Super cute story! The female lead is quirky in the most charming way, and the story flows really nicely. The art is beautiful as well.

I could easily binge this whole story I am very invested in these characters. Can’t wait to read the next volume!

Book Review: The Boy I Loved Became the Jaded Emperor 1 by Ii Oshikawa

The Boy I Loved Became the Jaded Emperor 1 is a captivating blend of fantasy, romance, and palace intrigue from Ii Oshikawa, a well-established voice in josei manga. Known for her previous work The Ex-Villainess's Unsightly Daughter, Oshikawa returns with a unique, bittersweet fairy tale that pulls readers into a world of magic, fate, and the heavy burdens of royalty.

The story begins with young Prince Alexei, who is saved from death by a friendly forest creature during his childhood. This creature, though monstrous in appearance, brings joy and solace to Alexei, who finds an escape from the harshness of his royal life in their companionship. The serene setting of the forest and the bond between boy and beast provide the narrative with an ethereal, dreamlike quality. However, the real world—especially the world of politics and destiny—soon intrudes, shattering the peaceful haven they had created. Tragedy strikes, pulling Alexei back to his royal obligations and severing his connection to the creature that saved him.

Fast forward to Alexei's rise as Emperor, where we meet him as a much more hardened, revenge-driven ruler. His transformation from the innocent prince into a jaded, bitter monarch is both compelling and heartbreaking. Oshikawa does an excellent job portraying the psychological depth of Alexei's character, showing how the scars of his past have reshaped him into a ruler consumed by bitterness. He is no longer the carefree boy who once roamed the forest; he is a man obsessed with vengeance and his duties to the throne.

What sets this manga apart is the twist in the fate of Alexei’s childhood savior. The forest creature, now reincarnated as the Duke’s daughter, reenters Alexei’s life, but in a form that he does not recognize. The mystery of whether they will recognize each other and rekindle their bond adds a layer of emotional tension and intrigue to the story. The Duke’s daughter is portrayed as quiet and withdrawn, her taciturn nature hiding the secret of her past life. The slow-burn development of their relationship is likely to captivate readers who appreciate nuanced character dynamics, especially when both parties are burdened by jaded pasts and unspoken pain.

Oshikawa’s narrative shines in how it weaves together themes of love, loss, and redemption. The fantasy elements, particularly the reincarnation aspect, feel fresh rather than formulaic, thanks to the emotional depth of the characters. The setting of the imperial court, with its political scheming and complicated relationships, adds a layer of palace intrigue that keeps the plot moving forward. There’s a haunting melancholy that lingers in the air, as readers are left wondering if fate will allow these two to reunite or if their past wounds will keep them apart.

Artistically, the manga is beautiful, with expressive character designs and lush depictions of both the natural world and the opulence of the palace. However, a note from the publisher mentions a minor loss in fidelity in the art due to file compression for digital review purposes. While this may impact the viewing experience in some instances, the core of Oshikawa's artistry remains clear, and readers can still appreciate the delicate, emotional detail present in the characters' expressions and body language.

In conclusion, The Boy I Loved Became the Jaded Emperor 1 is a compelling start to what promises to be a richly layered and emotional series. Ii Oshikawa’s storytelling blends a tragic fairy tale with the darker realities of royal life, and her characters—complex, flawed, and deeply human—are sure to resonate with readers. Fans of josei manga, fantasy romance, and intricate emotional narratives will find much to love in this bittersweet tale of fate, love, and the weight of the past.

they are so cute and adorable, think cinderella retelling as in, cinderella and Prince met years ago and her soul got reincarnated and now he’s the emperor 😩
I loved this sm and I’m definitely going to continue it!!

I just really, really don't like that in their past lives, Pie was a grown woman and Ham was a child. She was basically a mother to him, and yet now even with her past memories she's supposed to be falling in love with him? I mean on one page she's even looking back on him as a child in a romantic light....

The only saving grace really is that the art is very pretty.

