Is I Became the First Prince: Legend of Sword's Song Worth Reading? Review

Quick facts
Format	Manhwa, 46 chapters
Run	ongoing
Community score	MangaUpdates 7.0
Where to read	Tapas — official

Overview

Gruhorn is a legendary dark blade, the constant companion of heroes across centuries — knights, rebels, and slayers who all became legends while wielding it. Passed down through generations, it eventually ends up in the hands of its own descendant: the kingdom's first prince, a greedy, greasy, universally hated lout of a young man. When the prince stupidly kills himself swinging the blade around, Gruhorn ends up possessing his body instead. Now stuck wearing the face of someone everybody in the kingdom despises, Gruhorn has to decide whether this new life is a prison, or one more chance to build a legend.

What it does well

The strongest thing this story has going for it is Gruhorn itself. Rather than an ordinary person suddenly gifted power, or a blank-slate reincarnator, Gruhorn arrives with centuries of experience training some of the setting's greatest fighters — an undefeated knight, a dragon slayer, a mercenary king. That background gives it a maturity, competence, and dry perspective that separates it from the usual wide-eyed isekai lead, and it makes the process of rebuilding the prince's reputation feel earned rather than convenient.

The redemption arc benefits from that same setup: watching someone genuinely capable take over a role previously filled by a bully and start actually fixing the damage is satisfying without feeling like a lazy reset button. The art holds up well throughout, with clean, well-proportioned character work and solid backgrounds. The supporting cast — including the prince's original knight and the people around him — comes with enough personality and hinted history to feel like more than scenery, even in the earlier chapters.

Where it falls short

The story occasionally leans on status-window and system-message conventions borrowed from more straightforward isekai power fantasies, which sit a little oddly against a premise that's already interesting and grounded without them. It's a minor tonal wrinkle rather than a major flaw, but it stands out precisely because the rest of the story doesn't need it.

The bigger issue is depth: several side characters have clearly meaningful backstories — implied trauma, old grudges, past mistreatment — that get referenced rather than properly explored. The story tends to prioritize incident and forward momentum over the kind of slower character work that would really pay those threads off, which is a shame given how much potential is sitting right there in the cast.

Verdict

I Became the First Prince: Legend of Sword's Song stands out from the reincarnation pack by giving its lead genuine competence and history instead of a blank slate, and it backs that up with solid art and a satisfying redemption hook. It doesn't always dig as deep into its supporting cast as it could, but as an entertaining, well-drawn read, it delivers.