Nov 16, 2024
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▶Summary and recommendation: -----------------------------------------------------------------
[Ginger and the cursed prince] is an Otome isekai story about the most clumsy and airheaded person you can dream up trying to scheme their way through love and politics, to various degrees of success.
Like a trainwreck in slow motion, it is hard to look away. Our protagonist can always find a new way to fall, sometimes in the right direction.
The amount of second hand embarassment this story offers is on a level many will find difficult to manage. You are going to reel back in horror at some of
...
the embarrassing moments of this story. It is of course intentionally done by the author, and for those who enjoy that kind of story, this is a goldmine.
Despite its inability to keep up what made it unique throughout the entire story left me feeling a bit disappointed. I still recommend this to those who take pleasure in second hand embarrassment, and those who want a story with likeable characters who are honest to a fault.
▶Story: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rather than being reincarnated, our protagonist instead learns of the future through a book she happens upon. The story follows Ginger as she tries to use her knowledge of the future to her advantage and win the heart of her dream prince.
The story itself is quite straightforward and serves more as a backdrop to the characters and their antics.
What the author has done is to skillfully craft a story specially tailored to invoke the highest degree of second hand embarassment possible. Ginger will tackle every challenge she faces with more enthusiasm than she has skill and common sense. This will result in some of the most embarrassing moments I have ever experienced in a book. Unfortunately it fails to maintain that barrage of embarrassment throughout the entirety of the story, and is sadly quite indistinguishable from most of its peers by the end.
It is however relatively short for a manhwa at only around 70 chapters, and the cast of characters makes it worth finishing. At 72 chapters + epilogue, it is something you can blast through in only a few days (if you do not need to take breaks to recover from the second hand embarrasent).
▶Setting: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The setting is unremarkeable. It is loosely inspired by european medieval fantasy. Geopolitics do not have a big role in the story, and the author didn't put that much thought into making the world seem full and expansive. Just whatever was needed for the self contained plot of the manhwa. This is neither a negative nor positive.
▶Characters: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The characters are the primary focus of this manwha, with everything else taking a back seat, and it has some stand out characters as a result.
If you are looking for a story with a clever and intelligent protagonist, this is not it. The protagonist Ginger is unabashedly honest, and an airheaded clutz with a tendency to choose the worst option possible when given the opportunity, and even when she is not given an opportunity.
Those not bothered by, or enjoying the second hand embarrassment will find a loveable protagonist who couldn't be cruel even if she tried.
All the side characters exist to create interesting interactions between them and the protagonist. The initial roster is somewhat weak and one dimensional, but the story introduces more likeable characters with more depth as the story progresses. The main male lead, and supporting leads (while visually quite standard for the genre) play well with the personality and antics of the protagonist.
▶Romance: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The romance is the premise, main drive and focus of the entire manhwa. With a loveable protagonist, great supporting character, and a good natured male lead, it makes you root for every single one of them.
Our protagonist comes on extremely strong, which makes for great dynamics with the more reserved and (justifiably) distrustful male lead. While the romance plot is fairly straight forward it is still engaging thanks to Ginger's tendency to mess up.
As previously mentioned it is unable to keep Ginger's antics up for the entirety of the story, and possibly the weakest aspect of this manwha is that it loses some of its identity and is quite indistinguishable from any other Romance Otome Isekai by the end.
▶Artwork: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The artwork is a bit inconsistent, with thick background lineart sometimes clashing with thin character outlines. It is fine enough for the story the manwha wants to tell, but it isn't particularly gorgeous to look at, and does not help the already generic character designs stand out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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