First off, I think the art in this manga is spectacular. I adore the details and aesthetics. I found myself laughing at certain parts of the story such as when the prince described his ideal type as “green and slimy”. The only concern I have is the mother-son relationship the prince and Piehad before she reincarnated. It is a little odd to suddenly transition to a romantic relationship. I do hope to continue the story and see how and when the prince will realize Pie has returned.

If you’re looking for a manga that perfectly blends fantasy, romance, and a dash of revenge, The Boy I Loved Became the Jaded Emperor is your ticket to an enchanting escape! With its captivating premise and stunning artwork, this series is a must read for fans of magical realms and second chances.

The story kicks off with a young Prince Alexei, who has an adorable friendship with a friendly monster (yes, you read that right!). Their adventures in the forest are a delightful mix of whimsy and warmth, giving us a glimpse into a simpler, happier time before royal duty crashes the party like an uninvited guest. But hold on tight, tragedy strikes, and Alexei finds himself thrust into the harsh realities of royal life, complete with a quest for revenge. Talk about a character transformation!

Fast forward to present day, where we find our brooding, newly crowned Emperor Alexei grappling with his jaded past. Enter the daughter of a duke, mysterious, stoic, and harbouring her own secrets. Little does Alexei know, this girl is more than meets the eye. Will fate give them a second chance at happiness, or will their tangled histories keep them apart?

The artwork in The Boy I Loved Became the Jaded Emperor is absolutely gorgeous, capturing the sweeping emotions and fantastical elements beautifully. Each panel pulls you deeper into the imperial court, where intrigue, romance, and magic are always just a page away. The character designs are striking, from Alexei's royal garb to the enigmatic beauty of the duke's daughter, making them leap off the page (and into your heart!).

The dialogue is snappy and engaging, with just the right amount of humour sprinkled throughout. The chemistry between Alexei and the duke’s daughter crackles with tension, and the will-they-won’t-they dynamic keeps you eagerly flipping through pages. It’s the kind of story that makes you root for the characters to overcome their pasts and embrace the future together.

If you enjoy tales of love reborn amid a backdrop of political intrigue and fantasy, The Boy I Loved Became the Jaded Emperor is the perfect blend of drama and heart. Ii Oshikawa has crafted a story that will resonate with anyone who believes in second chances.

The premise of this is fun-- somewhere between fairytale retelling and a reincarnation romance. The artwork is gorgeous, and I liked the backstory for the two leads. It's super fast paced, and I'm curious to see where the love story goes from where this leaves off. There as a fair bit of humor in it as well which I always appreciate in manga like this. The only thing I wasn't huge on were the details of how Alexei and Eleonora knew each other... It's nothing I can't get past, but definitely the thing that gave me the most pause. I also could have done without some of the country accent gimmick.

This starter volume focuses a lot of time on the before. Before Pie died. Before her mother from her reincarnation died. Before she met the prince turned emperor. Her new life has a bit of a Cinderella vibe to it, only her father also dotes on his newest daughter (and there is only one). I think maybe 1/4 of it has to do with the present timeline for her.

That small section has her getting ready for the first ball ever held by the new emperor, enduring her family's criticism...and her obsession with the food at the ball. lol! The contrast of everyone going "oh she's so pretty, the silent beauty" and her internal monolog was pretty darn funny. When she's not mentally drooling over the food, she is looking for Ham. But when the emperor grumbles about pie being present, she takes him to task, fully aware her could have her killed. Something in their conversation seems to spark some familiarity with the Emperor and the volume closes with him having her back at his castle and the both of them sitting down for tea.

So what did I think?

Well, this volume is mostly to set up for the story to actually take place. I think it will take volume two to at least get a feel for that actual present day storyline. What we did get was interesting enough. The flashback to the past is both too long and too short, if that makes sense. You get the assassination, you get the trauma of the bear, you get the rescue and introduction to Pie's home. Then there's a bit of life background for Pie...You even get the full story behind the weird, and slightly ridiculous names they have.

