Reimei no Arcana
Dawn of the Arcana

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At first glance, Reimei no Arcana may seem like your oh-so-clichè romance and shoujo manga set in fairytale land. Thankfully, this isn't the case. Reimei no Arcana has a more deep, almost depressing story behind everything. There's blood. There's violence. There are characters that actually develop instead of just act the same throughout the story. This really isn't the typical romance manga directed at young girls.

Story: 8/10
While it's not the most original plot in the world, Rei Toma executes it beautifully. The princess who has been shunned all her life is in an arranged marriage with a prince that she finds disgusting. After spending some ... genuine time together and going through certain events, however, they come to understand each other more and more as time goes on. Of course, they then develop actual feelings for each other. However, don't be fooled-- the story doesn't magically lose its grittiness for the sake of turning everything into an upbeat romance.

Art: 9/10
The art is simply gorgeous. The girls are beautiful, the boys are handsome. The clothes are wonderfully detailed, and the settings fit in perfectly with the theme. My only complaint is that, like a lot of other manga, the heroine's eyes are way too big for her face. I understand that it helps to add expression, but it just looks silly when everyone else has normal sized eyes except for the main character.

Character: 8/10
At first, characters seem like they're nothing very special. Loki is the sweet, caring friend to Nakaba, whereas Nakaba is a princess who's slightly depressed due to her situation, but still attempts to have a somewhat good outlook on life...until she meets the tsundere prince Caesar, that is. Thankfully, Reimei no Arcana has wonderful character development. After some certain dramatic events happen, you can see how much each character in this manga has grown up. They feel like their own fleshed out person rather than a mere stereotype.

Enjoyment: 9/10
I simply love romance manga that are unique. I enjoy my romance/comedy/school/shoujo manga from time to time, but they get boring very quickly due to a lot of them having nearly identical plots. Reimei no Arcana is a wonderful hidden gem of romance manga out there.

Overall: 8.5/10 (rounded up to 9/10)
If you're looking for a typical cheesy romance where no character development takes place, I advise you to pick up one of the various one-shot shoujo manga out there. If you're looking for a deep romance manga that actually has an interesting plot and well-developed characters, by all means, read this.

Starts with a marriage of convenience between feuding royal families, complicated with racism and bigotry (about hair color and half-human half-animal "subpeople"). The main characters are both stubborn and really hate each other, but what else can this lead to but sweet sweet awkward jealousy. Who should she choose? The enemy with the grand gestures or the loyal friend? You'll be pulled apart, just like our heroin.
This manga is wonderful! A real hybrid of the Shojo and Shouen styles, a complicated romance for the not-girly reader. A really addicting read, and more than the average shojo has ... to offer. Rei Toma (the author) has created a really fantastic and colorful world to have her characters push back against. Looking forward to the next chapter each week.

I'm pretty meticulous when it comes to choosing what to read, since I hate leaving things unfinished. Hence I went into this manga with eyes and ears open, having read a LOT of reviews. I thought I knew roughly what to expect, but without having particularly high or low hopes. Boy was I disappointed.

Story: 5

Obviously this is a cliché story about an unwanted princess who is forced to marry the enemy kingdom's prince for the sake of peace. The princess discovers she has an innate ability that gives her enough power to take control of her life and kingdom. It's incredibly cliché, which would be ... okay if her development was executed well. But the story is... stupidly simple, only made to appear complicated. Even the princess' power - the Arcana of Time - is loosely defined in the first place, and complex actions that would be near-impossible in real life are overly simplified - like (SPOILERS!) the act of simply "giving" an entire country to someone else, or migrating an entire race... I mean, at one point our heroine princess even has two husbands through some bizarre logic made up for the sake of the plotline...!? (/SPOILERS!) It's convenient writing for the sake of complicating an incredibly basic plot line that wouldn't have any direction or closure otherwise.

