Ludwig Kakumei

Ludwig Revolution (ルードヴィッヒ革命) is a gothic horror shōjo manga by Kaori Yuki. The story tells about Prince Ludwig who is ordered by his father to find himself a wife more suitable (by more suitable, he means not dead) than the women he often brings into the castle. Along with his servant Wilhelm, they travel across the land in search of fair maidens from classic stories in hopes of finding Ludwig a wife.

Volume 1

 * Chapter 1: Snow White
 * Blanche is a beautiful princess with skin white as snow, lips red as a rose and more beautiful than her mother. While she seems innocent on the outside, she is actually a conniving whore who seduces anyone to gain more power. Her mother, the queen, tries to have her killed, but she escapes to the cottage of the seven dwarves. After various attempts to kill Blanche prove unsuccessful, she gives her a poisoned apple. Blanche apparently dies, and is discovered by Ludwig, who spirits her corpse back to his kingdom. An accident revives Blanche and they are arranged to be married. Blanche seduces Ludwig's father, the king, and takes revenge against her mother. Ludwig confronts her, and Blanche dies in an attempt to kill him.


 * Chapter 2: Little Red Riding Hood
 * Lisette is a childhood friend of Will, but plans to exploit Will's good nature just like the other peasants do. One day, Lisette's parents send her to her grandmother's house in the forest to deliver food to her. Following the lead of an apparently altered sign, she arrives at the burned remains of a cottage in the darkest parts of the forest. A wolf speaks to her from the trees and tells her that her parents have sacrificed both her and her grandmother to him in exchange for bags of gold. Lisette flees the forest and returns home to find that, indeed, her parents do suddenly have the bags of gold. She murders them with an axe, and is forced to flee the country, swearing vengeance on Ludwig. It is later revealed that Ludwig was the one who orchestrated the charade, using a taxidermy wolf from the castle.


 * Chapter 3: Sleeping Beauty
 * Ludwig journeys to a land where a princess sleeps and has been sleeping for over a hundred years. On the way there, Ludwig finds a pocket watch in a field. The townspeople try to turn him away from the castle, saying that no one has ever returned alive from there. That night, Ludwig dreams of the field from before with a lovely girl playing in it. The two antagonize each other, until the girl, who reveals her name to be Idike, banishes Ludwig from the dream. The next day, Ludwig proceeds to the castle, where the witch who cursed the princess to sleep tries to warn him away. It is revealed that Idike is actually the princess Friederike asleep in the castle. Ludwig convinces her to let go of her sorrow and awaken in the real world, but their happiness together is short-lived, as Idike dies of old age as soon as she wakes.


 * Chapter 4: Bluebeard
 * Ludwig finds himself infatuated with a young noble's beautiful daughter('s breasts), but discovers she is already engaged to another noble by the name of Bluebeard to be his seventh bride. Ludwig decides to steal the girl away from Bluebeard, but is instead taken in as his new bride. Bluebeard seems not to notice his fiance is suddenly a man, taking Ludwig's beautiful looks to be those of a 'beautiful queen'. Ludwig discovers that Bluebeard's beard is actually fake, and that Bluebeard adopts a much harsher persona when wearing the beard as opposed to his weaker demeanor without it. Bluebeard gives Ludwig just one rule: do not open the door to the inner-most room of the castle. Despite this, Bluebeard prompts Ludwig to open the door on several occasions until Ludwig finally does. It is revealed that Bluebeard killed and stuffed all of his previous wives for telling him to stop hiding behind his beard. Ludwig helps him find closure, but he is killed in a failed attempt to assassinate Ludwig.

Volume 2

 * Chapter 5: Rapunzel
 * A beautiful girl named Rapunzel, whose hair was never cut, was taken away by a fairy at birth since her father had agreed to it, if he could have Rapunzel (lettuce) for his pregnant wife to eat. Rapunzel is mean and foul-mouthed, and doesn't seem to be very same Rapunzel in the fairy tale. She is locked up in the tower by the same witch who trapped Idike, because her hair received magical powers from the medicinal Rapunzel the witch was growing as hair-growth formula. Rapunzel ends up marrying the other prince who was vying for her attention.


 * Chapter 6: Maid Maleen
 * A beautiful young girl was imprisoned with her maid in a sealed tower for seven years, awaiting the prince whom she loved. When Ludwig frees her, she is convinced that he is her prince, but is shocked to see him engage himself to someone else. She replaces the bride in the ceremony, only to be revealed that she is in fact a ghost. Ludwig apparently helps her move on, but in the end she is seen still haunting her tower, waiting for her prince.


 * Chapter 7: The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich
 * Ludwig is turned into a Frog Prince, and meets a Princess Kathrein with a golden ball. Wil has a run-in with hit-man Lisette.


