Relevant Main Cast

• • Reinhardt: The main protagonist of the novel who, after his death, possessed an extra character, 'Demon Prince'. He later resolves himself to save as many lives as possible in the novel he created. Contrary to his brash behavior, he has an altruistic personality, who will always try to save others at his own expense. This character stems from the sense of debt and guilt that he has written such absurd developments in his novel. He hates people sacrificing themselves for him, so he would rather be the sacrifice.

• • Ellen: The black-haired girl in the cover, she is portrayed as a kuudere. She is the little sister of one of heroes. Considered the strongest swordsman and the also sword mentor of the Reinhardt/Vali. After the death of her brother, she became quite cold towards others. The heroine with the most screen time in the story. She was herself unaware of her feelings for Reinhardt, but eventually comes to terms with it. Currently, the most hated heroine as the KR readers legit butchered her.

• • Charlotte: The blonde girl in the cover, the Empire's princess. She was a girl who didn't appear in the original novel, as she would die in the Demon King's Castle. Reinhardt risked his life to save her. Another heroine that is currently getting a lot of hate by the Korean reader base.

• • Olivia: She is a person who was supposed to be appointed as the next commander of the Knights Templar. She is an outstanding beauty with a noble personality. She is very upfront about her feelings towards Reinhardt. Currently, the most loved heroine among the fanbase, as she is the only one who stays by Reinhardt's side during his darkest time.

• • Herriot: The twin tail girl in the cover, she is a typical tsundere, she initially looked down at Reinhardt due to her noble lineage. They eventually get close. She is also one of the few who choose to risk her life for Reinhardt.
    
    [collapse]

Bonus point for having the guts to go for a harem ending at least, but I can't give too much credit here since the romance with several of the heroines was absolutely nuked in the second half. In general it was lacking a lot of romantic development in the most crucial stage - after they realize their feelings for eachother.

"Self-suggestion". Based on the name, I initially believed it was some sort of talent to hypnotize himself. Maybe to accelerate his learning, meaning he hypnotizes himself into ignoring the pain and undergo immense training. Or improve his learning of sword techniques through hypnotizing himself. Or hypnotize himself to ignore his pain/fear during battles.

It's none of that. Basically his ability is that if he believes strongly that something is possible, then it's made possible. It's ret*rded how broken this is. It's basically reality manipulation. Yeah, it not THAT powerful in it's early stages, but it's still pretty crazy. And the MC got it for cheap as hell. Just 1000 points. He got 1000 points just by tricking someone to confess to him, though that process was admittedly pretty funny.

But it's too broken of an ability for a story that seems tobe trying to take itself seriously. I mean where's the challenge in this if the MC can pull out bullsh*t power out of nowhere just because he believes in it.

Addressing the harem element, I usually despise harems for their tendency to serve as a self-indulgent creation of a multitude of young girls by the author. However, in this case, I began reading without prior knowledge of it being a harem story. Even though I abhor this trope, I couldn't imagine any other conclusion. My desire for Ellen's happiness surpassed all else, yet I didn't want the other girls to cry or suffer, particularly Harriet and Olivia, who unwaveringly trusted Reinhardt throughout. As for Iris and Luise, I view them more as additional characters who could have thrived independently of their connection to Reinhardt.

The most distressing aspect for me was the war-induced suffering. I longed to witness Ellen's happiness, but it seemed that since the gates, her journey was defined by suffering. She found fleeting moments of joy with Reinhardt, but even those were tinged with bitterness. Ellen, a young girl ignorant of the world's intricacies, experienced loss and betrayal, unknowingly igniting the conflicts that unfolded. Her perpetual suffering made it incredibly arduous to read, as empathy for her situation was inescapable. All I wanted was to see her find happiness again, and had I not known the outcome, I might have abandoned the story.

In the second part of the story, comical moments were nearly absent, overshadowed by walls of pain and guilt. The circumstances within the story made it difficult to find laughter.