Characters: 7

The cast is as cliché as they come. I wasn't a big fan of the princess, but she was bearable and a host of minor characters kept me mostly interested. Loki, the princess' battle butler, was probably the main reason I kept coming back to the manga despite all my obvious issues with it (and I actually shipped the prince with the princess, not Loki). As a character he's written very tragically and right from the get go it's hard to tell who commands his true allegiance. Is it truly to the princess, who he protects with his heart, body and soul? There's a LOT of convoluted drama involving him, which crops up again and again throughout the story. While he doesn't necessarily appear to develop, I wasn't disappointed and liked the conclusion to his character development. I would suggest you only read this manga if you are drawn to Loki's story, but THAT in itself would be cruel - I know a LOT (if not most?) of readers have had an issue with his storyline.

Art: 6

It's usually pretty decent. Being nit-picky... a couple of characters look similar (Caesar and Adel, anyone?), the fight scenes were badly done, and there were some weird character design choices. But yeah: usually it's pretty decent, and the cover art is gorgeous.

Overall: 4

I'm being pretty harsh, especially considering the story, art and character ratings I've given so far in this review, but I can't in good conscience give a higher score. This is probably the worst manga I've ever read.

Reimei no Arcana is a fantasy shoujo manga by Touma Rei, totalling thirteen volumes. We begin our tale at a wedding ceremony, the participants a red-haired girl and a black-haired boy. The girl notes dispassionately that her new husband has crushed her hair in his hand, unbeknownst to the onlookers. This is a marriage of convenience, for the purpose of upholding a treaty to keep the peace between two warring countries, Senan and Belquat. Not only is she of a different nationality to the prince she has married, which automatically makes her unlikable, but she also has filthy, red hair. Why is red hair so ... bad? Only commoners have red hair, of course.

The manga is set in a medieval fantasy world where those of royal blood have black hair, whilst merchants, servants, and other common folk have other colours in their glossy locks. Not only is it scandalous for a royal to have a hair colour other than black, it is also nearly unheard of. Why would anyone of the nobility want to sully their name by reproducing with someone of a different hair colour, after all? It’s even worse when you throw “ajin” into the mix – also known as “sub-humans”, people with animal characteristics are shunned by society and considered worse than second-class citizens. It is in this crazy world of discrimination and hatred that we meet our main protagonists.

While the story isn’t very original (I am certain you have heard of political and arranged marriages before), it redeems itself through the almost epic scales it hurtles toward. Redemption, revolution, coups, love, betrayal – this is certainly going to be a grand tale. The main (and, I’d honestly argue, only) problem with the plot is that it kicks off rather slow. The first several chapters detail how the main characters play off of one another, interact, and start developing feelings of love or, alternatively, hatred, for each another. One’s mileage might vary, but I can see some people getting rather bored or disillusioned if they expect a hard-hitting thriller right off the bat. (It’s not a thriller, either; sorry if I got your hopes up.) Another aspect of Reimei no Arcana that readers may find themselves trudging through is the politics. It is not laid on thickly, and it is not droned on about for pages at a time, but the intrigue and political affairs of the world the story is set in are still quite important. I rather think the author has gotten politics right, since I was only interested, never jaded.

Due to the fairly placid pace the manga begins with, some important aspects that seem like they ought to be explained as soon as they are introduced are instead shrugged off as if they were never mentioned before. This can at times bring feelings of confusion – did I miss something or is my comprehension just awry? Not to fear, dear reader; everything will be made clear in due time. The errant way the manga tosses plot pieces and names left and right will easily be forgiven once you take a skim through after completing the manga. Speaking of which, there is quite a bit of double-meanings and foreshadowing in certain characters’ words, expressions, and actions. It’s quite pleasant to see how much the author truly had planned in advance and see that reflected in the manga itself.

