Ookami-heika no Hanayome

Hello there, are you feeling under the weather? Recovering from illness, perhaps? Or maybe you just need a smile? Then Ookami-heika no Hanayome is what you need!
This series is 80% fluff/20% plot, but it's very good fluff and the plot makes absolute sense in a court politics sense. It just takes very long to take off, so you're left with the quality fluff for about 40 chapters. But, hey, people that can't take 40 chapters of pure romance have no business reading shoujo manga.
The premise is a classic shoujo story-type, even if some of the characters are more modern (the tsundere prince is not that common of a character), the setting is a generic feudal east-asia type of country which is very slowly fleshed out and the stories aren't anything very original, but, goddess, they're sweet and entertaining. It gets progressively sweeter and more original, as time (and chapters) passes and then it hits you with the plot. But talking about that would be spoiling.
As for the characters, Yuurin (Yuu Lin?) is all I dislike about a lead: naive, hard-working, innocent, no idea what it means when you get the hots near a guy, even less idea of what it means to be a consort. Yet, somehow, her ways are endearing instead of ennerving. I root for her.
Reishou, the Wolf King, is a very special kind of romantic hero. He's a guy that keeps an incredibly complex facade going all the time, regardless of who is with him. A complex character, slightly dark, very intelligent and absolutely conscious of how much his relationship with Yuurin ("acting" or not) is a whole bunch of indulgence.
The art starts as regular shoujo fare, but gains genuine style after some 20 chapters. By chapter 40 the narrative is fluid enough you won't feel the pages turning. Also, the men are pretty, which is *required* for this kind of story.

Recommended for shoujo fans and people that need to smile. ^^

First of all, this is my VERY first review.. so it might not be that helpful as the others but.. please don't hate. Hehehe..

So when I read the synopsis of this manga, I was VERY excited. When I started reading it, I guess it didn't fail me.

Story: 9/10
The plot line is very good. A story of a king who hires females as a temporary bride but in a secret. There are also times when the plot line muddles the story but.. overall the story is great.

Art: 8/10
Well, the art is decent.. I guess. Yeah, it's decent. It's just like some typical shoujo manga. Overall.. it's okay.

Character: 10/10
King Reishou is a very awesome character. I really love the way he acts as the wolf king but very childlish and nice when he talks to Yuurin. Hehehe

Enjoyment: 10/10
I really enjoyed this manga and I think you will too. The comedy value of this story is very great. Mostly every chapter will make you laugh.

Overall I think you should definitely read it. There's just so much hype in this manga. If you really love romance/comedy mangas.. just like me.. you should definitely check this out.

Ookami-heika no Ha nayome:
Story: 8
The story overall is very good. The plot line at times muddles with the story, however the general theme is still present.
Art: 9
The art is amazing! The expressions are clear, and the reader is able to properly see what emotion the characters are wanting to show.
Character: 10
The wolf king is an awesome character! It takes awhile to understand his true nature ;) but once you do, you laugh at the acts he preforms and lengths that he goes to, to fluster up the main character Tei Yuurin. Yuurin is another really good character- she surprises us all with the fact that she tries to do more for the wolf king than just be a normal bride, who sits and just looks pretty. Shes VERY unpredictable (that's why I love her so much!) her acts surprise's everyone.
Enjoyment: 9
Really a good read. I was hooked the first day, and read all the chapters that were available. The romance starts slow, and grows chapter by chapter.
Overall: 8
Read it! It wont hurt you! It will make you laugh, and wish for more.
Hope you enjoy!

First I do what to say this manga does have its charm. It is meant to be a romantic comedy, and it succeeds in that aspect. But as somebody who is a huge sucker for historical romance, I feel somewhat teased by the drama in this.

Yes, the manga does touch what many political/historical romance deal with, but in a romantic comedy way, hence why I do feel a bit let down, but not dishearten, man this manga got me rooting for more.

But I do not want anybody thinking that this makes this a bad, it’s not, and I just suffer from saiunkoku-fan-heartbrea and it weights my opinion of the story. I am not trying to scare anybody away form it, I am all for reading it, I am just going to have my say.

[Also this manga is still continuing so things may change, (fingers cross, for it is cute) but now a quick summery of things]

ART:
The art is nice, I can’t say anything for the historical correctness for the attire, no I really can’t, like for every historical whatever I read/watch I take its word for it unless it looks really misplaced.

Story:
There is one but…its not something that forces you to keep attention to every action and word. While they do have some small subplots, it’s nothing really suspenseful, as I said it’s a romantic comedy so its very safe drama, but the historical romance fangirl in me wants something more!!! I WANT TO BE HEARTBROKEN!! I FEEL SO TEASED BY THAT DANM HAN FAMILY AND ASSAISSIN IN CHAPTER 2!

