The Barbarian's Bride Vol. 1

姫騎士は蛮族の嫁 [Hime Kishi wa Barbaroi no Yome] #1

by Noriaki Kotoba

「くっ、殺せ！」。西方最強の女騎士こと、セラフィーナ・ド・ラヴィラント。彼女は東方征伐の戦に敗れ、蛮族の捕虜となってしまった！ 敵地の冷たい牢獄の中、敗北者のセフィーナに待ち受けるのは、復讐、拷問、そして凌辱の日々ーーー…。かと思いきや！ 申し出られたのは、まさかの”蛮族王との結婚”でーーー!? 元敵同士の二人が紡ぐ本格異世界婚姻譚、開幕!!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Comics, Comics Manga

196 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 15, 2024

Reviews

[Lindsay]

This was a bit dull to begin with, but the ending saved it.

[Sol]

This just didn't work for me. The main character was my biggest issue -- but I think it's the fault of Kotoba's own poor tastes than the protagonist's fault, herself. I didn't like her design or personality. Even though she's supposed to be a knight and nobleman with a strict and honorable personality, she's kind of just a typical tsundere who yells at and nags the people around her, and I never felt quite like her reactions to the horrors around her were quite severe enough. It feels almost like she's a school otome character who's been placed in this fantasy war setting, and everything about it feels dissonant. She does not scream "nobleman" or "First Knight" to me at all. I think a character who isn't so conventionally attractive, who has a colder and more rigid personality, would have worked much better in this story.

There's also just so much gratuitous lewdness in this that leaves a really bad taste in your mouth. Serafina, the protagonist, is a prisoner of war, and has the understandable worry of being taken advantage of as a prisoner, but the mangaka draws out these nightmares in an incredibly sexualized manner, which is just disgusting. The constant sexualization of our FL makes me feel like Kotoba doesn't even respect her, but rather just is treating her as sexy eye candy in a story in which she has no autonomy whatsoever. Every part of this comes across as incredibly misogynistic. Even though she's a badass warrior and boasts that she's extremely strong, she also has to be protected against an easy enemy by the ML by the end, and expresses that she's actually always wanted to be protected. Again, it leaves a foul taste in your mouth. I found it very lame.

[Nathaniel R.]

The resolution end of an enemies to lovers story, with the story playing with tropes of romance books and culture shock. Its what I expected, but didn't enjoy it as much as I expected, but its not bad. Just not for me.

[Aurora]

I wasn’t as into this as I was hoping I’d be, but still intrigued enough to keep reading. Had a moment of mourning when he came out clean-shaven for a bit, but the scruffy returned, for which I am very thankful. 😂

[Zenobia]

4.5

[Janina]

1.5 stars. This just wasn't for me :( A female knight is caught in war and instead of torture the capturer wants to marry her because they admire strength. Good concept, not a great execution for me sadly. I don't like to call women annoying because people use that word too frequently but I found the main character definitely irritating most of the time. At the start there is also a scene where the fmc fears the worst and imagines herself getting raped (?) and it caught me off guard in how it was portrayed (nude, shackled, 'taken' from the back, held by the hair) - I get that it was the worst case scenario she imagined but at the back it shows for 'OLDER TEENS (15+) and I would not show that to a fifteen year old. I don't know. The rest was fine but not interesting enough for me to enjoy the volume. Added a half star for the dragons!

tw/cw: capture, mentioned war, eating animal meat, nudity, mentioned death, mentioned torture, imagined torture, imagined sexual assault

[Jessica]

I expected fan service, but it was too icky. More than one panel of imagined rape, my least favorite.

[Jeanne]

Bon ça c'est fait je ne voulais pas me le lire ce soir.

[Mabel]

Read this because I saw the trailer for the upcoming anime and was intrigued.

You don’t have to reach the author’s note to know it’s clear that this artist has drawn hentai before. It’s very obvious from page 1, and while this isn’t that kind of story, the author’s experience does… shine through. I’m fine with it, and was able to enjoy the story despite the unexpected racy tone it had at times. But I can see how others may be uncomfortable with it all.

I’m barely one volume in, but so far I’d say it’s almost wholesome but mostly, it is cute and fun. Yes, there’s a whole lot of fighting, and Serafina despairing over imagined scenarios, but it’s still a cuter story than the premise (and art) would originally suggest, and one that doesn’t let us forget that despite the situation, Serafina is not helpless.

I came for the romance, which is satisfying by itself, but am also enjoying the action and the glimpses into the political bit. Her brother, the entire reason behind the “war”, previous kidnapped brides – I wanna see more of this world and its characters.

[Ce]

Reading the synopsis, I thought the story would veer differently than it did. I don’t dislike it by any means. I am intrigued. I just think I’m waiting for it to really draw me in as a whole. It has all the makings to do so. I really enjoy the MMC. (An MMC with facial hair?! We don’t get those often anymore haha). I’m very interested in the FMC and her past.

I’ll be giving volume 2 a shot hopefully soon.

[Tanya]

I started this of course seeing the male lead actually had a beard! Quite Pervy but I hope it evens out with at least a good plot.
So far very trope heavy and the drawing itself is quite …. Clear where the main interest is I should say.

But not enough for me to just shut the book and not want to read. So we shall see where it goes.

[Ray Rappisi]

I like the thicker line art and the overall designs of the characters, mainly. Story wise, it is your basic old world fantasy with beefy guys and standard maidens. But if Sera is allowed to show her stuff like she did against the bird dragon, (sucks she had to be rescued, cliche’ much?) I would have enjoyed it much more. But overall it was an above average start.

