The First Night With the Duke

First of all, this manhwa isn’t for everyone. It’s full of cringe moments, secondhand embarrassment, laughter and diabetes-inducing romance. I usually dislike comedy-heavy stories, but the compelling plot and storytelling easily gave this a spot in my top 10 (and I’ve read over 1000 romance stories). The female lead is not the brightest out there (she’s a complete moron), but that makes her all the more charming. There are plenty of smart/cunning (or pretending to be) FLs out there, so I found her silly personality refreshingly adorable and amusing. Many don’t appreciate this manhwa because of her, but to each their own. I loved how distinctand fleshed out the characters are, including the side characters! I don’t need characters to be perfect; that’s hella boring. I prefer them relatable and multidimensional. The art is sublime ✨And I’m not talking about the characters being divinely beautiful, but the way the expressions and details are drawn can make you feel and connect with their emotions (particularly affection and distress). I love when the art truly and deeply resonates with the readers. It’s an isekai rofan so there are cliche moments, but it’s still uniquely written especially about the “isekai” itself. The pacing, ending and side stories are well executed. It’s humorous and sometimes childish, yet also has the sweetest and most beautiful, emotional dialogues. I can write a 1000-word essay about the ML, so let’s skip that. Instead, I’ll quote Ripley to express how I feel about him: “I liked you. It amazed me how you could love someone so blindly… and I also wanted to be loved by someone like you.” Hope you enjoy this story! If you feel frustrated with Ripley, know that a lot of us did! Trust me that the plot and character developments are worth it.

Summary: A college girl has her dreams come true when she wakes up into her favorite romance novel as Ripley, a comedic side character that makes it to the end of the story. Happy to life in the lap of luxury while watching the novel unfold in real time, she couldn’t ask for more… that is until she has a one-night-stand with the the MC’s love interest. - Art, (7 / 10): The quality was solid with a pastel tone that gives certain scenes a “watercolor & ink” vibe at times. - Story, (7 / 10): The initial premise feels like a dime of dozen nowadays,so the main draw is from the characters and how they play with the meta without it getting too complicated and contradicting the characters’ motives. - Character, (8 / 10): The main draw for the series (in my opinion). Many times with stories like these, the main character is either dumb as bricks & but OP socially or calculated but completely inept to improvising on a social level. Ripley falls into the dumb but social category but she is somewhat aware of this, so it’s played to comedic effects instead of drama. And to top it off, the other character’s reactions to Ripley’s shenanigans makes it all the more enjoyable. - Enjoyment, (7.3 / 10): Although there’s a dozen of otome-like webtoons to read, I always found myself checking back to this story to see what hair-brained idea Ripley is up to now. Sort of like Team Rocket, the plan isn’t always as expected but it works out in the end and gives me a good laugh. Definitely Recommend 👍🏾

A story that always makes me laugh!!! Positive: + Humor is unique (but everyone's taste is different, so this applies to me personally) + HC is brave, naive, goofy and much more + the HC is not like the others, who otherwise act very clever and smart + both HCs come together very early on + first season is all about their relationship and how they become a real couple + there are kidnappings and other action moments + from Season 2 onwards, the humor remains, but more serious problems and situations come up for the couple and it gets more excitingNegatives: - the drawing style and colors took some getting used to, but not too distracting - HC doesn't act cleverly, but the episodes are very funny - the Duke is a bit annoying and very arrogant at the beginning, but it still suits Ripley well - Ripley's parents are a bit strange - Death is present here and nothing unusual I found the series very entertaining and it really stood out from the other fantasy & romance series If you want more humor and romance, you should take a look here