My Dear Cold-Blooded King cover art by lifelight
Warning: contains spoilers
After many prompts and recommendations by Webtoon, I finally gave in and read My Dear Cold-Blooded King. I had put it off and ignored it for a while because the premise sounded somewhat boring. A seemingly ordinary merchant woman, Mei suddenly gets caught up with issues at the capitol. She then get entangled in drama, deceit, secrecy, and desire. Below I cover the good, the issues, and the overall.
The Good
- So much fan service with all the chiseled men with abs!
- The dialogue was fairly balanced and had joke dynamics, as well as plenty of serious stuff. The Ambassador arch highlighted this.
- Backgrounds were beautiful, with beautifully depicted seasons.
- The attention to detail with colors and styles of wardrobe was great. This was even/especially great for a tattooed villain (Yuuta) and walked around with a more revealing open top to show those off.
- Strong and capable women, and dare I say some more capable than the men, even.
- Such a solid and satisfying conclusion to the story, and a lot of character development that especially came together towards the end. I very much appreciated this. Thank you, lifelight (author)!
- I have to note and credit the distinction between redeemable characters and the one unredeemable character, and how he was actually dealt with by multiple characters, then finally by Yuuta. There was a line in the sand on what is absolutely unacceptable (sexual assault).
Issues
- Most of the characters looked very similar, minus some differences with hair color. I’m talking about body and facial features, hairstyles, etc. It makes it confusing to keep track of characters and who they are. To be fair, though, the older characters look very distinct.
- Why did Ryu know who Katsu’s dad was before Katsu found out? That was weird and made no sense. I initially assumed it was because of Katsu’s hair color, but that was apparently from the queen.
- The story was a bit too complicated and drawn out, which made it confusing. The Yuuta plot dragged on for 2 seasons and the back-and-forth romance interests, love polygon, etc. Then Season 3 was pretty quick. Some elements of secrecy seemed unnecessary or excessive.
- Where was Mei’s brother until the end of Season 2? And why was she the last to even know about her brother’s true role in the Blood King’s army, along with her father’s previous job?
- I don’t know if it’s a ‘ship thing, but the Ryu dynamic with Mei made little sense. Why would she go with someone who sexually harassed her so often, and didn’t really respect her or her explicit wishes? Pretty coercive.
- Some of the male characters used too many names, and sometimes even one another’s (talking about you, Katsu. Why did you call yourself Yuuta for a while?). It made it more confusing. Now, these names may have specific meanings (I don’t know if they actually do), but if so, then it would’ve helped to have them defined in readers’ notes or something. One reader commented on Katsu’s name in particular in the comment section, and its meaning. It made me think of Katsu chicken (breaded chicken breast that is fried and then cut into strips), but I just assumed he had the name to sound like a badass or something.
As a note, this comic includes serious themes, including child abuse, abuse, violence, sexual violence, war, abandonment, and trauma.
While there were parts with which I took issue, overall, this was an enjoyable read, some illegal cliffhangers aside. The character development, as well as the forgiveness and redemption arcs, were handled well and respectfully, which is a feat considering the depth of wounds. One issue for me was that some of the male characters, especially, seemed a bit immature, bratty, or otherwise entitled, but they did eventually grow up and get their stuff together, thankfully. This didn’t follow the cliché about first loves, and showed feelings can evolve or be confused, which is a wonderful message. This completed comic is available on Daily Pass (currently 5 per day).
For other Webtoon reviews, see this and previous editions.
