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妖しのセレス [Ayashi no Ceres] #12
Ceres: Celestial Legend, Vol. 12: Tôya
Hell hath no fury like a heavenly maiden.
Horror, Comedy, and Romance Made in Heaven
Yuu Watase , the immensely popular writer/artist of the shôjo (girl's) fantasy smash Fushigi Yû The Mysterious Play , has turned her creativity and wry sense of humor to the horror genre with her anime/manga hit Celestial Legend . Aya thought she was a normal teenager until she discovered that she can transform into a vastly powerful “heavenly maiden” named Ceres...But Ceres is furious and out for revenge!
Life Without Love...
The impenetrable haze of Tôya's amnesia has always kept his past shrouded in mystery...until now, as his elusive memories begin to return. There was the island...the girl with the seashell...the name "Mikage." Tôya and the others go into full rescue mode in response to Aki's latest threats, facing gunfire, torture, and even death...but Aya faces life--new life. The hideous details of Kagami's "C-Project" make what was already an awful situation all but unbearable. How can anyone expect Aya to go on without her love, her life, her other self? Oh, Tôya ....
Horror, Comedy, and Romance Made in Heaven
Yuu Watase , the immensely popular writer/artist of the shôjo (girl's) fantasy smash Fushigi Yû The Mysterious Play , has turned her creativity and wry sense of humor to the horror genre with her anime/manga hit Celestial Legend . Aya thought she was a normal teenager until she discovered that she can transform into a vastly powerful “heavenly maiden” named Ceres...But Ceres is furious and out for revenge!
Life Without Love...
The impenetrable haze of Tôya's amnesia has always kept his past shrouded in mystery...until now, as his elusive memories begin to return. There was the island...the girl with the seashell...the name "Mikage." Tôya and the others go into full rescue mode in response to Aki's latest threats, facing gunfire, torture, and even death...but Aya faces life--new life. The hideous details of Kagami's "C-Project" make what was already an awful situation all but unbearable. How can anyone expect Aya to go on without her love, her life, her other self? Oh, Tôya ....
208 pages, Paperback
First published September 25, 1999
3 people are currently reading
259 people want to read
About the author
Yuu Watase
362 books1,165 followersYuu Watase (渡瀬悠宇) is a Japanese shoujo manga-ka. She is known for her works Fushigi Yūgi, Alice 19th, Ceres: The Celestial Legend, Fushigi Yūgi Genbu Kaiden and Absolute Boyfriend. She likes all music, except heavy metal and old traditional music.
She received the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo for Ceres, Celestial Legend in 1997. Since writing her debut short story "Pajama de Ojama" ("An Intrusion in Pajamas"), Watase has created more than 80 compiled volumes of short stories and continuing series. Because of her frequent use of beautiful male characters in her works, she is widely regarded in circles[which?] as a bishōnen manga artist.[citation needed] In October 2008, Watase began her first shōnen serialization, Arata: The Legend in Weekly Shōnen Sunday.
Her name is romanized as "Yû Watase" in earlier printings of Viz Media's publications of Fushigi Yūgi, Alice 19th, and Ceres, The Celestial Legend, while in Viz Media's Fushigi Yūgi Genbu Kaiden and Absolute Boyfriend her name is romanized as "Yuu Watase". In Chuang Yi's English-language versions of Fushigi Yugi (spelled without a macron or circumflex), her name is romanized as "Yu Watase".
She received the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo for Ceres, Celestial Legend in 1997. Since writing her debut short story "Pajama de Ojama" ("An Intrusion in Pajamas"), Watase has created more than 80 compiled volumes of short stories and continuing series. Because of her frequent use of beautiful male characters in her works, she is widely regarded in circles[which?] as a bishōnen manga artist.[citation needed] In October 2008, Watase began her first shōnen serialization, Arata: The Legend in Weekly Shōnen Sunday.
Her name is romanized as "Yû Watase" in earlier printings of Viz Media's publications of Fushigi Yūgi, Alice 19th, and Ceres, The Celestial Legend, while in Viz Media's Fushigi Yūgi Genbu Kaiden and Absolute Boyfriend her name is romanized as "Yuu Watase". In Chuang Yi's English-language versions of Fushigi Yugi (spelled without a macron or circumflex), her name is romanized as "Yu Watase".
