Ludwig Revolution (Rūdovihhi Kakumei) is a gothic horror shōjo manga by Kaori Yuki.  

Saturday, August 15, 2009



























































Ludwig Revolution (ルードヴィッヒ革命, Rūdovihhi Kakumei) is a gothic horror shōjo manga by Kaori Yuki. The story tells about Prince Ludwig who is ordered by his father to find himself a wife more suitable (by more suitable, he means not dead) than the women he often brings into the castle. Along with his servant Wilhelm, they travel across the land in search of fair maidens from classic stories in hopes of finding Ludwig a wife.
Main characters
Prince Ludwig: The hero (or, more accurately, anti-hero) of the manga who is known for his womanizing ways and his selfish actions. In the first chapter he is depicted as a necrophiliac and keeps a room full of female corpses in glass coffins, but by the second story he's given up on dead women and starts looking for a live bride. He has a fondness for well-endowed beauties, and chooses his potential brides judging mostly by their bust size. He bears an uncanny resemblance to his mother, queen Amalberga. Friederike was the first woman for whom he actually had feelings without noticing her breast size. After Friederike died, he always thought about her and got to see her again in the end. He is named after Jakob Ludwig Grimm. He is a mere 19 years old, and is sometimes called Lui.
Wilhelm: Lui's attendant. He is kind-hearted and easy to deceive. He is always being abused because of the prince's way of life. He and Lisette are childhood friends. It can be said that his patience and meekness keeps him with his master. He fills the role of the most prominent comic relief of the manga. As a child, Wilhelm wanted to be a knight but was too gentle. Ludwig took advantage of his kind heart and make Wilhelm a servant, partly to prevent others from ordering him around. He was named after Wilhelm Karl Grimm.
Lisette: She is presented as a young girl in the beginning of the story, who is set up by Prince Ludwig and then deceived in believing that her parents sold her. She slaughters them with an axe, gaining the nickname "Red Riding Hood" after the massacre due to her blood-soaked mantle. After disappearing for a long time (during which she claimed she was sold as a prostitute), she reappears as a grown-up, mercenary killer on the hunt for Ludwig, bearing extreme hatred towards him. She is also obsessed with money, even taking gold from the City of the Dead. It is also suggested that she may have feelings for Wilhelm (in which she pulls him close to her) because she wanted him as a reward after Lui hired her. She was Wilhelm's childhood friend who treated Wilhelm kindly to use him and gain riches.
Dorothea: An eccentric witch with masochistic tendencies and possibly the bustiest character in the manga (she boasts a 65G cup, as Ludwig says). She is responsible for cursing princess Friederike and initially appears as some sort of villain, but then becomes attached to Ludwig and becomes his (unwanted) maid. As a witch she wields some impressive magical powers, which saved Ludwig's life at the cost of her own. Only in the end it is revealed that she lived for several centuries, reincarnating every time her current corporeal vessel died out. This loop is broken when Ludwig comes to her aid and sets her free, leaving her with one last life to live.
Friederike: A princess, born with the blessing of twelve witches but cursed by a thirteenth (this one being Dorothea, the only "true" witch among the thirteen). She grew up believing that a crayfish blessed her mother and left her pregnant with her, when in actuality she was the result of a brutal rape. This made her twisted and angry, to the point of willingly puncturing herself with a spinning wheel (drugged with a powerful narcotic) and then plunging into a century-long sleep. Already dead when Ludwig encounters her, she is a spirit that appears in his dreams, or a demonic monstrosity capable of controlling deadly thorns in reality. She always worries about Lui, even agreeing to help Dorothea to save him. She is the only princess that Lui truly loves.
Julius: Prince Julius appears out of nowhere as the King's stepson, and thus Ludwig's stepbrother. This is, however, a mere hoax plotted by his "mother" Petronella, a witch craving for the title of queen. Mistaking Amalberga for Ludwig, he bears an extreme hatred towards him for most of the series, but it is actually revealed that he fell madly in love with him some times prior to the beginning of the story. Wielder of some potent witchcraft, he is allowed to stay under Ludwig's protection in the end.
Hansel and Gretel: Abused children who were abandoned and forced to wander and live miserably, to the point of almost dying of starvation, until they were took in by a murderous and sadistic woman. The experience left the two, brother and sister, extremely deranged and cruel, and turned them into brutal assassins. They were hired by Julius to kill Ludwig when Lisette failed the same duty twice, and were apparently killed during one of these attempts. They were saved however, and were allowed to live with Julius (whom they refer to as an "angel") in the care of Ludwig. For their assassinations, the two are by no means stealthy: Hansel wields an enormous and eerie-looking axe, while Gretel uses an oddly-shaped flamethrower.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button


 

Design by Amanda @ Blogger Buster