Keiko Ishihara

Pacing is very fast, almost concerningly so, but an unexpected twist kept my attention. Julius seems interesting. I like Alek with his determination and second lead-ness, but his brother Aaron could come off creepy, real “I’m a nice guy” vibes. Freya cries a lot, but she changes into the prince persona like a charm. I don’t believe she’s that good of an actor, so it feels so out of character for her to look confident so easily.

Very little is explained here, so the worldbuilding feels nonexistent. Because it's the first volume, I'm going to let the jerky pace and the lack of strong character personality (i.e, flatness) slide. I don’t know about this series, but I’ll read volume 2.… (meer)

"Confronting major challenges fills me with fear, so I send a message… that I am the greater threat!"

Again, the death of this series is its pacing and scene transitions. It opens with the new character introduced last volume. Fine. Freya and the gang are on the same ship as him. Also, fine. Freya’s not dressed as the prince. Well, okay. But suddenly they’re escorting a ship of enslaved children??? Where did this come from? The last volume they were on a trip to find some jewels. Then, it went a whole another direction with the queen who handpicked handsome men. What happened to the kids? They just threw that plot away.

With how slapstick and lighthearted the story can be, the gruesome violent or sexual moments can be jarring. Why were there the makings of a threesome in a shoujo manga??? That was majorly uncomfortable. ._.

I wanted to see Aleksi finally confess his feelings, but I think I'm done.… (meer)

This volume is a turnaround. It was fun and engaging, and Aleksi makes a bold move until he takes it back in usual shoujo fashion. It’s only volume 4, y’know. Pacing is still fast and Julius is still inappropriate, but I’m curious to see where the story is going now that the gang has to go on a journey.

We also meet the Prince’s father, who has regressed to the mentality of a child, who knows more than he lets on. I thought their interaction was very heartwarming.

Also, the artwork has improved and become exceedingly beautiful.… (meer)