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 6, 2021
I dropped this bc there was a pregnancy plot line and I genuinely do not enjoy that. but I loved the author :) she is really cute
July 11, 2024
Some stupid things, one very bad thing, and one neat thing happen in this volume. The neat thing is that Toya's death brings Aki back to his senses. That's kind of it, though.
I spent a large portion of my read for this manga wondering just what the reasoning for Kagami hiring Toya was. I already saw the anime so I knew what Toya's backstory was (generally), but couldn't remember why Kagami hired him.
Things Kagami does not know about Toya prior to the story start, but after hiring Toya on, and, apparently, having him trained:
- That Toya can create a dagger in his arm to use for fights
- That Toya is super fast
- That Toya can generate explosions and forcefields
He also doesn't seem to hold any significance as a person with amnesia, for an organization looking into replacing memory.
In short, there is literally no reason for Kagami to take him on, other than maybe Toya is desperate and Kagami can use someone like that. There is no reason for Kagami to hold him in high regard. There's no evidence anyone other than the C-Genomes are in the same straights as Toya. Kagami having trouble hiring desperate people to put in his thrall or even wanting to do so is not canonical. Toya was just hired by Kagami because he was. That's all.
To be clear, Toya didn't have to have some big deep story behind Kagami hiring him. Maybe Kagami just got lucky. Maybe Toya got unlucky. But the story builds up their relationship as being secretive and manipulative, before we learn about Kagami increasingly being surprised by Toya's abilities. And there's no basis for it. Other than maybe Kagami just likes to control people (he does generally do that, and the dog collar thing is a bit of a giveaway).
This wouldn't be so egregious if a lot of this series didn't feel so half-assed. Why does Toya, Aki's bodyguard, get put in charge of also hunting down and spying on Aya, when Aki is not present? He's a bodyguard? He should be guarding his person. This wouldn't be so egregious if Wei didn't have the same treatment. Toya is in charge of both because Watase needs him to be for her story. And that's fine, but it's bad writing. Why does the story constantly go to schools if it's very clear Watase didn't want to write school stories? There are a few arcs where being in a school is important, but Aya, Aki, and Yuhi, the three high schoolers, have no attachment to any of their friends or professed interest in any subject. Aya never speaks of her initial school friends again - nor does Aki - and makes no apparent other notable friends other than the C-Genomes, one of whom dies. At one point, Yuhi comments they've missed so much school due to their lives that transferring schools AGAIN (to investigate Ceres' robe) isn't a big deal. Why does Yuhi fall in love with Aya, a girl he spends most of the time negging and trying to ignore? Why does Aya call Yuhi her best friend, when Chidori and Mrs. Q are alive? Everything is literally just there because. There's no build-up. It just is.
This volume is also particularly bizarre in the way it frames in vitro fertilization, or IVF. Perhaps it's clearer in Japanese, but the premise is that Kagami's people are harvesting ova from C-Genomes to fertilize in specific ways in order to design a master race. This is partially just conspiracy theories and stuff you see from a lot of rightwingers who believe in racial purity and creating superior human beings or whatever. But while Aya is rightly damning Kagami's actions... she seems to be lumping the entirety of IVF itself into the mix of evil things Kagami is doing. Yes, Aya is not the brightest 17-year-old in the world, and missed out on most of high school, so maybe this is her just not being that intelligent, or maybe it's about how people misinterpret what IVF does. But IVF can be a massive lifechanger for many families struggling to have children. And the idea that babies must be born "naturally" and that babies born naturally are superior is utterly bizarre. Many modern medical techniques we have save the lives of pregnant people and their children, when letting things happen "naturally" would result in the death of one or both. "I'll be able to tell my child that its mother and father gave it life through love, not clinical procedure" is one of the most bizarre anti-choice, sexist, anti-science, anti-life things this series has had to date, and that's honestly a high bar to beat at this point. Choosing to save the life of the pregnant person and/or baby through science is a loving act.
It is wrong that Kagami's people kidnapped Chidori, murdered her family, kept her brother hostage, blackmailed her, and violated her by stealing her eggs for their experiments. Aya could have been rightfully mad at this and Kagami's eugenicist plans without throwing IVF under the bus entirely.
Basically it's a largely bad volume in a series mostly made of bad volumes.
I spent a large portion of my read for this manga wondering just what the reasoning for Kagami hiring Toya was. I already saw the anime so I knew what Toya's backstory was (generally), but couldn't remember why Kagami hired him.
