The Wicked Queen
Instead of the very typical wise, gentle, beautiful, skilled, etc. female protagonist in an asian harem that wins over the emperor (or prince, or prime minister, or whatever) from the wicked Empress, this story is centered around the wicked Empress as the protagonist. The story shows her motivations, reasoning, and thoughts as she goes around being a servant-slapping, self-centered, sometimes misunderstood (more often than not, NOT misunderstood), "Wicked Queen". Meaning that, she is expected (for certain reasons) by everyone to become the Emperor's proper wife (the Empress), but (for other certain reasons) she is married to him as a Queen (Concubine) with the belief that she will one day force the situation to be as she wants, such that she will wind up Empress. It is interesting to watch the dynamics between this woman and the man she fell obsessively in love with, the Emperor. Additionally, it is interesting that they include PTSD/psychiatric disorders as a characteristic of this protagonist. Lovely full colored art, as well. The story definitely makes you want to slap the protagonist and her husband frequently though. lol.
Sweetheart V5: The Boss Is Too Kind!
Dropped this; stopped reading at chapter 206. It is just too monotonous. The characters never learn or grow in any way and the drama is just boring. All that plus the ethically/morally reprehensible elements make this a "no-go" for me. A fairly typical Chinese soap opera style comic. Basically, an emperor in his mid 30s falls in love with a 12 (maybe younger) year old girl that he found on the street and adopted. They both die; the king reincarnates while the adopted princess' soul transmigrates to the future. She conveniently (?) transmigrates into the body of the wife of the reincarnated emperor. Oh, and they both look identical to their "original selves", minus a haircut for the guy that makes him look like a sheep. Then proceeds the development of a love (?) story between a guy in his mid 30s and his wife (he hated the old soul, but likes the "new" one in his wife's body), who has the mentality of an uneducated 14 year old girl...whom he convinces to get pregnant. I read chinese soap opera comics with a hefty amount of mindfulness regarding the fact that there will inevitably be glaring cultural differences and values that grate my tolerance (such as the attitudes toward rape, love, women, gender roles, abortion, domestic abuse, violence, honor, etc.). Even so, I find myself thinking that if I never read another page of this story again I wouldn't ever think twice about it.
Warm Wedding