
I recently finished the first two volumes of ひねくれ騎士とふわふわ姫様 古城暮らしと小さなおうち (Hinekure Kishi to Fuwafuwa Himesama: Kojougurashi to Chiisana Ouchi or The Cynical Knight and Gentle Princess: Building Fairy Homes and a Life Together) by Aoi Umetarou. Despite being semi-popular in Japan and getting an official translation, I couldn’t find much information about this manga in English. I thought I’d share some quick thoughts about it for others that were drawn in by its cute art style and were curious about the story.
As a side note, I haven’t read the official English translation and don’t plan to. My review is based on the original Japanese version of the manga that’s currently being serialized in Shounen Gangan.
My review doesn’t include major spoilers, but I’ll go a little more in-depth than the official summary. It’s probably best to avoid this review if you want to read the series completely blind!
Story Overview
ひねくれ騎士とふわふわ姫様 古城暮らしと小さなおうち (Hinekure Kishi to Fuwafuwa Himesama: Kojougurashi to Chiisana Ouchi) is a slice-of-life fantasy manga by Aoi Umetarou. It tells the story of Lux, a knight who was suddenly ordered by his king to marry Princess Cronya. Despite being a high-ranking knight, Lux secretly hates nobility and dreads the idea of being engaged to a noble. He reluctantly goes to meet the princess expecting a power-hungry spoiled brat, but is instead greeted by a socially awkward artist living by herself in a rundown castle.
While in the company of Princess Cronya, Lux accidently talks to fairies. In the world the manga takes place in, people that can see fairies are ostracized, so Lux thinks that the princess will dismiss him and rescind his status as a knight. Instead, Cronya is overjoyed to finally meet someone who can see fairies like she can.
Princess Cronya’s hobby is making miniature houses, and her dream is to make houses for fairies. Because she can’t understand fairy language, Cronya doesn’t know how to let the fairies know about her hobby, or how to take their requests correctly when they do come to her. Luckily, Lux knows how to translate and they spend an afternoon together building the perfect house for a picky fairy.
After working together, Lux realizes that he has been charmed by Cronya. Although he doesn’t agree to marry her, Lux decides to stay at the castle and support Cronya as a knight.
Volume 1 focus on the daily life of Lux and Cronya as they fix up their rundown castle and continue building homes for fairies. It’s very slow and feels very lighthearted. While keeping with a similar mood, the second volume picks up the pace a bit. The volume opens with a conflict involving Cronya’s sister and the relationship between Lux and Cronya becomes a more prevalent theme. Another major character is introduced who seems to compliment the protagonists well. There is less of a focus on building houses in the second volume and it makes me wonder what direction the third volume will take…
My Thoughts
Princesses, knights, handicrafts… this manga checks all the boxes of the things I love most in fantasy! I originally rented the first volume just to check it out but ended up buying it because I liked it so much. In addition to buying the manga, I’ve been following along with the Shounen Gangan releases just to stay up to date with the series. I only subscribe to shoujo magazines like Lala so this manga is literally the only reason I’m reading Shounen Gangan.
I’ve seen some English sources categorize the series as a shoujo manga, but it’s actually a shounen manga. Although the story is told through the eyes of a male protagonist, it has a female mangaka and I don’t feel like it’s overtly aimed at a male demographic. The tone is very lighthearted and fluffy, without any gross fanservice or offensive stereotypes. I find that I can’t connect with many shounen series nowadays, but I really enjoyed my time with this manga.
While I like both of the protagonists, it’s important to note the age gap between them. Cronya is only 15 years old and Lux is implied to be at least five to ten years older than her. Although an engagement like the one in the manga would have been normal during the time period it takes place in, I still found myself feeling a little uncomfortable by the arrangement. Luckily, even after the developments in the second volume, I would describe Lux and Cronya’s relationship to be more like close friends rather than a romantic couple. I hope it stays this way for the rest of the series.
The art style of this manga is very lovely. The colors used on the covers and the introduction pages are very muted and calming. When talking about the art for this series, it’s hard not to mention the crafting scenes. Every time Cronya works on a miniature house, the manga becomes a sort of instruction manual. The tools and pieces the princess uses are carefully noted and given in-depth descriptions. Each step of Cronya’s workflow is adorned with directions detailing her process. The completed houses are showcased from various angles and presented in such a beautiful way that makes me wish I could live in them. The handicraft scenes are easily my favorite parts of the manga!
… Which makes me a little worried about the future of the series. As mentioned above, the second volume is slightly faster paced the first volume. While handicraft scenes were the focus of the first four chapters, Cronya’s hobby takes a backseat in the second volume. I’m personally not a fan of romance manga with an age gap and, to be honest, I find the engagement framing of Lux and Cronya’s relationship to be worrisome. Overall, while I really like this series, I hope the romance remains light and that the handicraft scenes from the earlier part of the manga return with greater focus in subsequent chapters.