Things Kagami does not know about Toya prior to the story start, but after hiring Toya on, and, apparently, having him trained:
- That Toya can create a dagger in his arm to use for fights
- That Toya is super fast
- That Toya can generate explosions and forcefields
He also doesn't seem to hold any significance as a person with amnesia, for an organization looking into replacing memory.
In short, there is literally no reason for Kagami to take him on, other than maybe Toya is desperate and Kagami can use someone like that. There is no reason for Kagami to hold him in high regard. There's no evidence anyone other than the C-Genomes are in the same straights as Toya. Kagami having trouble hiring desperate people to put in his thrall or even wanting to do so is not canonical. Toya was just hired by Kagami because he was. That's all.
To be clear, Toya didn't have to have some big deep story behind Kagami hiring him. Maybe Kagami just got lucky. Maybe Toya got unlucky. But the story builds up their relationship as being secretive and manipulative, before we learn about Kagami increasingly being surprised by Toya's abilities. And there's no basis for it. Other than maybe Kagami just likes to control people (he does generally do that, and the dog collar thing is a bit of a giveaway).
This wouldn't be so egregious if a lot of this series didn't feel so half-assed. Why does Toya, Aki's bodyguard, get put in charge of also hunting down and spying on Aya, when Aki is not present? He's a bodyguard? He should be guarding his person. This wouldn't be so egregious if Wei didn't have the same treatment. Toya is in charge of both because Watase needs him to be for her story. And that's fine, but it's bad writing. Why does the story constantly go to schools if it's very clear Watase didn't want to write school stories? There are a few arcs where being in a school is important, but Aya, Aki, and Yuhi, the three high schoolers, have no attachment to any of their friends or professed interest in any subject. Aya never speaks of her initial school friends again - nor does Aki - and makes no apparent other notable friends other than the C-Genomes, one of whom dies. At one point, Yuhi comments they've missed so much school due to their lives that transferring schools AGAIN (to investigate Ceres' robe) isn't a big deal. Why does Yuhi fall in love with Aya, a girl he spends most of the time negging and trying to ignore? Why does Aya call Yuhi her best friend, when Chidori and Mrs. Q are alive? Everything is literally just there because. There's no build-up. It just is.
This volume is also particularly bizarre in the way it frames in vitro fertilization, or IVF. Perhaps it's clearer in Japanese, but the premise is that Kagami's people are harvesting ova from C-Genomes to fertilize in specific ways in order to design a master race. This is partially just conspiracy theories and stuff you see from a lot of rightwingers who believe in racial purity and creating superior human beings or whatever. But while Aya is rightly damning Kagami's actions... she seems to be lumping the entirety of IVF itself into the mix of evil things Kagami is doing. Yes, Aya is not the brightest 17-year-old in the world, and missed out on most of high school, so maybe this is her just not being that intelligent, or maybe it's about how people misinterpret what IVF does. But IVF can be a massive lifechanger for many families struggling to have children. And the idea that babies must be born "naturally" and that babies born naturally are superior is utterly bizarre. Many modern medical techniques we have save the lives of pregnant people and their children, when letting things happen "naturally" would result in the death of one or both. "I'll be able to tell my child that its mother and father gave it life through love, not clinical procedure" is one of the most bizarre anti-choice, sexist, anti-science, anti-life things this series has had to date, and that's honestly a high bar to beat at this point. Choosing to save the life of the pregnant person and/or baby through science is a loving act.
It is wrong that Kagami's people kidnapped Chidori, murdered her family, kept her brother hostage, blackmailed her, and violated her by stealing her eggs for their experiments. Aya could have been rightfully mad at this and Kagami's eugenicist plans without throwing IVF under the bus entirely.
Basically it's a largely bad volume in a series mostly made of bad volumes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 26, 2025
Review for complete series
After I didn't enjoy Fushigi Yuugi as much as I had hopped I would, I was a little concerned how well I'd like Ayashi no Ceres - after all, I was much more interested in the former. Now that I have read both, I think the latter is the superior work in terms of story telling. Pacing was one of the biggest issues I had with Fushigi Yuugi and, while the beginning is a little slow, the other all pacing is infinitely better. The flow of the story felt right with neither dragging nor rushing and the order of events made reasonable sense.
