lamsar503's manga / #Romance(23)

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.

This is a funny and unusual story. The FL has a very healthy interest in sex and a very vivid imagination to match it. The ML has a body condition that causes anyone that touches him to blurt out what they are thinking. The two end up dating, and the awkwardness that ensues from his condition causing her to spit out her perverted thoughts is always good for a laugh. Also, watching their relationship deepen is enjoyable. No fear of second lead syndrome here. I have finished reading this comic in Japanese and I know how the story ends; Because of that I think that this manga is only mediocre overall. *Spoilers* Honestly, nothing much ever changes. You spend the WHOLE damn story waiting for ANY progress between the two, or some development regarding his physical condition, and I will say that the story does well with stringing you along. That said, the ending feels super rushed. No new information, explanation, or resolution regarding his condition ever appears. Also, I'm pretty sure the main couple kiss all of TWICE in the entire story, and boy is there a LONG time between those two events. Hell, it even gets to the point where other characters are like "hurry up and do it already, gawd!" (and that includes the girl who had a crush on the ML finally telling HIM flat-out to 'Hurry up and bang" the FL, while standing right in front of the FL...so that should tell you something about how the story goes.) Then, after an abrupt time jump of a couple of years, the FL and ML finally try to do the deed (for the umpteenth time), and supposedly it happens...but, who knows for sure since that is literally the ending of the story. Yup. ML goes to study abroad, but they still stay "together". Years pass. They meet up for a vacation (since he's still studying abroad), and they prepare themselves to have sex in their hotel room, and the very last line of the story is the same line she blurted out when she touched him in the beginning of the story: "Show me your dick." End Story. Yup. Totally anti-climactic to me. I held out all this time because I wanted to see/know how the dynamics worked out. The situation seemed like a comedy gold mine. -- Alas, satisfaction remains out of reach to the very end with this damn story. So now, I guess, we can all sympathize with the frustrated FL...but she (supposedly) got hers at the end, so F*** this ending. Pun intended. Hopefully, it was better for the characters than it was for me as a reader. T.T

Quick story-thus-far sum up: The first season is about 42-44 chapters long (I forgot which chapter it ended on exactly). And is primarily about the background story of the FL, how the FL meets the ML, and how the FL rises in rank and prestige during their conquest of the entire continent. In the first chapter, we see that the ML realizes he's in love with the FL upon finally completing his 10 year conquest. In the final chapter of season 1, it finally circles back to that same moment. In season 2: Currently ongoing, the story shifts back to the original capital city of the ML's kingdom (which is now part of his continental empire) and follows the transitional period of setting up the infrastructure of the empire. The capital city is moved to Yappa (where the FL, as an act of compassion, had assisted the deposed princess to commit suicide in a quick and "humane" way to maintain her dignity in death during the conquest of her kingdom in Season 1). There is a lot more focus in this season on the ML's romantic struggles with his feelings. More specifically, his ongoing romantic and sexual desire for her while being accustomed to thinking he can have whatever/whoever he wants as an emperor..but, at the same time, not wanting to act on his feelings since it might break the faultless relationship between them as a master and servant. On top of that, he also knows he wishes for her happiness...but anytime it seems like that happiness might be given to her by another man, he can't ignore that he wants her happiness to be "being with him." Meanwhile, he has to repeatedly come to terms with the fact that the FL is 100.00% dedicated, loyal, friendly, trusting, and his steadfast ally...but she is 0.00% romantically interested in him. This leads to some good moments of comedy (such as when his feelings of joy leak out unintentionally when he realizes she has declined a marriage proposal), some good moments of "moe" (such as when the FL kabedons/"wall slams" the ML after he visits her as a surprise and he confesses in a daze that she was "so gallant he wanted to kiss her"), and some good moments of slight angst (such as when the emperor finally marries 3 concubines for political reasons, despite his reluctance, and his ongoing love only for the FL alone. And the concubines, so far, are totally likable and very pitiable characters. So even if you hate the fact that they're in between the FL and ML developing a romance, you know that as aristocratic women they had no choice whatsoever in the matter and you can't even dislike them, dang it.) Through both seasons, lots of sexist/gender-biased BS, and the FL's responses, are superficially and directly addressed. My thoughts: Overall, it is an enjoyable story. Art-wise, its a bit better than the average manwha and it has the typical full-color illustrations. As far as main character design, if you approach this expecting that a lovely/handsome king falls in love with a rough and scruffy (and very masculine in appearance) warrior woman, then you'll be fine. Don't expect any femininity from this FL. Seriously, there were many times that I wondered if the artist didn't know how to draw strong women that still look like women, or just didn't know how to draw androgynous women, or just flat-out didn't know how to draw women at all. --- Which felt weird, since the king is so "pretty." --- But, in the end, I was like "does her lack of any sort of traditionally feminine appearance at all, even for a moment, really matter? Does the presence or absence of it change who she is as human or as a woman, and does it affect the believability of the emperor falling, and remaining, in love with her?" -- I concluded that regardless of whether it was due to artistic ability or artistic choices, its an effective mechanism of the comic to draw the reader's attention to their own gender-biases. Story-wise: It started off fairly weakly, with season 1 being rather superficial and having drastic pacing issues. Season 1 covers about 6-10 years, depending on how you look at it, and the story basically went in a repeating loop of "...(1) battle here, sexist garbage occurs, sexist garbage dealt with like a boss, time leap, move scene, (1) battle here, sexist garbage occurs, etc...". Additionally, the characters were rather 1-dimensional. When I say 1-dimensional, I mean it felt like the story presented characters such that it felt like it was saying: "this is the emperor/conqueror character, this is the grumpy sexist character, this is the "defies the odds, but in a believable way" female warrior character, etc.". And eventually, it got to the point that I just wondered just how long I would be reading until I could see the scene from chapter 1 again. That said, season 2 is really helping this story become much better in various ways. The most important ways are that it is helping: to flesh out the story-world setting, to depict the characters in more well-rounded/multi-faceted ways, and to bring some more depth to the themes of sexism/gender-bias through personal growth of characters' mindset and thoughts (rather than just the FL "muscling" her way through BS gender-based situations). Up to now reading reminders to self: FL is head of second special forces division, which is usually the emperor's personal guards. As a strategic move, the emperor ordered the FL to be the protector of the 3 concubines (which is a lower position and much less respected) under the guise of a punishment for vomiting in front of him (again). FL is aware and happily following orders, as always. The concubines really seem to like (and envy) the FL, and likewise the FL likes the concubines. That said, she can't understand or empathize with the concubines' concerns about pregnancy, marriage, etc., or begin to fathom why they choose to endure silly things like starving themselves before their wedding to be more slender. The emperor seems to be having marital relations with the concubines (based on a pregnancy false-alarm), but it is not clear if that is true yet. Still, the emperor said he'd make whichever concubine bears an heir first the empress, while knowing that the FL, whom he loves, is infertile. The idea that FL is infertile is currently unsubstantiated. We know her period is irregular, but that is to be expected with malnutrition, heavy alcoholism, excessive exercise, and low body fat (FL has 8-pack abs anyone would envy). Being from a conservative and patriarchal (read: ignorant) society, its only natural that an irregular period would be enough for someone to label her infertile. Currently, one concubine had a "phantom pregnancy" scare. A second concubine is sick with a cold and is talking in her feverish state to FL about how envious she is of the FL's strength and independence. The FL is starting to appreciate the struggles of women who didn't find a path like her own. The emperor was super shocked by news of a possible pregnancy, but haven't seen him since it was revealed to be a false alarm. There's a pudgy dude in the palace that is stanning the FL, while also treating her like a lady. FL is starting to like it and become receptive to the rare treatment. -- Possible spring-board for developing a romantic interest for FL? I'm looking forward to more.

