- #1
I read a lot of yandere tyrant stories, so I didn't have particularly high expectations, but I'm really impressed so far.I love the FL, Euseniel. She's kinda OP with her strength, intelligence, and social standing, but she doesn't feel like a Mary Sue. She has a strong, blunt personality, good for keeping Tess (ML) in line. Sometimes she's a little mean, but it's an understandable character flaw that doesn't make her unlikeable. Tess's backstory, and his reason for being drawn to Euel, are interesting. It explains the instant attraction, but then falling deeper in love when he got to know her also felt natural. The dichotomy between his childish side and his tyrant side is also interesting to watch. He's just a deeply hurt child, deep down. I think he's more developed and complex than the average ML yandere.The supporting cast is also strong. While the spotlight is on Euel and Tess, the others have fairly deep characterization. I have a mental image of them when I read, which means they don't feel like props. So far there are few outright villains, just some selfish people with different motivations.As for the smut tag, so far, there have only been three such scenes. The first two are short and none are important to the plot, plus the translator labels them, so they're easy to skip if needed. (It kinda feels like it was written as 15+ first and then they later published an adult version.) This may be a pro or con depending on the reader. Personally I wish there was a bit more smut, but I appreciate that it isn't gratuitous and doesn't have random side characters getting it on just for the sake of it.The translation is great. There are a few typos, but they don't reduce readability, and the language overall flows smoothly. Since the first few chapters, they've updated frequently and consistently- it's pretty impressive that they've done 40 chapters just in 2023 so far.I'm invested in how the story develops from here. There's no tragedy tag but sometimes it feels like it's not heading to a happy ending. I haven't gotten that feeling from other stories so I can't tell if my worries are founded. But I really hope Euel and Tess can be happy.