Ceres: Celestial Legend, Vol. 14: Hagoromo

妖しのセレス [Ayashi no Ceres] #14

by Yuu Watase

On Aya MIkage's 16th birthday, what she thought was a normal celebration turns into a real-nightmare when her own family attempts to kikk her and imprisons her twin brother Aki. Aya learns that she possesses the blood of the tannyo(celestial maiden), and has the power to transform her into the mysterious and powerful Ceres. Now, with her parents dead and her life completely upended, Aya must find the courge to forge ahead snd stop her family's greedy quest for power.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Romance, Shojo, Horror, Comics Manga

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2000

About the author

Yuu 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".

Reviews

[Coke Fernández · Rating 5 out of 5]

Final épico y a la altura de la obra.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il percorso di una Dea !
Storia davvero notevole, ricca di colpi di scena ed intrecci romantici e sconvolgenti che ti catturano. Il tratto è accurato e la trama progredisce in una ascesa senza sosta per un finale davvero unico e strappalacrime, pieno del primo grande amore non solo umano ma anche divino, unito alla pazzia celeste e al tormento dell'uomo impotente nonostante abbia storie millenarie dietro di se...ma comunque da tre stelle e mezzo!

[Bibliothecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Ryofire · Rating 1 out of 5]

The ending of this rather bad series is not precisely worse than most of the rest of the series. One takeaway I have is that this is simply not for me. For folks who want the het love throughout lifetimes ending in pregnancy and being a housewife fantasy, I guess this works. For folks who love love triangles, I guess this works.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this is Kagami's revelation about his background. And for some reason his change of heart and insistence on taking the Mikagi out with him. It's a sort of petty revenge thing you see a lot of rightwingers do, but I suppose there's something there about how even the most terrible people can improve. His story is about cycles of violence replicating, and he is, in a way, ending the cycle.

Also Ceres' final form is... I mean it's not hideous, exactly? But it's not precisely a pretty or neat-looking design. It just looks odd. Kind of like weird Borg fanart.

There's also weird parallels with Aki's sacrifice and the protagonist's first love's actions in "Full Moon wo Sagashite" by Tanemura Arita. The end love interest also has a magical return and amnesia and superpowers and a sizeable portion of the cast is dead, and the protagonist is, for a while, given the ability to transform into a different person. That manga came after Ceres, so if anything, maybe it was an inspired by situation? In any case, the magical and supernatural system set up there is just better than this. I keep thinking of other series that do the things here better because Ceres just isn't good.

I also thought it was bizarre the climax was just in a church for no particular reason (which is constantly highlighted, with Toya and Aya and later an injured Aya in the shadow of the giant crucifix). You could probably find Christian parallels in this series if you wanted (e.g., characters dying for other people's sins or whatever, gardens of Eden getting corrupted by men, women existing to have men's children), and maybe that is the point of it, and why I'm not seeing them, but it ruins what little good there is in the series.

I don't recommend watching the anime adaptation of this, either. It's not that good, and it cuts out so much that it doesn't really make sense. If you've read the manga, it's understandable, and you can piece together what they were going for, but it's just not good.

[Oberhuu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dies ist der Manga, mit dem ich Yuu Watase vor nun über zehn Jahren (Dafaq oo) kennenlernte. Meine Sammlung umfasst etliche ihrer Werke und ich finde, dass Ayashi no Ceres eines ihrer Besten ist. Wenn ich mir jetzt Imadoki, oder selbst Alice 19th greife, dann fehlt den beiden Geschichten die Härte und der Pfiff, selbst wenn sie toll sind. Aber natürlich will ich nicht immer was 'Niedliches' lesen. Yuu hat hier eine wirklich komplexe, spannende, ereignisreiche, schöne, romantische und traurige Geschichte zusammen gesponnen.

