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International hit by the creator of Angel Sanctuary

Deep in the heart of 19th century London, a young nobleman named Cain walks the shadowy cobblestone streets of the aristocratic society into which he was born. Forced to become an earl upon the untimely death of his father, Cain assumes the role of head of the Hargreaves, a noble family with a dark past. With Riff, his faithful manservant, and Mary Weather, his 10-year-old half sister, Cain investigates the mysterious crimes that seem to follow him wherever he goes.

Cain crosses a high official of the secret society of DELILAH when he attempts to stop a massacre of socialites at the lushly restored Crimone Gardens. And later, an old nursery rhyme plays out to eerie perfection during a fateful carriage ride in the sinister "Solomon Grundy's Sunday."

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 19, 2003

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About the author

Kaori Yuki

201 books675 followers
Kaori Yuki (由貴香織里) is a Japanese manga artist.

She debuted in 1987 with Natsufuku no Erii (Jap: 夏服のエリー) on the manga anthology Bessatsu Hana to Yume published by Hakusensha.
She is best known for her gothic manga works, such as the Earl Cain series (Jap: 伯爵カイン, Hakushaku Cain) and Angel Sanctuary (Jap: 天使禁猟区, Tenshi Kinryōku)

Her work is typically serialized in one of Hakusensha's two shōjo manga anthologies, Bessatsu Hana to Yume and Hana to Yume. In 2010, Kaori Yuki was one of many manga artists whose work would appear in the new shōjo manga anthology Aria by the publisher Kodansha on July 28, 2010.
Her doujinshi-ka name is MoonClock.

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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for Toby.
2,052 reviews72 followers
January 23, 2021
I love Cain and Mary Weather!

Another excellent addition to the series. This volume consisted of two stories, one that was almost the full length of the volume and the other that was about 15 pages long. The short story — Solomon Grundy’s Sunday — was a little odd but not bad. I’d rate the main story (Castrato) as a 5/5, and SGS as a 3/5. I love the plot arc about Delilah, and the High Priest Cassandra was delightfully evil.
Profile Image for Shannon.
1,111 reviews51 followers
December 11, 2011
I'm still not really into the whole Delilah organization plotline, but I'll admit that this one was better than most of the volumes centered on it. It wasn't anywhere near as enthralling as the first two volumes, but at least it was interesting. I'm learning not to mind the character development over gore, as long as things aren't mega-boring. The majority of the book focused on one of Delilah's priests nefarious plans to gain power and stuff. The main thing that made this volume not super boring was that there was constantly things going on. So many storylines were told and eventually they all ended up weaving together. I was shocked about Latisha. Definitely did NOT see that one coming.

One of my favorite parts of this installment was for sure Mary and Oscar. I just want them to get hitched already. I don't even care if Mary is only 10(?) and Oscar is a creep, I love all the scenes of them together. Oscar is head-over-heels in love with Mary and in this volume you could definitely tell. In one scene, Mary tries to convince Oscar to let her go out to the festival. I laughed so much at how easily she got Oscar to go along with what she wanted. Also, it was touching how much effort he put towards protecting Mary. If I didn't already love Oscar, I would've swooned at how sweet he is to her.
Profile Image for Liawèn.
186 reviews2 followers
December 27, 2022
I just love the Doctor and Cassian. It’s so scary to think what they are able to do. And Kassandra is fantastically evil.
I really liked their bet and knew the good Lord was doomed from the very beginning^^

Man, Oscar is such a stupid man but then again kinda cute. I can see why Merry grows to like him^^ I do too.
Profile Image for EmpressKoh.
75 reviews3 followers
April 15, 2019
The story flowed smoothly throughout the entire volume, which made it all the better.
Profile Image for Michael Sorbello.
Author 1 book316 followers
May 6, 2020
This is a review of the entire series.

Synopsis: Deep in the heart of 19th century London, a young nobleman named Cain walks the shadowy cobblestone streets of the aristocratic society into which he was born. Forced to become an earl upon the untimely death of his father, Cain assumes the role of head of the Hargreaves, a noble family with a dark past. With Riff, his faithful manservant, and Mary Weather, his 10-year-old half sister, Cain investigates the mysterious crimes that seem to follow him wherever he goes.

