axelmania's manga / #ongoing(909)

the story is actually really engaging but.. lmao the premise that the solution to tyranny in monarchy is just to find a better king and it literally coming from a childrens book within the storys universe. weird pacing and not enough narration to follow when events are happening. and the side pairing goes in a dubcon direction after doing well at not fetishizing sexual exploitation during the first volume of manhua. but the authors do well at spacing out development of the main pairing so im on edge to see what happens with them, lol. yes im on the edge of my seat waiting for tappytoon to send my phone notifications, clown emoji

its not even the plot or execution of this manga that i have a problem with. i think a lot of people who read this will enjoy it. the romantic development goes at a good pace. but its just not fun for me to see the narrative pushed that every woman wants to be as conventionally attractive for others as possible and if she says she doesnt shes lying to herself.

i wasnt sure how great this was reading season one, but wow, season two blew me away!

the main pairing is fun, but more than that i appreciate the depiction of teenage life, which goes far beyond most manhua and manga in its level of detail. this is teenagers acting like teenagers.

the rapidfire character introduction is a mess, especially given how shallow the character designs are. its just started, so if it improves from here i might change the rating.

the biggest win here is the setting that reminds me of pro-wrestling, the constant flux between reality and performance and the messiness that comes when you can no longer see the difference. you dont think youre going to be that sympathetic towards the protagonist, but then you slide into it and desperately want to see her grow, and all romance is swaying back and forth, dangled in front of you, and you have no idea where its going to land. also very funny sometimes! 2022 update: wow! so, coming back to this and reading into the 10th volume, i can say that this is an incredibly written drama, and i'm so happy the author is going an explicitly lesbian route. i love the layers that get peeled back for each character as we find out more about their insecurities and backstories. however, the focus on interpersonal drama ironically leaves a lot less time for the yuri acting premise, and i'm not sure how rereadable the series is, with its reliance on reveals.

funny and has a cute boyish protagonist and plays with gender? of course im going for it