Manga Review: Dawn of the Arcana, Vol. 3 [Paperback]

 Manga Review

I've finished "Dawn of the Arcana Vol. 3" by Rei Toma.

Product Description

Reads R to L (Japanese Style), for audiences T.

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!

Princess Nakaba of Senan and Prince Caesar of Belquat only married each other for the sake of peace between their two warring countries, so no one expected there to be love between the unlikely couple. Nakaba is starting to warm to Caesar, however, and her attendant Loki doesn’t like this one bit. Are Loki and Caesar destined to be enemies? And how does Nakaba’s power, the Arcana of Time, fit into all this?

About the Author

Rei Toma has been drawing since childhood, but she only began drawing manga because of her graduation project in design school. When she drew a short-story manga,Help Me, Dentist, for the first time, it attracted a publisher's attention and she made her debut right away. Her magnificent art style became popular, and after she debuted as a manga artist, she became known as an illustrator for novels and video game character designs. Her current manga series, Dawn of the Arcana, is her first long-running manga series, and it has been a hit in Japan, selling over a million copies.

Product Details
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; Original edition (April 3, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1421541068
ISBN-13: 978-1421541068

My Review:

This volume opens right where we left off with Princess Nakaba and Prince Caesar still trapped in the hole in the ground.  Caesar is confused about the behavior of Nakaba because she's nice and friendly and then she's cold and pushing him away but he thinks she's adorable.  Nakaba feels guilty because she realizes she has fallen in love with Caesar and really enjoyed their kiss but she feels like she has betrayed Loki.

They are finally rescued by Loki and Caesar comes to visit and makes Loki a Belquat soldier to protect Nakaba.  Then they are summoned to see the King and Queen.  They demand that Nakaba change her hair color because they want to hide their shame from their allies who have come to visit.  They force Nakaba to dip her braided red hair into black dye but she manages to get away before they can dye her whole head.  She chops off her braids and she still looks good with short hair.  Then she leaves with Caesar and Loki back to her room.  She is confined to her room for five days until the allies are suppose to leave.

She and Loki escape by going through the bedroom window and run into the Prince of the allies.  He believe Nakaba is a boy and recognizes Loki's necklace.  He's surprised that things have changed in Belquat and then he leaves.

Later on we see Nakaba going into the library where she runs into the Prince again and he finally realizes that Nakaba is a girl.  Her powers come into focus again and the Prince comments on her eyes going red.  He traps her against the door and demands that she give him her powers.  Caesar enters and says she is his wife and to unhand her.

I will update more later tomorrow night!

5/5

Thanks Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me this manga to review, greatly appreciated!