Real/Fake Princess 5

I was almost right in my last post, except the death came in a way I did not expect.  I was really impressed for awhile, because I thought the artist had done something that one does not see very often for the finale of a series.  It was taken back at the last minute, which made me extremely sad, but it was still a neat plot twist.

The princess goes back to the capital to meet the emperor, her brother, and accept the penalty for her actions.  She gets to meet her “brother,” but not the emperor.  I thought this was also kind of a neat way to handle her situation.

All the romantic tangles are resolved for good in this volume, too.  It’s got a happy ending.  Though there were a lot of things good in this volume, and I really got into the latter half of the series, I’d still say this was a pretty average shoujo romance type series.   It was very pretty though, and had pretty good costume design.

Real/Fake Princess 4

Drama drama drama!  Rumors at court throw a huge wrench into the works, and things aren’t as smooth for the main character any more.  Not that they ever were.  She didn’t really want to stay at court anyway, so she flees.  Good thing the two male love interests also flee the capital so they can conveniently run into each other again.

There are lots of choice love scenes between the Seeker and princess.  It’s not quite as developed or sincere as I would like, but they are decent.  I was a bit disappointed that the turmoil from last volume didn’t mess things up more, and that it was straightened out so quickly, but plenty else is happening to make up for it.

Most of the major events in this volume involve the rebel forces who are going against the Emperor.  The characters run into them again and again.  The rebels aren’t really developed enough, and their case really isn’t explained in much detail (though it does go into why the Emperor isn’t very good), so I couldn’t really sympathize much with them.  It also seems like they will be left behind soon, but not before another suitor for the princess reveals himself.

Yeah, I’m really liking it now.  It’s still nothing fantastic that everyone should read, but I’m pretty drawn in now, and I really am looking forward to who the princess will wind up with in the end.  I’m willing to bet death intervenes at some point next volume though.  That seems like it would be the easiest and most convenient way to resolve the romantic rivalry.

Real/Fake Princess 3

I really got into the story in this volume, finally.  The romance between the main character and the seeker starts heating up, and meanwhile, the guy the main character had a crush on her entire life finally realizes he wants her to be his wife.  I’m very curious how this will work out now.

In addition, there’s some added drama when the main character is to be presented at the capital as the princess.  The Seeker’s lover, who feels spurned by his attention toward the princess, shows up and presents herself as the real princess, complete with evidence stolen from the main character.  She does many highly dramatic things, but she tells one lie which should make the next couple volumes highly enjoyable.

Now we’re getting into the kind of thing I can sink my teeth into.

Real/Fake Princess 2

Things move away from being a series of misunderstandings between the two main characters to being more of a love story.  Much of the volume is about the main female going back to her old village for a couple days to say goodbye to her loved one, accompanied by the Royal Seeker.  The Royal Seeker may be developing feelings for the girl too, and vice versa, which worries me since… well, you’re not sure how that will work out.

We find out that the Emperor might not be… well, holding the best interest of the empire to heart.  It’s possible that he doesn’t actually want to find more relatives since a tax has to be payed for every royal, apparently he isn’t interested in pushing forward and reclaiming (?) the kingdom’s land from invaders, and he also is apparently uninterested in evidence about rebellions.  So the collapse of the kingdom is another possibility down the road.

The series is still pretty mediocre, though.  The plot isn’t terribly exciting, and I don’t really like any of the characters so far.  But like I said, I’ll finish it because it’s only five volumes.

Real/Fake Princess 1

Would you believe I’ve never read any manhua?  I would, because there’s not very much published in English.  There was a DrMaster sale recently, and I bought all five volumes for around $18 or something like that.

So far, it’s just sort of okay.  A girl is living a quiet life in the country when her guardian decides that it’s time for her to go back to her brother, who happens to be the Emperor.  Since she fled the capital when she was 4, she has little knowledge of her previous life, but she does know she doesn’t want to be separated from her guardian.  She just wants to live happily ever after with him.

The Emperor has appointed a seeker, who serves the sole purpose of finding other members of the royal family who were scattered during the last war.  Mostly he just sends away fakes who try and claim the titles for money. Of course, the main character of the story is extremely strong-willed and gives the seeker no end of trouble since she doesn’t actually want to be the princess.  There are lots of scenes where the main character picks fights with the seeker.  These are actually fairly entertaining, and are mostly how the character of the seeker is revealed, since most of the time the arguments are a misunderstanding on the part of the main character.

By the end of the book, we have romantic connections between several characters that seem to be warming up.  Nothing terribly dramatic happens though, and it reads like a vaguely lukewarm fairy tale.  I did like the art, and there’s a good bit of history in the back of the volume that I thought was quite interesting.  At this point though, I don’t really sympathize with any of the characters and I’m not really into the plot.  I’ll keep reading, though.