Our main characters are Nakaba, Loki, and Caesar. Nakaba is the red-haired first princess of Senan, sent as a “sacrificial goat” to Belquat. She is not the shy, weak-willed, and insipid girl that so often plague shoujo manga; in fact, she is self-righteous and knows what she wants. She does not let her husband bully her around, nor does she wallow in despair for being segregated based on her hair colour. She stands above this. She is, however, very much resigned to her fate. As she herself says, only the place she will die has changed by moving to Belquat. At first, she has little interest in bettering herself. This changes, and she becomes an ambitious and motivated woman, and at times even ruthless when it comes to completing her ultimate goal.

Her servant, Loki, is an ajin, a man bearing the traits of a dog. Quiet and loyal, he attentively sees to Nakaba’s every need and ensures her safety. He serves to his princess’ every whim quite selflessly. Then we have Nakaba’s husband, who is none other than Caesar, the second prince of Belquat. He might as well be the exact opposite of Loki; completely unimpressed with the idea of marrying a red-haired princess, he at first treats Nakaba quite poorly and obviously wants little to do with her or her sub-human servant. However, due to a series of events that leave him introspective, he finds that he is quite “hollow”, and decides to try to change this.

While some characters’ actions make them seem extremely unlikable and vexing – case in point, Caesar – they are also understandable. The society they live in, along with their completely outrageous taboos (as we see them), would naturally warp their personalities in such ways. As such, while I do consider some actions to be very much deplorable, I can also see the reasoning and logic to those actions. That brings me to the most wonderful part of Reimei no Arcana, which is easily the fact that every single character has their own motivation. While it’s easy to see what characters you should like or dislike, there’s also the aspect of morality. If you were a blonde prince, wouldn’t you resent your younger brother for having black hair, and thus being immediately more favourable for the throne in the eyes of your own peers?

Too often in manga are characters just cardboard cut-outs with a name and a few traits pasted on. Most of Touma Rei’s characters don’t even fall into complete archetypes (apart from the couple tsundere male characters). A good chunk of them feel realistic enough to stand on their own outside of the manga. Special shout outs go to Cain, Louise, and Guren.

The other characters of Reimei no Arcana are given adequate panel time. As is the case with any manga, some are more developed than others, while a few select characters overstay their welcome. Overall, though, none of the characters are “filler”; all serve a purpose to the plot and the storyline and most get their chance to shine, one way or another. A few characters depict a subtle but welcoming character progression that can only completely be appreciated by flipping back to their first appearance and forward to their final one. There are a few characters that seem to be forgotten and set aside (for example, Leo and Lala), although this can be forgiven due to the calamity of events that occur in their absence.

Despite my praises, I do have some gripes with the characterization in this manga. Namely, my main issue is how quickly Nakaba forgives Caesar’s original treatment of her. In fact, it’s difficult to call it “forgiving”, since she nearly goes on as if it never even occurred. I do believe that a few more chapters detailing her inner turmoil of her feelings and her dignity as well as her empathy for the prince of Belquat would have been helpful in providing some more flesh and realism to the story. Same goes for Caesar, too – while we do have some more insight into his feelings regarding Nakaba, he wasn’t exactly the victim (regarding the two of them), and he wasn’t the one getting his hair pulled or his name spat upon.

Touma Rei’s backgrounds are fairly lacklustre and most leave details to be desired. It’s generally the most “important” aspects (such as the bricks of a wall and the arbitrary desk and chair) that are sketched out in the bare minimum. This is a fairly prevalent issue in a lot of shoujo manga, but I felt it necessary to mention anyway as it does end up affecting my overall opinion of the mangaka’s artistry. Touma makes up for her mediocre backgrounds with quite detailed clothing and character designs. She definitely knows how to draw good looking men and women, even if there were a couple guys I mistook for women at first sight. In retrospect, this was likely on purpose. There is fairly heavy screentone usage in the manga, primarily for shading, clothing, and hair.

Since there is some action in Reimei no Arcana, it’s worth noting that, for the most part, the panels are clean and clear. I only found myself confused at what was happening during action scenes in the first few chapters, and this is mostly due to a distinct lack of detail in the drawings. It could be said that this was on purpose (and by that I mean the details, not the confusion).

