Manga Review: Dawn of the Arcana, Volume 1

Manga Review: Dawn of the Arcana, Volume 1Dawn of the Arcana, Vol. 1 by Rei Toma
Series: Dawn of the Arcana #1
Published by VIZ Media LLC on December 6th 2011
Genres: Manga
Pages: 192
Goodreads

Princess Nakaba of Senan is forced to marry Prince Caesar of the enemy country Belquat, tantamount to becoming a hostage. While Caesar is pleasing to the eye, he is also selfish and possessive, telling Nakaba outright: “You are my property.” With only her attendant Loki at her side, Nakaba must find a way to cope with her hostile surroundings, her fake marriage...and a mysterious power!

Plot:
Dawn of the Arcana is a surprising read. Set in a kingdom (location wise, I have no clue where) that is divided, north by south. While the Northern country, Senan, suffers the Southern country, Belquat, prospers. A battle soaked history plagues these nations. Again and again, they hope to find a peaceful solution, often in the form of marriage.

This time Caesar, the southern prince, has married Nakaba, the northern princess, in hopes of bringing peace to their nations. The only problem? They cannot stand each other. To make matters worse, Nakaba is red head. In this world, any hair color than black is considered common. Therefore with Nakaba’s red hair (and other issues) trouble is brewing. Can these two make the marriage work? Or is it doomed before it even started?

Characters:
Thus far, reader have been introduced to three main characters: Caesar, Nakaba, and Loki. At this point, Nakaba is my favorite. A strong willed girl, with a sad past. A girl that can take care of herself, and is not afraid to stand her ground. But the boys sure are giving her a run. Caesar and Loki both are so very different. And with a love triangle possibly brewing, I think things are about to get very heated.

Graphics:
I absolutely love the look of Dawn of the Arcana. I have never read anything by this artist before. But the style looks similar to some of my favorites.

Final Verdict:
Dawn of the Arcana is simply so much fun. I started the first page and before I knew it, half of the manga was done. At this moment, I am so glad I have the next few installments on my bookshelf because I am now completely smitten. Dawn of the Arcana is completely addicting.

Kate

Kate is the co-blog owner of The Book Monsters. I am a twenty-something year old who is passionate about reading. I currently hold a B.A. in English and am married to my high school sweetheart. We have two (cat) children, Gracie and Kit, who are total divas. I have an insane and possibly unhealthy passion for reading. You can usually find me with my nose buried in a book.

Latest posts by Kate (see all)

Divider

7 responses to “Manga Review: Dawn of the Arcana, Volume 1”

  1. Rywn

    Oooh this has been on my to-read list for awhile. I’ve gotten a few pages in, but so far I’ve just wanted to slap Caesar so I keep putting it off. I’m guessing he gets better further into the novel?

    Rywn @ Book Brats

    Reply
    • Kate

      Definitely. Give him that first volume to be annoying, then things get much better for him. I hated him in the first volume.

      Reply
  4. Rummanah Aasi

    I love the sound of this one as it reminds me of some of my favorite fantasy series. I also love a strong willed heroine in my mangas. I also hope that Caesar get his act together as I root for a love interest that is a jerk.

    Reply
  6. Alison Can Read

    This sounds like fun. Most of the manga I’ve read have been paranormal or contemporary. I’d enjoy reading a pure fantasy.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.