In der Geschichte geht es um die weltweit verbreitete Legende der Himmelsfee. Der Showplatz bleibt hier jedoch in Japan und es dreht sich bei den Hauptfiguren u. a. im die Zwillinge Aki und Aya. Wie bei jedem 16. Geburtstag innerhalb des Mikageclans wird den Geburtstagskindern die mumifizierte Hand einer Himmelsfee gezeigt, um zu testen, ob die Himmelsfee wiedergeboren wurde, um diese direkt zu töten, damit sie an den Mikages keine Rache üben kann. In Aya wurde Ceres wieder geboren und in Aki gleichzeitig der frühere Mann, welcher vor tausenden von Jahren ihr Federkleid gestohlen hatte, ohne dass sie nicht in den Himmel zurück konnte. Er vergewaltigte sie, nahm sie zur Frau und sie bekamen Kinder, die Vorfahren des Mikageclans. Anders als bei ihren Vorgängerinnen, gelingt Aya die Flucht. Ihr Vater wird direkt am Anfang getötet, als er sie schützten will. Der Mutter wird eingetrichtert, dass ihre Tochter ihren Mann getötet hat und so geht diese später auf Aya los. Sobald Aya auf Aki trifft, kommt Ceres zum Vorschein und will ihn töten, da sie ihren früheren Schänder in ihm erkennt. Aya kommt bei der Familie Aogiri unter. Yuhi wird von seiner Schwägerin, welche selbst eine Nachfahrin einer Himmelsfee ist, zu ihrem Beschützer auserkoren, welcher Ceres als einziger beruhigen und mit einem Kuss in Aya zurückverwandeln kann. Natürlich gibt es hier noch einen jungen Mann, Toya, welchem Aya ihr Herz schenkt. Dieser hat sein Gedächtnis verloren und dient den Mikages, um dieses wieder zu erlangen.
Es ist ziemlich verworren und verwirrend. Es tauchen viele Namen auf und man muss die Bände wirklich nacheinander von Anfang an lesen, um mitzukommen. Dass man einen der Bände aufklappt und mittendrin mal ließt, ergibt deswegen wenig Sinn.

Langer Rede, kurzer Sinn: Gleich am Anfang geht es ziemlich zur Sache. Aya und Yuhi begegnen die ersten Himmelsfeen und müssen sich mit den Machenschaften der Mikages auseinandersetzen. Während ihr Opa sie ganz einfach töten wollte, will ihr Cousin Ceres einfangen und noch mehr Himmelsfeen basteln. Später kommt heraus, dass die Mikas sogar eine Mumie von Ceres verstecken und konserviert haben. Bei dem Anblick erwacht in Aki der Urahn komplett und tötet den Großvater. Der Cousin bejubelt den Mumienfund und möchte nun Himmelsfeen in Massen, quasi eine neue, überlegene Rasse, produzieren und aus der Mumie ein Medikament herstellen. Eine ziemlich krasse, und widerliche, Angelegenheit.
Es gibt Himmelsfeen, die auf Ayas und Yuhis Seite kämpfen. Da wäre Chidori, die wie eine Grundschülerin aussieht, aber im selben Alter ist wie die Beiden. Sie verlor beide Eltern bei einem Busunfall. Ihr kleiner Bruder wurde dabei gelähmt und konnte seitdem nicht laufen. Sein größter Traum ist es Pilot zu werden. Ich liebe diesen Jungen und möchte ihn an mich drücken!
Dann wäre Shuro, der Superstar der berühmten Band Gesang. Alle Welt glaubt er wäre ein Mann, doch er wurde nur als solcher erzogen und ist in Wirklichkeit eine Frau. Sie ist in ihren Bandpartner Kei verliebt, welcher das Medikament nicht verträgt und in ihren Armen stirbt. Kei war ein karrieregeiler Kerl, welcher immer mehr Erfolg haben und deswegen nicht wollte, dass Shuro die Karriere beendet und sich als Frau outet. Jedes Mittel ist ihm dafür recht. In Shuros Armen gesteht er seinen Fehler schließlich ein, doch ob er sie ebenfalls geliebt hat, kann man nur erahnen.
Die Geschichte in Band 7 finde ich auch ziemlich hart/gut. Hirobe, deren negative Gefühle überhand nehmen und den Geist eines weißen Hundes annehmen, welcher die Menschen angreift, die was tun, was ihr missfällt. Als sie versteht, was sie da tut, lenkt sich dieser Geist gegen sie. Doch bevor der weiße Hund sie töten kann, springt der Labrador Mamoru dazwischen, rettet sie und stirbt an ihrer Stelle. Er ist der Hund ihres Ex-Freundes, welcher sie gebeten hatte ihn großzuziehen.
Toya erhält schließlich scheinbar sein Gedächtnis zurück und hat, wie zuvor von Shuro eingeworfen, tatsächlich eine Freundin gehabt. Er kann sich nicht mehr an die gemeinsame Zeit mit Aya erinnern, sie aber auch nicht komplett vergessen. Letztendlich stellt sich heraus, dass selbst dieses Szenario von den Mikages inszeniert wurde. Miori ist Ayas Cousine und eine Nachfahrin von Ceres, welche bei der Verwandlung dieser noch ähnlicher sieht. Sie will sich an Aya für den Tod ihrer Mutter rächen, welche an dem 16. Geburtstag gestorben ist. Zum Schluss begeht sie Selbstmord, jedoch nicht aus Verzweiflung, sondern viel mehr um Aya mit dem Anblick zu quälen, verwandelt sich in der Luft fliegend in einen Menschen zurück und stürzt zu Boden. Ziemlich dramatisch und brutal.
Was soll ich zu den letzten Bänden sagen? Natürlich werden jegliche Zusammenhänge aufgedeckt. Für einen Augenblick denkt man, dass Ceres doch nicht so arm dran ist, wie sie immer getan hat. Doch letztendlich diente ihre Wortwahl eher mehr dazu den Urahn zu verletzen, den Mann, den sie so sehr geliebt, welcher ihr aber nicht nur das Herz gebrochen, sondern auch den Glauben an die Menschheit genommen hat.
Am Ende sterben so viele Charaktere. Ich hatte mir gewünscht, dass gerade Aki und Aya als Zwillinge nochmal eine Chance bekommen. Im Vergleich zu Aya war er ja ziemlich schwach und konnte gegen den Urahn nicht ankommen. Nur im entscheidenden Moment während des Endkampfes auf dem Schiff gewann er die Oberhand, hielt den Urahn zurück, starb mit ihm gemeinsam durch Ayas/Ceres Hand. Auch um Shuro fand ich es sehr schade, die sich bei ihrem letzten Konzert als Solokünstlerin als Frau outete. Die Medikamente haben bei ihr, wie auch bei vielen anderen Nachkommen der Himmelsfeen, Nachwirkungen gezeigt und ihr Leben eingefordert. Zuvor musste Chidori sterben, wurde in das Labor der Mikages verschleppt. Bei der Rettungsaktion wurde sie erschossen, als sie Yuhi schützte. Auch Toya starb vermeintlich durch einen Kopfschuss. Lediglich Shota konnte man retten. Was wohl aus ihm geworden ist? Das einzig positive Überleben war das von Ayas Mutter, welche wieder aus dem Koma erwacht. Ein sehr schöner Moment! Yuhi bleibt für mich ungeschlagen mein Lieblingscharakter. Er ist in Aya verliebt, doch seine Gefühle bleiben die ganze Zeit unerwidert. Sicher ist er darüber unglücklich, doch er bleibt Aya treu und ist ihr eine super Stütze und ein guter Freund. Das finde ich einfach großartig!

