Bartholomew was Princess Claudia's knight and lover. In their past life, they were unable to be together, but reincarnated into our world as Haruto. Now, as a high school student, he is sure he has found his princess! And so he does, only Princess Claudia was reborn before Bartholomew and is now the middle-aged Vice Principal of Haruto's high school, Himeno Kuraudo, with a daughter of his own. Can this love transcend time, a hefty age gap, and the VP's middle-aged body? Bartholomew thinks so in this age-gap BL rom-com.

The Princess I Loved in My Past Life is Now a Middle-Aged Dad has art and story by Wasa Sagiri. English translation is done by Jan Cash and lettering by Magmell. Published by Seven Seas (September 2, 2026).

Erica Friedman
Rating:

Oh, my goodness! This was adorable! Yes, absolutely read it. Bartholomew/Haruto is the perfect protagonist for this story – just lunk-headed enough not to care what people think, but not a blithering idiot by any means.

VP Himeno is so likable and, for anyone over the age of 35, pretty relatable. He's worried about his paunch, his “old man” smell, and his daughter, much more than what the kids will think. He's smart and sweet and falling in love all over again with his soulmate.

All the characters here are likable, except the one who storms in as a stereotypical tsundere, to explain that this love was never fated to be happy. She's annoying, but everyone thinks so, not just the reader.

The story does gently take on some generational /age gap issues. VP Himeno encourages Haruto to make friends his own age, but becomes jealous when he does. It actually reminds me of a couple I met once at an event, where both older and younger partners confided in me how difficult a 20+ age gap really was, when the other partner doesn't get any of their references.

The art is not breathtaking, but it holds up well enough. It doesn't matter, because Haruto is gallant and doofy, VP Himeno is good-hearted, and you really, really want them to find love with each other. This is the kind of 'Ossan I was looking for in manga. I'm probably spoiled by From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad's Been Reincarnated!, which handled the old dude character beautifully, but I'm an absolute sucker for a nice old dude who loves “his kids.” Why shouldn't Kuraudo and Haruto find their happily ever after?

Lauren Orsini
Rating:

It's a rare thing for me to read a book described as BL and want to recommend it to people who aren't BL fans. In fact, I think The Princess I Loved in My Past Life is Now a Middle-Aged Dad is the only title I've ever thought this about. This is a gag manga about a love that transcends age, gender, and even lifetimes for the express purpose of putting its characters in Situations with a capital S. Unlike most BL stories, the romantic interest exists outside of the gender binary, making this silly comic less of a BL and more of a general romcom. It's a reincarnation love story that's less about romantic attraction (though the main character's dad bod will surely snipe some middle-aged man appreciators) and more about lighthearted, low-stakes gag comedy.

Here's the premise: Bartholomew, a knight from another world, has been reincarnated as a modern day high school student named Naito Haruto (har har). His school's vice principal, Himeno Kuraudo, is the reincarnation of Princess Claudia, his love from another time and world. They've found each other again, Haruto figures, so what's the problem with them being in such mismatched bodies? Haruto easily looks past his former lady-love's crows feet, beer belly, and authority to get him expelled, seeing only the princess from their past lives. Because even though she's now a stern 50-year-old vice principal, she still yearns to wear lacy lingerie and perfume like the girly-girl she is on the inside. Many of the gags come from Kuraudo's mismatched physical body and internal dialogue. “Did my heart just skip a beat? Or is it just arrhythmia?” Kuraudo muses while spying on Haruto at lunch. It's really just that one joke that plays on repeat: Haruto loves his princess even though she's an old man, and nothing will change his mind.

Because the plot is exactly what it says on the tin, Kuraudo could be considered to have a transgender identity: male in appearance, but female on the inside. I didn't see this as a BL story because Kuraudo's gender identity is difficult to pin down. It gets even more complicated when Kuraudo and Haruto discover they're not the only two familiar faces from their past lives to be reincarnated in this exact place and time, and what's more, one of those people might know exactly why Claudia was reincarnated as a man while everyone else's new forms match their gender identity and even general past life appearance. In its cliffhanger conclusion, the story even teases the possibility the reincarnated princess could return to a more affirming form. During the volume she attempts a diet and other efforts to become more attractive to Haruto—not realizing that Haruto truly doesn't care about his true love's outer appearance. This warm-and-fuzzy “beauty is on the inside” message is a little cliche, but the silver lining of having it at the core of this gender-bender comedy means the humor never gets cruel.