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 show more 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 :) show less

(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 show more 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. show less

Yes, this book is for mature audiences (incest, sex, death) but it is without question one of the best manga that I have ever read. No joke. I read this one and was sucked in, and have since then collected the rest of the series. It's rather exciting and thought-provoking, with a creative plot and some rather startling ideas as well as exploration into religion, mythology, and morality. It's not for everyone, but it's still good.

At least there's some twists in here that actually work out well for the people we're rooting for, and although I've enjoyed the author's creativity with this story, I'm ready for the series to start wrapping up.