Characters: (right am going to try cut it down for I can write pages about in depth character development, motivations and whatnot for days but this is suppose to be a review, so it might be a bit choppy. Sorry)

Yuurin, is a headstrong character always motivated into doing her best, she is kind and puts her trust in others easily for she wants to see the best in others. We don’t get a reason why she took the job in the first place, other than she needs money. (Hey we all need money, but I won’t take a job that won’t tell me what it is before I apply) We just start with her taking the job and than she brakes something, and we get a mix of the plot of Ouran Host Club in here. And if they wanted her to be a daughter of a low ranking official who is poor, ok, but I love seeing that stuff developed, not told. We got to see Haruhi’s lifestyle and flashbacks to her earlier life, its about time ‘Wolf King’s Bride’ followed. I want flashbacks. Not just for Yuurin but also for the Haku (Wolf King).
The Wolf King is exactly who he is, a ruthless, intimidating Wolf King, but he has a soft side, that he only shares with Yuurin. The audience learns it is not as much as Yuurin believes. I would love to get to know more about the Wolf King, his childhood, how he became such renowned king, and how his experiences make Yuurin so irreplaceable to him. (He said he grew up by the border, maybe he and Yuurin had a chance meeting, maybe that how Yuurin ended up in the palace for he set it all up) A few moments out of the present or palace could add so much to these characters. (I really enjoyed chapters 12-14 for this reason)

Overall I do enjoy the story. It’s a stronger romantic comedy, than a political romance. It is still publishing so I got my fingers crossed for some heart pumping drama to pick up! The banquet really got me hooked and Yuurin is dedicated to become a pro-temp-consort by overcoming her nervousness around the Wolf King “act” and I really appreciate the story for these developments (some mangas just stay on long round-a-bout plot until the last few chapters and it drives me up the walls).

I love this manga for the number of cliches it follows. It hits many of them that you expect, but I say that it makes for charming characters that you easily come to love.

I think this isn't a manga you particularly read for the plot. Many of the plot points are minor and don't have much significance within the manga. Rather, following the relationship between the King and Yuurin provides most of the enjoyment.
What's quite interesting is that for as cliched this manga is, there isn't a proper love triangle. I'm quite glad of this; not because I don't enjoy love triangles but because I think one would negatively disrupt the storyline.
The art is very clear and quite enjoyable. I really enjoy the representations of the different sides of the King and Yuurin as a rabbit. It's all very cute and helps to add to their characters.
The characters are fairly typical. You have the Yuurin, a consort with unknown (commoner) roots but is very headstrong and kind hearted then the King, strong but with a soft side. As you are introduced to the characters in the beginning, Rijun, the King's adviser, describes his Majesty's nature to be soft and puppy like and that he must put on the Wolf king demeanor to uphold a facade of strength to the public and to his officials. We quickly find out this isn't true, and both sides are very much him. Exploring this throughout the manga is interesting as Yuurin is not aware of this truth.
The politics and origins stories are woven in and do not become tiring as it often can do. Later in the manga comes a tipping point, and that's where I'd say the plot really starts to hit off. This is a brief but significant portion. Nothing in this manga feels particularly rushed; it maintains a steady pacing until that tipping point, but even there it is well paced.
I really can't describe in words how much I love this manga. For the most part, it is lighthearted without being grossly fluffy. And when it gets deep, it's a very interesting and well thought out plot. I truly love this manga. It's one of those mangas that you continue to think about days after you've completed it, and many mangas later. I wish I could wake up with amnesia just to read it for the first time again.
So I say give it a shot!

Let me start off by saying that if you want a creative, non-cliche story, you won't find it here.

Scary competent king of a country: check
Lowly commoner girl that's hardworking and tries her best: check
Faking lovers, which has to be kept secret: check
Royal romance that isn't supposed to work out: check
Guy coming to the girl's rescue all the time: check

All these sound familiar, don't they? Even so, I find it comes together in a fun way in this manga, making it very enjoyable for me.

First, the forced fake bride thing. A common trope. But this does proceed in a way slightly different from expected. What usually comes to mind is
(1) a possessive king that falls in love with his bride and forces her to be his (fake) bride for whatever reason, and of course somehow the girl has to agree and she slowly falls in love with the overbearing king...
(2) a cold uncaring/evil king that doesn't care for his bride at all, but slowly falls in love with her due to her bright personality breaking down the walls surrounding his heart yadayada

Well. It's not really too different, but the king isn't fully either of these things. In the firs place, his personality has a different side to it, which is what made me interested in the first place. I hope this isn't a spoiler, since you get this info about 10+ pages in anyway. The presence of his puppy king personality allows him to move away from being just a scary king. It also allows him to expression affection in different ways.

Often there's a (probably tsundere or cold) king who eventually reveals his out of character/new soft side after spending time with the girl. In this case it might be kind of the opposite, since his soft side is out in the open from the start. It is therefore kind of refreshing, since the characters are on good terms from the start. Anyway, because of his personality, the king manages to show his affections through both his wolf and puppy sides, without being out of character at all. Seeing the female lead react to the different sides of him is also fun to watch, so it made things pretty enjoyable for me. Other than that, he's still a perfect king character that goes off to save his damsel in distress all the time, so if you like those, good for you.

