Cross Vol. 1

Cross #1

by Sumiko Amakawa

*English adaptation by comic legend Len Wein (creator of Swamp Thing, writer for the New X-Men series) *Appeals to fans of CLAMP's Tokyo Babylon

A young Catholic priest, named Amakusa Takara, uses his holy gift to exorcise demons. He is blessed and cursed with the ability to produce a cross from his forehead to banish demons back to where they belong... the abyss of outer darkness. Although the process brings him close to the brink of insanity and physical pain, a fated meeting with a mysterious girl may make his path easier to traverse.

Genres: Manga, Supernatural, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Graphic Novels, Comics

190 pages, Paperback

First published November 9, 2004

Reviews

[Krystl Louwagie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of the manga sounds like something I'd be really into, and I kind of love reading anything in comic/manga/graphic novel form. A good friend of mine mailed it to me for that reason. It's main character is an exorcist priest (who looks a lot like Wolfwood-my favorite Trigun character!), who of course expels demons. The overall stories seem pretty good/interesting, but the story telling is confusing and choppy. Some could be due to a problem of translation, but that can't account for the confusion in transformations from panel to panel pictorially. The visuals of demons and people possessed by demons are cool, and I like the dark themes, and story-wise, I do see a lot of potential. But it needs to be polished and slowed down, and made easier to under stand over-all. Also, it bothered me that the priest would go between black and white hair for no reason-it made it more confusing. :s

[Courtney Key · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sumiko Amakawa has woven a delightful tale of a priest with a certain special ability; he can produce the Holy Cross from his forehead!

Takara Amakusa (also known by his code name "Cross") is a Catholic priest who takes on commissions and exorcises demons. He helps out Shizuha Matsuri, a beautiful woman who ends up being the heroine of the series. She happens to have the Scriptura appear on her body, which leads to some interesting situations.

The story only gets better from there. Plenty of tension between Takara and Shizuha to appease any romanticist, along with lots of
horror action for those who seek it. Personally, I love the subtle humor interwoven between the characters.

All in all, if one is a fan of horror, romance, humor, and lots of action, then this is a definite must have. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone. :)

[Sarah Maddaford · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the mythology behind this book is really strange. Maybe it would make more sense in the second one, but the relationship between Shizuha (a teacher) and Takara (a high school student) somewhat disturbs me. Also, Takara is really weird; oddly mature yet also a bit too mystical to be believed. There is a fairly violent scene with Takara getting beat up, several mutilations of animals and some naked women (no detail to their bodies). I wouldn't recommend this to a young teen. I would also hesitate to recommend this to a religious person because the ideas behind religion in the book might offend them.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now having read the five available volumes of this series, I think I would have been better off stopping after the second one. The first two are interesting--exorcisms! bad guys! art that could be followed! But after the first two, suddenly we're in a longer story arc that is deliberately stretched out for dramatic effect, and the action scenes become very difficult to follow. In addition, this series was inexplicably dropped by the author and/or TokyoPop so there's a big cliffhanger and no resolution forthcoming. Only reading the first two volumes gives a good taste of the world and the characters, but doesn't introduce too many of the plot threads that are left hanging.

[Tiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is off to a good start. from the beginning something interesting is going on. Now, it does have a lot of religious symbolism and it does involve a priest..or two. This is not a religious manga in the least. They battle supernatural beings and curses and yes, there is exorcism (Which is always fun ^_^)
I can't wait to get my hands on the next book of this series.

[Lissibith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hahaha! This manga is awful. Totally awful. Poorly paced, flat characters, good ideas but trying too hard and bludgeoning the reader with awkward and heavy-handed symbolism.

And yet I love it. Its so ridiculous that it comes around to the other side and becomes sort of hilarious.

[Oyceter · Rating 1 out of 5]

http://oyceter.livejournal.com/451634...

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cross has great art, very extremely dark themes, and gets darker from here. The plot is too thin to support the level of horror.

[Nicole West Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! Can't wait to read the second volume!

[Francine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the second story, about a woman whose face reflects the person closest to the beholder, like a mirror. A cool premise with a heartbreaking resolution.

Didn't really care much for the rest of the volume, though. It feels too much like other similar series, but with more confusing paneling and framing. (I often didn't know what I was supposed to be seeing. Like in chapter one: was the magic circle of Kaballah on Shizuha's back, or somewhere else? No clue.)

Also didn't care much for the characters themselves.
I'd rather read Pet Shop of Horrors, Hell Girl or Godchild.