Manhwa Review | The King and the Paladin by IRINBI

Title: The King and the Paladin



Ezekiel is a noble paladin. For years now, he has been steadily building up his reputation, wealth, and standing in society in hopes of one day reuniting with his long-lost love Calli, and finally establishing a life with her. However, before finding her, he is appointed as the heir to a dukedom as the illegitimate son. Ezekiel accepts his role, and as the heir, he meets with the newly appointed queen of the kingdom. To his surprise, though, the bloody queen Calliope is none other than his long-lost love Calli. Before he can even express his joy, Calli captures him and forces him into a marriage ceremony right then and there.

Calliope has suffered for years under the power of her father’s concubine and her children. Her only reprieve from the suffering was the company of a mysterious man named Ezekiel, who was being kept and trained by the church. The two shared many sweet and intimate moments. After discovering the corrupt and salacious nature of the church, Calliope’s goal is to help rescue Ezekiel and take over her rightful place on the throne as its only direct descendent. However, upon making this decision for herself, she discovers Ezekiel has disappeared, and all she has to go on is the rumors that he has left to become a noblewoman’s concubine. Betrayed by her only love, Calliope goes on the warpath, ascends the throne, and with Ezekiel back under her thumb, she is determined to keep him by her side, even if it means destroying him in the process.

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Manga Review | Perfect World by Rie Aruga

Title: Perfect World



Tsugumi has been in love with Itsuki since . They were never in the same class, but they would often share moments in the library or the hallways, and in these innocent times between friends, Tsugumi’s love for Itsuki blossomed. Itsuki was an active and popular kid, ready to take on the world. He dreamed of becoming an architect, and Tsugumi was prepared to support him. However, just as Tsugumi was working up the courage to confess to Itsuki, he gets a confession from someone else and begins dating her. Heartbroken, Tsugumi fades into the background of Itsuki’s life, and the two naturally grow apart.

Now, Tsugumi is a grown woman working at a job she loves as an interior designer. Deep down, though, she can’t shake the torch that still burns for Itsuki even after all these years. One evening, she is invited to a small reunion with her classmates, and Itsuki happens to be there. They hit it off immediately, which only fans the flames of Tsugumi’s dormant crush. Feeling like this might be destiny, she begins working up the courage to pursue him again, but as everyone begins to leave, Itsuki asks for his chair. He has a spinal cord injury from a car accident and is now wheelchair-bound.

This shocks Tsugumi, and she’s unsure if she can handle dating someone in a wheelchair, but as time goes on and she finds herself actively seeking out Itsuki, the fact that Itsuki is in a wheelchair begins to matter less and less. However, Tsugumi’s acceptance of the new Itsuki isn’t the only problem. Since his accident, Itsuki has sworn off love. Can Tsugumi break down the walls Itsuki has put up around himself? Or are they destined to forever orbit around each other?

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Novel Review | Beast Blood by Sato Fumino

Title: Beast Blood



Euphemia Ashencourt is a pretty girl… and that’s all anyone sees in her, which only puts her that much deeper in her half-sister’s shadow. Her elder sister is none other than the mayor of Gothic City – a corrupt city overrun with Nightz addicts, gangs, and Beast Blood-hating groups murdering them whenever possible. But Euphemia’s sister is slowly working on turning things around. Naturally, Euphemia wants nothing more than to help her sister make the city better and prove that she is more than just a pretty face. So, using her sister’s connections, Euphemia gets a job at a research facility to find a way to naturally destroy the Night Bloom – the flower used to create Nightz.

Euphemia never thought that trying to help her sister destroy some flowers would ever lead her to danger. However, one evening, after seeing the Night Blooms bloom, she is captured by some gang members on her way home. They take her out to the Wilds with the intent to assault her before feeding her to a Muta – a monstrous and blood-thirsty creature. Before the men can touch her, she resolves to take her own life and control her death. But in the middle of her attempt, a man with glowing silver eyes appears.

His name is Zelaide, and he isn’t just any man. He is Beast Blood, a species that looks human but is much more than that. He’s stronger, he’s faster, and he’s more beast than man, and he’s a Hunter – a contractor that does all the violent, dirty work that most humans can’t or won’t. He takes out the men, defeats the Muta, and saves Euphemia. That would typically be the end of Zelaide’s involvement with a human woman, but the moment Euphemia laid eyes on him, she wanted him and wasn’t going to let this beast of a man get away.

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Manga Review | Aishiteruze Baby by Yoko Maki

Title: Aishiteruze Baby



Kippei Katakura is a player. As one of the most attractive guys in his , he has no shortage of partners to play with every day. However, Kippei’s days of playing bachelor are coming to an end when a major family event rocks the foundation of the Katakura family. Kippei’s aunt Miyako lost her husband. Unable to handle the pressures of single motherhood, Miyako leaves her five-year-old daughter Yuzuyu in the care of Kippei’s family until she can get on her feet.

