Line #4 Manga/LudwigRevolution


1	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cover7.jpg]]
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3	''Ludwig Revolution'' is an idiosyncratic take on classic fairy tales, told as only Creator/KaoriYuki can. The central story is about the flamboyant, narcissistic Prince Ludwig as he travels across the land in search of a suitable wife. Accompanied by his trusty manservant Wilhelm, Ludwig encounters a diverse cast of fair maidens from various fairy tales. ''Snow White'', ''Cinderella'' and many more are completely retold, and the resulting stories are sometimes unexpectedly hilarious, while at other times cruelly twisted.
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5	The manga was serialized from 1999 to 2007; it originally began in the {{Shojo}} magazine ''MELODY'', but moved to the ''Magazine/HanaToYume'' line of magazines (bouncing from ''Bessatsu'' to the regular one) for the rest of its run. A short sequel, ''Ludwig Gensokyoku'', ran in ''Bessatsu'' from 2012 to 2013.
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8	!!This manga contains examples of the following tropes:
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10	* AbusiveParents: Several and all various kinds.
11	** Blanche's father was sexually abusive, her mother was physically and emotionally abusive.
12	** Lisette's parents [[spoiler: forced her into prostitution as a child]].
13	** Hänsel and Gretel's parents were physically and emotionally abusive, to the point of abandoning their children in the forest.
14	* AnachronismStew: Despite being set in a medieval fairy tale setting that also features firearms, cameras, and celebrity magazines.
15	* AntiHero: Wilhelm is pretty much the only good-hearted character, and is treated as a ButtMonkey because of it. The rest of the cast members... not so much. Ludwig is a womanizing pervert, Dorothea is a seductive witch, Lisette is an AxCrazy murderer, etc.
16	* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Subverted as many of the names Kaori Yuki picks actually exist in reality.
17	* AuthorAppeal: In a side-column during the ''Sleeping Beauty'' story, Kaori Yuki admits that Ludwig's obsession and preference for big breasts actually is one of her own.
18	* AwesomeButImpractical: The prince goes everywhere in full visual kei regalia. Lisette works as a mercenary in a plastic/leather dress and high heels.
19	* BeautyEqualsGoodness:
20	** Subverted with Snow White. The eponymous princess here is a cruel slut who seduced her father since age 7, and is much more evil than the queen, mocking the queen that she can never be as beautiful as her.
21	** In the Goose girl, the story keeps hinting that the beautiful, kind, sweet and humble maid Albertina (with golden hair) is the true princess, as opposed to mean and selfish dark haired "princess Albertina". Later, the blond Albertina confesses that she was forced to switch places with her jealous maid, "princess Albertina" is executed and the blond Albertina marries the prince.[[spoiler: However, it was all a lie, there was no switch at all. The black haired Albertina was the TRUE princess who had earlier forced her maid to write letters and poems to Prince Cristo. The maid Albertina later uses these poems to convince Cristo that she's the real princess, mainly to get revenge on the real Albertina's family for executing her mother. And to live a life of luxury, of course.]]
22	* {{Bifauxnen}}: [[spoiler: Queen Almaberga, who is identical to her son Ludwig. You can argue an inversion and say that Ludwig looks feminine]].
23	%%* BloodKnight: [[spoiler: Queen Almaberga, baby]].
24	* BreakTheCutie: Lisette, who was tricked into slaughtering her family, as well as Hansel and Gretel, who had a poor abused childhood made much worse by an extremely deranged and savage experience, which turned them into cruel killers.
25	* {{Bowdlerization}}: Believe it or not, some of the stories are comedic and actually less morbid than the original. Cinderella's sisters don't mutilate themselves, Rapunzel's prince does not get blinded, and Literature/TheLittleMermaid [[spoiler: gets to marry her prince.]]
26	* CrapsackWorld: What do you expect with ''Kaori Yuki'' taking already dark fairy tales and making them ''worse''???
27	** Most notably Hansel and Gretel though. She actually mentions in a sidebar that she finds the original story so horrifying that she couldn't bring herself to make it the slightest bit funny.
28	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Among all the cruelty inherent in Kaori Yuki's work, some lucky characters actually get one of these.
29	* ElegantGothicLolita: Dorothea's clothes tend to go in that direction, with some of the princesses donning similar attire.
30	* EnfantTerrible: At seven years old, Blanche is described as having a black heart. She seduced her father and mocked her mother for her diminshing beauty.
31	%%* FairytaleMotifs: Uh, ''duh''.
32	* FairyTaleFreeForAll: Characters from multiple fairy tales show up in this work, including several princess ones, Literature/TheLittleMermaid, Literature/HanselAndGretel, Literature/TheGooseGirl, Literature/MaidMaleen, etcetera.
33	* AFateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Dorothea has to go all over the world collecting gold for her master. Most of the time, she ends up making herself hated by everyone and every time she dies, she is revived in another body and has to do it all over again]].
34	%%* FracturedFairyTale: Even more of a no-brainer than the above.
35	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Everyone is absolutely terrified of Ludwig's mother Queen Almaberga, [[spoiler:who is still quite alive]]. Also, Petronella's plans are for the sake of becoming the new queen.
36	%%* GoldDigger: the Cinderella chapter is full to the brim with them.
37	%%* {{Grimmification}}: See also CrapsackWorld.