[Kasumi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aunque no estoy del todo satisfecha con el final, es de esas historias que, aunque no tienen el típico final feliz, tienes que reconocerle que es el final adecuado a la historia que te están contando. La búsqueda desesperada del manto por parte de Ceres no era un simple McGuffin, sino una necesidad real y vital para la la propia Aya como su reencarnación, y no una manera de que "se fuera y todo volviera a la normalidad" como ingenuamente ella creía. El final de las otras doncellas es parte de esa lógica, sobre todo cuando fracasa el Proyecto C y pretenden hacerse con su control los financiadores: eran criaturas poderosas que hasta ahora habían colaborado porque les habían vendido un futuro idílico en el que tendrían un papel fundamental para escapar de un mundo agónico que significaba dolor y muerte. Pretender cambiarles la canción y que no reaccionarían era absurdo, y más si creían que podrían controlarlas a la fuerza, ya que nunca pudieron hacerlo. En cuanto a Aki, quizás es el personaje que más pena da, ya que perdió el control de toda su vida, su cuerpo y su mente. Esos momentos finales en los que, por fin, apreciamos su lucha con el primer antepasado hacen aún más triste su previsible final y el último acto de amor hacia su hermana.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yuu Watase never ceases to amaze me with her ability to produce such addicting dramas. This was even more of a rollercoaster of angst, death, and messy romances than her Fushigi Yuugi universe! I wish I had physical copies with proper translations since a LOT of the exposition was confusing to follow, but the twist to the "celestial maiden's" backstory tied everything in the end.

I wish I could sum up my feelings better, but in short: this was deliciously addicting (albeit sometimes confusing) drama that made me all the more eager to finish the anime and hunt down more shoujo drama manga like this.

[-moonprismpower- · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending... wow. I never expected to cry so much. I truly liked Aki and was hoping for him to have a happy ending...
also, why was this ending so eerily similar to Absolute Boyfriend? I’m happy that my preferred love interest has a chance (which we will never get to see) but doesn’t that mean he’s 2nd choice??? I wouldn’t want that if I were him...