As the only family member old enough to care for her and with enough free time to do it, Kippei is designated as Yuzuyu’s primary guardian. Yuzuyu quickly takes to Kippei and begins relying on him heavily. Similarly, Kippei finds himself increasingly attached to Yuzuyu, and soon, those irresponsible player days feel like a distant memory. It isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, though. Kippei and Yuzuyu constantly face prejudice, trauma, and the many struggles their unique relationship creates. As their bond grows stronger and stronger, the looming threat that one day they will have to part only grows along with it.

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Manga Review | Sweat and Soap by Kintetsu Yamada

Title: Sweat and Soap



Asako works at a toiletry manufacturing company in the finance department, which is convenient since she struggles with something that makes life pretty tricky: sweat. Asako sweats much more than average, so she has to be extra hygienic to avoid smelling out in public. Even with her above-average hygiene habits, though, Asako still finds herself stressing over her smell. As a child, she was relentlessly bullied for sweating, and that trauma has carried over into her adulthood. So, her days are spent in constant anxiety and fear over getting too close to those around her and becoming the laughingstock of her peers due to her hygiene.

Her fears come to a head when the lead product developer Kotaro Natori at work approaches her in the lobby because of her smell. He has an unnaturally strong sense of smell because he develops the soaps their company produces, and Asako’s scent is particularly strong to him. However, he doesn’t dislike her smell at all. Instead, he is inspired by it, and he desperately needs Asako’s odor to inspire him for the upcoming Winter line of soaps he is preparing to present. Though Asako wants to do anything but let Kotaro smell her all day, for the company’s sake, she agrees to let Kotaro smell her at the daily. It’s not long, though, before Kotaro is drawn to Asako for more than just her smell, and even Asako is beginning to enjoy these sniff sessions a bit more than she expected.

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Manga Review | Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts by Yu Tomofuji

Title: Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts



Beastkind and humans live entirely separate lives. Each is designated land with an agreement to never cross into the other’s borders, except for the agreed-upon ritual. To uphold the peace between the human kingdoms and the beastkind, humanity must give a human sacrifice to the king of beasts. Unfortunately for Sariphi, it is her turn to be sacrificed. Oddly enough, though, she isn’t afraid. She has known she was meant to be a sacrifice for a long time and has resigned herself to this fate, ultimately happy that her life and death could be meaningful.

During the ritual, she is faced with the king of beasts. However, instead of killing her, he turns into a man and tries to set her free. Since taking the throne, he has never once killed a sacrifice and instead helped them all to escape. Even so, Sariphi doesn’t leave. She has nowhere to return to and now has no meaning for her life. The king is entranced by her lack of fear, something he must contend with every day because while he is the king of beasts, he is not entirely a beast. Drawn to her, the king decides to let her stay with him under the pretense that she will one day be his bride and help close the divide between human and beastkind.

Having lived her whole life under the assumption she would one day die as a sacrifice, Sariphi must now find a new motivation to continue. She battles against prejudice, political schemes to keep her from becoming queen, and efforts even to take down the king of beasts. Can a human girl survive in a world made for beasts?

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Manhwa Review | I’m the Soldier’s Ex-Girlfriend by Ji Hyun

Title: I'm the Soldier's Ex-Girlfriend



Maise Hazelnut is supposed to be the saintly of the harem novel The Soldier’s Girlfriend. But, unfortunately, the current Maise is not that saintess character. Instead, she is a girl from the 21st century who has reincarnated into the world of her favorite novel! But she’s not just any character – she is the saintess! She initially enjoys the adventure and her cute, soon-to-be-soldier boyfriend, Sucre. However, it doesn’t take long before all of it gets old, especially when Maise is often getting kidnapped so Sucre’s enemies can threaten him. While he is off gallivanting on various male protagonist adventures, he is also flirting with all the beautiful women of the novel.

Fed up with the plot, Maise decides to live her life her way. The first step to do that is breaking up with Sucre, and while he doesn’t take it well, Maise holds firm. So, newly single and living her best, peaceful life, Maise goes out to look for her true love. In her pursuit, she is set up with the mysterious Eith Lancell. He’s handsome, considerate, and everything that Sucre wasn’t, which is just what our independent female protagonist is looking for. Eith seems just a bit too perfect, and it isn’t long before Maise suspects there is more than what meets the eye with her devilishly handsome new beau.

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Manhwa Review | Satan’s Bride by Huyusora

Title: Satan's Bride



Rupia is the only daughter of one of three major noble families in the empire. As the only daughter, Rupia is lovingly doted on by not only her parents but also her brothers. The only downside is that she has yet to debut into society, even in adulthood, simply because her family is overprotective. Unfortunately, though, her family cannot protect her from everything.