One aspect that bothered me was how Reinhardt's skills seemed to diminish in significance after the second half. Abilities like self-suggestion and spirit speech/word magic, initially presented as formidable, became somewhat inconsequential.

On a positive note, I appreciated the interconnectedness of almost all the events. There were minimal filler moments, as most actions had consequences that shaped the overall plot.

However, I found the forced sadness to be particularly frustrating. Certain sorrowful scenes felt contrived, serving no purpose other than to elicit sadness. I believe there were better options available to evoke emotions without resorting to such artificial decisions.

In conclusion, despite my ramblings, I genuinely adored "The Demon Prince Goes to the Academy." Its ability to evoke both pain and happiness within me was remarkable. Will I read it again? Most likely not. Not because it was lacking in quality, but rather because it evoked such intense feelings of suffering in Ellen.

Best girl? It's difficult to choose, as each girl played a vital role. However, if I were to rank them, both Olivia and Harriet deserve the utmost praise for their unwavering trust in Reinhardt until the end. Charlotte, initially likable, distanced herself from the main character as the story progressed, becoming another burdened by guilt. And then there's Ellen, my favorite character, who endured the most profound suffering throughout the entire narrative. Her pain resonated with me on a visceral level, making it agonizing to witness her relentless anguish, even until the end.

The main reason why I rated this novel a 2.5 out of 5 is due to how MC treated the two traitors, Charlotte and Ellen. After their betrayal, which costed MC Loyar and many other people who were loyal and kind to him, MC decided to go ahead and rescue Charlotte and give her an important position. This doesn't really make sense. In the darkest of times, she betrayed the MC but the MC still forgives her and doesn't even feel ill-will towards her. This to me was the worst part because it signifies that the MC does not attach much importance to Loyar and others who have died FOR him BECAUSE of Charlotte. The author made the worst possible decision by making the MC forgive Charlotte without any comprehensible reason other than "I need her to develop my kingdom" to which I argue, how can you trust a person to run your country who just sold you out and ALMOST gotten you killed?

the most obvious is Ellen. She was build up as one of the main heroines and one of the most beloved character for MC as she was one of the characters that gives so much for MC, even sacrificing her freedom to serve Charlotte so Reinhardt didn't have to politically marry her and becoming a hero in order to protect Reinhardt from Demon King's threat. Clearly saying that she only fights to protect what's precious for her. But when she manage uncover Reinhardt's identity instead of confronting Reinhardt as she usually do, She rat him out to Bertus just because she can't handle the truth. And when she came to her sense Gate already opened and she only helped Reinhardt escapes at the very end practically abandoning him (the very reason she become hero) for other people she practically don't know nor care. She even conceal Gate's opening incident truth from the public, practically makes Reinhardt no 1 public enemy, then uses hero excuses for not being able to stay with Reinhardt when in fact had she side with Reinhardt none of the chaos would happened and even if it did it will be suppressed early.

What she did in these around 70 chapters completely ruined her character that builds from chapter 1-400 and 500- the end. Even didn't get married/live together (as human) with Reinhardt at the end, despite its a harem ending and MC even marries a few random woman for politics and yeah she s my fav 😅 I may be biased but other characters also become inconsistent such as Ludwig become Antihero, Antirian*s from potential enemy to ally to enemy then ally again then a last boss. Eleris also despite not wishing for bloodshed but she become responsible for the most deaths, but of course its all Reinhardt's fault. And after all sacrifices in the end people still not united and wars still broke out. Which makes me wonder again why Ellen have to care about em when her sacrifice practically didn't mean shit.

From letting her friend Liana think that he was the one who killed her father and various nonsense statements by the author to justify right of his actions. And even until the protagonist becomes Charlotte's fiancé and Ellen becomes Charlotte's knight. And later Ellen will in opposite side from ML. Event romeo and juliet better than this.

As all the relationship being built on a lie that he is a normal human being while he is actually the new demon king

His identity as the demon king is exposed. He is being captured and waiting to be executed. Would his friends help him and who would stay by his side as this should be seen as an act of betrayal to the human race ?