#s2 came and i saw people gushing over it but i was like hmm i kinda like just ending the story at s1 it was enough for me

[multongsisig]

uhm sorry for the silly question but you said elias is your top3 and ohara 6 and i wanted to know the whole list ._.

Man, I meant to answer this as soon as I saw it but then it got away from me. I took this ask as an opportunity to yap, but even I was like oh this got too long so here's the list itself, and I'll leave the explanations if you're interested in that under the cut. This is ranked mainly by how much brainrot they give me.

Shuri

Richelieu

Elias

Jeremy

Nora

Ohara

Reihe Family (Alice, Hermann)

Ali

Theobald

Explanations:

1. Shuri I adore Shuri more than anyone else in the manhwa. Like do I even need to explain. She is such a strong multifaceted character, so full of love and kindness in spite of her heartbreakingly tragic history. I've seen people call her boring, but I really can't see it especially after the Jeremy trial in S1. This is a person who will sacrifice herself, completely forego her own happiness, for the sake of those she cares about. Yet this sacrificial tendency is also motivated by her fear of being abandoned, not simply from innate kindness. Characters like that I am always weak to and will always love.

2. Richelieu If you follow me I doubt this is surprising, he's so fun to me. He's a terrifying villain who's actually a real threat and challenge to the main characters. I like how his motivations are well established, so all his actions just make sense you. Religious villains aren't uncommon in rofan, but in my experience it's typically the [Good Church was secretly Evil mwahaha] trope you know? So I find him, a character with time given to actually expand on his POV, very refreshing, very alluring. Though, what initially drew me in was his being a narrative foil to Shuri, the parallels in the connection he perceives them to have with the "2nd life", the visual contrast constantly at play in their encounters to an almost genre bending degree… I go bonkers for shit like that between protagonists and antagonists. It's because of him that I picked up asm again in S2 and truly fell in love with the story. I'll keep it at that lest this gets too long.

3. Elias Elias… Elias my beloved problem child. He's kind of framed as being the more emotionally perceptive sibling, so the fact that most of his conflicts are internal ones bleeding out into bad decisions just makes me so 😩😩😩 His feelings of alienation and separation issues within his own family endears me to him, I'm very fond of black sheep characters He also hides all this with his friendly and comic relief demeanor which makes me love him more… the multiple arcs we had with Elias as a main figure solidified him to this position.

4. Jeremy Honestly the gap between him and Nora is so so small, but Jeremy makes me just a little bit more insane because of the tragic aspect of his character in his quiet love for Shuri that, thanks to their unfortunate circumstances, could never be, despite those very circumstances being what allowed him to grow such love for her. Aside from that, it's the usual obvious things people love about him, his protectiveness, sarcasm, kindness beneath the rbf, etc etc. It's always great to see him interact with other characters, especially Shuri or Nora.

5. Nora I don't have much to say that hasn't been said by others, he's a beloved and popular character for a reason. I grew to like him a lot more in S2, we got to see more sides of him and see how he's grown since S1, especially in his scenes with Jeremy and Shuri. Also, he's an artist so I feel a sense of kinship… the whole sketchbook thing and shuri painting was so real. His conflict with his family is also tragically compelling. That last chapters that had him in S2 hit me in the guttt.

6. Ohara Mentioned most of what I like about her in the last ask. Ohara's got problems and she's very dear to me for it!!

7. Reihe Family (Alice, Hermann) I really liked the glimpses we've had of them in the manhwa. I became fond of Hermann, the Neuschwanstein's uncle aka Elias look-alike, upon rereads because of the parallels with him and Elias, they're both the black sheep of their families 🥺 one day I'll finish that Alice & Hermann comic...

8. Ali My initial impression was just that he was a sweet boy, but then it showed he's quite the sharp cookie like his sister and I went ooooh! He navigated those political situations in S2 so cleverly. He's def going to be even more of a force to be reckoned with when he's older.

9. Theobald He's 9th on this list of favorite characters but I can't say I like him more than everyone not mentioned above. I enjoy his relationships is all. Like, anything with Richelieu is just great. There's also Shuri, Nora, Jeremy, Letran/Family of course- it's crazy how messy all his relationships are 😭

And thennn it's everyone else. Even if the character isn't on the list doesn't mean I don't like them or don't like reading about them. Personally, I find that every character in the story has something you can chew on!