But for me the interesting parts are all in their present day. The dynamics of her family life. Her relationship with her maids. Even the ball. Things were just starting to get good when the volume ended. But in general it was a very good start. The art was lovely and there is certainly enough intrigue for me to want to track down volume two when it is released!

This was a very odd read, I'm still very much interested in the story and where the main characters will go. The first volume just felt very rushed. I enjoyed that we learned about the back story of the Prince and how the empress had resigned to kill him for evil reasons. but after that the story was taking large strides and steps and it felt like we arrived at the reincarnation aspect of the novel far too fast. Like why was this forest called a demon forest if the only thing seen so far in the forest were rabbits, tigers and bears? Maybe in that world lions, tigers and bears are considered evil and demonic entities? I hope the next volume we take a slower pace because Alexei seems far to eager to want to accept this daughter of the duke simply because they had a monologue about how ham and pie are her favorite foods. Just... can I say, a little bit unbelievable?
Still have hopes for this series and am eager for the next volume in the series.

Review to come in November on blog/other places.

I received this manga from the publisher/Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I just couldn't resist this SWEET and romantic cover, and so I had to click that button when I saw this one on Netgalley. It was a must.

And this was just the cutest (and well at a point saddest) read. In this one we meet two characters, prince Alexei who has certain powers and has, due to everything in his past, become quite the character. And then there is the sweet daughter of the duke who was reincarnated and speaks with slang. I have to say that at first I thought that the daughter of the duke was isekai-ed because she reminded me a lot of those gal/yakuza types with how she spoke and did her things. I was actually quite fine with that because I hadn't seen that one yet in any of my isekai stories, but then.. then something happens and we learn the truth. And I cried.

Because you see, when Alexei was young his family tried to ditch him and let him die. Sad for them, but he has a skill that helps him (not that it is the most fun skill), and even sadder for him, he meets someone in the forest. A girl. Who was born from humans, but has green skin and deformations and thus abandoned and is now living with the animals (and also some beasts and monsters) in the forest. She is able to talk to them. She helps him out, and together they have a wonderful time, really, it was so beautiful. Seeing them grow together. Grow fonder of the other. Him teaching her about food, and thus since he couldn't use his own name, he called himself Ham, and gave her the name Pie. I really loved those scenes, but I knew from what we read earlier that tears would happen. And so I was bracing myself for that. But boy, I had not expected to get THIS emotional. Bring tissues.

I loved following Pie in her new body, see her figure out things, and also very eager to meet up with her sweet Alexei. But yeah, there is a problem. He doesn't want ANY girls except when they speak with slang, are green, and oh yes, called Pie. And she doesn't look anything like that. But she does sound like her. And so when an opportunity arrives for a ball, she is able to talk to him, and that conversation, LORD, I was laughing so hard. Especially given the expressions on everyone else. I can imagine though. Suddenly a very fiery conversation starts about pies and ham, I would also be like, um??? But I also loved that she was able to give him a hint. Hey, boy, it is me!

I so need the next volume to see how the next conversation between them will go! So excited! 

While the art was blurry in the ARC (can we PLEASE just give good quality scans to reviewers please) I did love the style and how it looks. The character designs were a-plus.

All in all, this was so much fun to read and I would LOVE LOVE to keep on reading. I would recommend it.

This would be a great Manga for middle grade readers as it was clean and wholesome. The artwork was well done and the storyline was Cinderella-esque. It is a great start to the series as it goes in depth getting to know the background of the characters. I will say, I wasn’t a fan of the MC’s verbiage being made out to be like a “hick” —made it very hard to take the storyline seriously. That being said, I don’t think I was the target audience for this installment, unfortunately.

*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC*

Finally, here’s a romance manga for you fantasy lovers! Meet Lady Eleonora, the beautiful and taciturn daughter of Duke Purpleus. She has many admirers among her staff and beyond her household. But her reason for being so soft-spoken is a strange one: she has a very pronounced accent, a carry-over from her past life. Before she was Eleonora, she was a little green humanoid who lived alone in the forest. For a time, she lived with a young royal left to die. She and the noble, nicknamed “Pie” and “Ham” respectively, were separated when Pie was killed. Now she’s been reborn, and he’s become a standoffish emperor. But now they’re about to meet again!

