[Thanks to Kodansha and NetGalley for an ARC of this manga in exchange for an unbiased review.]
I swore I was done with these fantasy stories that are both very generic and have incredibly on the nose titles. Yet, if you make it yuri, well, I will be here to at least check it out and I’m happy I did.
Oh, the fantasy is super generic. The titular dark knight, Frost, is basically a super sentai hero who transforms into her battle mode when the incredibly generic monsters show up to cause trouble.
Having used the word ‘generic’ three times in two paragraphs, with descriptors no less, you might be surprised that I am quite positive on this title and look forward to more. Yet, here we are.
Basically, this quickly morphs from its apparent roots to be a rather daft domestic comedy that is quietly about to get very gay. It doesn’t hurt that our two leads happen to have pretty fantastic ‘enemies to lovers’ chemistry.
It helps that neither of our main characters start off being all that great. Clarice is our entry point and she’s only agreed to this marriage because she desperately wants the dark knight’s money. Yes, it’s for her sister’s health, but she’s all politics and scheming.
For her part, Frost, said dark knight, hides behind her armour because women can’t be knights. Plus, she’s as cold as her name due to some obvious heartbreak in her past. And she’s willing to kill Clarice to keep her secret.
Which seems heavy, and is, but quickly devolves into some very goofy stuff. I absolutely adored the page where Clarice is desperately running multiple scenarios to save her head and they all end with her getting it lopped off.
Frost may be the chilly brawn, but Clarice quickly shows that she’s incredibly clever. From her handling of life-or-death situations to wrangling a domestic crisis with some eggs, I really liked how she tackles the obstacles before her.
Frost is essentially a final boss and Clarice’s grand scheme to win this money hinges on getting Frost to fall for her. While her work is cut out for her, she still manages to crack that facade in some fun ways. She also seems genuinely unaware that actual affection could be in the works, so that’s a cute detail.
The story wisely develops both of them, even if Clarice gets the bulk of the characterization. Even with her impure motives, and you know that’ll come back, she is surprisingly thoughtful. Frost, meanwhile, is surprisingly naive about some things and a deliciously sore loser.
It’s really their pairing that makes this work. Clarice comes through at the end during a big fight, but doesn’t crowd Frost out of her hero moment. Interspersed is some light comedy from Clarice’s family and Frost’s staff.
And amidst all that is the quietly growing relationship, which is moving quite slowly but has enough nearly tender moments to indicate that the payoff should definitely be worth it.
3.5 stars - despite a real basic setting, the story quickly uses that as an excuse to bring two very different people together and makes that worth watching. A fun fantasy yuri.
Clarice may be from a noble family but they are broke, and with her sister Charlotte sick Clarice is desperate to find some way to get her family some money. One evening she overhears her parent's discussing the prospect of a marriage to a Knight! Clarice bursts in the door and tells them immediately that she absolutely will marry this knight whomever he is as he is clearly their ticket out of their financial woes, only for her parents to immediately decline. This isn't any Knight it is the bloodthirsty Dark Knight, but Clarice persists no matter how bad this Dark Knight is she must marry him to save her family but especially her precious sister. So marry him she does but on the evening of their wedding she discovers a huge secret: The Dark Knight is a woman!
I am aware that this is only Vol 1 but I'm already calling it for yuri of the year because, yup it's too stinking cute! Clarice is a great MC she clearly cares for her family quite a bit and as a broke noble she isn't used to just sitting around and doing nothing, so she is able to very quickly ingratiate herself to her new household. Well, everyone but her wife, more on that in a bit. She's also clearly very clever and if volume one is any sort of indication I think she'll be saving her wife from a bit of pain in the future since her wife is clearly the "charge in headfirst" type of Knight. Frost, the Dark Knight has been concealing her sex for ages as only men can become Knights so when Clarice finds out she's obviously a little concerned that she will spill the beans. Which makes sense, although how she thought that her new wife would never figure out her sex is completely beyond me. Because she's had to hide so much of herself from literally everyone, she's very standoffish which fits Clarice's very open personality perfectly at least for these first few volumes. It will be fun to watch Clarice get her to open up more.
I will definitely be continuing this series, Clarice is such a great MC and while I feel like the progression of her relationship with Frost will be full of tropes I am okay with it. They are just too cute together!
As always thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for the eArc!
Actual rating: 4.5 stars . Marrying the Dark Knight (For Her Money) has done what is one of my favourite things in fantasy manga - and that is to go full throttle with the stupid. This manga is hilarious and knows exactly what it wants to do. Both the story and art are crisp and know exactly what they want to get across and it is just such an enjoyable ride. . It’s a well written trope - the downtrodden Lady with a sick sister being married off to a cold and heartless knight to save her family… but what if yuri? . I mean, of course, sign me up!?? . The face that this story is so aware of itself is what really sold it to me. It’s able to lean into those tired tropes so far it becomes refreshingly comedic. Not to mention, Lady Clarice has really hit the jackpot with the Dark Knight Frost cause she is gorgeousssss. . This first volume has me immediately invested in their relationship and I am rooting for Frost to thaw just a little for our Lady Clarice and for Lady Clarice to realize how deep her feelings might go for the goddess that is Frost. Not to mention this first taste of the humour in the writing will have me coming back for any number of volumes that we are lucky enough to get. . I’m so ready for more already! . *I received an eARC from Kodansha Comics & NetGalley. All opinions are my own*
The story revolves around a young woman who takes on the responsibility of a political marriage to help save her family from the hard times they've fallen upon. Her betrothed however is not what she (or I) was expecting! From the very start her new marriage is a challenge, however she has an incredibly strong determination and love for her family that fuels her drive. She's the kind of person y0u can't help but root for! I'll be keeping a close eye on this series as it's such a joyful read, and I truly hope that she gets everything she wants.