[Titania]

Just the kind of romance I was looking for! A fierce female warrior loses a sword fight with a barbarian. Instead of killing her, he captures her and offers marriage because she is a great fighter. There’s great humor along with wonderful world building. I look forward to the next volume. Also, the anime releases this month.

[SummerRae]

The dialogue was a bit cheesy and got repetitive. But for the most part, it was cute and kinda funny at times. The art is fantastic, too. It's about what I expected it to be. It has intrigued me enough to continue, and a big reason is I love a good, hot bearded barbarian...sue me ;)

[Kat]

this is giving total romantasy vibes and I'm loving it!! serafina is such a badass and I can't believe how different raisei looks when clean shaven LOL

[KathleenB]

Trope heavy but protagonist Sera has potential

[Squilvia]

Hmmmm IDK, not a fan. And what's with the SA'd scenes??

[Nikoleta Kademidou]

It's a really pleasant read, the artstyle is also very beautiful!

[Alana]

I was in tears by the end of the book. always protecting others and finally found someone to protect you.

[Richard Humphries]

A lot of fun to read, amusing fish out of water story that is playful with medieval / barbarian tropes.

[Kylee]

Just a cutesy manga with some silly moments, a fun read before watching the anime.

[Carli FriesJr.]

3.5

[Enairolf]

C’était un titre qui m’avait beaucoup intrigué lorsque je l’ai vu dans les sorties du mois de février. Très curieuse je me suis pris le premier tome. Pour être honnête, même en lisant le résumé, je m’attendais à quelque chose de plus « hard » on va dire. Ça parait bête dit comme ça mais je sais pas, j’avais une idée fixe sur ça et je m’attendais à avoir des scènes peut être parfois limite. Mais pas du tout! J’ai adoré ce premier tome, j’ai été agréablement surprise et ça promet un manga passionnant à lire au fur et à mesure que l’on avancera dans les tomes!

Dans ce premier tome, Séraphina de Ravilant, la plus valeureuse des chevalières d’Occident, première épée du royaume d’Illdoren, commandante chargée d’envahir les fertiles régions barbares de l’Est, est malheureusement vaincue et faite prisonnière par Vehor, le chef ennemi ! Enchaînée dans une froide geôle, elle se prépare à endurer les pires tortures et humiliations… Mais à sa grande stupeur… le chef des barbares ne veut rien d’autre que la prendre pour épouse ! Une cohabitation inattendue dans un univers hostile de fantasy débute alors.

Ce que j’ai aimé dans ce premier tome c’est la différence entre ce que l’on peut croire et la réalité. Quand on voit Séraphina se faire enlever par le chef barbare, limite on a peur pour elle parce que l’on sait comment ils sont les barbares, ils ne portent pas ce nom par simple hasard. Alors qu’en vérité, lorsque l’on découvre qui est véritablement Vehor et bien on tombe sur le cul. Ce mec est quelqu’un de doux, de profondément gentil, qui ne veut qu’une seule chose finalement: que Séraphina devienne sa femme. Il précise bien qu’il ne s’en prendra jamais à sa vertu par la force. J’ai d’ailleurs beaucoup aimé découvrir Vehor, il est clairement aux petits soins pour Séra, il va lui faire visiter les environs, lui faire découvrir un tas de choses sur leurs peuples. Qu’est ce que j’ai pu rire avec Séraphina en tout cas. Elle, elle est persuadé que Vehor veut la manipuler, peu importe de quoi ils parlent. Il lui fait visiter les environs? ça cache quelque chose. Il lui prépare un repas? ça cache quelque chose. C’était assez drôle de la voir comme ça. J’aime beaucoup le duo qu’ils forment, pour le moment forcément Séraphina est plus que méfiante mais on voit que petit à petit, et parfois même malgré elle, elle accorde sa confiance à Vehor et qu’elle se méfie de moins en moins. Il me tarde clairement de découvrir la suite de cette histoire avec ces deux là!

Un premier tome plus que prometteur selon moi et que j’ai hâte de pouvoir continuer! Je sens que chaque tome va nous réserver son lot de surprises et surtout qu’ils seront tous tout simplement excellent à lire. J’en mets ma main à couper! J’adore l’histoire mais aussi l’univers, ainsi que les personnages. L’histoire est pleine d’humour, ce qui est vraiment agréable pour le coup. J’ai vraiment passé un excellent moment en tout cas!

[Jesse Plumb]

Serafina de Lavillant has worked her entire life to be accepted as not only a female knight, spurning her obligations as a female noblewoman, but as a commander in her kingdom's Eastern frontier, attempting to expand her kingdoms boundaries into the barbarian lands to the East. When she is captured by the barbarian's chieftain after defeating her in battle, she is expecting the worst; and is surprised when she's treated as an honored guest. Though, an honored guest who can't leave, and is expected to eventually marry the chieftain who defeated her. That shock aside, Serafina begins to learn about the new culture she finds herself in, and how badly her kingdom in the West has brutalized the Eastern barbarians with constant expansionist warfare. It also doesn't hurt that her would be captor is extremely respectful, and super-hot.

You can see where this is going. It's also obvious that this is Kotoba's first non-hentai work, as his artistic choices are, let's say, fan servicey. While the manga wasn't as exploitative as I was expecting, it is a full-on cheesecake factory in there. At least, it is equal opportunity fan service, as the barbarian chieftain is depicted shirtless as often as the mangaka can manage.

[E.A. Reads]

4.5 ⭐

[Eef Hitz]

It was fun.
She is a freaking knight.. which I LOVE!!
She is a badass.
I kind of love Cersei.