impact other than social rejection).

This was brilliant; an irresistible story that kept me coming back to see what’s next and whether that cold facade of the Water Dragon God would slip and hint at a feeling. I loved the FL Asahi. She was vulnerable yet strong and was not one to rely on a man (or God) to save the day. Ofc I loved Suijin. His everything revolved around Asahi long before he realised. Same for Asahi with the Water Dragon God. Wonderfully intense, moments of heartbreak, an epic love story. One to re read over and over, so I better buy it.

An epic romantic adventure graphic novel that was totally addictive. Japanese high school student Noriko transmigrated to a fantasy world where the first person she meets is Izark, a serious and powerful young man who seemed ready to let her follow his lead. In a world of monsters and a mysterious prophecy, Noriko and Izark travel together and fall in love while the legend of The Awakening and The Sky Demon looms. No more spoilers, just read this wonderful story where the FMC is an ordinary girl who is neither a clinging damsel in distress nor an overpowered Mary Sue. She musters her courage to help where she can and is incredibly loyal and supportive of Izark. That warrior in turn treasures her and it’s so sweet how close the two are. This is an older story written around 1990’s - 2000’s, so the art style is (naturally) older, but it is still cute (especially the MCs) and it’s balanced by the plot which was rich and colourful.

An epic graphic novel set in the time of the dominance of the ancient Hittite Empire. The FL started as a 15 year old school girl from Japan who was forcibly transmigrated many thousands of years to the past and the city of Anatolia. There she met Prince Kail and found herself falling for the roguish playboy whilst becoming embroiled in the murderous schemes of the Dowager Queen. This story spans years and along the way Yuri is in the thick of political intrigue, war, kidnappings and revolution. I liked how she became stronger as a woman over time. Always a little impulsive and reckless but gradually tempering that with maturity. Yuri was charismatic and I appreciated that she wasn’t restricted by her gender in her ability to be a powerful woman in her own right. The romance plot line was very sweet. Yuri and Kail were devoted to each other and for all the prince wanted to keep Yuri tucked away and protected he never stood in her way and valued her opinions and independence. The secondary characters were great, from the twin bodyguards to the enemy leaders and generals to the dowager Queen. There were some heartbreaking moments that had me crying, but overall this was a really entertaining romantic adventure that I loved.

By an amazing stroke of luck, I read Red River before this story and while they were of different times by different authors, it was the descendants of Red River who featured in this story. This story was beautifully drawn and the characters were wonderful enough that I wanted their happiness to be really special. I liked the ML more than the FL because his love and devotion were so all encompassing. Ramses had to bear the pangs of separation way more than Ivy and his dedication to getting her back was enough to break my heart at times. Not to say that Ivy wasn’t also prepared to sacrifice all for Ramses, just that he suffered. I liked the ending (though a part of me didn’t care if history stayed a little different for them to be together) and read that there is a potential for more. Tbh I am happy just seeing them finally together. I know that those two souls will love each other anywhere, anytime.