I’d highly recommend this manga to anyone looking for something just a bit different. Reimei no Arcana is an intriguing shoujo manga that, for me, was able to blend several genres together – romance, mystery, fantasy, and drama – quite well, and delivered a truly stomach-punching ending that will definitely remain in my mind for a long, long time. This manga made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me hopeful for a brighter future, both in Nakaba’s world and in mine.

Reimei no Arcana is a one-of-a-kind manga. Instead of following the average, archetypal shoujo manga plot, the author has created an excellent work by effectively using plot-twists, great character development, and deep, underlying meaning/foreshadowing within most chapters.

The Plot ~
The plot is well written. I admit that at times in the manga, I felt that I could "see the ending!" only to find that a plot twist--or a major event that affects the entire manga--was put into play the very next chapter. The plot twists and transitions within the story were masterfully executed, and was neither too complex nor simple for the reader to ... be frustrated and belittled likewise.

The Characters ~
I admit that the characters surprised me the most, probably even more so than the plot.

The prince Ceasar is a male tsundere who eventually does legitimately love his wife, Nakaba. I hated his first few chapters, but as the story progressed, I moved on to pitying him, then to liking him overall. His character changes alot more, and I feel that at times he finally grew a pair and manned up. (in my mind I was like "YES! AMEN BROTHER!")

Princess Nakaba was a character that I found to be likable from the get go. She has a headstrong personality and at times, acts coy, even kuudere-ish. At any rate, in the later chapters, her actions had me slamming my fist on the table going "MMMMM!! YES! Wonderful!" Her personality drives her to do whatever is possible to help the people that she loves and wishes to protect. She made me wonder who was really more of a man between the Ceaser-Nakaba couple.

The Art ~
On the whole, I am not a very big fan of shoujo art. However, this will be the exception--if shoujo art is more like this, than I will most likely read more shoujo manga.

The art is drawn masterfully and the characters do not appear too "pretty" and/or slanted as shoujo/shounen characters have appeared in the past. (Modern Shoujo art?) I felt that the art accurately represented the scenes and that the simple backgrounds gave off a degree of "softness" that hurt my eye less.

Overall ~
This is a great work. If Twisted Romance and Power struggles are for you, than this manga is excellent! Although even if you are not a fan of such, this is a read I advise regardless of your taste...

4.5 / 5 Stars for the ever entertaining, and currently ongoing Reimei no Arcana.

~Jayex~

As somebody you already read the manga I have to say that I never read a manga like this!
When I started I thought this will be the usual "They hate each other then they will fall in love and everybody will be happy..END".
THIS IS NOT THAT TYPE OF MANGA!
There were many twists and shocking events.

Story 9/10
If they would not start with such a cliche then I would have given 10/10 for sure.
But even like this I love the whole story.
When I thought I know the final out come the author slapped me and I was in the dark once again. It's really great.
And at the ... end...I seriously cried a river! It was so shocking.

Art 10/10
I can't say much about the art just that it is Perfect.
It made the manga even more enjoyable and all of the characters (even the ver very side characters) were detailed.

Characters 10/9
As the manga starts it's not so special but in this case I would say the character development is the most important.
How Princess Nakaba becomes strong, how Prince Caesar becomes less tsundere-ish (lol) and how Loki changes.
Even the side characters have background and we can get know them a little bit.

Enjoyment 10/10
Most of the time I decide what point to give to a manga or anime based on the enjoyment.
After starting I couldn't stop to read this manga.
It's really captivating and although the start is kinda slow, but as the story goes on it will definitelly take you into it's world. (no escape until the end.. ;D)

Overall 10/10
I have nothing to say just that it's FANTASTIC!
Although there are parts that's predictable it is definitelly worth to give a shot.

Who to recommend?
If you are looking for a lovey-dovey manga, I suggest you not to read this.
Although the bond between Nakaba and Caesar are really beautiful and some of their interactions are sweet, overall the manga is not about this.