The Boy I Loved Became the Jaded Emperor is a unique take on reincarnation fantasy, subtracting the isekai element from the equation. This first volume is almost entirely backstory, catching the reader up to Ham and Pie’s life proper to Eleonora’s current incarnation. To that end, it’s best suited for lovers of slow-burn storytelling. But with lovely art and an inventive concept, it feels poised to pay off.

The Boy I Loved Became the Jaded Emperor
September 24
Volume 2 November 26 
This is a fast paced wholesome read with only two volumes. Volume one seems to focus on how Ham and Pie meet and then setting up for when they are ultimately reunited. I am curious how this is wrapped up in the next volume. Our female lead ends up having a stepmother and stepsister that look down on her, and she can talk to animals; but of course we know the male lead will fall for her charm. I do like how Pie is a little different than what most of the female characters in higher society would be (she keeps her peasant accent from her previous life and it is frowned upon by her family). I found it funny that she is more concerned about trying the ham at the Ball since the boy she named Ham talked about how good it was then left with disappointment when she was escorted with the other ladies to a different room. She was left disappointed again when she saw pie (again Ham mentioned how he loved pies) but then the emperor was going to have them removed from his site. I can relate since when we go to things where there is food I’m generally just looking forward to the food. I will admit it doesn’t stand out to other series with somewhat similar plots, but it was still a sweet story. I liked the artwork and how we not only got how they originally met but also a little bit of what happened after and before they met again in Pie’s new life.

I loved this manga so much that I am going to purchase Vol 2 as soon as it is made available! I loved the art style (the bicorns were too cute!!), storytelling and character development.

Lady Eleanore is on her second life and she happens to remember everything from her first, including the young boy she saved in the magical forest named Ham. As the "monster" called Pie, Eleanore cared for the young boy until her brutal murder at the hands of the Imperial Knights. Ham, or the revived Prince Alexei, vows revenge for his friend's life. Years later the reborn Pie is now Eleanore, a beautiful noble lady who can't seem to shake the peasant accent from her previous life. When she inadvertently catches the Emperor's eye, her life starts to get a lot more exciting.

While I liked The Boy I Loved Became the Jaded Emperor I was equal parts amused by some of the humor and recoiling in cringe. I really really dislike the decision to mimic a "poor dialect", especially as it doesn't seem to be used consistently even through the first volume. At one point there's a whole floaty scene about Pie and Ham, the food not the people, that had both my eyebrows raised. I'm still not sure if it was funny or not. Overall, I want to see where this goes. For one, I am a sucker for reincarnation stories. Two, I want to explore some of the magic and lore of the series, because it seems cool.

Overall, this isn't a gem, but it is a serviceable first volume and I want to see what happens next.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an aRC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

NOT THE WOMAN WHO TOOK CARE OF HIM BEING REINCARNATED AS HIS LOVE INTEREST AHHHHHH HELP?!?!?! I CAN'T TELL IF I LIKE IT OR NOT NOW BECAUSE OF IT. Putting that aside though, the story is really nice and the illustrations are really cute too. I wonder if it will actually be a love story in the end for Eleanora/Pie. Alexi certainly seems to love her a lot already but I don't really see Eleanora/Pie falling for him. Time will tell!!! I'm very interested in the plot at least.

Rating: 4/5
[Gifted a copy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review]

Volume 1 of <i>The Boy I Loved Became the Jaded Emperor</i> by Ii Oshikawa is a very cute (if inherently silly) and short star crossed romance.

Eleonora, a beautiful if verbally unusual (in the volume’s best running joke) noble lady, sets out to attend a ball hosted by Alexei, Emperor, brooding young man, infamous tyrant. As we watch their two paths converge, Alexei’s childhood rescue by an unusual but kind figure is also told. It takes very little to realize where the story is going, but Alexei and Eleonora are so cute you just can’t wait for their paths to cross. Undercutting this fluffy tale is a darker origin story, with a few striking moments of non graphic but still bloody violence.

