Requiem of the Rose King is one of the best manga publishing in English right now, and truly unlike anything else I've read from English manga. I highly recommend it to fans of Shakespeare, LGBT+/queer manga, BL, and/or dark Shoujo like Banana Fish.

This manga is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry VI and Richard III plays, and while in terms of events it does stick fairly close to what happens in the plays, author Kanno Aya adds in a lot of new material and character interpretations. One of them is that this version of Richard - a physically disabled hunchback in the play - is in this manga, an intersex, Bi trans man. Don't look to this manga for a morally spotless portrayal of LGBT+ characters though - Richard (alongside other men in the manga who are gay/Bi) is both the victim and the villain of this story.

Richard himself is for me atleast the main draw of this manga. He's certainly more sympathetic than the famously villainous Richard in the play, but at the same time Kanno avoids giving one simple explanation of the roots of Richard's evil. The manga strikes an interesting balance of letting us inside Richard's mind and keeping his true nature and motivations mysterious.

One of the other major focuses of this manga is the romance, as expected from a Shoujo manga though in this case most of the romance fits more into BL (originally an off shoot from Shoujo) than the typical straight romance of today's Shoujo.

As mentioned earlier, this manga's version of Richard is Bisexual, so he has love interests of multiple genders. Most of the focus is on gay romance, with a major male love interest for both the 1st and (currently ongoing) 2nd Acts, though there's plenty of options in Richard's harem if you're into shipping ;). As for the romance itself, I found myself emotionally engaged with the main romances, and there's definitely interesting contrasts with the dynamics between Richard and his various love interests. Unlike many romance manga there's also a lot of emphasis, especially from Richard's perspective, on the physical, sensual and in some cases sexual side of things. Many of the official arts and chapter covers are also very striking and sensual too.

The other major aspect of this manga is that this story, like the stage play it is adapting (original full title "The tragedy of King Richard the Third"), is a tragedy. I don't want to give any specific spoilers away, but there are some truly devastating moments that are key turning points for the story, for example vol 2 or vol 7.

The manga has a range of depictions that readers will expect from the time period - violence, murder, sexual assault, and so on - but specific to Richard being trans and intersex, he does receive hostility from people around him due to this and there are some uncomfortable situations involved. While Richard's gender identity as a man is repeatedly affirmed throughout the manga and by the author, there are some times he is drawn in quite a feminine way and/or wearing women's clothes. Neither of these were a problem for me (I think the manga and author handles Richard's queerness in an respectful way) but I mention them in case people looking for LGBT+ manga might be uncomfortable with them.


--Story--

Overall Rose King is more of a character driven manga rather than plot driven, still, the plot moves at a fast enough pace to keep you engaged, there's usually a major event or two per chapter and several per volume. One of the flaws of the manga though is on my first read through I sometimes struggled to follow the story events, without knowing the stage play or much about the real history. The manga lacks a narrator - for example at one point there's a large timeskip but it's not entirely clear exactly how many years have passed or what year the story is now taking place in. I don't think it's a huge issue but it might be a good idea to familiarise yourself with the basics of the history or stage play before reading this.

--Art--

The art is generally very good to excellent. There are some truly striking sequences and memorable imagery at key moments of the manga which compliment the story being told and emotions conveyed wonderfully. Richard himself is also very beautiful and the centre of the art's attention when he's on page - the other men and women who comprise Richard's love interests are pleasing to the eye too. I especially love the chapter covers. (there's an colour Illustration collection for this manga which is worth checking out)

--Characters--

The cast is the strongest draw of this manga. I've already talked about the protagonist Richard, but most of the main cast are interesting and distinctive characters, and its always interesting to watch them play off eachother. Many of the characters end up - like Richard himself - having other sides to them too which can lead to them acting in ways you might not expect.

--Overall--

Requiem of the Rose King can be considered a hidden gem. Perhaps due to the unusual mixture of elements (Dark fantasy, Shakespeare, BL, trans themes, Shoujo) it hasn't been noticed by many, though that might change with the recently announced anime adaptation. But if you're a fan of any of those elements, or just want to read a truly compelling tragedy of a manga, I can't recommend it more highly.