38	* HandsomeLech: Ludwig is the most overt example of this ever for a Kaori Yuki protagonist, picking and dumping women based solely on the size of their breasts.
39	%%* HeelFaceTurn: (Dorothea, [[spoiler:Lisette, Hansel and Gretel, Julius]])
40	* HeinousnessRetcon: Early in the series, jealous of Lisette's (Red Riding Hood) closeness to Wilhelm, [[ManipulativeBastard Prince Ludwig]] tricks her into [[SelfMadeOrphan killing her parents]] by making her believe they sold her and her grandmother as sacrifices to the Wolf, in exchange for a bag of gold. Realising this made the character come across as irredeemable, later works retconned her parents into being horrifically abusive towards her, even forcing Lisette into prostitution from a young age.
41	%%* HeirClubForMen: The indirect reason Ludwig needs to find a bride.
42	%%* KarmicDeath: Some people do actually get it.
43	%%* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: Prince Ludwig has ''quite'' the fashion sense.
44	* InformedAbility: Cinderella's feet don't look the size they are said to be....
45	** Although that can be explained as it is said that feet that are 27cms long ''are'' seen as rather large.. in Japan.
46	* IdenticalGrandson: [[spoiler: Ludwig and his mom are IDENTICAL, to the point where Julius tries to kill Ludwig repeatedly for his mother's genocidal crazy]].
47	* ItsPersonal: [[spoiler: The reason that Julius hates Ludwig so deeply is because he caused the death of his older sister with a great war. Only... it was [[IdenticalGrandson Lui's mom]]]].
48	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ludwig acts incredibly obnoxious towards people, but he puts himself in danger to save his friends.
49	* MummiesAtTheDinnerTable: [[spoiler: Julius has no problems with talking to Ludwig's (supposedly) dead body or with making out with it]]. Also Ludwig's "hobby" at the beginning of the story...
50	* MoodWhiplash: Two at the end of ''Bluebeard''. The chapter ends with Ludwig, turning towards Amalie, wondering if he should give [[OneTrueLove True Love]] a chance and Amalie getting shot by a bullet, just as the two are about to embrace. But Amalie survives and thanks God for being allowed to live and be with her loved one... and ''then'' her breast-padding falls out and reveals that it caught the bullet. And Ludwig dumps her like a hot potato.
51	* NoblewomansLaugh: Petronella, the poor maids outside her window got scarred for life because of that.
52	* OffingTheOffspring: More than once with [[spoiler: Snow White, Hansel and Gretel]].
53	%%* OneSteveLimit: We got two girls named Albertina, actually a plot point.
54	%%* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: Petronella]]
55	%%* {{Otaku}}: A prince, no less! His name is Christo.
56	* ParentalIncest: Between Princess Blanche and her father.
57	* PleaseGetOffMe: Amalie lands on top of Wilhelm in ''Bluebeard''. Ludwig begins to flirt with her and Wilhelm asks her to please ''move'' already.
58	%%* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Dorothea
59	* {{Reincarnation}}: Dorothea, in an unusual fashion. And of the "duty that survives death" kind.
60	* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: The first story is a lot darker than the rest of the comic, as the author herself admits in the epilogue, and Ludwig never acts [[ILoveTheDead quite that creepy]] again.
61	* ScaledUp: [[spoiler: Petronella's OneWingedAngel act. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't help]].
62	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: I'm not just some disgusting "otaku", I am an otaku celebrity with money and power!
63	* SheIsAllGrownup: Gender Flipped, Prince Silvio is all grown up at the end of his story.
64	* ShoeSizeAngst: Cinderella's feet are abnormally large (at least for a Japanese girl, and most definitely for Cinderella), which she is embarrassed to admit.
65	* ShoutOut: Ludwig and Wilhelm are the names of the original Grimm brothers, Dorothea was the name of their mother.
66	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: As you can see, there's some confusion as to whether Ludwig's mother is named Amalberga or Almaberga. Amalberga's a real name, at least, so it's probably this one.
67	%%* ThemeNaming: The names of Dorothea's pets are "Damian", "Jason" and "Carrie".
68	* TrueLoveIsExceptional: It is very heavily hinted that the princess most suited for Ludwig is Idike, who doesn't have large breasts...
69	* TrueLovesKiss: Subverted. [[spoiler: It wasn't the kiss what revived Idike, in fact it didn't revive her at all.]]
70	%%* {{Tsundere}}: Lisette, Rapunzel, Idike.
71	%%** Ludwig too, toward [[HoYay Wilhelm]]. Especially strong during the Little Red Riding Hood story.
72	%%* UglyGuyHotWife: One does wonder what Amalberga sees in her husband...
73	* VainSorceress: Subverted by Dorothea, as the reason she looks youthful [[spoiler: is her curse]].
74	* WholesomeCrossdresser: [[spoiler: Julius]].[[spoiler: Or maybe not. He was a feminine boy raised as a girl, "crossdressing" as a boy. He may also be transexual but that's unclear. [[ItsaLongStory It's complicated]]]]
75	* WickedStepmother: Petronella, by marrying the King. [[spoiler: Shame the marriage is void because his last wife is still alive]].
76	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: [[spoiler:Dorothea]] thanks Ludwig after he breaks her out of her [[{{Reincarnation}} reincarnation cycle]].
77	%%* WomanScorned: Petronella.
78	%%* {{Yandere}}: Julius.
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Context Manga / LudwigRevolution