I would recommend this manga for those who like to see how the characters develop and for those who don't like predictable mangas.
It also stands on its ground as a historical manga so ppl who like that stuff could try this too!

I know people have said that the characters are too usual and annoying, and the plot is boring, etc. I suppose you'll hear that for everything, because there will always be people who don't like certain stories. However, in my opinion, this is an excellent manga. I do not find the characters too regular at all, and certainly not annoying. In fact, I think they are rather complex. I have found myself getting involved in them, and relating to their emotions; especially Nakaba and Loki. Nakaba is not the usual clumsy-but-happy heroine, nor the strong-and-bitter type. She is more like a real person. Loki is ... amazing and pitiable at the same time. Caesar is spoiled and a total jerk, but we see some softness as he tries to figure out how to act towards Nakaba.
As for the plot, if you are expecting epic battle scenes because it's fantasy, you will be disappointed. There are fight scenes and some cool acrobatic moves, and flashbacks involving weapons and people dying. However, the point of the story (so far) focuses more on the relationships between characters, some mystery as Nakaba finds out what happened in the past, and suspense as she gets premonitions about the future.
The other criticism I heard was that the setting wasn't fleshed out visually. I honestly didn't notice this at all until I read that, but I guess it's true. The artwork (which is beautiful, by the way) focuses on the characters more than the scenery. If scenery is your thing, you might be let down, but if you're like me, the story is more important than seeing the entire castle in which the characters walk. Your preference.
Overall, I really love this story. It's extremely intriguing and involving. Maybe everyone else already has, but I still haven't figured out who I think Nakaba should end up with. I've come up with ideas of what will happen, but there are so many possibilities, I'll just have to wait and see.

As far as shoujos go, I thought this had an interesting premise.

Story: 7
The basic storyline is that a red-haired princess (Akage) is married off to a prince of another country for a peace treaty. She is shunned because she, a royal, has red hair instead of black hair. Yeah, that's right. And not only that, but throughout the story kings and royalty make crazy freaking decisions based solely on the fact that this girl has red hair. It's a puzzler to me...and despite all of the clearly corrupt, lazy, and plain stupid royals, the citizens don't complain or rise up even once. The background ... for either of the three countries that are presented is not really developed beyond what the climate is. But the plotholes and lack of storybuilding aside, the plotline was fairly linear, though some major elements are left undeveloped (the swords made of ore, the Arcana, etc.).

Art: 7
The characters all had lovely designs (Loki and Ahkil were my favorites), though they weren't all that diverse. Pretty much all the guys look female, too. The action scenes were a bit silly and awkward.

Character: 3
Meh. Main defining traits of characters were hair color, whether they were an Ajin or human, whether or not they had Arcana, and who they had a relationship with. The main character, Nakaba, was quick to cry or lash out.

Enjoyment: 6
I didn't hate it. It's definitely worth reading just for the ending and also Loki.

If you're looking for something to read through quickly but still enjoy some nice pictures, then Reimei No Arcana is for you.

Wow. I wasn't expecting this, but then again, I almost never am. Whenever I get into a series, I was go in with an expectation that seems to have nothing to do with what actually happens. I saw this on a list of shojo arranged marriage mangas, and after reading Hapi Mari, I was wondering if there were any more with that dynamic. I got here and realized that while it did have elements of that in it, the plot really doesn't focus on romance at all. So if you were here for that, prepare for an actual plot.

The story is very good. I ... liked the world building and the unique setting, along with the important messages on discrimination. Sometimes it seemed unfinished or disconnected and seemed to drag, but it went well in the end. Most of the time, mangas can't make me cry (unless I've seen the drama or anime of it before, simply for the reason that I need moving visuals and voices most of the time, but this manga managed it. I cried throughout the last volume especially, though I also cried during some tragic romance moments (while listening to Rewrite the Stars, no less). This might just be because I'm too sensitive for my own good, though. :D Other than that, it's a very interesting fantasy-war-kingdom storyline with enough angst to keep me alive.

