The Knight and Her Emperor

moochz Feb 22, 2020

10

all these manga constantly go on about these petite female knights with long hair who are just so goddamn delicate so their male lead can save them. not this one, holy crap. Pauliana acts just like she's been raised; a soldier.  Pauliana's family enlists her in the war in hopes that she will die and their second daughter will be the heiress of the household. Tons of people look down upon and criticize Pauliana for being a woman, ignoring the fact that she is a fully competent soldier purely for her gender, and while it pisses her off, it just makes her work harder. Finally she is captured by the opposing army and the emperor orders her beheaded but his soldiers try to rape her. She fights back and he invites her to his army.  It's not an easy fix all story where the emperor immediately takes interest in her, she has to work to ass off to be recognized by anyone, but eventually people begin to see past her gender.  Pauliana's honestly just the coolest, she takes badass to the next level and i can't even begin on how ripped she is. She's not like Adonis or The Abandoned Empress where they make the lead able to fight but is also gorgeous with no muscle definition or phsyical flaws like scars. she's increditably loyal and doesn't give a flying fuck what others think of her. She's super good in a pinch, great at strategy, and cares about her following soldiers. there is romance but it's a slow burn, and because of that everyone has a real chance of becoming close in a way that seems believable.  listen, just read it. 

ScholarOfYore Oct 25, 2020

8.3

This Story is heavily Character driven and the plot is slightly secondary, so this is something to keep in mind. That beeing said: The characters are truly enjoyable and have a realistic wackiness. What I as well truly loved about this story is the uniqueness of the Main Character and her perfectly odd personalty. She doesn't fit in a romance story at all and this is what makes it beautiful. She also doesn't back down but is still confident and does what she is confortable withand belives in. The side characters too have a great deal of personality without appearing unorganic or artifical (as they sometimes tend to do in romance novels).  The antagonists are not especially important. In the second part of the story there aren't even any real antagonists, but rather people in different positions, with varying world-views trying to make the best of their situation, even if it means somone else will have to suffer for it, but they do not seem to be outright malicous. This might take away some tension, but also gives the story a certain realism. I also really enjoy the art, it's polished and easy to read. The Main Charater isn't unnecessarily and unnaturaly beautified (edit: they are a little beautified, but you could blame that on the art) and the characters have something distinc, but nothing outright wierd (the only unnatural part is their hair colour, but on a personal note I don't mind that, for it allows for greater variety, without making them look over-the-top). All in all: Not everyone typical romance reader is going to enjoy this, since it doesn't soly and sometimes even only secondary focus on the romance. Those who like romantic comedy though should definitely give it a try, as well as those who like character driven stories. Another warning: If you enjoy romantic relationships itself, then you won't find your happiness here. Also for those who like hardcore romance and characters swooning for one another all the time might be dissapointed reading this.  

janoXshi Mar 27, 2020

10

I dont really write reviews for manhua/manhwas  but all i can say is that this story is just GOLD, like damn, Pauliana (the FL) is the best among those called 'strong' female characters. She may look like a tomboy and acts like man but it's not such a problem after  knowing the environment that she grew up in in the story. The author and artist are not afraid of making Pauliana look 'not good'  (cause of how  she got beat up and etc) unlike other stories where the favor is with the MC and that literally everything goes smoothly with their MCs that it doesn't look realistic anymore and that i would drop it because there's nothing new happening to them its getting boring. But in this story, it's not the case, which i found really admiring. What i also like in the story is that there are lots of interesting characters with different personalities. Maybe you might get annoyed with some (like me) but most , if not everyone, will have a character developmet and you just end up liking them anyway.  I really appreciate and like the story, so go read it and you won't regret !