I've been enjoying the anime adaptation of this story, and when I saw the manga at Barnes and Noble I decided to pick it up. The story opens with the daughter of a noble but impoverished house agreeing to become the consort of the king - purely for the money, of course. So far in the anime, I'm finding it very funny, with tons of attractive men (rumor has it the king only fancies guys, something that's a relief to our heroine - at first), romantic complications, and quirky characters. The heroine tends to be outspoken and practical, but can put on the behavior of a gentle, retiring lady when she wants to...

One of the interesting things about the story is that it focuses on the requirements of government, from the civil exams that are used to select officials to the work they actually do. That's not the entire focus, of course - humor and plots, family and romance, food and battles all take their place - but there's much more emphasis on the practical needs of running a country, and it's rather refreshing.

I like the characters and the artwork as well as the plot. We learn about the young emperor's troubled history and his current loneliness, and we get hints of the relationships between various friends, co-workers, and/or rivals at court. And there's a nice mix of romantic-comedy scenes between Shurei and the emperor, and more sinister scenes - as when it becomes apparent that someone's trying to poison her...

The scene in which the emperor sends specific types of flowers to his officials as a message requesting their loyalty charmed me utterly, but it's not the only part of this series that I love. And while the anime has the advantage of more color (and with all the glorious jewels and outfits - and hair and eyes! - that's quite an advantage) as well as the voice-actors' talents, the manga's very enjoyable too.

[There's a TV Tropes page about the series, which began as light novels and then was adapted to anime and manga.]

I'm adding this to the Manga/Manhwa bookbox, which will be on its way shortly. Hope someone enjoys it!

I'll be keeping this one.

Read day before yesterday; thoughts to come.

The period costume and pretty men remind me of Fushigi Yugi, just a bit. The story's completely different, though. An impoverished noblewoman takes on the task of becoming the emperor's consort - sounds like a Cinderella story, right? Not really! The emperor ignores her, and it's said that he prefers the company of men in his bed. Nor does he care to rule his kingdom; he leaves the management of affairs to his advisers. It is the task of Shurei Hong to set the emperor straight and (somehow) beget an heir to the throne.

So far, the story has been very cute. The emperor Ryuki initially seems a bit childish and spoiled, but though he mostly maintains this facade in front of Shurei there are hints throughout the book that beneath the innocent face is a clever king simply testing the people around him and doing his best to survive and protect those he cares about in a cutthroat, dangerous environment.

I'm quite curious to see if the story will continue to be fairly lighthearted or if it will get darker and more dramatic in later volumes.