i love it.one of my favorites.
yeah i wouldn't say there is much going on,given that pretty much everything happens in the castle because it snows all year round in the north(thats a creative justification for the dialogue and relationship focused manhwa,makes sense),but this is exactly my cup of tea.i loved the atmosphere of the castle(gives off liminal space feelings),gives a good grasp of the duke's loneliness. but also pretty backgrounds❤Art is great,has a character.im really glad this doesnt has a generic artstyle.
but even though i dont find it too bothersome,
Crystal's face was kind of inconsistent.especially his eyes and face size.i guess it was hard to draw, and its understandable because he has a very detailed and GORGEOUS hair,everyone does sothat's a big plus.main gang is made of really interesting people.
and its interesting that this is kind of a 'feminist' webtoon in a sense that its mostly made of very powerful and independent female characters.male characters doesnt have much presence as females and scarce in numbers too.but feels really realistic and not just a simple annoying 'girl power,girl boss' kind of 'feminist',which im really grateful for.👌those ones are generally bad imo because they just kind of shitting on male characters to look better and constantly has to show how powerful and strong they are,arent unique or has weak spots like a normal human being either.but this feels very natural and actually has good reasons for why things are the way they are.and it actually has kind of a plot, its mostly the things that are happened in the past,so lots of flashbacks.
the webtoon focuses more on dialogue and character relationships over 'plot' which I LOVE.crystal and ilian's interactions gives me heart attacks😩💘
yeah, i strongly disagree with user The Last Memory..
i pretty much dislike pushy and annoying characters too,even to the extreme even.but in this case i dont think ilian is too persistent and she definitely isnt abusive either.she's just a charming and kind of a flirty person.i dont think she's disrespectful towards crystal.and even stops when she sees she teased crystal too much(thinks along the lines of 'maybe i went too far'.)and i think its just her being teasing.and for her character i always thought she kind of adopts the 'ladys man' persona to distract crystal from the fact that she isn't a man,but she obviously has a teasing side and cant help herself because she finds Crystal's face expressions too cute and interesting,but never goes too far, never abuses or anything like that unlike most male characters in other manwhas in this situation would do.doesnt even touches him other than kissing his hand.
And even Crystal doesn't really says no.he's mostly suprised and pretty earlier in the chapters even longs for her touch(as in her holding his hands,they have a lot of hand holding.which is lewd ,lol jk😂)and feels disappointed when she lets go.yeah she kind of plays around and doesnt really being honest,doesnt gives her heart fully(because shes been betrayed etc.)but she doesnt really have bad intentions,is respectful.she becames more open with him in time and they start to have really wholesome interactions together.i like her a lot,like a lot.and i think its interesting to see this in a 'disguised as a man' female character (her being flirty),and it gets even better because crystal actually has realistic and cute reactions to ilian's harmless flirtation,imo.
other than crystal and ilian,the most important characters are milo and jenny.they are also very likeable.i thought i wouldnt like milo as much as i did because she seemed like a pushy and kind of a mean character at first but she has grown on me and showed that she has more depth than she lets on.she regrets almost immediately when she is mean but cant help it,other times she has logical explanation for the way she acts.and she is young so it doesnt really matter if she acts a bit bratty.i also like that she is a pretty uptight character ,gets embarressed when the main couple gets closer,its funny and cute.no nonsense girl,but also very loyal.i like the bond between her and illian.i think serious but compassionate characters are great.
jenny is also really fun and strong.generally when a female character is really muscular they make them pretty serious,mean and stoic.in short just 'badass'.they just try to make them more "masculine" character wise.which just comes off as forceful.they are generally rude as hell and unapologetically assholeish too.cuz thats 'badass' apparently. 😒
at least thats my experience with these type of characters.i like that while jenny is ripped as hell she is still kind,cheerful,cool,relaxed,easygoing and a bit of a silly goof.
...and is badass in her own way.👌😎
making the story perceived mainly from ML,Crystal's, perspective is interesting,i also love him very much.this kind of characters can get annoying real quick,with him being all oblivious, naive and passive, but he is a just loveable sweetheart.even though he grew up isolated from the outside world(like extremely,its insane),looking at the situation from his point,i would say his character is explained really well.showing his isolation through flashbacks,his situation is very similar to illian aside from the fact that they both pretend to be the opposite gender.he is exactly what she needs,is extremely loyal and won't abandon her(she has abandonment issues and is extremely distrustful of other people).
I mean its plausible to think they play pretty much the exact same every other "cold northern duke and his quirky/cheerful southern wife-to-be trope but genderbend"
and their character traits are really similar too,especially in the first chapters.but the thing is when its genderbend their reasoning is very different than what is common for these type of characters.(sure that cold duke from the trope may still had a difficult childhood too,which he does,but its generally more acceptable/is the norm/it happens because he is a guy etc.his sister wouldnt live that same fate.in a way in this story we get to see what would happen where if he was dead and what would unavoidably happen to his sister.)why would a young girl has to disguise herself as a man, give up her identity so selflessly to live in her dead brother's shadow, deceive everyone and keep up that facade for her whole life?
and why would a little boy would disguise as a girl,live in total isolation,and has to harm his body to keep up his somewhat feminine underdeveloped body,his whole freaking life? their reasons matter (and its more detailed tbh than standart trope),so its not just a 'cliche',its a well done cliche.cliche tropes is not necessarily a bad thing.from the way these questions gets answered little by little,its obvious the story is fleshed out and the progress is well-balanced,imo.
im really sad its been so long since new chapters came out though😭it already finished but english chapters still didnt caught up with the original webtoon...i hope this gets picked up..i still have hope❤
All in all,its great.this pairing was pretty unusual and i ended up falling in love with them.they have every reason to be empathetic towards each other.and these are the exact reasons illian starts to open up to him,as a matter of fact.
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