The art was gorgeous. Enough said. All the women were beautiful, men were handsome, and all of them had very different designs so they were easy to differentiate and appreciate. The author also managed to portray complex emotions just through facial expressions, which I really appreciated.

The characters were good. I had a few problems with Caeser's character, simply because he fell in love with Nakaba too easily, and Nakaba with him. After they fell in love, they felt natural, however. Loki, too, was a little iffy for me. As much as I love Loki, once they revealed his true feelings at the end (let me honest and tell you that I didn't see any of that coming) it didn't really make sense in the context and the way he carried everything out seemed completely against his love for Nakaba that had driven him to do the worst from the very beginning. He claimed to (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER) have hated Nakaba at times, but that didn't really make sense to me since he was ready to sacrifice anything for her. Maybe that was just me who felt this way. I think his character could've been given a little bit more depth. (END SPOILER).

I enjoyed this way too much. There were cute SQUEEE romance moments, there were funny moments, there was enough angst to sate my angsty soul, and it served as a catharsis for me, to be honest.

All in all, it was great!

I would recommend this if: you like fantasy, you like warring-kingdom AUs, you secretly love it when characters you love die and stab holes in your heart, you like strong heroines, you're fascinated by magical powers/seeing the future

I would NOT recommend if: you're here looking for a plain romance, you wanted a classic arranged marriage AU, you wanted a jerk leading man, you came for a love triangle, you wanted a dumb or helpless leading lady, you don't like it when characters die, you don't like thinking about problems like discrimination, genocide, or sickness and death

This story of a marriage started out really well. I loved it for a time, but as the story progressed, my love for it became nonexistent. It's not your old cliche kind of arranged marriages. The characters' back stories are interesting and heart felt in their won way. But I can't relate to the characters. I have not problem with Loki and Caesar, but Nakaba [who's the main heroine] I cannot relate to. I can't bring myself to love her either. After 30 chapters I really started getting bored of it all. The concept is nice, but it's not something that I generally like since ... the plot was a bit shaky to being with. And with that, I gave this manga an overall score of 7.

Misogynistic. Cliche. Boring.

In essence, terrible.

I thought it was going to get better with character development. But every time you'd think the characters have finally changed, they'd disappoint you again.

The love interest (the prince) commits terrible things against the female main character (FMC) (yanking her hair, strangling her, forcing kisses on her,etc) yet the weak ass FMC grows to love him. In fact the prince continues to act possessive as fuck and like a 5 year old child. But of course instead of developing his character into becoming a better person, the author romanticizes this.

I thought Loki would be better but he's as ... possessive as the dick prince.

Honestly, I was even ready to pretend the sexual assault never happened to continue reading (like in Light and Shadow) but the story was so boring it wasn't even necessary. I should've dropped it from the beginning.

Reimei no Arcana, is surprisingly a very interesting read, i started it because i kinda of ran out of manga to read that was interesting me... It is a good story and while there is alot of racism present, in a fantasy world i feel it reflects the ancient societies, which makes it in a way both interesting and a little cliche.
The Story line while being serious has it's quirks and humour and also the sense of a bit of a romance... and seems to go in completely different directions then what you might think. It is a very nice manga that is good ... for a read of an almost typical fantasy/ scifi genre.

The STORY... The POTENTIAL... SUCH WASTE!!! SUCH WASTE!!!
And now with less drama.

Reimei no Arcana or The Dawn of Arcana at first glance reminds about a dozen similar manga. A sad heroin has to marry a bastard prince of the enemy country. There's the loyal dog (literally) and she's not very well liked in that country. But everything is ok, because, of course, the prince turns a new leaf and falls madly in love with princes, who (oh surprise, surprise) has a mystical power. Everything's well known and familiar.

BUT, now I will talk about the reason for all the drama in the beginning. But, the ... story isn't just that, it's much much deeper. We have the racial discrimination and species discrimination, we have imminent war and genocide. Which are heavy and dark topics. And we have the wish to change the broken world and to bring happiness and safety to those we love. These are typical topics but they are presented quite nicely. But why the drama?

