Initially the story seems to have a lot of similarities to Red River such as the tomboyish female protagonist with a short dark hair, befriending a wild horse, etc. but indeed this isn't the case further into the story. The story is very different, not repetitive with scenes of battle after battle, and rather interesting as it explores ideology, commitment or duty to country vs. personal interest, etc. as well as different types of love, including requited, unrequited and obsession. However, what is most unique about this manga is the build up of characters, and not just the 2 protagonists which is typically the case in most shoujos. The story does a nice job of building a story behind a number of characters just enough to help understand why a character thinks, behaves, and acts the way he or she does, making them seem real. Further, the characters and scenes are beautifully drawn with an appropriate amount of detail.

Overall, this is a great manga definitely worth reading. The translation is bit weak (although appreciate the scanlator's hard work bringing this to the English manga fans) and takes away the meaning of some lines. It's too bad that the manga hasn't been picked up by Viz that can really bring out the quality of this wonderful manga.

... Last updated on January 26th, 2009, 9:30pm

Omg, just finished the whole story… the ending was horrible. Maybe because I had been involved with these characters more than usual but I really didn’t expect the end turns out this disappointing. Don’t take me wrong, I have no problem with an open ending in stories but this one was different. All the connections that writer had put between these characters and readers just got loosen at the end without reaching to satisfying conclusion. Despite all the troubles and problems, prince, Matia and general were the same persons at the end… all alone and pitiful inside… What a pity.. I love this story more than I can say but the ending really killed me… *sighs and nods*

... Last updated on December 29th, 2007, 6:45am

This started out okay but began to decimate........WAY TOO FAST. Honestly, I thought the general was a right git, personally I would have preferred Matia to end up with the other guy, you know the one that kept her hostage or whatever. Even though, *cough,cough* SPOILER: He ordered his male slave to frikkening make out with him. The general was a prat. Anyways, the politics element was a nice change, you normally don't see it in most shoujos, but you had to read between the lines a lot. When I think about it, I've never read a really awesome manhwa yet, I wonder if someone could recommend a good one for me? All-in-all, an okay read, but I'm most likely gonna delete it off my pc cause I need the disk space.

I loved it so much! It's a really great story, and it's really original. I just wish the ending was more satisfying...