Almost fairytale-like, this story requires its reader to roll with it on its own logic (there’s some objectively very silly things going on), but its charming art, cute leads, and avoidance of some unnecessary tropes creates a very fun read.

I was hooked by the title, intrigued by the book's summary, and absolutely enamored with the book itself. This was such an incredibly fun read! There is a mystery that no one has yet figured out needs to be solved, a quirky cast of characters, tragedy in spades, the question of how to overcome the cruelty of your upbringing, hilarious dialogue, sweet friendships, reincarnation, and so much talk of favorite foods. I genuinely laughed out loud at several parts (one of which was the giving of the nicknames between Alexei and his savior). The entirety of the book walks close to that line of too silly to take seriously, but whenever that happened the emotions and dialogue were so heartfelt, and the ridiculousness seems to be mostly tongue-in-cheek, and instead of finding it exasperating I really loved every bit of it.
I'm also a big fan of the foundation that was built for the relationship between Alexei and Eleonora, and I love their individual personalities. Alexei is strong-willed and determined to do what's right, and to gain the power to not be hurt again and to stop others from being hurt as well. Eleonora cares about people and animals, she has a protective instinct in her, but doesn't really care what other people think about her... ever. It's hilarious and makes her just so endearing. I can't help but love both of them. When the volume ended I found myself looking for more, ravenous for the next part of the story! I cannot wait for the next volume, and the one after that, and the one after that as well. This book truly sunk its claws into me!

A touching story of love found in an unexpected place, teared apart ruthlessly and reunited by fate.

I absolutely loved this volume! It’s a bit cliche but has a unique twist. The story features Emperor Alexei with a tragic past as he was abandoned by his stepmom. Tortured in a forest of monsters, he’s rescued by a friendly monster who saves him and provides the warmth and love of family. Using the nicknames Pie and Ham they live peacefully until tragedy strikes. As Pie reincarnates as a young lady, Alexei has taken the throne and their fate intertwines once again in the imperial court.

I loved the execution of this story. It’s fast paced but retains the emotions throughout. It weaves present times with the past in well placed flashbacks. Pie and Ham’s past was adorable and I could honestly devour a whole volume on it. It had a warmth to it, that was both innocent and gentle. It contrasts the present storyline which is uncertain and devoid of any warm feelings. I also loved how Pie and Ham didn’t need to know each other to feel safe and loved. They showed it by their selfless actions and words.

Pie is a unique character. She retains her memories and speech from her past life now as Eleonora. I feel like everyone will love not only her accent, but her confidence in feeling content with her situation. On the other hand, Alexei’s character is understandable but also nothing special. Though his child self was cute so I hope he finds that innocence once again. There is also an element of magic in this volume which isn’t heavily prevalent but there are hints scattered throughout.

The artwork is stunning! It’s adorable with an overall soft feel. I love how it balances both detailed and simple images to relay emotions throughout. The creatures in the forest were drawn really cute so I’m hoping we see more of them in future volumes!

Overall, I enjoyed this volume and I’m looking forward to continuing this series. I am thoroughly invested in this story primarily because it is sweet yet simple. Pie and Ham had a beautiful relationship in the past and I would love to see them together again.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for giving me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

You will find this manga at the corner of main character reincarnation and Cinderella retelling. Right from the beginning, I was a little bit skeptical of the story - those first introductory pages really came in out of left field. It did grow on me a little bit.

I enjoyed some aspects of this first volume more than others. It's a very interesting take on a narrative with hints of cinderella - the FMC is invited, along with all the other of-age, eligible girls in the realm, to a ball where the MMC is looking to find a bride. Though to be fair, that wasn't the original intention of the ball.

This first volume was super exposition/backstory heavy which I wasn't a huge fan of. I'm not super invested in any of the characters at this point but it is an interesting premise.