 * Chapter 8: The Goose Girl
 * A prince asks Ludwig to impersonate him when he meets his princess. Two girls arrive: the black-haired princess and a golden-haired maid. The black-haired princess orders horse beheaded, but the golden-haired maid-turned-palace-goose girl asks it be mounted. The horse is actually a talking horse. The golden-haired maid eventually tells Ludwig that she was the princess, and her jealous maid made her switch clothes and horses halfway to the castle. The black-haired girl is then locked naked in a spiked barrel and pulled to her death, after which Ludwig reveals that the black-haired girl really was the princess, and the golden-haired girl the maid.

Volume 3

 * Chapter 9: Hansel and Gretel
 * Two children, Hansel and Gretel are abandoned in the forest. They come upon a house full of sweets with a woman, whom Gretel believes is an angel, takes them in. It is revealed that the woman was a murderer and she had killed the original owner, but Hansel had seen what she had done. In return for food, shelter, and Gretel's safety, Hansel allowed the female murderer to practice torture methods on him. Just as the female murderer was about to kill Hansel, Gretel uses a flame thrower to kill the "Angel" whom Gretel now refers to as the witch.


 * Chapter 10: Cinderella Part 1
 * Prince Lui is continuing his journey but is momentarily paused because of a land slide. They save a man underneath all the earth and he gives them shelter, food, and bedding. Prince Lui meets the family, a step mother, two beautiful but cruel step sisters, and a masochistic Cinderella who goes by the name Aschen.


 * Chapter 11: Cinderella Part 2
 * A prince, Prince Balduin, is holding the ball to find the women, who we believe, he loves. Aschen really does love Prince Balduin, and with the help of Lui decides to go. Aschen and the prince meet and it is revealed that the prince wanted to hurt Aschen because she had unknowingly hurt his precious Isolde. Aschen escapes but loses her shoe that she borrowed from Lui.


 * Chapter 12: Cinderella Part 3
 * Hansel and Gretel find the shoe and give it to the prince in false pretence of wanting to help and merely being lowely servants. Aschen, Lui, and the Balduin have a long chat and it is revealed that Isold is a reptile that Aschen had accidentally stepped on. Prince Balduin leaves momentarily and Hansel and Gretel step out, ready to kill Lui. Gretel pauses because she can't chose whether she really does wish to kill Lui, and Lui shoots at her flame thrower causing it go blow up into flames. Aschen, wishing to save the animals, breaks the windows so they can escape, and Lisette, who was captured by Hansel and Gretel, joins them. Together they escape the animal house. Aschen is reunited with Prince Balduin and she gives him Isolde, whom she had placed in her breasts, to save. Prince Balduin falls in love with her, and they live happily ever after.

Volume 4

 * Chapter 13: The Goose-Girl at the Well Part 1
 * Ludwig returns to his kingdom to find a new queen and brother waiting for him. Ludwig dies.


 * Chapter 14: The Goose-Girl at the Well Part 2
 * Julius and Petronella celebrate their victory. Ludwig is suddenly not dead. It is revealed that Dorothea cast a sacrifice charm on him. Lisette meets Ludwig's mother. Seeing Ludwig alive which scares Julius and suddenly he becomes mad. He shouts to Ludwig about that Ludwig killed his Margarete. Ludwig has no memory of his sister or a box, he quickly leaves.


 * Chapter 15: The Goose-Girl at the Well Part 3
 * Ludwig, along with his mother, Almaberga, who is just as crazy as he is, sort out the mess with Petronella and Julius. Dorothea dies, but not really.


 * Chapter 16: The Blue Light
 * Ludwig travels to a city of the dead to rescue Dorothea from a demon. Along with the help with Wilhem and Lisette. There, Dorothea's intentions of The Blue Light are revealed. When tossed the light, Ludwig tells the demon to keep the gold. The curse is lifted and everyone who lived in the castle disappear, and are finally set free. At home, Julius finds his amethyst box, which contains Ludwig's picture. Amalberga talks about the history of Julius. Lisette asks for her reward and takes Wilhem, who leaves. Later, Ludwig and Wilhem set off for him to find a princess. With Dorethea's help and Lisette vowing to kill him.

Main characters

 * Prince Ludwig: The hero (or, more accurately, anti-hero) of the manga who is known for his womanizing ways and his selfish actions. Ludwig is surprisingly intelligent, and solves the mysteries of some of the princesses. In the first chapter he is depicted as a necrophiliac and keeps a room full of female corpses in glass coffins, but by the second story he's given up on dead women and starts looking for a live bride. He has a fondness for well-endowed beauties, and chooses his potential brides judging mostly by their bust size. He bears an uncanny resemblance to his mother, queen Amalberga. Friederike was the first woman for whom he actually had feelings without noticing her breast size. After Friederike died, he always thought about her and got to see her again in the end. He is named after Jakob Ludwig Grimm. He is a mere 19 years old, and stands at 186 cm tall. He is sometimes mistaken as a female, and is nicknamed Lui.
 * Wilhelm: Lui's attendant. He is kind-hearted and easy to deceive. He is always being abused because of the prince's way of life. He and Lisette are childhood friends. It can be said that his patience and meekness keeps him with his master. He fills the role of the most prominent comic relief of the manga. As a child, Wilhelm wanted to be a knight but was too gentle.  Ludwig took advantage of his kind heart and make Wilhelm a servant, partly to prevent others from ordering him around.  He was named after Wilhelm Karl Grimm. Lisette loves him.