Cute little romance story that helps bring a sense of closure to the other version of "the slit-mouth woman" by the same author. Kinda like a parallel universe with lots of overlapping areas and with a quickly wrapped up ending. I'd say neither one of the stories is really all that great by themselves, but they are cute enough for a quick read through together.

Pacing is way too fast, characters are superficial, story is nothing special. There's decent art, but nothing really noteworthy here.

The original story about Katarina a.k.a "Bakarina". It's one of the better spins on the "I was reincarnated as the villainess in an otome game" story trope. Bakarina's only focus in life is to strategically prepare for (and avoid completely if possible) her own doom as it was written in the otome game she played in her previous life. Comedy ensues when her air-headed nature, limited common sense, and hyper-focus on her survival goals directly results in an ever-growing mixed gender harem, but she doesn't recognize that for even a single second. Meanwhile, the people in the harem do realize what's happening and vie against each other at just the right amount to still maintain their friendships and create a funny atmosphere without any angst. Overall, it's a really well balanced, light-hearted story considering it is primarily about a girl doing all she can to avoid being executed, murdered, or banished...even if that requires learning how to be a farmer and make fake snake toys.

Seems interesting so far. There's not much to it yet, but maybe after another 100 short chapters it'll get somewhere. But, I gotta say, I do wish that the ML would keep his mask on. I don't know where the ML's face from the cover went, but it'd be nice if he actually looked that way in the comic. -- I mean, he's obviously not a monster, but he has the face of a kid somewhere between the ages of 8-14 years old depending on which chapter you're reading (even though he's 22 by the time you see it). Yeah, the face of a sparkly-eyed 8 year old on a adult man's buff, warrior body kinda ruins it for me. I wish the illustrator could learn from the ML in "Beatrice". That right there is a *fine* example of a hot, beautiful, but still "masculine" man in both face and body.

The daughter of the god of the netherworld falls in love at first sight with the god of war. She pursues him only to discover that he is about to face a heavenly trial to increase his divinity by going through 3 mortal lives. She asks her uncle, the Jade Emperor of the deities to allow her to follow him through his 3 mortal lives and is granted permission to do so. The first life she spends raising the reincarnated god of war in a chinese-style/cultivation-martial arts themed world (which is apparently not Earth, based on later chapters). She retained her memories and superhuman abilities while he had no memories of being a god. For the second life, set in modern times on Earth, she accidentally wound up reincarnating as a male, and the god of war as a female. They meet in high school. She (now a he) has her memories and has to figure out if the god of war (now a she) still has his. As of chapter 53, they have just had the drink of oblivion (which wipes all memories of the immortal realm upon rebirth) and have entered the portals to descend to the last mortal realm setting for their final trial. I really enjoyed this more than I expected to. I'm looking forward to more. the novel: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/6107/three-lifetimes-completed