Once again as I scroll through the internet looking at random shows, I came across another one that got my attention. The Do-Over Damsel Conquers The Dragon Emperor stars a woman named Jill Cervel a 16 year old who is framed and sentenced to death by her fiancé Gerald Der Kratos. However, instead of dying she is sent six years into the past. Wanting to change the outcome of her life she proposes to the first man she sees. This man is none other than Hadis Teo Rave, an enemy in her previous lifetime. So will this drastic change alter the course of her life or just end it sooner?

The story has some interesting and not so interesting parts to it. So lets start with the good. One of the things I love is how it shows the version of Hadis that Jill is familiar with so that we can understand how different his younger self is. It’s a great mechanic to tell the viewer that something caused him to change to the violent version that Jill fought. So it allows us to really look for those moments as they are trying to happen and as Jill tries to change them. The bond between the two develops rather well too. It’s nicely paced so it’s endearing to watch as their bond deepens because story wise it’s executed in a way that makes sense. We also really get to see that Hadis really had to deal with a lot of traumatic events and the story makes it clear he did so with no emotional support before. Having Jill in this lifetime adds that much needed support and we get to see and celebrate it’s positive impact.

So the romance angle is good but the lore behind it is mixed. Turns out there’s a lot more to the story than just falling in love with someone who won’t try to execute her. There’s a story between the countries that Hadis and Jill are from involving a Dragon and a Goddess and this story is a huge driving force for a lot of the conflict we see this season. That’s not the problem. The problem is that it also explains why Hadis prefers younger women. After all, in this story, Jill is 10 and Hadis is 19. The fact there’s a plot element behind the age gap makes me somehow even more uncomfortable with it. Now for most of the season the bond is very platonic, thankfully. Though there are a couple of kiss scenes and brief conversations about children which definitely made me uncomfortable. The fact is no matter how you spin it this is an adult and a child.

Another problem I have with the story is the execution. While the romance angle’s progression is done rather well, the story as a whole is slow. Now I encourage stories to take their time and really tell the story well, but it’s borderline painfully slow and a bit inconsistent. The story starts off at a very nice pace but towards the latter half of the season it takes a dramatic slow down to the point where it was hard to pay attention. Not a massive critique as it still tells the story well and I’d rather a story be a bit slow than a bit fast. So it’s a noticeable but not show ruining problem by any means.

So what we have here is a show that I’m on the fence of. It’s got a really interesting idea behind it of going back in time in a mysterious fashion and changing life events to avoid death but also improving someone’s life in the process. The story is told a bit slowly at times but at its core a fantastic tale. The problem is a romance between a 10 and 19 year old is just not something I can grasp even if it is fiction. I appreciate the story basically making this a platonic relationship but the age gap is so heavily emphasized that there’s even a story reason as to why he wants a younger wife. If that wasn’t the case I wouldn’t debate watching season two but with that I just don’t think I want to continue.