I started and finished reading this manga too quickly. It is very short, very brief, and has a lot of information about our characters' past but very little about the present and that made me want more.

I don't know when the second volume will come out, but I'm eager to read it because I want to know how the story is going to develop and what the bond between the protagonists will be like.

Thanks Kodansha Comics for the ARC I read on NetGalley, a change from an honest review.

I loved this!! It was so good.
The story is so intricate and detailed. And you can tell, you can feel through the pages how much they love each other above all else.
I simply love it.
This volume revealed more of their past and their shared history up until the present, where they meet again. And I'm super curious to know where this will go.
I really loved it!! Plus the drawings are wonderful, bringing personality to the story and showing the characters to the reader.

This had a good premise. Prince Alexei is killed by his stepmother, but thanks to a blessing of his real mother, he revives and is rescued by a goblin-like woman who lives in a forest with magical animals. The two become each other’s family, until the imperial guard arrives and kills everyone in the forest, including the woman.

Eighteen years later, Alexei is a cold-hearted emperor, and thanks to a blessing he gave to his saviour, she’s reincarnated as a beautiful daughter of a duke, Eleanor, with all her memories of her past life intact. But she has a horrible step-mother too, and is kept out of public life. But when the emperor needs to find a wife, Eleanor gets to meet him. She thinks he looks like the little boy she saved in her past life, but doesn’t believe he could be him. A chance conversation between the two catches his interest. The volume ends before any revelations happen.

A good star that doesn’t really go anywhere yet with all the backstory that needed to be covered first. Romance will undoubtedly happen eventually, but probably slowly, if the pace of the first volume is anything to go by. I’d definitely root for them. Art is good.

This manga is off to a super cute start! The characters are fun, the art is adorable, and it’s an easy read that pulls you right in. That said, the first volume feels a little short, especially since it seems like there's still so much left to happen! I need the second one. Overall, a sweet and fun read, and I’m looking forward to more!

A cute beginning to a love story featuring themes of reincarnation. The art style is gorgeous and I cannot wait to read the next manga volume❤

The cover and artwork in this manga are beautiful, which is what originally caught my eye about it. The artwork works really well with the story and I did like it a lot.

The dialogue was strange and extremely repetitive. Since this is the first volume and needed to give us backstory and set up the characters, hopefully that improves in the future volumes.

I do have an issue with the female main character being a parental figure to Ham as a child, and then becoming the love interest later on. I initially thought they would have both been children before she was reborn, and not an adult and a child.

This was cute and I like the premise but it was mostly just backstory and set up so it was a bit boring overall

Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this volume.

A cute premise here - one of our characters is reincarnated and happens to be invited to a ball with the person she loved before she died! Shocker - he’s the Emperor!

We get a lot of back story in this volume which made it a little hard to get into. However, it was enjoyable and the art style is cute!

Thanks NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the ARC!

I just couldn't put this down. The story is so sweet and I couldn't wait for the next volume! The female MC is so lovable.

This was a beautiful yet tragic story. The art style is gorgeous.
This may seem like an ordinary story with an mmc who's an emperor and the fmc, daughter of a noble. But they have a beautiful past. A past struck by a tragedy.
I can't wait to see both our mmc and fmc recognize each other. I'm so excited for the next volume.

3.5 star!

I’m so invested in this, I can’t wait to read the next volumes and find out how the story will continue.

This was such a cute story! I wish it was longer because right as it was starting to get really interesting it ended.
I don’t usually read manga but this definitely makes me want to dive in.

I am very intrigued to see where this story goes. I've read a lot of reincarnation stories and they all seem to blend in together. But this one has such a unique way of telling the story and magic system that it is a strong contender to stand out.

Thank you Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Boy I Loved Became The Jaded Emperor in particular is bringing a fresh air to historical slash reincarnation-themed manga where the FMC was reborn from unusual looking commoner to a beautiful noble lady. Both of the main characters suffer from their supposed to be home/family until they meet and find comfort in each other. It's tragic also could be comedic at the same time. It has a fast pace and very much simple conflict, perfect if you're looking for refreshing and wholesome manga.

