It's nice how this whole war and conquest stuff puts emphasis on how little they saw each other in reality. You don't rule an empire while sensually eating grapes in the harem all day long.
I have to admit that not-Hato's entire existence is confusing for me. This was a cute story at the beginning but it feels like some cheap soap opera now, only more fucked up. I feel so bad for not-Saki.
I picked the first volume at a second-hand book store without knowing it would later become one of my favorite manga. Not making an anime adaptation of this manga is one of the worst crimes one can commit. This was awesome.
@Otaku713 Agreed. I went into reading this manga expecting some sort of orientalistic, exotic harem love story. "Suleiman the Magnificent" had turned into "Suleiman the Bishounen", after all. However, it has been more historically accurate than I expected it to be. The story has its cheesy...
I had seen that "I love you. - I know." page years ago without knowing it was from this manga and from this particular moment. I thought it was funny back then. Well, damn...