When I Became a Commoner, They Broke Off Our Engagement!, Vol. 1

貴族から庶民になったので、婚約を解消されました！ #1

by Kenzi Oiwa (Artist), Kaoru Takanashi (Story), Kaya Kuramoto (Character Design)

Thirteen-year-old Anna was raised in a noble household, yet she looks nothing like the rest of her family and lacks her lineage’s aptitude for magic. What she doesn’t realize, however, is that a mischievous fairy switched her with another baby at birth! When this detail comes to light, Anna’s family kicks her out and ends her longstanding engagement to Edmund, a young nobleman. How will Anna learn to adapt to life as a commoner with her new family?

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Comics Manga, Romance, Young Adult

186 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2020

About the author

大岩ケンヂ Kenji Oiwa is a Japanese manga artist. Some of his major works include Goth, Welcome to the N.H.K., a one-shot, Tsukumo Happy Soul published in Shōnen Ace, Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine, and the manga serialization of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

Reviews

[Jen]

I only want to read the next volume to see her “family” get theirs! They were SO HORRIBLE to her, even before they didn’t find out that she was switched at birth.

I completely get why she didn’t tell them. She was trying to learn how to be a commoner, because she knew they would kick her out the moment they realized she wasn’t their blood family. She would have been destitute with no useful skills. If she was taken in by her blood family, she would just be a drain on them and not able to pull her own weight and more like her counterpart did.

And she was only THIRTEEN. Her older “brother” SEEMED like a halfway decent guy, but then when he found out he completely turned on her and blamed her for his real sister suffering for a year longer than she had to. But if she had told the truth immediately, she would have been kicked out and had no chance of surviving, let alone thriving.

I will NEVER forgive her “brother”.

But that’s how I had felt about her fiancée and he ended up growing as a person and not being such a jerk by the end. So there MIGHT be hope for the “brother”, but he has some SEVERE groveling to do before he is back in my good graces, if at ALL.

So this book is really sad and dark and ends on a REALLY sad note. I recommend not reading this until the next volume is out so you at least get SOME resolution to that particular plot point.

3, I just want her to have a HEA and SCREW her family, stars.

[Heather]

A new favorite! Love the art and the storyline. It was so fun to read and I'm anxious to see what happens next.

[Laura A. Grace]

Well, that ending just broke and crushed my heart! 😭😭😭

This was definitely a different read than I expected! While the shenanigans of the fairies already gave the deep impression that their actions would indeed lead to "cruelty" later on, I really felt Anna's feelings of just wishing for a little more time. I feel that subconsciously I was holding my breath the whole time, especially halfway through and onwards. Would her family still love her? Would her brother change towards Anna? What would happen if she really does become a commoner?

This story was definitely not the fluff I anticipated it would be despite that it had its moments of being fluffy! I guess you could say that for those moments it was as if the fairies had put their own glamour on these happy moments because it almost all feels fake. I hate saying that because Anna was always so sincere and she tried so so so hard, but that ending showed it was not enough, which left me feeling very heartbroken at the end.

The only person who seems to maybe be genuine is Edmund, but he didn't even come on page later so I'm not even sure what he will say after everything that happened. I feel more hopeful about him though because seeing her brother's actions at the end was equal parts saddening and angering. At least Edmund changed from the guy I instantly hated to the guy I think is cute when he smiles with Anna. He seems to at least really like her for her and not pretend(??) to like her just for the sake of "family."

I have no idea if I can recommend this manga or not honestly. I'm still too into my emotions currently to make any sound judgment on it, but I will be getting volume two because no way can I stop reading Anna's story here! I NEED to see her have a happy ending with people who genuinely care for her because this was a much more bittersweet story than I had originally expected.

Hopefully, things will look up for Anna in volume two!

[Azbaqiyah]

Plot - 5 ⭐️
Character - 5 ⭐️
Writing Style - 5 ⭐️
World Building - 5 ⭐️
Art - 5 ⭐️
Cover - 5 ⭐️

Overall - 5 🌟

Oh dear, this story really hit me hard! Especially the ending...why it's need to be like that!?

[Aurora]

This story just didn’t work for me as well as I had hoped it would. I can’t help but thinking “y’all are being awfully harsh on an abused 13-14 year old CHILD” 😅 I’m hoping I like the story better going forward now that the secret is finally out.

[Rebecca]

3.5 rounded up, in part for the gorgeous art.

Don't let the fluffy title fool you - this is a pretty dark story. When Anna and Annette were born, a fairy decided to riff on the changeling myth and switch them for giggles, writing herself a note to come back and stir up trouble by revealing the change when they come of age. Anna, born a commoner but raised a noble, accidentally learns of the swap when she turns out to have fey sight and surprises the original fairy's friend, who came to check things out. Tormented by the thought that another girl is living in poverty "because of her" but afraid to tell the only family she's ever known, Anna spends a tense year trying to come to terms with what she's learned. And then when the reveal happens, her fears all turn out to be horribly true.