This series overall though? 3/5
I love Yuu Watase but this series was too much for me. Too much drama. Too much rapey vibes. Women have more to offer than their vaginas. Also, I didn’t really like Aya. She was bitchy and annoying.

[Aurelie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright, so, hold on. I have so many feelings about this conclusion to the story. I found it lackluster for a couple of reasons; as much as I had a feeling that the story would end up with a happy ending somehow, I didn't think it'd be so, clear cut, black and white happy. What I also didn't expect, was the almost the entire volume was spent humanizing the abuser/rapist husband of Ceres. I would have preffered something else (and I have something specific in mind) to what we got there.

Not quite what I was hoping for.

[Beiyu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good series, enjoyed reading it.

However, I find that despite the tragic ways in which many characters died, I wasn't connected enough to cry for them (I did cry when the dog Mamoru died a few volumes back...)
I was sad when chidori and Shuro died, but it wasn't a tearjerker for me. As for Tooya, I kinda read the last extra chapter before reading chapter one so his survival was pretty much known to me the whole time.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le tengo cariño a estos mangas porque me los leí hace años y en aquella época me gustaron. Ahora al releerlos la verdad es que me han decepcionado un pelin, hay partes de la historia que me han aburrido bastante y otras que me han sorprendido. Hay un tomo en el que intentan violar a la prota 3 veces y yo en plan 😐 no sé como me leí eso de pequeña jajaja.
Pero bueno, en general es una buena historia, aunque no sé si la volvería a leer

[Maria del Mar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doncs per fi hem acabat aquesta saga que vaig començar de casualitat perquè la vaig veure a la biblioteca.
El final m'ha agradat, però ha sigut trist també per una banda, no sé si calia que passessin certes coses...
Crec que s'ha tancat bé la història, però vist en perspectiva, alguns volums han sigut una mica de farcit i se'ls haguessin pogut estalviar o fer la història més curta...

Bona puntuació en general, però.

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, this is certainly not the kind of ending I foresaw when I first started reading this series. I really didn't expect so much death throughout the series. I was a tragic tale through and through . . . nothing was really accomplished but survival. Ultimately, that was all the story was about, I guess. This was definitely a weird one, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it.

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the ending was good but also not the best best best ending I could have imagined. Somehow it was one explosion too many. But also I think this series is great and this wraps it up well enough for me to not be mad (that sounds very passive aggressive - I really really like this ending I just don't love it).

[Rebecca Dawkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending made me cry! It was a good series, some parts I feel are problematic but if going for it's general themes it is still good. 4.5 stars for the finale.

[Elia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful and very sad ending.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg the way this ended, I was not expecting at all! I love the ending though. It tied up several loose ends but it also left several plot lines up for your interpretation as well.

[Matt Ichijoji · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terminé la historia de Aya, Aki, Toya y de muchos otros personajes. Me ha gustado mucho. Recuerdo que hace años no la leí, me apareció muy sería.

[Lau · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

En general estoy decepcionada con esta serie, que palidece al lado de Fushigi Yuugi, pero este último volumen estuvo bien. Bien trágico.

En las escenas de acción 'pasan cosas', aunque no sabría bien decir qué. Realmente no las logra xD.
Y me mata que los del laboratorio tenían un crucero preparado para la huida. Y que aparentemente le tienen miedo a la policía... ¿A nadie se le ocurrió denunciarlos, en todo este tiempo? Pensé que los tenían comprados por ser una familia tan poderosa.

El final no puedo decir que me haya encantado... O gustado. Esperaba que Aki sobreviviera. El que Aya tuviese que matar a su gemelo cuando recuperó la conciencia fue terriblemente cruel, y que a Tooya le queden como mucho dos años de vida también. Por más que ella tenga una conexión en sueños, no.

En fin, ya está. A pesar de que no estaba particularmente encantada con la protagonista, me dejó un sabor triste este desenlace.

[Judyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

~3/5

[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]

This was a rather weak series of Watase’s, which is a bit disappointing.

I didn’t ever really connect with any of the characters, or grow all that attached, sadly. I wanted to, but it never happened. The story was interesting, though, and got better near the end, as did the humor (or I just got used to it). The ending was a bit surprising, and I liked that. Although the ending for Aya and Toya, and Yuhi, did not really satisfy me. Although, if I’m not wrong, something similar happened with the main characters in Absolute Boyfriend, and I didn’t really like it there, either. That kind of upsets me, but oh well.

