A fantastic find among historical manga out there.
The character is not perfect, nor is he totally helpless and annoyingly weak. He can hold his own in combat, strategize, thing on multiple levels of politics, economics, culture, and yet still retain a desire for the ideal of keeping peace for his kingdom. He starts out as an extremely naive and idealistic thinker, who criticizes others who advocate war or military strength as the solution to their country's problems. However, as the manga goes on, the author lets him experience many more things. And unlike other mangas where the hero stays the same THE WHOLE TIME, this kid actually LEARNS from his mistakes and experiences, and incorporates them into wiser and more thoughtful decisions in the future. It's really easy and fulfilling to follow his progress through the chapters, and find that he is gaining more allies and revealing new talents for negotiation, business, and war.
I do always have at least one thing to criticize about manga, though, and for this one I'd have to say that it lacks a universality. Now, let me just say that to be criticized in this area means that the author is doing an awesome job. What I mean when I say that it lacks universality, is that it tends to focus pretty much only on Mahmut, our main hero, and leaves out the (undoubtedly) significant contributions the 14 other generals, 13 other Setros alliances, all the ministers and generals and sultans and.......yeah, you get the point. All those other humans in the world, you get the impression they're just sitting there twiddling their thumbs while Mahmut is out there doing all the important things in history. It would feel more realistic if more important, significant things were happening even if Mahmut wasn't present. But as I've said, to be able to create a world that lets me even consider others beside the main character is a feat in itself. Many works of manga tend to keep their worldview narrowed and focused on the main character, precisely to avoid criticisms like this one. But this author is not afraid to present a world that is real and includes more than just Mahmut and his adventures.
I look forward to seeing how this work will grow and expand, with its characters as well as the scope of its plot and political action.