Baraou no Souretsu
Requiem of the Rose King

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This is a story not for the weak hearted, because as I read this it felt as if my heart was being stabbed again and again.

There are many conflicting things in this story, and knowing the tale of the war between cousins, Lancaster and York, I am not ensured of a happy ending. However, I still have hope that this story will end beautifully and with a twist at the end.

If you like somewhat tragic fantasy tales where when all seems lost, the protagonists are still able to overcome it (such as Code Geass, Kuroshitsuji, etc.) then this may be a story for you.

What I ... loved so much about Baraou no Souretsu was how sad it felt to read it. I still have some hope that the ending is not as I think it would be, for this is only based off the story of York and Lancaster, but not the same tale.

The story of Aya Kanno's version of Richard III has really touched my heart, it's beautifully sad and it's very interesting to see figures of history be interpreted differently through her perspective and creativity.

p.s. so far Margaret Beaufort (Henry Tudor's mother & Stanley's wife) wasn't adapted in here which is kinda sad since to me she was the most interesting figure in the wars of the roses imo but oh well

Firstly - I don't understand why so many of these reviews are calling Richard a trans man. It is made VERY clear from the beginning that Richard is (visibly) intersex at birth, there are many references to Richard being born with/having "both sexes" throughout the series, on occasion the confused "what are you?" reaction to seeing his body, and even references by Richard himself regarding having ambiguous organs. Richards father decides to raise him as a man, and he identifies as such for the entire series. Richard is not a girl, or a trans man, he is just a(n intersex) man.

I found the story ... to be quite interesting from a psychological standpoint - it covers a lot of different perspectives and characters, so I quite liked seeing all of the different reactions and character developments throughout. I'm not particularly into history so can't comment on how accurate the story is, but overall thought it was worth reading, particularly if you're interested in a lot of war and power struggles.

I initially only really read this manga specifically because it had an intersex character - as someone with a likely similar intersex variation to Richard I wanted to read it out of curiosity more than anything (which is partially why it's a little frustrating seeing everyone else erase his intersex identity) but I would probably suggest that this isn't suitable for other intersex people who are sensitive about the topic - Richard is not exactly treated kindly because of it so it may be a trigger for some people.

I was on a bit of a historical manga spree, and thought I'd finally give this a try, but was severely disappointed. First listing some good things about this story: the art is gorgeous and the action is great. Then onto the flaws, I have mainly three issues with this manga, which I feel to be shared with some other comments: the historical aspect, the treatment of Richard's intersexuality, and the author's clear obsession with trying to write BL harem (which pretty much ties into how the author treats the intersexual issue). Now, I think an amazing thing for historical fiction is how writers manage ... to blend fact with their own story, but in my opinion there should be some intentionality to it; when you pick a character, specially one for whom there's documented records, it's because they fulfill the purpose of your story, so that readers can go "Woah, I can totally see how well crafted this is because it makes sense". However, though the author in here does the bare minimum of following the documented history, there is absolutely no reason given for why this story is about the very real, very documented Richard III; no part in this man's trajectory fits the kind of storyline this author wanted to have. Like someone else said, his only ailment was scoliosis, which wasn't even a determent to his daily life, and the only remarkable thing about him was killing his nephews for the throne which basically every royal from back then did... how did the author even turn that into an intersex person suffering for years due to nobody loving them and not being able to love the one they want? Why on earth pick the most unrelated historical figure ever for such a plot? If such is the case, then just make up original characters and use history as a reference. I think even a full on story where Henry VI is the protagonist would have been much more compelling than constantly being subjected to whatever pedo mess that 60 chapter arc was. Again with intentionality onto the next topic... does Richard being intersexual serve any purpose for the story? Is it really an interesting read that X historical figure whose life story could not possibly make sense with such a plot point, is intersex? What does it even do for the character except 1) serve for childhood trauma... which honestly any other thing could have provided, most logically a disability like the real one had and 2) serve for a not gay enough its gay but gay enough the fujoshis jump at it encounter with about every male character in the manga? You come here and tell me he's identified as a male his whole life, and only starts to question such an identity when he's in some lovey dovey encounter with the ML, and only ever considers himself as "half-woman" in relation to the men around... what does that even say about this character's capacity of having any thoughts or troubles of their own. What does it even say about the author's capacity of actually using intersexuality as a complex plot point beyond being a romantic complication. If all they were gonna use it for is romance, then why not a crossdressing woman or a gay man or anything else? Back to the historical discussion, there was absolutely no reason to make this historical figure intersex, specially when it does not provide any vital eureka moment when recounting their life. Again, this could have very well been an original story with original characters.

Basically, there is about zero logic ever applied to anything in this story. Either pick a historical figure that serves your purpose so the narrative carries smoothly, limit yourself to a faithful historical recount, or write an original story; since you can't possibly have a well written manga when ignoring and not committing to any of these. For those who want good historical fiction there's better works around, hell I think even for historical BL, ao3 fanfiction would be a better read.