While the author is new to me, they won't be for long as they have created two excellent characters that I can't wait to see more of! While it appears to be your typical political marriage plot, you can tell there is a lot of depth to be explored on expectations and biases that people hold. I couldn't put the book down and powered through until the end which left me wanting more. I can't wait to read the next volume and see what challenges away the heroine next!
What a fun first volume! When I spotted a yuri manga with an arranged marriage and a fantasy setting, I knew I had to pick it up. “Marrying the Dark Knight (For Her Money)” has a very humorous tone. I enjoyed seeing the new bride Clarice tiptoeing around the Dark Knight Frost. Frost is so oblivious to social niceties, and just a bit scary in general, but Clarice is going to stick it out to help out her penniless family and sick sister! There’s a softness hiding under all that emotional and physical armor. I look forward to seeing Clarice crack Frost’s cold exterior in future volumes. The battle scenes were exciting, the dark knight is so extremely powerful, it makes sense why everyone is terrified of them, haha! This first volume nicely sets up the premise, and I’ll definitely be recommending it to friends and library patrons looking for a new yuri fantasy series to try.
Thank you Kodansha Comics and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Marrying the Dark Knight for her money is officially one of my new favorite Yuri mangas! First of all, I absolutely love this art style! It’s so pretty and the characters looked amazing! I love so many of the character designs expecially for Clarice, Charlotte, and the Dark Knight! The combat scenes for the dark knight also look really good, I love seeing her in combat. She has this nice effortless grace about her that both funny and really intriguing. It is an enemies to lovers kind of thing but it oddly comes off as more of a “soft” enemies to lovers at least to me. I love all of their interactions together, they have plenty of funny and kind of soft moments together. I think they going to form a really good dynamic and I absolutely love the both of them, I can’t wait to see how their relationship blooms in the next volumes! Thank you to the publisher for my complimentary review copy.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for an arc. All opinions are my own.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ .5 Genre: Fantasy Romance Manga Are There Gay People in this?*: ✅
UGH I am OBSESSED! This is like drugs to me. It's got a super strong and also very autistic lady knight, a marriage of convenience, and super sick looking monster designs. Admittedly, the cover did make me a little worried that this would be really fanservicey, but I don't think there was anything egregious.
* I count a book as including gay people if any of the main or secondary characters are implicitly or explicitly queer or trans. This does not necessarily mean the protagonist is queer or that there is a queer romance
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for this e-arc for review!
This is the start of a fun series it feels like. Female lead, Clarice, wants to marry into money in order to help her family, especially her ill sister, and so accepts a marriage to an infamous brutal dark knight. The dark knight normally wears armor everywhere to conceal that she's actually a woman, but Clarice finds out after the wedding when trying to visit for the nuptial night. She sees that the dark knight is actually a beautiful tall lady. Clarice works hard to seduce her new wife and it's a funny and cute story about her attempting to woo with words, food, actions, etc. Clarice's new wife threatens and intimidates Clarice to make sure her secret doesn't get out, but Clarice is determined to woo the dark knight in order to get the money to help her family.
I had such a fun time reading the first volume of what promises to be a fantastic new manga series. It's a strong and engaging start to a unique story that immediately pulled me in. The premise feels fresh, and the pacing makes it easy to get invested right away. There's plenty of humour woven throughout, which made the reading experience even more enjoyable.
The characters are especially charming; I'm already growing attached to them and can't wait to see how their relationships and individual arcs develop. The first volume does a wonderful job of setting the stage while still leaving me eager for more. I'm really looking forward to the next instalment to see where the story goes from here.
A super cute romp with an ice queen x golden retriever. I was so in as soon as I saw our sword-wielding lesbian knight vanquish wild beasts. Hell yes. This first volume is mostly a setup with some plot, but I like where this is going and would love to see more. You have the golden retriever trying to win the ice queen's affections in silly and cute ways, and you just know she's gonna melt that cold heart soon enough (at least I hope so!)
The artwork is lovely, especially for the action scenes. I love the monster design and the design of the dark knight. Absolutely menacing.
Please let this be the cool knight x cute girl yuri I've always been yearning for.