The main female lead is pretty normal, as one would expect a female lead to be. Even so, she's not annoying, and I enjoy watching her going about with her palace life. She's a commoner who thinks hard about doing her job well, which makes it interesting as we watch her try to fit in with her environment. The setting of this story and her role in it allows her personality and actions to be pretty likable.

Next, about the fake royal romance. Usually, stories with fake relationships somehow manage to work out once the two realize and confess their feelings for each other. It simply goes from fake to real without too much hassle. In this case it's a little complicated.

There's the whole employee-employer thing, and the king-commoner thing. Rather than people around who disapprove of the relationship, it's probably the concerned parties themselves who understand the most that the relationship is not meant to be.
So much of the manga is watching these characters act according to these roles they are given, "fake consort" and"king", as they try to support one another in their own ways. Staying within the limits of their role while trying their best and caring for the other person - it's quite interesting to watch. How much can these limits be pushed before it goes beyond that of a employer-employee relationship? And what happens then? I'd really like to watch it play out.

The art is pretty pleasant as well, and I really love the different hairstyles. Yuurin looks good no matter what hairstyle she uses, and it's starting to be something I look forward to.

Overall, it's a manga that doesn't particularly stray too far from common trope-y stuff. But the elements do come together to make an interesting story. The story is also pretty light and easy to read. Romance doesn't progress that quickly, but I think that's the point of it, to be able to see the characters slowly move forward and pushing the boundaries of their relationship. Above all, I find the characters enjoyable, and I like seeing them interact, so I rate this pretty decently for it's enjoyment value despite there being a number of predictable elements. Predictable =/= bad all the time, after all.
Don't expect too much drama, or proper romantic progress. But due to the nature of the story, do expect some cute things and random romantic actions (which sadly, stop short of anything happening, as expected). Go in without expecting too much, and just enjoy the ride.

I feel like I need to give this manga a proper review. The reviews on here seem to paint this work as an adorable original story that is charming. While I will give the story the point that it is humorous it is not all that much fun to read, it definitely is very predicable and honestly makes me want to take back the couple hours I spent reading this. But since I like to give a fair review, I'll let you decide and cite reason for what I think.
From here on there will be some VERY minor spoilers:

The story:
The Good: Its in old Japan so that's a good start and the set up has good potential, a low class girl who plays the wife of the wolf like king for money and primarily to pay off debts, her adventures are humorous and slapstick, often ending in a comedic situation. That's where the good ends.
The bad: This plot, while original at the beginning quickly relies on troops. Its very clear to see that the story was meant to be a one-shot because the plot is wrapped up nicely in the first chapter. After that her emerging feelings mysteriously disappear until chapter 25 or so. The plot is watery with no real go in mind other than the fact that the author obviously wants the series to continue and makes her pay back debts that are a little too ridiculous. Like hanging around an extra 5 or so months because she put a small crack in the wall.

Art:
Don't really ned a good or bad here, I mean it looks like every other shoujo manga, and by every other shoujo mangas I mean works such as (but not limited to): Fruits Basket, Last Game, Horimiya, Taiyou no Ie, Arakure, Mixed Vegtables, Special A, and many many more. Definitely nothing special

Character:
The good: Well... there are some attractive guys I guess?
The bad: Look, maybe its not always bad but both characters resemble other characters so much its depressing. For example the wolf king bears a striking resemblance to Kyouya in Black Prince and Wolf Girl (sound familiar?), and Kyo from Fruits Basket, and Ikuto from Shugo Chara. The girl is so common its sad she is VERY similar to Misaki from Kaichou wa Maid-sama, Every main character from Io Sakisaka (ie Ao Haru Ride, and Strobe Edge), Hikari from Special A, and basically every "strong" "hope, optimism, and love" character written in shoujo manga in the last 50 years.

Enjoyment:
It keeps you entertained enough to keep reading I guess...

Overall:
Basically its a VERY timeworn formula that manga artists and authors like to use because I guess people like it. However, if you are going to get engaged in a long running slow moving story, do yourself a favor and read Skip Beat or maybe Ouke no Monshou if your okay with VERY old art and plot circles. Better yet, read Special A. As I've been hinting at through this summary, Special A has done everything this manga attempts to do and better only in a more modern setting with more characters and more comedy.

I'm not trying to hate on this manga, making a manga is hard work! But in the case of this one, its not all that fabulous. Furthermore, read it yourself and see what you think, perhaps this girl has been into shoujo manga too long and no longer appreciates a classically plotted story. Could be just me, but please do decide for yourself and keep ALL the comments in mind.

Honestly, this is one of the funniest stories I've read in a while and it's not horridly romance but instead, just right. The male lead is wonderful in the fact that he keeps you guessing and he's cool and handsome like in most shoujo manga. The heroine is where it's at though. She's not whiny and a do nothing like many heroines in shoujo manga. She's actually really admirable and it results in lots of amazing plot twists. This is a must read and a must reread!