After Yona of the Dawn ended, shoujo fans wept. Some were celebratory tears of pride and joy after enjoying a sixteen-year emotional rollercoaster. Others mourned the loss of one of the few long-running fantasy romances left, convinced nothing could ever fill that void again. Me? I was somewhere in between, but mostly… I was preparing the rec lifeboats so we wouldn’t drown in the aftermath of that finale.
Now that the coast is clear, I’m turning your telescope toward the next star in the sky: Rei Toma!
Rei Toma has loved drawing since childhood, but it wasn’t until design school that she fully leaned into manga through a graduation project. She made her professional debut with Help Me, Dentist in 2005 in Cheese!—marking the beginning of her exploration of romance, drama, and comedy through youthful, slice-of-life perspectives.
Prior to releasing Dawn of the Arcana, Rei Toma was best known for Mysterious Honey (2008), which many seasoned readers would find dated by today’s standards. It wasn’t until she shifted from contemporary settings to fantasy that her storytelling voice truly came into its own. Her illustrative work over the years further highlights that she has always had a clear strength in gothic, historical aesthetics, which pair beautifully with the genre.
What makes Rei Toma stand out to me is how fearlessly she tackles complex worlds and morally nuanced characters. What do independence and identity mean when history, power, and love are all in play? The response comes through detailed art, exploring supernatural elements, political conflict that sometimes feels a little too relevant with what’s currently happening in our world, and love that feels disarmingly real. It’s shoujo with shounen stamina. It all works so well together you don’t realize how invested you are until you’re crying.
Have I piqued your interest? Yay! Here’s where to start… I’m putting you on, and you’re going to thank me later. And yes, I want you to read them in this order.
Dawn of the Arcana (2009–2013)
This is where Rei Toma really proved herself. Nakaba, princess of Senan, is forced into a political marriage with Prince Caesar of Belquat to ease tensions between their kingdoms. After uprooting her life and being sent into enemy territory alongside Loki, her closest ally, she discovers she possesses the rare Arcana of Time. Her feared powers allow her to see into the past and future. They have also historically led to the slaughter of those who wield it. Meanwhile, Ajin (half-human, half-animal beings) fuel a growing rebellion to relieve their oppression. As Nakaba begins to understand her powers, political and romantic tensions rise. The stakes rise as she bears the consequences of using her abilities. This is arguably Toma’s most tense work, with a devastating yet beautiful emotional payoff after 13 volumes (53 chapters).
The King’s Beast (2019–2025)
This one is my personal favorite. It’s set in the same world as Dawn of the Arcana but with a much sharper focus on the brutal reality of Ajin lives. In this kingdom, Ajin are treated as less than human. Rangetsu’s twin brother is taken to serve in the palace and is later murdered under suspicious circumstances. She disguises herself as a man to uncover the truth. Her desperation for answers sends her into a deep spiral of revenge. With Prince Tenyou at the center of her suspicions, nothing is simple. The King’s Beast spans 18 volumes (72 chapters). It really highlights how much Rei Toma’s talents have evolved, with richly detailed settings inspired by her research in France.
Side note: Prince Tenyou is giving Jinshi (The Apothecary Diaries) a run for his money.
The Water Dragon’s Bride (2015–2019)
Soft, slow, and introspective. Asahi, a modern child, transcends time to a quiet village after falling into the pond in her backyard. With no way back home, she befriends Subaru, who helps her adjust. But that stability is quickly shattered when she’s offered as a human sacrifice to a water dragon god who cannot understand humans or emotion. Having been spared on a whim and under certain conditions, Asahi becomes the village priestess. She must navigate distrust from others while knowing the gods have little care for humans. Asahi must defend herself from those who want to claim the dragon’s power for themselves.
What unfolds is an emotional story about isolation, patience, and the delicate process of building trust and connection where it shouldn’t exist. This is Rei Toma’s most controversial work (à la Kamisama Kiss vibes), but nevertheless I believe it’s worth a read considering it’s less than 11 volumes (44 chapters).
Side note: I could’ve sworn on my life that this had an anime adaptation (which I was going to reference in this article). When I found out it never existed, I started crying. Either Rei Toma guided me so vividly through the story that I saw it animated in my mind, or I died and shifted timelines. Who knows… maybe Nakaba does.
Rei Toma occasionally attempts to play with the fabric of gender fluidity and sexuality in the subtext of her stories.
This is most specific in The King’s Beast. Femininity is kept intact without losing strength. Masculinity is never so heavy-handed that it smothers the vulnerability she depicts. Her emotional writing hits just as hard as her action sequences. Tender confessions land with the same impact as clashing swords. In the middle of balancing beauty and brutality, humanity is what holds it all together. Is Rei Toma’s writing perfect? No. I have my critiques about certain tropes and undertones incorporated in her manga, but what she does get right has absolutely captured my admiration.
Fans of stories such as Yona of the Dawn, Kamisama Kiss, The Apothecary Diaries, Prince Freya, and even Nina the Starry Bride will enjoy the titles I’ve highlighted.
Her male leads are intense, complicated, and emotional. Her female leads? *Chef’s kiss*
Rarely do they exist as perpetual victims and need someone else to swoop in and do the saving. When asked, “What is the most rewarding part of creating a manga?” Rei Toma answered, “That the characters thrive and work in the story.” And boy can you see that she means it when you study her character arcs.
The final volume of her most recent work, The King’s Beast, was released on July 25th, 2025. Given her steady release record over the years, I’m anxiously awaiting her next title, but it’s easy to adopt patience when I have these stories to revisit.
Rei Toma reminds us why we fell in love with shoujo fantasy.
Rei Toma’s work is published in Japan by Shogakukan, where it runs in their shoujo magazine Cheese!, and is released in English by VIZ Media. You can find all the titles mentioned here, fully translated, on the VIZ Manga app!
