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Dawn Of The Arcana, Vol. 02 (2012)

by Rei Tōma(Favorite Author)

4.28 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

142154105X (ISBN13: 9781421541051)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

VIZ Media LLC

series

Dawn of the Arcana

review 1: A continuation of the beautiful story. Princess Nakaba is struggling with her feelings for Ceaser verses her loyalty to home, Loki, and self preservation. People who hated Ceaser in volume one will find he does get partly redeemed here. There is still some meanness from him present in the beginning with him ripping the new dress her brought for Nakaba and him pulling on her braid.However, for the rest of the issue he is constantly trying to get positive attention from her and his mean behavior really isn't repeated outside some snide comments. The story continues its twist and turns as it seems there is a conspiracy within the courts of Belquat that helps brings us back to the reality of the situation and stops it from being purely about the love triangle. The artwork and ... morestory continue to be strong. The character design of new characters continues to be very well done. We see more development from the Nakaba and Ceaser (Not much from Loki. Sorry Loki fans) in this issue in between the breaks from the political action.Dawn of the Arcana is the perfect manga if you want romance with some substance.
review 2: I have to review the first seven volumes in one go, because I gulped this series down. It's paced so well (for my taste) that I really just open the book and when I look up I've read 100 pages and reach for the next volume. It's probably good I kept such a large chunk around, after having glommed onto the series in scanlation. These volumes take me right to the end of my scanlation read and into new territory.The mangaka has a real gift for giving point-of-view time not only to the heroine, who becomes a strong part of the overall cast and certainly the main catalyst, but not the be-all and end-all of the books. There is certainly a want to present a strong active, fantasy-female role model for girls in this series. Nakaba starts out as the repressed, despised sacrifice to a political marriage, where she had only existed and not lived. The first volume which starts with her marriage to the enemy country's second prince who "seems" privileged by his hair colour (the ruling class all have black hair) and general acceptance at his court, sets her up as isolated again and only supported by her Ajin (beastman) attendant, the same man who saved her when her village was slaughtered (by the royal father of her husband in a planned attack across the border) and raised her from a toddler while just being a teenager himself.You can already see that all kinds of historical threads are spun in the first few pages. There's a certain high handedness and willingness to accept deus-ex-machina reveals if you want to enjoy this story (for example we learn in one volume that the trusted attendant of the prince, Bellinus, who has been with him from smallest childhood in flashbacks is ALSO the most trusted advisor to the king, which hadn't been seen or mentioned before at all, so certain political plot developments can actually work out), but the focus of the mangaka is on the characters want to change the political system for the sake of personal relationships.All built around the almost messianic character of Nakaba. The men in her life see her as various embodiments - the reason he has left to try and change the world (Loki), the support and belief he never had before and therefore someone to make happy no matter what his own view of the world is (Ceasar), the conscience he never heeded and should have (Cain), the tool whose powers will allow him to change his country's succession (Akhil), the person who promised to save his mother (Rito).Nakaba herself gets shaken out of her death-accepting fugue (as we find out in the return visit to her original country) and hopelessness by her need to keep Loki by her side in her political exile first and foremost and by Caesar's manhandling her into a reaction, which somewhat plot-necessary swiftly turns into attraction from his side, because of her honest reaction to things (like having her hair colour changed). In return Nakaba's waking powers make her understand people so much better (even if she doesn't want to) and put the burden of her sight into wanting to prevent certain things and asking for help, Ceasar's avowal of love when she just mentions like and her feeling that he might be a way of changing how the world sees Ajin (of all of the characters she seems the only one who wants people to respect everyone - Loki seems locked in revenge; one of the bitterest aspects for both of them is that they no longer see eye to eye and share everything; Caesar wants to share her vision because she believes in him, but now that he has decided to do so, he goes for it unstintingly and totally - which one the one hand blows their cover in Senan but on the other hand makes Nakaba fall believably in love with him).Aside: If Toma-sensei is using people's names as a foreshadowing of their character which seems likely considering what Ceasar has sword and what Cain has turned out to feel, Loki's name is very ominous indeed if you consider it's source. less

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