This series just didn’t turn out as good as I thought it would, but I know that it’s an earlier series of Watase’s, and I know that she’s written better ones.

Now I just hope to get some of her other series published over here, particularly Fushigi Yugi and Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden (which I have read some of and really enjoyed), and I’ll probably try to catch up on Arata, since I was enjoying that series, and am quite a bit behind.

[Violet Sakura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had heard about this manga a lot, and didn't start reading it, cause I knew it would be tragedy (so nothing happy and good), but as Yuu Watse is on e of my favourite mangakas, I just couldn't help myself. And you know what? I didn't end THAT sad, though of course facong that Tooya has a few years left to live, or that poor Aki died, so many more people, I can't help thinking, that the end promised new future.
The plot and the action were great. Through the whole book guessing who was Tooya, why Ceres married Shiso, whatis the hagoromo... Really was a great read. I enjoyed it a lot! The funny moments were killing me too.
I likes a lot the characters: Tooya, Yuuhi, Alec and Aya too, though she got on my nerves being a crybaby sometimes.
The best character in my opinion was Tooya, his development as a human being was fascinating...

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like Yuu Watase said, it wasn't really a "happy" ending. But it was beautiful. Everything that happened even though it might not be happy for others...to me this was more of a blissful ending. Seriously, that s the only word I can think of to describe it.

This series goes through the treasures and the monsters of the human heart, and it really showed how beautiful the heart is. Even though the ending was a bit sad, the promise of more to come and just the FEELING, it almost made me cry. But instead of cry like I have for previous series, I just sat there for twenty minutes in peace.

Even with everything that had happened, everything was good. And I felt so happy I just sat there smiling like a weirdo. This is officially, my favorite Yuu Watase series. Though, I still have more to read ;)

Thank you for creating this series. I loved it so much.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 .

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final showdown felt a bit anticlimactic... by the end, Aya had lost so many loved ones that it wasn't terribly comforting that she ended up with her man... a man who might only live for a few years now that he's given up the power of the celestial mana.

Overall, I liked this manga and felt like the series was worth reading even though it got off to a cheesy, ill-thought-out start. The combination of paranormal, romantic, fantastic, and Japanese folkloric elements made for an interesting world and characters even if the plot was a bit predictable and thin. I also enjoyed Watase's attempt to explore the philosophical implications of "true" love vs. biology, and her delving into where a multicultural legend might have come from.

[Brittni · Rating 5 out of 5]

FINALLY, FINALLY I've finished Ayashi no Ceres. I had a long relationship with this manga! It's been many years. My first delve into horror and psychological horror that was a part of making me who I am today.

There's one thing in this book...a death...that really made me angry. I felt like the series was leading up to it, but I felt it was so cliche Watase actually went through with it. Sob!

A good moment at the end made up for it, though. What Toya says to Yuhi. Yay! I was never a Toya person anyway.

Now to see how the anime differs from the manga. Thankfully I have all of the DVDs and don't have to worry about out-of-print problems...

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a genre that I would have normally picked up. My husband had bought it ages ago and hadn't read it yet, so I chose to pick it up.

It is described as a horror book, but I'm not sure that I would place it there. It was a bit of a mystery and definitely a fantasy, and it was darker than most of the stuff that I have read before, but overall, it was relatively good. It does keep you questioning what is going on through the whole thing. And the cast of characters is interesting and fun to follow.

I would recommend it.

[Jenifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pretty satisfied with this ending. I'm thinking that this whole story is perhaps very allegorical...maybe to the Adam and Eve myth? Or another creation myth about the "fall of man" and the natures of why humans are born with the duality of good and evil in their hearts. At any rate,l this was a very complex story with great pacing, character development, and of course, love.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not disappointed in reading Ceres: Celestial Legend. Yuu Watase is one of my favorite manga authors, and she held true to that opinion with this series.

Though the end left me wanting more. Maybe a one-shot epilogue or something, just to satisfy my desire for seeing Aya's final path in life. Oh, well. One can dream.

[jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Series overall 3.5

The last 3 volumes were really exciting and bumped the series up a little for me. It made up for some of the soap-opera type stuff in the middle. The story was very good and even though I didn't care too much for the heroine, I just had to keep reading to find out the ending.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another series finished!

I don't think I've seen so many character deaths in one series since Harry Potter! :P

This series was a lot of fun, with humor and action and sadness all rolled up into one. It was nice to finally get answers and understand where Ceres, The Progenitor, and Toya came from.

I'd give the series a solid 4 stars. Enjoyed it from beginning to end.