The idea is not very fresh, but it is solid. The surrounding context has so much potential you could build an epic poetry piece around it. And then comes along the editor who decides to push everything into fewer chapters that it is humanely possible. Or maybe the author doesn't have the skills for exposition and everything just like deflated balloon flops on the ground. Something that could have flown has to flop (dramatisation). My point is that it could have become something really good. For example, a character dies, it's death heavily affects main characters both emotionally and story wise. But the reader can't possibly feel this emotion because the *ing story is rushed. What do I care if that bastard dies, I never knew him anyway. Wasted... The moments, key points in the story are wasted... Everything feels unnatural and flat. No depth, no feeling. It brakes my heart.

Overall, a less sensitive (or less crazy and bored) reader will enjoy this manga immensely. It's a fair read certainly not the worst I have read (not even close). The art is cute, the characters lovable though underdeveloped and the story is ok (if you don't analyse it at all). I recommend to read to both casual readers (for enjoyment) and fanatics (to know what can happen to good ideas).

This manga starts out kind of slow and does come off as the typical political enemies married for appearances turned "do-i-have-feelings-for-him/her?" and OF COURSE there is the typical love-trianglesque scenario. Which is why I am hesitant to give it a 10 out of 10.

But as you continue on in the later volumes, Reimei no Arcana really sucks you in. The characters are deep and intelligent (not the typical airheads or weak characters that seem wimpy or whiny), and the plot is twisted and makes you both hate, love and pity certain antagonists/protagonists.

It was a wonderfully written manga and truly does deserve a better ... (average reader) ranking, because it is a beautiful fantasy/political manga that explores the theme of love, scandal, discrimination and acceptance.

I'll try my best to avoid !!SPOILERS!!, but it'll be impossible to explain my complaints without including a few. You've been warned.

I had a hard time with this one because there are some really awesome moments, but the execution felt somehow clumsy. I got the impression that the mangaka started out with some very specific things that would happen, but struggled to fill in the blanks along the way. For example, the Big Twist at the end is foreshadowed very early in the story--almost immediately--but random things like being able to have two spouses (something you'd think would be an important detail ... in a romantic fantasy story) wasn't even mentioned until the chapter in which it happened. The characters' motivations weren't entirely clear at times, either, so sometimes it felt like "We're just going to do this totally nonsensical thing X because otherwise we won't be able to get to important plot point Y". There also seemed to be some potential side plots that were just... dropped... for no good reason. At one point in the story the main group is forced to take another person along with them, and it seems to be a big deal, but that character ends up fading completely into the background with only a few token appearances after that. What? Why? And the initial Big Conflict that really gets the story going is also just... dropped... at some point without any real explanation.

Also, not gonna lie, the ending flat out pissed me off. The last few pages made it out to be a happy ending, but... it felt more like a tragedy to me, so the forced "everything worked out okay" was like a huge slap in the face to my favorite (slightly twisted) character.

I don't know... by the time I got to the end, when I looked back at the beginning, I was just kind of like, "Uh... how did we even get to this point?"

But, with all that still being the case, the good parts still outweighed the bad for me. Even though the story wasn't executed as gracefully as it could have been, it was still interesting and kept me reading until the (enraging) end. The main (2, not 3, because fuck Loki apparently) characters had some good growth. The clothing designs were really pretty, and were almost good enough to make up for the mullets. Something something... this concludes the review. Meh.