Pie, a friendly monster, found and rescued a young boy unknown to her that he was Prince Alexei in the woods whom she named Ham. They lived together for many years until tragedy struck and Pie was killed. Ham tried to save her but believed he had failed. Ham grew up and became a cold Emperor, while Pie was reborn as a noble lady called Eleonora. Their fates were bound to cross again, but neither recognized the other.

The story appeared to be a fantasy romance from the cover, but it turned out to be a fantasy with a different twist. The ending left me desperate for more, and I can't wait for the next instalment. However, I really hope their relationship remains like that of a mother and son and doesn't develop into a romance, as it seems to be heading in that direction.

It's all backstory and setting up for the next volume, I would have liked to see a little more happen to get me interested enough to want to continue the series. The idea of the plot is interesting though.

While I really liked the amount of background we're given to the Emperor in this first volume, I found that the book ended before I could really care to see how the two lead's relationship with each other would develop. They had very little interaction with each other in current day, so I don't know what to expect. I'm interested, but I would have loved more time between the two characters in this volume.

Thanks NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the ARC.

As the art is one of the most important parts of any manga I will start my review there. The art is gorgeous and my preferred style. I would happily pick up any manga drawn by this artist just to enjoy looking at it.

However, this isn’t where the enjoyment of this story ends. There are two parts of the story told: one in the past when the emperor was just a boy abandoned in the woods and taken in by a ‘monster’ who cares for him and keeps him safe over the years. They form their own family in the woods with all the magical creatures who live there as well. The second part is in the present after the boy was ‘rescued’ and has grown up and is now the ruler of his lands. He holds a ball to find a wife and is reunited with the person who saved him who has been reincarnated as a Duke’s daughter. Will they remember each other? Will they find love? I can’t wait to find out.

This was a sweet read and I can't wait to read the next volume. Both the Art style and the plot are cute. It starts of with the immortal prince as a kid, being abandoned in a forest where he's killed repeatedly.
He meets a green squishy hooded creature he named Pie in the magical forest who saves him and looks after him. Now this relationship felt more like a grandma and child relationship and not the love between the ML and FL but guess what?
The Pie gets killed by the imperial knights and reincarnates as a noble. Now both have grow. The prince has become cold hearted and the princess still has her previous commoner accent lol.
They finally meet and have a discussion on hams and pies xD

Can't wait to find out what happens next. I only wish they didn't have a granny and child relationship at the beginning it's weird reading about their love now.

In summary if you like historical mangas, reincarnation and royalty then this is for you.

The cover art caught my attention because of the art style. I love how this artist's draws their characters so delicately. Their coloring style is soft and vibrant only adds to it.

The manga itself is well-formatted with beautiful panelling. You can tell Ii Oshikawa has a lot of experience, and I love the variation between each page. Even though some of the panels lack backgrounds, pages never feel empty because of the detailed background that other panels provide. I love that they've added a white glow around the characters so that they stand out against the backdrop. The character expressions are pretty and well-drawn with a good amount of variation too.

As for the story, we meet Eleonora, the neglected daughter of the Purpleus ducal household. She was the daughter of the Duke's previous wife, and was sent off to the annex once he remarried and had another child. Eleonora was a creature called Pie in her previous life, and she cared for Prince Alexei for a few years. He was escaping an assassination attempt and learned to find a home in the forest. He was eventually discovered and brought back to the castle while Pie and everyone in the forest were killed. We don't spend enough time with them for it to pack an emotional punch, but it provides enough information to give us a good idea of what Alexei has been though. Eleonora doesn't hold any grudges about the past but Alexei is haunted by that day. They meet again in their second lives, and we end the Volume 1 there. Both characters seem pretty taciturn, so I have a hunch that future volumes will have a lot of flashbacks to happier days.

The plot is easy to understand, and Pie didn't see Ham/Alexei romantically at all, so I wonder how that's going to develop. Outside of the plot, it's really fun to see the contract between her peers and Eleanora's own heavy southern accent. It's a cute introduction to the series and I'm interested to learn how their relationship will develop, and how they'll realize eachother's identities!