Ludwig Kakumei - Reviews

Ludwig Kakumei's opening chapters are very diffrent that the rest of this comedic but also very grim reimagining of popular german fairytales. This makes sense considering that Kaori Yuki wrote the first two chapters in 1998 and the rest from 2004 till 2007. You can definitely tell that this manga is a product of it's time, maybe by the fact that the author states that the main character was inspired by Atsushi Sakurai or by the horrible leopard print that's everywhere.

Spoilers below.

Ludwig is a perverted degenerate prince with a very macabre hobby of collecting and preserving the corpses of beautiful women, which he gives up at the end of the second chapter. That's when his character makes a full 180! He starts being more sympathetic, showing how he values his loyal servant Wilhelm (even if he doesn't want to admit this) and starts giving genuine advice to his potential future-brides and love rivals, even if that means that he will have to continue on his travel. 

The different fairytales were a decent length and as someone who grew up with all of these stories, I think the author did a very good job putting her own spin on them. It was interesting to see all of this told from the perspective of a not so charming prince instead of the lovely (?) princesses. 

I've always been drawn to Kaori Yuki's detail rich and dramatic art style. This was my first time reading any of her work but I liked this enough to say that I want to try more.

First of all, eww.

Second of all, I enjoyed that way more than I should have.

Ludwig Kakumei retells lots of fairy tales in an extremely dark way. They're all brought together by the journey of a handsome prince in search of a bride. Slight problem being he is a necrophiliac. With that being the standard set by the main character, I think you can imagine the sort of thing that goes on in this.

Honestly, the characters in this are utterly ridiculous. The main character is a egotistical, apperance obsessed necrophiliac, and none of the other characters are much better. They all seem to be a bit over the top in their own ways, but I guess that's half the charm. Plus, given the majority of them are insane, it's no real surprise. Surprisingly, the main character actually gets quite a decent bit of character development, as do a few of the other reoccuring characters.

Is watching your favourite stories getting desecrated before your eyes worth it to read this? No, probably not. Should you read it anyway? If you're a fan of the twisted, then definitley. Otherwise, you might want to give this one a miss.  

What's more fun than taking our favorite childhood fairytales and twisting them into heinous tales a betrayal, bitterness, and hatred? Aside from tacos and dirty magazines nothing. I latched on to this series because 1: I love Yuki Kaori's art, its fabulous. I love how it teeters on the edge of goth and glam, I love everything about it. and 2 I love making those old princess stories into horror stories, it's just so fun. And so we begin:

Ludwig Kakumei is the story of one Prince Ludwig who has an unhealthy obsession with the bodies of beautiful dead women. His father the king, fed up orders Ludwig to go out and find a live girl to marry instead of doing the ghastly things he's probably doing to all the carcasses he houses. From then on the story follows Lui and his faithful servant Wilhelm travel to distant lands searching out the princesses of our childhood such as Cinderella and snow white two of my favorite chapters. It's a fun ride with a mix of humor and danger for those who love the comedy adventure genre. 9.3/10

The art of course is fabulous. I love how she imagined the different princesses as well as the fashions. She's definitely an artist who pays equal attention to both male and female characters which means that there are plenty of beautiful women and especially men to go around. You may know her work from the manga’s Angel Sanctuary, Count Cain, etc. She's very detailed in her art which I love, no problems on that. 10/10

Characters are a load of fun. We have Ludwig, the spoiled no nonsense gorgeous but disturbing prince. His sidekick and resident push over Wilhelm as well as many others from tales by the brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, and more. The fun in the series is that the prince doesn't always act like a prince, in fact some days he's a tool. His only criteria for being his bride is to be beautiful and have big breasts. Hilarity ensures I promise. Another good mark of the characters is that they all have such different personalities. This princess may indeed be a damsel, but next may be a psychotic killer, and the next still a desperate pushover. 7/10

Overall it's a great story for those who enjoy the twisting of classic stories. It's classified as a horror, however don't expect any kind of gore. This kind of horror is limited to tales of sadness, small amounts of incest, implications of romantic affairs with corpses, etc. It's a fun ride but only as a summer fling, don't expect to take it home to the parents. It's just a fun ride in the back alley behind the dumpster not a life long commitment. The story itself is shallow, no life lessons here. It'll take less than a week to read if that's all you're reading. Not for readers who want something more than just a fun little story. Not for children either for the above mentioned reasons.