Thanks to the good pacing, the relationships between characters were a lot more believable. Yuu Watase writes likeable characters but sometimes fails to connect them - it's not perfect in the case of this series but it is so much better done than I have seen her do in other works. My only issue probably lies with how fast Aya falls in love with Toya. I wouldn't necessary call it instant love but she definitely has her eye on him from chapter one and the extent to which she starts to love him comes around very quickly. As a result, I initially struggled to root for them but I have to say that the story between them was otherwise nicely written. I definitely really enjoyed the friendships that were formed and was sad about many of their fates.
This series has an over all darker and more mature tone than many of Watase's other series. While she's never exactly been afraid of killing off a few of her characters. Some of the deaths caught me off guard but over all this was a borderline slaughter fest, at times I wondered if I'd picked up Angel Sanctuary instead - I do see fans of one liking the other. In this darker plot, Watase tried to include some comic relief in the form of Kyuu (the housekeeper of sorts?). I didn't like this character at all as she had zero substance beyond apparently being so ugly characters feel sick at the site of her. This joke soon became very, very, very old, especially given that it was repeated regularly over a 14-volume series. Not too mention that I found this joke to be in poor taste.
Another thing that makes this series different from Watase's other works is the art style. While it is still recognisably Watase's style, it is over all less cute and I take this as an attempt to match the more mature story. I do generally prefer her usual style over this one, but it's not that there is anything wrong with the style used here - it's simply different and, unlike me, others may prefer it over her usual style.
Over all, Ayashi no Ceres surprised me in a good way. It is an all around well crafted sci-fi manga that keeps most of its secrets for the final two volumes. Sci-fi isn't my main genre and there were a few hiccups along the way (Kyuu and the somewhat rushed romance) that prevent me from giving this a full score but it definitely earns its place among shoujo manga classics.
November 18, 2023
Éste empezó interesante, bien.
Finalmente se revela la historia de Tooya y es rara xD pero rara al estilo leyenda japonesa, así que me gustó.
Lo que no me gustó fue . A riesgo de sonar como una vieja, fue muy irresponsable de su parte, especialmente considerando las circunstancias en las que se encuentran de forma semi habitual.
No esperaba
Hubo varias escenas un tanto inconexas de nuevo, en momentos de acción y saltos temporales. Siempre me desconciertan.
Pero me gustó que en este volumen pasaron muchas cosas importantes que mueven la historia y la encaminan al desenlace.
Aya nuevamente es la reina de las decisiones cuestionables (agravado, ahora). Y sí, me refiero al final.
Finalmente se revela la historia de Tooya y es rara xD pero rara al estilo leyenda japonesa, así que me gustó.
Lo que no me gustó fue . A riesgo de sonar como una vieja, fue muy irresponsable de su parte, especialmente considerando las circunstancias en las que se encuentran de forma semi habitual.
No esperaba
Hubo varias escenas un tanto inconexas de nuevo, en momentos de acción y saltos temporales. Siempre me desconciertan.
Pero me gustó que en este volumen pasaron muchas cosas importantes que mueven la historia y la encaminan al desenlace.
Aya nuevamente es la reina de las decisiones cuestionables (agravado, ahora). Y sí, me refiero al final.
January 6, 2022
12 volumes in, I was just in this volume struck by how beautiful Yuu Watase's art is. There were some spreads in here that I would happily have framed. Storyline wise, we are entering the final few volumes and therefore the drive to the end.
January 23, 2019
Es una relectura y solo recordaba que el final no era muy feliz, y en este tomo, por si me quedaba alguna duda, ya me ha quedado muy claro que ese recuerdo era por algo.
Así que, a esta reseña solo puedo añadir: ¡Chidori, noooooo!
Así que, a esta reseña solo puedo añadir: ¡Chidori, noooooo!
February 14, 2023
Another one that was an emotional rollercoaster. Between Tōya getting his memories back and then Aya finding out she was pregnant was just an emotional whirlwind. Then Tōya goes to save Chidori and Shōta and ends up getting killed on top of that along with Chidori. This volume was just a crazy emotional ride. I can't wait to read the last two to find out what happens!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2024
BUUM! Quin volum!
Moltes coses que s'han revelat en aquest volum i molt interessants!
Per altra banda tenim alguna coseta moolt tristota :(((
Espero que s'arregli d'alguna manera o altra, no pot quedar així.
Moltes coses que s'han revelat en aquest volum i molt interessants!
Per altra banda tenim alguna coseta moolt tristota :(((
Espero que s'arregli d'alguna manera o altra, no pot quedar així.
