Dec 9, 2022
Basically, there's a war going on between a human kingdom and a demon horde. Said demon horde managed to capture said human kingdom's princess, along with her weapon, a sentient sword called Excalibur (or "Ex", for short). Imprisoned in the dungeons of the demon king's castle, the princess is subjected to various tortures by the demon king's many torturers to extract secrets about the human kingdom from her. However, it turns out the demons in this setting are incredibly kind and gentle beings, as the various tortures they subject the princess and her sword to are as cute and as harmless as you can imagine.
From
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having the princess eat delectable dishes, to taking her on trips to beaches and amusement parks, to even giving her a bed to sleep in, despite being a prisoner of war, the princess is treated incredibly well by the demons. The princess and Ex have a "boke and tsukkomi" relationship: The princess is the former, as she's quite the dim girl despite being the heir to her kingdom's throne, and breaks easily when "tortured", while Ex is the latter, often berating the princess for constantly giving in to the demon's "tortures". (Torture is always written with quotations in the manga, by the way, since said tortures aren't really anything but fun activities.)
The demons are by far the best characters in this manga. From the head torturer, the fittingly-named Torture Tortura, to her "Harm-Marshalls" (her co-torturers), to the demon king and his family, they're all as wholesome as you can get for a legion of monsters. They aren't really out for blood and want nothing but to establish peaceful relations with the human kingdom, which does explain why they treat the princess (and her sword) so well. All the demons are quite distinct in terms of personality and even how they "torture" the princess, which keeps the manga fresh and never boring.
What got me is the many cute moments regarding the princess's living arrangements, from her eventually gaining a bed to sleep in, to the fact that the shackle around her neck is purely for show (she takes it off before going to sleep), to the fact that she takes walks around the castle, as the door to her cell is never locked.
My only real gripe is that is does get quite repetitive. It's, by all accounts, the same thing every time: the torturer (it's Torture Tortura by default) tells the princess that it's "time for 'torture'"; the torture turns out to be something totally wholesome (it's food by default); the princess is easily enticed but Ex tells her not to give in; the torturer does something to make the "torture" more enticing than it already is; the princess exclaims that she'll talk; the princess and the torturer either eat the food or play the day away; the demon king's told by his pig servant whatever secret the princess let slip (usually something useless or just as wholesome as everything else); and the demon king innocuously comments on it. And that's it for 100+ chapters.
It does break its formula by having the demons take the princess on trips, or having chapters where the focus is on the torturers or the demon king and his family and the princess and Ex aren't even seen or mentioned. And there are chapters where its basic formula is played with (there's a chapter where the princess is the torturer, for instance). This definitely helps prevent the manga from becoming stale, as it does get repetitive quite easily, for the majority of the chapters are absolutely the same thing.
But, if you want something that's utterly wholesome but veiled as something dark, this manga is definitely for you. There's no real story to speak of, though; the story that's there is more or less a framework, so there can be a genuine reason the things that are happening, are happening. But besides a little backstory here and there, there's no real stakes, no real villain, and the little strife that does exist between characters gets resolved very quickly and easily.
Overall, it's cute manga that I highly recommend for those that want something to go "aww" at.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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