Manga Review: Dawn of the Arcana, Vol. 4 [Paperback]

Manga Review

I've finished "Dawn of the Arcana Vol. 4" by Rei Toma.
Product Description

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

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. But just as feelings start growing between them, Nakaba's power, the Arcana of Time, shows her a vision of a young woman's murder. Has the time come for Nakaba to harness her power to change fate?

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: 200 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; Original edition (June 5, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1421541076
ISBN-13: 978-1421541075

My Review:

This issue opens with everyone talking about what happened in the dungeons and the two dead guards.  Prince Caesar confronts Bellinus in the library about the dead guards in the dungeon and he threatens him.  Meanwhile Prince Akhil confronts Loki that he's the one responsible for the bodies which Loki doesn't deny.

Loki tells Princess Nakaba that the King is on the verge of going after an Anjin village.  He also says he is on his way to defend his tribe and Princess Nakaba decides to go with him.  She tells Caesar and he agrees to go with them but needs to come up with an excuse for them to leave the castle.  He finally comes up with a Honeymoon trip and tells Bellinus who rushes and tells the King.  The King makes Bellinus promise to find out what everyone is up too and to keep a close eye on them.

Then we see Nakaba sleeping and she is dreaming about a girl who is stabbed.  She's frightened and wonders who the girl could be.

Then we see Nakaba and she is sitting and thinking when we meet Bellinus's younger sister.  She says, "she is all her brother talks about Princess Nakaba!  It used to be just about Princess Caesar!"  She warns Nakaba to stay away from her brother and she won't let her take him away from her!  Nakaba recognizes her as the girl in her nightmare.

Nakaba decides to take a walk when she bumps into Prince Akhil.  He once again asks her if she has changed her mind to let him use her powers.  She replies, "no she hasn't."  He replies that it will cost a price to use it."  Then everyone else appears and Akhil says he will be leaving tomorrow to go back home and he promises Loki he would get word to him if anything changes, etc.

The we see everyone in a horse carriage on their way to the village and they stop off to rest.  Bellinus finds his younger sister hiding with the luggage and he asks her why she is there.  Bellinus wants to send her home but Nakaba says it's safer for her to go with them.  Then we see Nakaba, Caesar and Bellinus's sister in their carriage talking and looking at the scenery.  Nakaba thinks maybe this is FATE!

Finally they arrive at their hotel where Bellinus has ordered a scrumptious dinner.  Everyone is having fun eating and drinking when suddenly we see Nakaba having trouble keeping her eyes open.  When she wakes up she realizes she is tied up and in a dungeon where Caesar informs her they were drugged by Bellinus.  Bellinus comes to see them and he informs them that he did that for their own protection.  He also says he betrayed them because he was scared of the King and he threatened his sister.  Loki warms Nakaba with his body heat when he realizes she is freezing.

Then he leaves and tells his sister that everyone went in the woods.  She says she's lonely and goes out into the woods herself.  Bellinus tells everyone that his sister is missing and probably went into the woods.  Nakaba demands to be let out but Bellinus says no but she finally persuades him to let her out.  Caesar gives her his cloak and tells her to be careful.  Then she rushes into the woods but has no clue where Bellinus's sister could be.  She uses her powers and finds her and they find their way out.  Bellinus is frantically waiting for them when he sees them.  He realizes that Nakaba is hurt and she faints.  She wakes up with Caesar and Loki looking after her.

4/5

Other manga in series:

1.  Dawn of the Arcana Vol. 2
2.  Dawn of the Arcana Vol. 3
3.  Dawn of the Arcana Vol. 5 - Aug 7, 2012
4.  Dawn of the Arcana Vol. 6 - Oct 2, 2012
5.  Dawn of the Arcana Vol. 7 - Dec 4, 2012

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