The book ends before we get any further, but what's striking is how Anna blames herself for something totally out of her control. It feels very true to her age (thirteen) and also tells us plenty about how she grew up without actually showing us much. It's a shame this suffers from Isekai* Light Novel Title Syndrome, because this is both better than I expected and nothing like advertised.

*Story is not actually isekai. Or villainess related. Rejoice!

[Mehsi]

A bit on the fence about this one. I found the parents horrible and I could definitely understand why the girl didn't say anything, not to mention she wanted to make sure that she had all the life skills, I don't see how that is selfish. Nor do I understand why she is the one who had to tell her family about things, I mean, why doesn't that fairy do it him/herself? It is her prank/stupidity, not our MC's, not to mention she is a 13 year old girl.
Plus, I hated how everyone turned against her in a heartbeat when they found out and saw Annett. How everyone was angry at her. Abandoned her. WTF. SO I am not sure if I will continue reading.

But the art was nice. The MC was cute. I liked Klew. I loved seeing the MC grow. And I am still kinda hoping the prince is at least not an asshole.

[Logan]

If you're thinking of putting this manga down because Anna's been betrayed by everyone she knew, rest assured that she has MANY allies. The only people who have abandoned her are the mother and father that were never there for her to begin with. Annette even recognizes how ostracized Anna was! I thought it was very nice that they both tried their best to accommodate each other in their new lives... found family inbound!!

Wealth disparity comes up often here and I'm excited for where that will lead. Henry is interested in reforming society as a whole, Anna is trying to do the best she can to help others, Annette is attempting to use her healing magic as more than a street remedy, and Ed is reaching a hand out in the best way he can.

[Ray M.]

This was a cute twist to the historical fantasy manga I usually see. It's not isekai but a good ole switch at birth situation. I loved the little added element of the fairies and I wonder if in the future books it'll explain how the FMC can see the fairies since she wasn't supposed to be born with magic.

The romance isn't really there yet since it's the beginning of the series but I get the vibes that the ML is going to be a tsundere. Which is difficult because I REALLY hate that personality type in manga.

[Mariána K]

Mixed feelings

I'm used to the storylines where the villainous is cruelly kicked out of her family and loses her fiance blah blah blah. The story has a little bit of that feel to it but feels way more cruel than any other that I can remember at the moment. Not sure how I feel about reading it further... It seems painfully harsh and yet so much potential to be something good. I just don't know how to feel about the people around our MC.

[Gaea]

An interesting start to the series. The setup sounds like it'd be fairly standard but it didn't really turn out that way. It was a lot slower than I thought it'd be - to the point where it felt a bit empty almost? It focused a lot on Anna's reactions, which were done in a fairly realistic way. This first book definitely gave the impression of being the setup before the actual plot starts. Still, I really liked the art style and the change in pace kept my attention.

[Kimberlee]

I've definitely seen this type of story, but maybe I'm just a sucker for liking the trope so much. Solid first volume, but if you can't stand a downer of a main character, pass this one up. I'm excited for the next volume.

[Darcy Roar]

This one was a mixed bag, I like the idea of the fairy stuff and the cooking shenanigans but didn't love the main plot tension of the protagonist 'needing to tell her family' stuff. That said I did get pulled in with the ending twist so maybe this one will be fun to follow!

[Jennine S.]

Female Lead is hopefully redeemable

Interesting enough premise that I'm definitely in for volume two, although I really hope the protagonist has some serious and fast character development, cuz she's hella annoying right now.

[Jill]

This was a great volume. I cannot wait to read the next one. That cliffhanger! I need to know what happens right now.

[Mk]

not into this tragedy porn

[Jayda J]

Loved this so much. Read a copy from the library, and immediately went to barnes & nobles to buy my own copy as soon as I finished. Can't wait for volume 2

[Ashley]

2.5 stars

[Paulette]

This was rather interesting, I really want to see what happens in the next volume!

[Emma Britt]

A refreshing story!

[Blue]

A bit confused about people blaming a fourteen year old child, but nice art!

[Dan]

Henry better end up regretting those words 😤

The art is very pretty! There was a lot of exposition in this one, but it's definitely a series I want to continue 😄

[alexcia]

It's so cruel of the faries to swap their fate. I really like the main character and I feel so bad for her especially at the end, it's so sad. It's also cruel of the family to cast her out too.

[Lissa Hawley]

4.5 stars

I have never had such a terrible cliffhanger in a manga. I need the next 4 volumes immediately.