Two countries neighboring countries, one consisting of half-humans, half-animals and the other of humans who only see half-breeds as slaves have been at war for 200 years disguise a marriage for peace between the two. Nakaba a girl who became the sacrifice in the plot forced to marry an arrogant prince who treats her harshly. Accompany by her childhood bodyguard/friend, Loki who has been with her since the slaughter of her family and the beginning of her misfortune. Caesar, the arrogant prince and the second son of Belquat, heartless King who see himself as supremacist above all.
But this isnt even the icing ... on the cake...Nakaba, the daughter of a beautiful commoner and a king who is the descendant of those who envisions the future; happens to inherit this gift must keep it a secret from the King...little does she know that that is the reason she is there and still alive by a thin thread.
Now, Caesar the prince who has no interest in the throne will now fight his brother for it, for the sake of his "wifes'" future because things happened and now he is in love with her.
This semi-mature manga seems to have it all...the drama, the excitement, the prince, princess, bodyguard, ( Loki- another possible love interest) war, hate, love, blood, schemes, ect.

AMAZING!!!!! This might be the best manga that I have ever read!. I am still so attached to the characters and for some reason no other anime or manga has made me so cry as hard when realizing the end was imminent. Accepting the fact that there was no more manga left to read was very hard on my fragile psyche, since I couldn't seem to get enough of it! I'm not sure exactly what it was about the storyline and characters that made me especially attached, but the author definitely put time into the development and growth of not only the main characters, but ... even some lesser characters as well. Like I've said, I really can't put my finger on what it is that makes it true, but this manga was mind blowing! Although, maybe I'm just overly emotional after having just finished it, and the fact that I read through until like 6 in the morning. Anyhow, IT's definitely worth giving a try!!!

I really enjoyed this manga and I think that it would make an excellent anime. It has a very adventurous vibe to it, as the setting shifts to different places and there is almost always action.

Nakaba -- the main heroine -- helps turn this into a kick-ass shojo. Her major sense of responsibility prevents her from turning into a damsel-in-distress. Since she is a princess of Seinen, she has a bunch of social and political duties that she must fulfill. She is also willing to use violence and force to reach her goals.

Conflict is rampant in the series. You have political problems, relationship ... conflicts, racism problems, family problems, etc. At times, it can get a bit dark. But I think that just gives the story more depth.

This manga definitely has a lot of romance. But this isn't the "kissing-and-making-out" type romance. It's more of a "sweet" romance; the male leads go to great lengths to make her happy and are constantly concerned about her happiness. Both male leads have their strengths and weaknesses and are basically in no way unlikable. Romance is also, of course, very prominent in this manga.

This manga has the full package; it has a likable heroine, great plot(s), and sweet romance. I have yet to find an extremely annoying moment in this manga.

I found this story while waiting for the next chapter or Akagami no Shirayuki-hime. I wanted to find another like it, and thus stumbled upon Reimei no Arcana.

ART: 100000000
First off, love the art. It's amazing. Simple and beautiful. All the guys are handsome (and that little sub-human boy ((his name starts with an R)) IS FREAKING ADORABLE)) and the girls are beautiful. The art was one of my favorite parts in the story.

STORY: 8
Princesses and Princes getting married... very typical. I didn't expect much out of the story. BUT. Once I started reading it,, I started warming up to it. The blood and fighting ... helped out ^_^ (action manga fan here). Whenever there is action and comedy in a shoujo manga I tend to like it. Comedy... not a ton, but action, YES. I love it. The love triangle is driving me crazy. Poor Nabaka... wouldn't want to be in her shoes, my gosh. Both of the guys are so loveable. The light-hearted parts where Nabaka smiles and Ahkil is making fun of them and stuff are probably my favorite parts.

Characters: 7
Which leads me to the next part... the characters. I don't really know where I stand with the characters. They all have points I love and points I hate. Thus, I give characters a 7.

Enjoyment: 7
It was pretty good and I'd recommend it. If you're looking for a laugh, maybe a different manga would suit you, but if you're looking for a deep manga with kickass action, this is the one for you.

Well the story develops slowly, the characters change with the circumstances.
The story may look like a typical shojo but has its unique features. Especially as fantasy fan I liked the half humans and the special powers.
Nakaba looked like a fragile girl at first glance, nothing special, but with the read she became more and more charming.
There are a nice development to the story and the characters each have its unique abilities. Also the art is good and nice to view.