You know how some people take something thats super average or just regular bad and they just run with it. Theyll claim its like the worst thing ever. It honestly takes reading or watching something absolutely atrocious. to put things into perspective. And now I have found something truly at the bottom of the barrel On the Emperors Lap. I sort of regret my negative reviews on Othello and Absolute Boyfriend because they were engaging despite their faults. In comparison they arent really that bad... I try to keep myself unbiased and try to find at least some positive and negative qualities for a series. On the Emperors Lap has absolutely no redeeming qualities. Believe me I searched and I could not find any. This review contains a lot of spoilers but thats alright because no one should read this manga anyways. The story goes like this: Bella is a young village girl who was orphaned during a war. She meets Kiris a boy of a similar age who is aiming to become emperor and he takes her in having her disguise herself as a boy. The two become close as Kiris gains power and Bella even falls in love with him. However Kiris sells her to a noble who abused her and Bella eventually gets sold into slavery. One day she gets bought as the emperors personal slave where she must do whatever he asks of her... However the current emperor is none other than Kiris. The whole story is awful. When our leads reunite Kiris essentially immediately assaults Bella and has forgotten who she is. He makes her his concubine or as the story calls it an Azar. Great way to greet your childhood friend who you sold. I think this sets the stage for the dumpster fire which ensues. The story tries to introduce political plot elements but it fails spectacularly. Kiris never does anything to fix the problems that were there in the start of the story. I dont even think he was an improvement over the previous emperor other than his stupid unification stuff. Hes supposed to have wiped out the previous royal family I think this is retconned since Eden is still alive and works for him and yet he is easily manipulated by nobles and wants to please them? Its very inconsistent. No one abolishes slavery or works out the religious issues. I forgot that these were a part of the story because theres so little time focused on them. Kiris only does anything to challenge the nobles because they dont like Bella. To be honest Bella is his sole motivation for anything the man is obsessed. The romance is the only real focus of the story. Its between a girl and the man who sold her and is generally a piece of trash. Kiris is such an awful human being. Theres an actual scene in the manga where hes drunk and complaining to their other childhood friend. Hes just like You know our childhood friend who died? I actually sold him into slavery where he then died and now Im sad. The woman he sold her to was even open about wanting to abuse Bella. Its disgusting. Eden the second male lead who has no chance is also obsessed with Bella. Hes sort of just there constantly thinking about her while shes thinking about the guy who SOLD HER. Bella has been abused horribly in her time as a slave. She has bruises and scars which Kiris doesnt really acknowledge and at the beginning she has lost her ability to speak due to her vocal cords being damaged. She hates Kiris and yet she still holds feelings for him. I think she is overly attached due to trauma bonding? Im not sure. Anyways shes as bland as a sack of potatoes. My friend and I would joke about Yuki from Vampire Knight being Y/N but Bella takes it to a whole other level. Shes a cross between a selfinsert character and a Mary Sue. Shes worshiped by all the characters despite being uninteresting. She is also an aura user but we dont really know what that is since the story never explains. Bella can fight and she also is able to succeed in a patriarchal society. However her accomplishments are only used to make her look special and unique. It doesnt challenge anything. She never breaks the rules and she plays a part in the system only able to succeed due to the men in her life being obsessed with her. Anyways she only forgives Kiris after a poorly designed demon eats her negative emotions making her trauma go away. She no longer hates him now and fully loves him And they get married Theres this really stupid body switching plot with a pointless war over Bellas body. Shes in the body of some other girl and thats filled with stupid plot holes. Anyways I know she wants to get her body back but this isnt Fullmetal Alchemist. Dont corpses rot over the course of three years? Im not even going to go any further with the questions I have because it enrages me so much. Kiris is a disgusting sorry excuse for a human being. Even without selling Bella hes a major jerk and a disgusting human being. The implications that he just sexually assaulted random slave girls before meeting her... it just makes my skin crawl. He does sexually assault Bella multiple times in the beginning. He kills people randomly for no reason including Bellas friend who didnt want to disclose her location to the man who sold her. Hes a terrible leader who does absolutely nothing for the people. Hes super possessive and jealous of everyone. Even their future child who is basically his clone and the child Bella tried to sponsor and put through school. He has to insert himself everywhere and hes just an obsessive little freak who I hope dies in a fire. I dont think he ever tried to show Bella he changed or repent for his past crimes. Hes probably my least favorite ML of all time. The side characters are bland and add practically nothing. Eden is just there to love Bella and hate Kiris and I genuinely think if he were written out nothing would change. Krim and the one strategist dude were the only ones who were normal and did not soley revolve around Kiris and Bella. That doesnt make them good characters but they are easily the best ones in this godforsaken manhwa. Honestly everyone was so bland. Anyways onto the art. You see the cover and the banner and you think it looks nice. Wrong. Its catfishing you. The art actually looks like someones early attempts doing anime digital art. Like Id feel bad about insulting it because it could have been someone first learning how to draw and my critiques could crush their dreams. But I dont care anymore. The art is UGLY. If the second ML reminds you of anime George Washington you know theres a problem. The color choices are super questionable. You dont put your character with purple hair in lime green. Thats a major No. There are some shots of Kiris that I expect are intended to be hot but the art just leaves you wanting to laugh at him. I will attach some images for your convenience. https://thumbg2.toomics.com/upload/thumbnail/20210720163025/49/2021111016365315022699.jpg https://d1ed0vta5mrb00.cloudfront.net/chapters/326533711/thumbnails/150x150a8d2609873cd4e4ead2ddefd537ca45d.jpg https://ccdn.lezhin.com/v2/comics/5913498020282368/episodes/5195199200428032/images/cover.jpg?updated=1579140632300width=156 https://i.pin.com/564x/81/2c/df/812cdf6695be64d586a6bdab004fcea0.jpg Yeah I gave it the lowest score on my rating system. The only other manga to share this score is Zannen nagara Chigaimasu which is literally about grooming. I think that says a lot about what I think about this series. I loathe this series so much and you should all save yourselves and not read it. Its not worth it.