One day, the demon oracle Cleora demands that the underworld takes in 500 human women as their brides, starting from the ruler down the long line of succession of the demon throne. When the decree is sent to the royal family, they put out a royal decree to all noble families to give up one of their daughters for this noble task. That, unfortunately, includes Rupia. Her family, of course, detests this command but is unable to fight against it due to their standing in the empire, so Rupia, along with 499 other human women, is transported to the underworld.

Once there, the women are met by demon maids, butlers, and even the demon king himself, Edith. Almost none of the women can communicate with demons except for Rupia and three other women, as they have learned some of the ancient language, which is one of the few languages humans and demons share. As a result, Rupia and those three other women are chosen for the king, and the three demons next in succession for the throne.

By random draw, the women are doled out to their respective partners, and by pure luck, Rupia is chosen by the king of the underworld, Edith. However, Edith is just as displeased with this situation as Rupia. As it turns out, he didn’t want the human women at all. Even so, Rupia and Edith have no choice but to be together. As the new queen of the underworld, how will Rupia manage her new life in this strange place, and will she be able to thaw the icy Edith?

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Manhwa Review | Love is an Illusion! by Fargo

Title: Love is an Illusion!



Hye-sung is an alpha. Er, or at least he thinks he is an alpha. However, that belief quickly goes down the drain while Hye-sung is working at a party and runs into the dominant alpha and musician, Dojin. After being exposed to Dojin’s pheromones, Hye-sung goes into heat. Dojin tries to take care of Hye-sung and save him from himself as the newly awakened omega tries to throw himself on a few alphas. Dojin whisks Hye-sung away to a hotel where Hye-sung rants and raves that there is no way he could be an omega. Finally, Dojin, flustered by Hye-sung’s pheromones and frustrated by Hye-sung’s delusional beliefs, proves to Hye-sung that he is indeed an omega… physically.

After the dirty deed, Dojin realizes that he actually enjoyed it even though he supposedly hates omegas because of the notion that omegas and alphas have to be together. Even more distressing is that Dojin follows up their encounter by writing a song that his peers say is his best work yet. Believing it is just a coincidence, he runs into Hye-sung again, and they have another steamy encounter that not only results in another great song but something neither of them expects: a baby.

Hye-sung wants to get rid of the baby while Dojin intends to keep it, but more importantly, he now desperately wants to hang on to Hye-sung. They make a deal together where Dojin will pay Hye-sung to carry the baby to term, and Dojin will assume full parental responsibilities. Hye-sung will finally be financially comfortable, and he won’t have to be a mother. Still, Dojin plans on doing anything he can to talk Hye-sung into raising their baby together. The problem is he only has the span of Hye-sung’s to do it.

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Manga Review | Kiss Him, Not Me by Junko

Title: Kiss Him, Not Me



Kae Serinuma is a BL fanatic (can relate). She spends all day and all night consuming all manner of BL content, and when she isn’t enjoying BL, she thinks about it, buys it, fantasizes about it, and even spends her time shipping the boys around her together. As a result, she isn’t the most popular girl around. She’s also a bit chubby, which doesn’t earn her any points with the pretty boys in school, but that doesn’t matter. She isn’t interested in boys unless they want to be with boys themselves!

However, one fateful day, Serinuma’s world is rocked when her favorite character, Shion, from her favorite anime, Mirage Saga, is unexpectedly killed. Unable to handle the loss, Serinuma holes herself up in her room for a week. She doesn’t go to school, she doesn’t eat, she doesn’t sleep, and even her mother and brother don’t see her for the entire week. Finally, her brother breaks her out of her stupor, but what emerges is not the lovable, chubby Serinuma. No, what comes out is a gorgeous lady that even Serinuma herself fails to recognize.

When she returns to school, everyone except history club president Asuma Mutsumi fails to recognize her, and once people realize who she is, they don’t believe it! But there is no denying that Kae Serinuma is this gorgeous creature. As a result, she draws the attention of some of the hottest boys in her school, including history club president and third-year Asuma Mutsumi, classmate and soccer club member Yusuke Igarashi, bad boy Shion-lookalike Nozomu Nanashima, and first-year student Hayato Shinomiya. They are immediately attracted to her new look and make it clear that they all plan on winning her heart. Things get even more complicated, though, when she also draws the attention of Shima Nishina, an androgynous girl who is also a BL fanatic and as equally drawn to Serinuma as all the boys.

While Serinuma enjoys her time with all her new friends, the pressure of their love causes plenty of trouble for all involved. What is worse is that she would rather the boys fall in love with each other rather than her! She promises to consider all of them as possible love interests and promises to give them all an answer in time, but how could she possibly choose? Why can’t they just love each other? Can a BL-fanatic actually fall in love with a boy (or girl)?

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