Ok, “The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady” or as i like to call it, Mahou Kakume (Magical Revolution), is shaping up to be one of my favourite manga ever. It follows the story of a very troublesome and energetic princess/inventor and an a young noblewoman who she saved when the prince broke off the arranged marriage.
I love this manga for many reasons. Firstly, the romance. After a wild first two or three chapters, we start seeing that the pair seem to have some pretty good chemistry together. There doesn’t seem to be a power imbalance, signs of abuse or any largely problematic themes from them, something that is stupidly prevalent in the yuri manga I come across. But neither is their relationship or the attraction of the characters hidden or made ambiguous. It’s stated that Princess Anise said she’d never take a man as a lover, and it seems that Lady Euphilia is slowly coming out of the closet in a process of self-realization. And Chapter 17.
Chapter 17 or the ball scene was originally what got me interested in this manga when I saw some panels posted elsewhere. However, reading that again, with a deeper knowledge of the characters made me very emotional. There was a beautiful sequence of panels where Euphilia calls Anise “her treasure” and the princess is overcome with emotion. I know this sound like a cop out for overt wlw rep, but it makes sense. They have only know each other for a few weeks at this point and Euphilia is still navigating her sexuality. And with how the author has treated queerness in the text so far, I see no reason for this not to become a fully fledged lesbian relationship. Part of the reason I was so overcome with emotion at this chapter was because I felt so seen by a piece of media. I could relate to aspects of each character, not just their orientation. Additionally, this felt like finding a nugget of gold. This yuri manga is good outside of the main ship. Its not “pure” high school girls nor is it deeply disturbing. It feels novel in the genre. Lastly, this manga is just good outside of the main ship. Although its technically an isekai, its not a topic central to the plot or the character. I really like some of the supporting characters, the worldbuiding is fairly detailed and unique, the fights are incredibly badass, and the artis great in general (especially some facial expressions). It looks like there will be some semi-complex political intrigue in the future which will be interesting to look forward to.
If you are interested by any of this, there are 20 chapters (as of writing) available on Mangadex but I really really encourage you to buy the actual translation if you can (Vol 1 available May 24,2022 and vol 2 on Aug 22). I think this series deserves it.
