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Friday, July 15, 2016

"The Queen's Knight" Manhwa - Story Review


So I finally finished this manhwa called "The Queen's Knight". This one started running on 1997 (pretty long ago, yeah) and I started reading this few years ago. The frequency of the scanlations was pretty slow so I had to put it off for a long while, eventually forgetting it. Lol.

And then one time, I was looking through my on-going manga list and saw this title once more. And ho! I realized it was finally completed, so I didn't waste any time and started reading it again all the way from the first chapter.

And I truly think people with the same train of thought would like this.



I'd have to admit that most manhwas/mangas like this tend to have one problem: that is, if the story went on too long, it feels way too dragging. And this manga is most likely one of those. But maybe that shouldn't discourage you.

Let's start discussing about the visuals or drawing styles first.

As you can can see, this is a pretty old manhwa (1997) so the art style is pretty old fashioned. If you're a sucker for modern style art, this manga would probably not satisfy you (but I think some characters are eye-candy enough to make you want to go on).

Truth be told, I'm not very fond of the old-style drawings. I have had to put down many mangas I've started to read because of it. But then, this manhwa has this certain charisma that made me drawn to it. Plus, the drawing does get better as the story goes along. And it's always fun to see the physical transformation of the female characters. Our main character specifically went from being an ugly-duckling tomboy to a very beautiful swan, though probably still a bit of a tomboy.


Story and Characters

Synopsis by Wikipedia: When Yuna Lee's mother moves to Germany to pursue a music degree, Yuna is left to stay with her father, a university professor, and her three older brothers, who are overprotective of her. During her summer vacation, she visits her mother in Germany, where she falls off a cliff and is rescued by Rieno, an 18-year-old knight living in the land of Phantasma. Rieno makes a deal with Yuna that, because he has saved her life, she must become his queen. Indebted to him for saving her life, Yuna is torn between her normal world back home and life as Phantasma's Queen.


So, what we're dealing now is a story about a girl who was spirited away to another world called Phantasma to become the "Queen".

Phantasma is probably one of the odd worlds you'd encounter on any romance fantasy mangas/manhwa. Phantasma is a land currently plagued with an eternal winter and dark forces roaming around freely. And that's not the only weird thing either. The thing is, all people of Phantasma sleep throughout the winter to prevent them from dying of old age. And the only thing that could wake them up from the their slumber is the arrival of spring.



Sadly, the arrival of spring isn't seasonal just like how our world does. Spring depends on the state of the heart of Phantasma's "Queen". Meaning, only if Yuna's heart is filled with love will the spring come.

So, let's talk about my opinion since I don't really want to spoil you any longer.

While there are certain scenes with predictable outcomes, I'm happily telling you that this one isn't as predictable as it seems. The first few volumes, I just knew in my heart that he's going to end up with Rieno. It's pretty typical for romance manga main characters to end up with guys like him after all.

And then Ehren appeared and Rieno went out-of-scene for a while. And Ehren was, gah! He's the perfect knight every girl would dream of! A lover, a best friend,and someone whose shoulder you can cry on. That moment, I practically switched sides. I was like, uhmm... with all these developments, I'm sure she's going to end up with Ehren.

And then my switching of sides went on for a while...

Lots of twists that I'm sure no one had expected 100% have happened. With Ehren's mood swings and Rieno's cheesy confessions, I was actually having a hard time figuring out who the hell is the canon relationship. Lol.

The only let down for me was that some characters are kind of inconsistent with their devotions. Some of my thoughts were like I thought you're never going to do it again, so why are you doing it again? or I thought you'd fight fair and square. Is that fair and square? or  What the heck is your purpose, dude? Can't understand you. Yeah, thoughts like that. If you don't think you would be bothered by this inconsistency, then go ahead and read!

Another thing, I actually really hate stories that are far too focused on romance. That's probably why I appreciated this. Although this manhwa's main story is rooted in romance, I liked how the story shifted it's focus from love to Yuna's growth, rise to political power and building friendships for a few volumes.

I'm not going to say who she ended up with, but here's what I had to impart to you: This manga would end in a rather bittersweet way. I'm someone who likes tragic endings more than happy endings (that's why I liked Divergent more than Hunger Games), so I was a bit happy on the way it all played out. Though I must admit it kind of hurts.


Nevertheless, I liked how the manga didn’t try to be like all other shoujo mangas out there that forces out a happy ending so much that it feels plain. Big emphasis on the word force. While it’s a very bittersweet ending (with all those deaths and rejections), I do think it’s the most realistic ending of all, or as realistic as it can be.


And while some of you might be very disappointed or hurt at the ending, I think it has served all its purpose—that is, to teach us that love is a powerful force. Even if things don’t go your way, even if it leaves you hurt and broken, and even if there’s no happy ending despite your sacrifices, true love is still something worth fighting for. (Lol, I think I’m about to cry while typing this).

So, do I recommend this? YES. But only to those who does not belong in this list:
1. Those who hate slow-paced stories right to their bones.
2. Those who hate reverse-harems
3. Those who hate sad endings.
4. Those who hate confusing plots.

That's pretty much all! Thank you for reading this lengthy post. So, are you going to try reading it? Why or why not? If you have read it, what do you think?

Share your thoughts with us!

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