Review: A detective manga series that draws a lot of inspiration from classic gothic horror fiction and tropes. It's a love letter to writers such as Agatha Christie, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, the Bronte sisters, the Grimm brothers and even Shakespeare. Family curses, a brutal father and son rivalry, religious allegory, destined betrayal, violent supernatural murders, dark fairy tale undertones, a gloomy atmosphere and melancholy characters. The art is flowery and gorgeous to look at, the classic tropes are pleasant for fans of classic horror elements and there's a few scenes that pack quite an emotional punch. It's a bit melodramatic and over-the-top at times, but it actually gives it more of that authentic, pulpy feel of popular penny dreadfuls from the Victorian era.
Profile Image for Donna.
94 reviews23 followers
November 18, 2017
Didn't enjoy this as much as previous volumes. Perhaps I'm falling off the high of hilariously over-the-top faux Victorian gothic, or perhaps I was in just the right mood at the time when I read the others. Oh well. I'll still finish the series. This volume was about the same quality as the other's I've read, and I'm still interested in the story!
Profile Image for Kayla Lodge.
644 reviews12 followers
November 10, 2023
This was a very interesting story, I was so shocked when I thought Cain had killed riff but I am glad that was not the case because I love those 2 characters together. I really do not like Oscar that character give me the creeps he is a full grown man trying to get with Mary who is still a kid and it just gives me the icks.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sarah Giffen.
115 reviews
June 17, 2024
I honestly think Cassandra is far worse of a person than Alexis. At least Alexis doesn't masquerade as a good person. Cassandra is such a slimy guy that he would probably make everyone's skin crawl. I can only imagine how disgusted Jizabel feels towards him. Oscar gets a chance to show what kind of person he is, which is good; I like Oscar.
Fuck Cassandra.
Profile Image for Rici.
546 reviews
August 26, 2017
Ich finde es nett, dass man oscar nun doch zu schätzen lernt und er Mary beschützt hat. Cain dagegen ist immer mehr im Netz gefangen, dass sowohl ihm als auch seiner Familie schadet.
Profile Image for Kiri.
961 reviews54 followers
June 24, 2021
Cassian might be my favorite and I don't know why? Also can't decide if Oscar is a himbo or not?
Profile Image for Kurtis Burkhardt.
6,000 reviews51 followers
November 22, 2021
Really loved this series, great gothic Shoujo manga! Love the story, characters and art style 😻😁👌❤️
Profile Image for R.
2,259 reviews6 followers
July 17, 2022
Awesome and intriguing. Kaori Yuki is truly amazing.
Profile Image for Strangerealms.
162 reviews15 followers
July 10, 2012
I think The Cain Saga, and its sequel Godchild, have the most messed up and tragic characters I've seen so far. It's dark, it's gloomy. Don't expect happy endings in these two mangas, dead bodies keep pilling up. All the characters are so complex.

The Cain Saga art is not as good as Godchild, one can guess the artist art was not mature yet unlike when she made Godchild much later. Still it's a must to read to fully understand what happens in Godchild. There are a lot of good contents to find there too (like about how Oscar and Cain met). In the other hand, Godchild's art is so beautiful it's mesmerizing. The characters are so beautifully drawn and each have their unique look.

The hero Cain gets involved in different events so the mangas are a bit like short stories put together, all of them involving some supernatural of some sort. He has on his side the ever faithful Riff, his butler and friend. But in the background lies his father's shadow and his secret organization, who become Cain's ennemy throughout the series. Among the ennemies is the fascinating half-brother of Cain, Jizabel, who is also part of said organisation. Jizabel is helped by Cassian.

It's interesting to see the mirror relationship between Cain and the protective Riff and Jizabel and the protective Cassian.

I really love these two mangas. I love rereading them, going back into the story, and seeing again those fascinating characters living briefly up until the ending.

P.S. My review is about both series. I got The Cain Saga in French since the Englih version was not out.
Profile Image for Kirsten.
95 reviews87 followers
September 22, 2010
This is probably the last book that I will read in this series. I wasn't very impressed with the series as a whole, but read the first five books because a friend owns them and I had easy access. I often read manga for the art just as much as for the story, and this series was lacking in both areas. The characters all look the same, and their personalities are not very distinct, either. The story was engaging enough to hold my interest to some extent, but I certainly would not recommend the series to anyone. Even the editing was lacking, since I found several grammar and spelling errors. I did, however, enjoy the author's side notes describing the research she had done. The historical side of the story was very interesting to me.
Profile Image for Sparrow.
2,287 reviews40 followers
January 17, 2016
So far, this is the only Godchild/Cain Saga volume that lives up to my favourite one, #1 of Godchild.

Kaori Yuki does with this volume what I always wanted her to do: she spends most of the volume developing one excellent story. Even her small story at the end was self sufficient, and she said so herself that it didn't really fit in with the plot anywhere, and therefore, it does not weigh heavily on the elements of literature.

I LOVED the character interactions between Jizabel, Cassian, and Cassandra. I loved their whole story in general - it was so well developed.
Profile Image for Emily G.
562 reviews12 followers
December 29, 2013
The story Castrato takes up most of this volume and revolving around Delilah's head priest, Lord Gladstone. Cain ends up in his clutches trying to stop a plot of his, not realising at first his affiliation...

The stand out moments in this tale are Gladstone trying to get Cain to kill Riff. Cassian trying to save Jizabel when in the end it is Jizabel who saves him. Lastly, Oscar and Mary. I think Mary is softening a bit after Oscar's dramatic rescue of her!

The bonus tale is loosely based on Solomon Grundy, which I've never liked and is about... you've guessed it! Tragic love.
Profile Image for K.
565 reviews15 followers
December 5, 2015
The bulk of this volume is comprised of a story called "Castrato." I found it very compelling, interesting, and dark; I loved to hate the primary villain and especially all of the minor characters in the story. I particularly enjoyed reading about Cassian, and his relationship with the doctor. I also liked Latisha, and Mary and Oscar were, as usual, adorable. The final chapter is a one-off called "Solomon Grundy's Sunday," but I didn't enjoy it as much--I felt it was too condensed and there was too much "telling" rather than showing of the story. Still, this volume was definitely exciting.
Profile Image for Kaory Ciel .
98 reviews
September 25, 2022
Me gusta cómo vamos de camino para el enfrentamiento final mientras se pone a prueba el lazo entre Cain y Rift. A la vez conocemos más de Jezabel y Casian, como son personajes más profundos que simples villanos.
Profile Image for Conina.
460 reviews19 followers
June 28, 2016
Нещата започнаха да се развиват. Ужасно ми допадна повторната поява на медиума, който си харесах от главата за Butterfly mansion. А и Касандра беше толкова зъл, че не можах да се спра да чета.
222 reviews
August 14, 2025
I love Jizabel's interaction with Cassandra Gladstone in this story so much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews

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