Marrying the Dark Knight (For Her Money) Volume 1 Review
Clarice is the eldest daughter of the Ducale family who have recently fallen into ruin, due to their grandfather. With her younger sister, Charlotte, also sick, Clarice is determined to help her family by marrying the infamous Dark Knight. The tall figure in black armour is known to be the most powerful, wealthiest, but also scariest, knight in the kingdom. On their wedding night however, Clarice finds out that the knight is actually a woman, and knights are only meant to be men. So the dark knight, named Frost Von Galleria, threatens to kill Clarice to keep her secret. But can Clarice make Frost fall in love with her, to spare her life and help her family out of ruin?
This fantasy yuri series is a debut story for Suoh, but yuri fans may recognise Sometime’s art style from the series, Superwomen in Love! (licensed by Seven Seas). This is my first experience with Sometime’s art but overall it’s very nicely done; the Dark Knight’s armour and expression is equally scary and impressive, making it easy to imagine why others fear and respect Frost. There are also a few cool fantasy beast designs that we see, just enough to give the fantasy world its flavour. The characters are all uniquely designed, with detailed outfits and expressive faces, and I do have to give credit to the design of Frost. With the large chest on the cover, I was fully expecting some boob jokes or overly sexualised panelling, but we get none of it. The large chest is there to sell the imposing nature of the character; the stern look, tall height, muscular arms, long hair, and huge chest all project that this is someone who dominates over others and is not to be messed with. So kudos where it’s due, the height and chest difference works for both characters and the dynamic they’re going for.
In the book, Suoh states they’ve been a fan of fantasy since they were little, and wanted to explore the themes of political marriages and broken engagements intersected with yuri. The fantasy setting itself is rather run-of-the-mill; we see a few fantasy beasts as well as the magical Dark Knight armour in play, but outside of a rather unexplored patriarchal setting (where women can’t be knights, and are expected to cook and clean, etc) there’s not much to see in Volume 1. But we do get more interest and detail in the relationship dynamics.
The wedding happens very early on in the book and so does the reveal, leaving the rest of the book where Clarice must ‘woo’ her Dark Knight, as well as get acquainted with the mansion staff. Clarice is a proactive character; her plan was to seduce the Dark Knight from day one in order to convince them to send money back to her family and save her sick sister. But the fact that Frost has turned out to be a woman doesn’t deter her, and she doesn’t back down when Frost threatens her to keep her secret either; in fact she embraces the challenge and also adapts to her surroundings. Clarice shows her ability to cook, to befriend the staff and also face the Dark Knight head on despite the tension between them. So Clarice is a fun protagonist, and I also liked the dynamic with Frost as well. It’s not your typical ‘enemies to lovers’ scenario as Frost is clearly very guarded, due to her position, and also at times seems unaware of how her actions affect others (like acting surprised when she finds out some of her staff have quit). They bounce off each other well in this first volume and it’ll be interesting to see how it develops over time.
The comedy also works on several levels; there are a few quick panelling gags where we get a moment of Clarice in dire straits, only to check back in with her sister at home, daydreaming about what her sister’s husband is like. There’s also the comedy of misunderstandings, such as Clarice challenging Frost to a game of chess, thinking that knights often play such games when training, only to find out that Frost is terrible at it, as no one wanted to challenge her due to her scary nature. It’s not laugh-out-loud humour, but it’s definitely a cosy atmosphere that makes the characters endearing and the book easy to enjoy.
Translation by Matt Treyvaud is an easy read; there are no translation notes but we do get an author’s note at the end as well as an extra manga between Clarice and her sister.
Marrying the Dark Knight (For Her Money) is a fun, light-hearted start to a new fantasy yuri series. There are promising dynamics between the couple, as well as interesting developments as to whether Frost can keep her secret now that she’s married. Volume 2 is due out in August.
Read a free preview at the publisher’s website here.
Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