This was such a great yuri marriage for convenience manga. I enjoyed the personalities of the characters. Frost the dark knight is so grumpy, but I’m sure there’s a soft spot in there somewhere. Clarice who married the dark night for money for her family is headstrong and I like how she would do this to help her family especially her sick sister. The maids each have their own personalty and I like how they turned around their feelings towards the end. The artwork is what drew me in first. I think it’s so beautiful. I’m looking forward to seeing Frost and Clarice relationship in future volumes.
Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha comics for an advanced copy for this review.
As light manga and anime lover and someone who reads sapphic novels almost daily I was curious to see how this would land. Given most Yuri have a younger demographic usually, there is nothing wrong with this just I don’t feel comfortable reading it anymore, a fantasy series that felt like a combination of Full Metal Alchemist, Bridgerton and the lore of Yuri and a big dash of comedy had a baby was what i needed right now.
Also more for a note to myself by Manga with a separate writer and manga artist? Chiefs kiss I would say.
Huge thank you to the Publisher and Authors for the ARC I received via NetGalley.
I really wanted to love this but I couldn’t get invested in it. It’s probably fun for someone who likes the humor but since I didn’t find it particularly funny and that it’s the tone of the whole volume, it just didn’t click for me. I was pretty bored…
I’m a big yuri fan, I read a lot of yuri and I don’t like to give negative reviews but I had to be honest. There are much better yuri out there that are better written in my opinion but I’m glad to see other people loved this manga! Who knows, there may be a twist in the next volumes.
Such a cute marriage of convenience manga 🤍 I absolutely love how camp this is lol!! This is the vibes I wanted from “The Dark Lord’s Guide To Dating”.
I love their grumpy x sunshine dynamic, even though that sun comes w/ a few clouds 🌚 lol!! (for good reasons though.)
I absolutely love the maids as well, and can’t wait to see more of their unique personalities. Frost is so funny in her own way too, her little quick quips have me dying lmfao.
This was a fun read, can’t wait to continue this series!!
In all honesty, its exactly what I expected from a Manga at this point. Fun, funny, a bit serious, and kind of dumb in a few ways. A convoluted premise that the story dives into immediately without question, and a cast of unusual and colorful characters (with a quick justification for why everyone is strange). Its just volume one, so basically just the intro to the story. I want to keep reading though, so that means it did its job!
I have high expectations for what is to come, but we will see.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC. This honest review was left voluntarily.
Thanks Netgalley and publisher for this Yuri manga!
Finally we get a “enemies to lovers” Yuri manga, really wish we could see more than just volume 1 tho 😫 Anyways I just love the fact we have a smug noble who’s been in an arranged marriage with the dark knight herself just because her nobility is in risk of debt and smug nobles sister is ill. I just really like the interactions and I’m so friggin glad we are getting a decent Yuri manga yall!
I really liked this one! The MC is brave and loyal and spunky. The cover originally gave me pause. (My litmus test for manga is if the cover art has ridiculous anatomy for the female characters, then I usually opt out.) But I requested this one in spite of the cover and was pleasantly surprised. The interior art was lovely, and the immature salaciousness was minimal if any.
The art is so expressive and energetic! I love all of Clarice's expressions! And Frost is an intriguing mix of coldly aloof, battle capable yet childish and paranoid, bouncing well off the pragmatic Clarice. The plot is a familiar tale of winning over a spouse who's suspicious about their political marriage partner, but weaves in plenty of charming art and pretty ladies to make the old feel new!
Personally I didn't really care for this. Honestly nothing really happened. I know this is just the first volume but it needed something more To intrigue me into continuing the series. I don't really care for the non existing romance and female leads family isn't really featured enough for you to care about them actually getting money.
This is my first ever GL manga and I really enjoyed it! The premise is cute and the main girl is hilarious. Theres the serious scenes of fighting monsters but then theres the cute scenes like them playing chess. I really enjoyed it and will most definetely be buying it when it comes out!
I really loved this volume, cute and funny. I assume the maids do not know of the Dark Knights true identity and I cannot wait to see them found out. And the mystery of the unknown lady? A friend? Lover? Was she killed or did she get married off?
This was cute and funny. Marrying a Dark Knight to save your family is very noble, but Clarice is definitely catching feelings for her Lady knight! It was refreshing to read a story that I hope will establish a legitimate bond between the two main characters and take its time getting there.
Our noble marries dark knight, is shocked to find out is a woman, and has many shenanigans to get onto her good side. The art is pretty nice looking, and although I would've preferred the dark knight have a little bit of muscle because she's a knight, most of the characters are adorable. Simple, cute, and pretty juvenile
The art by Sometime is gorgeous! The story started off a bit rushed, but around halfway through it picked up and became really engaging. I loved it by the end and can’t wait for the next volume! And well… they say love goes through the stomach first! 🤭
The story has potential. I don't really care for Clarice that much because she comes off as more of a gold digger. I know that she's just trying to help out her family and sick sister, but the way she's going about it is kind of stupid. I'm willing to read the next volume to see what happens next.
First, thank you Netgalley and Kodansha USA for the ARC of this! A super cute, political marriage yuri Manga! I loved Frost so much, she was just 😍. The writing was great the art was GORGEOUS and I'm so excited to see where this goes. I can't wait for the second volume!