# The Perfect Prince Loves Me, His Rival?! (王子の本命は悪役令息)
**The Perfect Prince Loves Me, His Rival?!** (native manga title: *当て馬キャラのくせして、スパダリ王子に寵愛されています。*, romanized *Ateuma Kyara no Kuse ni Shite, Supa Dari Ouji ni Chouai Sareteimasu*) is a Japanese boys' love (BL) isekai manga by Ao Yuki, published digitally by WWWave.[1](https://comics.inkr.com/title/2994-the-perfect-prince-loves-me-his-rival) The story follows a modern man who reincarnates into a romance novel as Loneal, the sacrificial rival of a handsome prince, only for the prince to fall in love with him instead of the heroine.[1](https://comics.inkr.com/title/2994-the-perfect-prince-loves-me-his-rival) An eighteen-rated anime adaptation under the English title *The Perfect Prince Loves Me, the Side Character?!* aired in 2024 as an AnimeFesta original.[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/) The alternate English title is used interchangeably by catalogs and reviews; IMDb lists the series under the "Side Character" name.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35100901/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Native title | 当て馬キャラのくせして、スパダリ王子に寵愛されています。 (*Ateuma Kyara no Kuse ni Shite, Supa Dari Ouji ni Chouai Sareteimasu*)[1](https://comics.inkr.com/title/2994-the-perfect-prince-loves-me-his-rival) |
| Creator | Ao Yuki, art and story[1](https://comics.inkr.com/title/2994-the-perfect-prince-loves-me-his-rival) |
| Format | Digital Japanese manga, black and white, BL/isekai, age rating Mature (18+)[1](https://comics.inkr.com/title/2994-the-perfect-prince-loves-me-his-rival) |
| Serial start | August 2022 on the ComicFesta platform, under the Glanz BL Comics imprint[4](https://shapes.inc/fandom/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character/author) |
| Anime | *The Perfect Prince Loves Me, the Side Character?!*, 8 episodes of about 6 minutes each, April 8 to June 10, 2024[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/) |
| Production | studio HōKIBOSHI under the AnimeFesta brand; director Aki Konchi[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/) |
| Lead cast | Loneal (Danji Haru), Alec (Santa Hiiragi), Lily (Mei Hanamori)[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/) |
## Premise
The protagonist is an ordinary man who dies in a car accident and wakes up inside a popular fantasy romance novel as Loneal, a minor supporting character.[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/) In the novel-within-the-story, *The Silver Prince and the Holy Bride*, Loneal Gravis is cast as the "ateuma" (a sacrificial rival whose role is to highlight the perfection of the male lead, Prince Alec Ray Garcium); the original Loneal was a love rival who got caught assaulting the heroine and died afterwards.[5](https://shapes.inc/fandom/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character/deep-dive) • [2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/) Knowing this fate, the reincarnated Loneal resolves to keep out of the way of Alec and the heroine, Lily, and avoid the original character's grim end.[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/)
The plot pivots on an accident with a love potion. During a ball, Loneal escorts an unwell Lily to a private room, trips and falls on her, and is caught in a compromising position by Alec.[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/) In the confrontation that follows, Loneal grabs a random flask and throws its contents at the prince, who abruptly shifts from hostility to infatuation and kisses him.[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/) Loneal realizes he splashed Alec with a love potion, and the prince now directs his affection at Loneal instead of his bride.[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/) Loneal's plot knowledge lets him anticipate events such as the love-potion incident, but his intervention causes the prince to fall for him.[5](https://shapes.inc/fandom/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character/deep-dive)
## The manga
The manga is a mature-rated digital BL title tagged with themes of rivals, princes, and enemies becoming lovers.[1](https://comics.inkr.com/title/2994-the-perfect-prince-loves-me-his-rival) Ao Yuki, its writer and artist, works in the "reincarnated as a side character" subgenre of BL, and the series subverts traditional otome-novel tropes by focusing on the rival character usually destined for a tragic end.[4](https://shapes.inc/fandom/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character/author) Serial release is ongoing; the INKR listing shows at least thirty published chapters.[1](https://comics.inkr.com/title/2994-the-perfect-prince-loves-me-his-rival)
## The anime adaptation
The television anime, announced under the title *The Perfect Prince Loves Me, the Side Character?!*, is a short-form 18+ fantasy erotica series: eight episodes of roughly six minutes, for a total running time of about one hour.[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/) It is an AnimeFesta original, a brand of adult anime, and was produced by studio HōKIBOSHI, whose other titles include *Titan's Bride* (2020) and *Reincarnated Into Demon King Evelogia's World* (2021).[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/)
In the anime's telling, Loneal searches for an antidote to reverse Alec's attraction while enduring the prince's advances, with a magical academy subplot alongside the love-potion storyline.[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/)
## Reception
The BL Watcher review scored the anime 5.6 out of 10 (D+). The reviewer praised the early episode visuals, clean lines and elegant fantasy staging, and noted a happy ending with a clever resolution to the love-potion mishap, but criticized the shallow plotting, one-dimensional leads, and repetitive explicit scenes.[2](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/) The series has found an audience among BL viewers despite the mixed critical reception.[6](https://donotaku.com/en/anime/ateuma-chara-no-kuse-shite-supadari-ouji-ni-chouai-sareteimasu)
## Not a separate work: distinction from 王子の本命は悪役令嬢
The requested Japanese parenthetical, 王子の本命は悪役令息, closely resembles the title of a different property, *王子の本命は悪役令嬢* ("The Prince's True Love Is the Villainess"), a teen's love manga by Re:mimu published by Suiseisha from July 18, 2021, which received its own 2022 TV anime from the same studio, HōKIBOSHI.[7](https://suiseisha.jp/comicsdetail?cat=la&pid=25870) • [8](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/380146) That series follows an office worker reincarnated as the villainess Diana Diafer in the otome game *Hoshi Furu ★ Koi no Astrolabe*, pursued by Prince Sirius Iveel. It is a separate Re:mimu work with a female protagonist and is not the Ao Yuki manga covered here.[7](https://suiseisha.jp/comicsdetail?cat=la&pid=25870)
## References
1. [The Perfect Prince Loves Me, His Rival?! \\ - INKR Comics](https://comics.inkr.com/title/2994-the-perfect-prince-loves-me-his-rival)
2. [The Perfect Prince Loves Me, the Side Character?! \\ - Anime Review & Episode Guide, BL Watcher (October 31, 2024)](https://blwatcher.com/bl-anime/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character-review/)
3. [The Perfect Prince Loves Me, the Side Character?! (TV Mini Series 2024) \\ - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35100901/)
4. [The Perfect Prince Loves Me, the Side Character?! Author & Creative Team Guide, Shapes](https://shapes.inc/fandom/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character/author)
5. [The Perfect Prince Loves Me, the Side Character?! Deep Dives, Shapes](https://shapes.inc/fandom/the-perfect-prince-loves-me-the-side-character/deep-dive)
6. [The Perfect Prince Loves Me, the Side Character?! | Anime ONA, Donotaku](https://donotaku.com/en/anime/ateuma-chara-no-kuse-shite-supadari-ouji-ni-chouai-sareteimasu)
7. [王子の本命は悪役令嬢 ｜ Re:mimu ｜ 株式会社彗星社](https://suiseisha.jp/comicsdetail?cat=la&pid=25870)
8. [TVアニメ 王子の本命は悪役令嬢 (2022) \\ - allcinema](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/380146)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Comics and sequential art › Comic-book series and issues › Japanese shōnen and seinen manga*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license