May 11, 2024
Where to start. To think that we are only two volumes before the conclusion of the story, it continue to progress with its dark themes, and so many characters get depth I didn't really expect so close to the ending, especially Tooya and Chidori...man!
June 27, 2024
having a fascination for a literal kid to the point of searching for her being the reason why they're "fated to be together" sure makes me feel a lot better about the fact that that's an adult dating a teenager
May 13, 2020
Holy crap. Well. I wasn't expecting that!
January 22, 2024
Aya und Toya leben friedlich zusammen, doch mir war klar, dass die Mikages und der Urahn keine Ruhe geben werden. Es geht spannend und tragisch weiter. Glück und Schmerz sind nah beieinander.
July 8, 2012
In this volume, we finally learn something about Toya's past, while Chidori is kidnapped by the Mikages. Toya, Yuhi, and the Aogiri clan must mount a rescue.
Volume 12 has a lot of action going on and the stakes are high. By the end, Chidori is dead and Toya appears to be... what will happen after Dr. Howell has dropped his corpse in the ocean, from which he seems to have come, remains to be seen.
There's a translated author's note in the back about fan reaction to Aya's pregnancy that Watase posted in a forum. Her pregnancy was half-expected to me, so I buy Watase's explanation that she lets her characters be imperfect and have unexpected things happen, or do things that society doesn't agree with--after all, it's a story with characters that have a life of their own... or is it? It bugs me that she admits "Ceres was written on the premise that the love between Aya and Toya is sacred and inviolable, as a necessary foil to Kagami's ideals. If anyone were to question that, the entire composition would fall apart." Since she didn't make it clear from the get-go where this sacred love came from, though, I feel like I've been questioning that from the beginning and am only now just starting to see where she's going with the themes. It made for a pretty silly beginning, but it's becoming an enjoyable story... maybe a story in which the characters serve as too much of a vehicle for the plot and the author's themes, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Volume 12 has a lot of action going on and the stakes are high. By the end, Chidori is dead and Toya appears to be... what will happen after Dr. Howell has dropped his corpse in the ocean, from which he seems to have come, remains to be seen.
There's a translated author's note in the back about fan reaction to Aya's pregnancy that Watase posted in a forum. Her pregnancy was half-expected to me, so I buy Watase's explanation that she lets her characters be imperfect and have unexpected things happen, or do things that society doesn't agree with--after all, it's a story with characters that have a life of their own... or is it? It bugs me that she admits "Ceres was written on the premise that the love between Aya and Toya is sacred and inviolable, as a necessary foil to Kagami's ideals. If anyone were to question that, the entire composition would fall apart." Since she didn't make it clear from the get-go where this sacred love came from, though, I feel like I've been questioning that from the beginning and am only now just starting to see where she's going with the themes. It made for a pretty silly beginning, but it's becoming an enjoyable story... maybe a story in which the characters serve as too much of a vehicle for the plot and the author's themes, but enjoyable nonetheless.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2013
Yuu Watase is an amazing storyteller and draws some gorgeous artwork! She is one of my favorite manga authors and I love everything she has done. The characters in Ceres are amazing and imaginative and extremely easy to relate to. She is able to capture the character’s emotions amazingly with a realistic outlook on life. Aya’s reaction to finding out about her supernatural powers was real and her ongoing fight through all of her problems strikes the reader as something that would ring true. My favorite character was Touya, hot and mysterious with a little bit of attitude thrown in. The series has gory moments and is dark but everything about life is not always peachy as Yuu Watase truthfully is able to point out.
Note: this review is about volumes 1-14 .
Note: this review is about volumes 1-14 .
January 16, 2009
First manga I started collecting. Watase-san is a literary genius. I love her works. Ceres is an incredible story.
June 16, 2009
alot of hearts broken but hope and happness still awaits..
great read
great read
January 4, 2011
I was floored even though I sorta knew it was coming. Yuu Watase is amazing and her storytelling is top notch.
December 13, 2012
I realized after I started this that it was Volume 12...and I was reading it on 12/12/12 :P
All that aside, this was my favorite volume yet! I'm looking forward to the next volume!
All that aside, this was my favorite volume yet! I'm looking forward to the next volume!
April 7, 2013
I watched and loved the Anime version of this since I was a kid. It also landed on my favorites.
For now, I got no plans for buying a copy.
For now, I got no plans for buying a copy.
November 5, 2014
Chidori T^T
August 4, 2012
Lots of mysteries revealed! Now on to the climax!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews