The Queen's Knight

::STORY:: I enjoyed the story, and it only had a few predictable outcomes. Learning about the character's backgrounds were interesting, especially of resident bad boy, Rieno. The story moved slowly but never enough to bore you. Kisses and love confessions took quite a few chapters to appear once Yuna reached Phantasma. Although the romance was a central part of the story (because magical curses and all that other good stuff), the huge focus on political power and Yuna becoming independent was essential. The author balanced the right amount of humor in the dark arcs well, and I liked the hair growth because of love gimmick too.I did think the school setting went on too long to basically be nonexistent throughout the manga. It could have been shorter. ::CHARACTERS:: Yuna had many shades of being a crybaby and this was lampshaded tremendously in beginning arcs. She did show some character development as she became more confident in her status of royalty with time. She sounded melodramatic often but given her circumstances I understand. One thing that bugged me is she forever trained in sword fighting and never had a chance to showcase those skills. What a waste! Mari Park was too much of a "rhymes with witch" too fast. I would've liked for her to play the oblivious love rival more so she could have kept her original personality. I feel like she went through a lot of forced flanderization. Her counterpart, Princess Libera was the epitome of unlikable until she fell for that knight. I cared for her love story but not her terrible personality. Those two were so cute together, but Libera was a butt to the end. Rieno is very handsome but a flat character. He probably fits into the tsundere character trope, and it's eons before anyone sees his sweet side. We know little about him except his grumpy attitude and genetic gorgeousness. It takes nine volumes to see him be anything other than suave, calculating, or rude. Maybe his appeal was waiting to see his ice heart defrost? Ehren (sounds like Aaron doesn't it?) was my favorite character for a while most likely due to my love of romanticism. Schiller was definitely a more romantic character but who doesn't like a knight in shining armor? Surprisingly, Leon, the lovable goofball, became my favorite later on. Leon was pretty good as the comic relief character. He obviously paralleled her brother Beum. He was super passionate about everything he did, had a huge appetite, and was book dumb without being unintelligent. He had all the makings of a shounen hero. As the manwha went on I loved him more. This hot-headed knight is the best! Schiller, who I think paralleled Yuna's oldest brother, was just as funny as Leon. Being a frequent cross-dresser, a poet, a musician, and a member of the light clan makes for a unique character. Chancellor Kent was a thorn in the flesh, but his inferiority complex made him a butt monkey too. He is the first serious threat/butt monkey I have seen. Yuna's brothers as a whole were okay. They served their purpose in the beginning, so what more could you really ask of them? SN: The second, womanizing brother dressed so lame. ::ART:: The art is a bit dated. It has a classic retro look, which is sometimes a hit or a miss with me. All of the men are very beautiful here. Yes, “beautiful” with their long eyelashes and perfectly parted hair. The eyelashes, in general, were so alluring. The random, frequent instances of lipstick appearing on both male and females faces looked so out of place. The noses were very conspicuous, but this was 90's art. On a different note, I like the thought put into all the characters' wardrobes. It was always fun to see a new dress added to Yuna's design. ::ROMANCE:: I knew from the get-go like most love triangles it always ends with (in this case, morally ambiguous) good guy versus bad boy. The love interest eliminations arc was so predictable. The harem route was never really an option. After millions and millions of chapters, the story intensified when Mr. Bad boy started to take the love triangle serious. It was a frustrating-feels worthy journey after that. ::OVERALL:: If you can look past the old art, whiny school beginning, and length of this manwha, it will suck you into its world. The Queen's Knight is officially my favorite manwha. However, there's a scene in volume 14, where one character forces themselves onto another, which is unsettling. The scene ultimately didn't last long, but it was a real turn off. Still, this is a manwha worth reading. I actually binge-read it all in three days, because it was that good. The ending is bittersweet and beautiful, but with a dash of hope.