Manga Review: Dawn of the Arcana

Do I know where to start? I don't know where to start. This series OMG. Ok, let me start with a short synopsis because this is usually how one starts a review, right? Ok, ok, calm down Sheila. So, Dawn of the Arcana or Reimei no Arcana which is its original Japanese title, follows the story of Nakaba, a princess of the Senan kingdom, Caesar, the second-born son of the Belquat kingdom and Nakaba's loyal assistant, Loki. Senan and Belquat are located on the same island, Senan constituting the northern half while Belquat is located in the southern half. Throughout history, these two nations have been at war constantly with momentary periods of peace after a prince or princess of one kingdom marries into the royal family of the other. 

Reimei no Arcana begins at the start of another such cease-fire, when Princess Nakaba of Senan is married to Prince Caesar of Belquat. In these two kingdoms, members of the royal family almost always have black hair; commoners have brown, red, and blonde hair. As a red-haired princess, Nakaba is considered the shame of the Senan royal family and is also treated as such when she joins the royal family of Belquat. Having been raised in near loneliness, Nakaba's closest companion is her attendant, Loki. Loki is an ajin, which means that he is a form of Demi-Human with the characteristics of an animal - in Loki's case, it is a wolf. Loki is Nakaba's protector, confidant, and best friend. Despite his loyalty though, Loki holds many secrets that he will fight fiercely to keep quiet. 

Manga Review: Captive Hearts

I've never really detailed here who my favorite manga authors/manga series are, simply because I have focused on reviewing new series I am reading, rather than reminiscing about series I have read in the past. However, I will admit that the author of Captive Hearts penned one of my favorite mangas to date - Merupuri. I will always lament that Merupuri has not yet been made into an anime. But anyways, due to my great love of her works Merupuri, Wanted, and (to a certain extent) Vampire Knight, I expected quite a lot from Matsuri Hino's Captive Hearts.

Captive Hearts follows the story of Megumi Kuroishi. Megumi's ancestor stole the guardian spirit of the Kogami's, and due to this, the spirit cursed the thief and his descendants to always serve the Kogami family as faithful servants. Luckily for Megumi, he has not really suffered from the curse, seeing as the Kogami family disappeared mysteriously when he was still a boy. However, the sole surviving member, Suzuka, has been discovered in China and when she returns to her parent's home, Megumi feels the full effect of the curse. Due to the curse, Megumi becomes extremely overprotective of Suzuka and refers to her as Hime (meaning princess in Japanese). Eventually, Suzuka learns Japanese and the two realize that instead of a master-servant relationship, they really long for a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. Therefore, Suzuka sets out to try to break the curse on the Kuroishi family. 

Manga Review: Millenium Snow

Following my venture into macabre/horror manga, I decided to go back to my comfort zone. It's not that I don't enjoy manga with a more serious tone to it - I enjoy it very much, but I have a long list of shoujo manga I want to read and I would rather knock out these shorter series now rather than start a longer series from a different genre. >.< Anyways, a manga series that has been on my list for some time is "Millennium Snow." I have wanted to read this manga since high school, but I quickly learned that it was incomplete; only two volumes were published and the author, Bisco Hatori, had stated that it was not completed but she planned to eventually finish it. So, I decided not to read it, because I didn't want to read an incomplete story.