Kaori Yuki

My first series by Kaori Yuki was The Cain Saga. I fell in love with her work and had to get everything that was translated into English.

I almost couldn't find this series and thought I would never complete it, but luck was on my side. . .

From the first page, I couldn't put this down. I love Kaori's artwork and her storytelling techniques, and yes - I found the incest weird at first - but the longer I read to build the pieces revolving around this, the more intriguing it got.

This series is not for everyone.

Alexiel loved God, but she was rebellious against Heaven, and as punishment, she was sent to Earth to live numerous tragic lives. This time she reincarnated as a teen: Setsuna Mudo, who is in love with his sister Sara.

Setsuna is a hardhead and keeps fighting anyone when he can. He tries to be noble in his attempts to no avail. Now Angels have come so Alexiel can wake up. Because an enemy has launched an insidious computer game Angel Sanctuary.

I still love this series and will be rereading it and reviewing each volume :)
… (altro)

(Contains minor spoilers for this volume)

This was all about building tension, with the introduction of some more angels. I’d forgotten just how many angels there were.

Kurai learns from the dragon sister who can see into the future that without Alexiel, the “evils” (demons) will lose the war with heaven. However, the resurrection of Alexiel will kill Setsuna and incidentally the land the evils live on. So that’s a dilemma. But possibly unlike her trusted follower, Arachne, she is serious about the war with heaven.

Setsuna gets bullied at school, and just when he felt understood by his best friend, he learns some of that friend’s secret, casting him back into worse despair (and Alexiel makes an appearance in the spirit).

Sara has a moment where her mother and Catholic school gives her the big talk about sin and she reasons that then she should rip her heart out. Teenage Sara is being dramatic, but not as much as her surroundings. Her friendship with her best friend Ruri also wraps up and is disturbing.

And evil angel Rosiel wants to punish his henchman Katan by hiring another henchwoman, Kirie. And I laughed a bunch when she was introduced as top of her class and candidate to the archangel think tank.I think she’ll stay in the story, but I don’t remember if there are actual think tank meetings. I sure hope, though.… (altro)

In one of the tie-ins after a chapter, Kouga wrote: "(...) the story that interested me most is the existence of the “fallen angel.” (…) Lucifer - - who was once most beloved by God, and who was the most beautiful angel of all - - is very appealing to me." (p. 27). One of the best things in this manga is that she was able to create several angels as interesting, even if the one who sets the plot in motion - Alexiel - is Lucifer 2.0 (not to worry, Lucifer is still present and plenty interesting).

Alexiel was disgusted by fellow angels brutally slaughtering demons who had carved out an existense for themselves separate from both heaven and earth. This lead her to declare war against heaven. Eventually, a fight against her twin brother rendered her weak enough to be captured by heaven. Her body was locked away and her soul punished to be reincarnated in miserable existence after miserable existence,

Setsuna Mudo is her current reincarnation. A high schooler in love with his sister, Sara. Yeah, to read this, one just have to accept the incest love story. However, as Sara's backstory comes into play, one can explain it away somewhat.

An interesting take on hell is Setsuna and Sara's talk about their actions condemning themselves and each other to hell without knowing that them living this life with these problems is actually their hell.

To start off, two parties are out to reawaken Alexiel and in the process kill Setsuna: Her crazy twin brother, Rosiel, who simultaniousely longs for Alexiel's love and wants to kill her for revenge. And awesome lesbian crosdressing demon Kurai who was once saved by Alexiel and has been searching for her since. She's accompanied by her gay crossdressing cousin Arachne who, if I remember correct, has an interesting character arch of his own later.

So: Complicated politics of heaven and hell crossed with high school romance, varying between the serious and the silly, plenty of interesting queer side characters, And, as noted by other reviewers, beautiful drawings. It's been years, but I've missed these characters.… (altro)