The King's Beast, Vol. 1

I was so excited when I heard we were getting a new Rei Toma title, let alone another one in the world of Dawn of the Arcana.
This chinese inspired story is fantastic. We have a rich political climate, characters that you are rooting for, and an enemies to lovers kind of romantic subplot that I am shipping HARD after this first volume.
I am so excited to see this revenge story unfurl. I am anxiously awaiting volume 2!

It's easy to look at Rei Toma's art and forget just how dark her stories can get. This one is no exception. Set in the same world as <i>Dawn of the Arcana</i> the story follows Rangetsu, an Ajin (human with animal features, like ears and tails, and superior senses and healing abilities) as she seeks revenge against the human(s) who killed her twin brother years ago. And if you thought things were bad for the Ajin in <i>Dawn of the Arcana</i>, prepare yourself for them to be even worse here in a different nation. Ajin are absolutely second class citizens, with families only allowed one child (excluding multiple births), men and boys conscripted into either the army or as body guards known as Beast-Servants, and women are forced into sex work when they're young and switched over to menial labor when they age out of that. Rangetsu's brother dies in service to the Fourth Prince, and she flees the brothel her mother takes her to, cuts her hair, and learns to fight in order to hunt down his killer. It's brutal, and Toma doesn't shy away from that.

But it also is a good story, one where very few people are what they seem to be, the system of oppression is looking like it might be ripe for being shredded, and change clearly lurks just around the bend. I don't anticipate this being an easy series, but I'm willing to be on it being a good one.