The Spring 2024 Manga Guide

The Genius Puppeteer Loves the Holy Knight Fiercely

What's It About? 

As a high-ranking general captured after the end of a war, the Holy Knight Gilbert braces for execution... when at the last moment, his life is saved by Chris, the enemy nation's master artificer and puppeteer. An arrogant, wickedly playful man who surrounds himself only with dolls of his own making, Chris claims to admire the beauty of Gilbert's soul and intends to use him to create his newest masterpiece.

When Gilbert refuses to go along with Chris's plan, he is forced to choose between a certain death and forsaking his faith to become an immortal doll. Hoping to buy enough time to make his escape, Gilbert instead offers himself up to Chris as a slave. But if that's the game this knight wishes to play, then Chris fully intends on toying with him until Gilbert breaks to his will...

The Genius Puppeteer Loves the Holy Knight Fiercely is a manga by Hatoba Kogarashi. Christine Dashiell provided the English translation. This volume was retouched and lettered by Vibrraant Publishing Studio. Published by ‎Tokyopop's LoveLove imprint (May 28, 2024.)

Content warning: This book contains mature themes and explicit sexual content, including situations involving dubious consent. It is not intended for anyone under 18 years of age.

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Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Mitsukazu Mihara's Doll is the best manga about sentient ball-jointed dolls, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. But if you have to read another one in the genre and you'd like it to come with graphic sex scenes, The Genius Puppeteer Loves the Holy Knight Fiercely is an okay choice. Taking place in a world where a religious country is pitted against a technologically advanced one, it sets itself for a story that feels like it could have used more volumes to fully explore its story and setting. There are a lot of interesting elements, such as the accepted fact that souls exist across both countries and the way they view them, the marriage of technology and warfare, and even the fact that magic also exists alongside both religion and science. Little breadcrumbs of information are dropped sporadically (queer relationships are acceptable in the tech kingdom but not the religious one, for example), and all of them add up to a world that the creator thought a lot about and then didn't get to use in the story fully.

That's the major strike against this title, although it also runs up against a romance that, depending on how you tilt your head, is either dubcon or full-out noncon. Chris, the puppeteer of the title, rescues Gilbert, the Holy Knight, before his execution with the full intention of transferring Gilbert's “beautiful soul” into a doll. When Gilbert refuses, he has to fish around for a good excuse to stay alive, and what he comes up with is, “Use me for your sexual desires.” That means that Gilbert technically consented to all the things Chris does to him, which include sexual penetration via doll, but he's also plainly not thrilled with the situation and, for a little over half the book, is actively looking for a way out. There's a definite attempt to make things romantic, but none of it quite works.

Again, I suspect that this is due to page constraints. With more space to grow, this could have been a much more interesting story, which I feel I've said about many of the single-volume BL titles in this Guide. Although Chris isn't particularly likable, it's apparent that he's been through some traumas in his life even before Levi the wizard runs his big mouth about it, and Gilbert also has a lot to cope with, even in the present. Between those glimpses of a better, more developed story and art that I found very aesthetically pleasing, I'm sad that this didn't get to be longer than one volume. It's still worth checking out, but temper your expectations.

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Lauren Orsini
Rating:

The one thing I didn't like about The Genius Puppeteer Loves the Holy Knight Fiercely is that it masterfully crafts a highbrow medieval fantasy setting and then names its brilliant and sadistic primary antagonist… Chris. That's like naming the king of the realm Jake or something. Other than that, this is the best BL romance in the preview guide this season. What makes this story excellent is that it has all the world-building and strong character development of a leading original anime but with the added horny benefit of being centered on an intense, psychological BDSM relationship. In short, it's an original dark fantasy story depicting exactly what happens after other stories fade to black.

C.S. Pacat's Captive Prince series fans will enjoy this story of a captive holy knight. Gilbert finds himself in a sham of a trial about to be sentenced to death. At the last moment, Chris interferes, and this monocled mastermind has enough influence that nobody objects. Chris is the realm's most elite puppeteer, responsible for developing those dead-eyed battlefield automatons against which Gilbert and his knights have risked their lives. Now, Chris wants to take Gilbert's soul, which he appraises as a rare gem, and bind it to the ultimate doll. This goes against Gilbert's religious beliefs (and general will for survival), so he makes the first overture in turning this into an X-rated story: he'll become Chris's sex slave instead. Thus begins a tantalizing BDSM relationship that is physical first and only later emotional. This contrastingly slow slide into catching feelings makes this romance so captivating.

It may be Gilbert's idea to offer up his body, but this story falls under dubious consent because he's not a wholly willing participant—at least at first. The manga fleshes out international and court politics to depict why Chris and Gilbert ought to be natural enemies. However, while Gilbert's vulnerabilities are laid bare from the start, Chris is locked tight behind a merciless mask. (After committing mass murder, Chris tells a bloodstained Gilbert, “I haven't had enough fun. Have sex with me here and now.”) Cracking his code takes time, and each juicy detail further endears Gilbert to the man he initially saw only as his perverted captor.

Meticulous, detailed art makes this world look textured and plush. Gilbert and Chris wear embellished armor and fine fabrics against backdrops that showcase the trappings of luxury: a gilded prison for Gilbert. The design's gothic elements, like Chris's twin puppet servants, are reminiscent of Black Butler (though these leads are far beefier than Sebastian). Two-thirds of the way through, the story introduces a new romantic rival Gilbert may find even more seductively dangerous than Chris. The world where this story takes place feels rich enough to prompt exploration far beyond Gilbert and Chris's story. I want them to explore the history of puppet technology as much as they explore each other's bodies! This screams quality, from the art to the worldbuilding to the surprisingly sweet love story at the center.