 * Lisette: She is presented as a young girl in the beginning of the story, who is set up by Prince Ludwig and then deceived in believing that her parents sold her. She slaughters them with an axe, gaining the nickname "Red Riding Hood" after the massacre due to her blood-soaked mantle. After disappearing for a long time (during which she claimed she was sold as a prostitute), she reappears as a grown-up, mercenary killer on the hunt for Ludwig, bearing extreme hatred towards him. She is also obsessed with money, even taking gold from the City of the Dead. It is also suggested that she may have feelings for Wilhelm (in which she pulls him close to her) because she wanted him as a reward after Lui hired her. She was Wilhelm's childhood friend who treated Wilhelm kindly to use him and gain riches.


 * Dorothea: An eccentric witch with masochistic tendencies and possibly the bustiest character in the manga (she boasts a 65G cup, as Ludwig says). She is responsible for cursing princess Friederike and initially appears as some sort of villain, but then becomes attached to Ludwig and becomes his (unwanted) maid. As a witch she wields some impressive magical powers, which saved Ludwig's life at the cost of her own. Only in the end it is revealed that she lived for several centuries, reincarnating every time her current corporeal vessel died out. This loop is broken when Ludwig comes to her aid and sets her free, leaving her with one last life to live.


 * Friederike: A princess, born with the blessing of twelve witches but cursed by a thirteenth (this one being Dorothea, the only "true" witch among the thirteen). She grew up believing that a crayfish blessed her mother and left her pregnant with her, when in actuality she was the result of a brutal rape. This made her twisted and angry, to the point of willingly puncturing herself with a spinning wheel (drugged with a powerful narcotic) and then plunging into a century-long sleep. Already dead when Ludwig encounters her, she is a spirit that appears in his dreams, or a demonic monstrosity capable of controlling deadly thorns in reality. She always worries about Lui, even agreeing to help Dorothea to save him. She is the only princess that Lui truly loves.


 * Julius: Prince Julius appears out of nowhere as the King's stepson, and thus Ludwig's stepbrother. This is, however, a mere hoax plotted by his "mother" Petronella, a witch craving for the title of queen. Mistaking Amalberga for Ludwig, he bears an extreme hatred towards him for most of the series, but it is actually revealed that he fell madly in love with him some times prior to the beginning of the story. Wielder of some potent witchcraft, he is allowed to stay under Ludwig's protection in the end.


 * Hansel and Gretel: Abused children who were abandoned and forced to wander and live miserably, to the point of almost dying of starvation, until they were took in by a murderous and sadistic woman. The experience left the two, brother and sister, extremely deranged and cruel, and turned them into brutal assassins. They were hired by Julius to kill Ludwig when Lisette failed the same duty twice, and were apparently killed during one of these attempts. They were saved however, and were allowed to live with Julius (whom they refer to as an "angel") in the care of Ludwig. For their assassinations, the two are by no means stealthy: Hansel wields an enormous and eerie-looking axe, while Gretel uses an oddly-shaped flamethrower.

Minor character

 * Ludwig's Mother, Almaberga: Ludwig's mother and the queen of her kingdom, she appears near the end of the manga. A warlike and fierce woman, the first time is seen she wears what appears to be a Schutzstaffel uniform and wields a bazooka. It is not mere cosmetics, for the queen is exceptionally feared due to her ferocity and explosive temper, especially by her husband. She bears an extreme physical resemblance to her son, so much in fact that Julius mistook her for Ludwig when she was, actually, the murderer of his sister.


 * Ludwig's Father: The King, mostly a comic relief due to his arguments with his son Ludwig and his fear of his wife, queen Almaberga.


 * Petronella: A powerful witch that posed as Julius' mother and made herself known as a mistress of the King in his court. She actually took in Julius when he was exiled from the kingdom and taught him the arts of witchcraft, hoping to use him as a way to become queen herself. It is quite ironic that she never knew that the true queen never actually died or vanished, but was just waging war in nearby countries.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Kaori Yuki, the sixteen Ludwig Revolution chapters were serialized in Hana to Yume. Hakusensha collected the chapters in four bound volumes and published them from June 18, 2004 to December 18, 2007. The series is also licensed in Hong Kong by Culturecom Comics, in German by Carlsen Comics, and in French by Editions Tonkam.

Drama CD
On November 22, 2006, Geneon Entertainment released a drama CD of the series. It featured Miyuki Sawashiro, Tomokazu Sugita, Yumi Kakazu, and Akiko Yajima.