Angel Sanctuary, Vol. 7

天使禁猟区 [Tenshi Kinryōku] #7

by Kaori Yuki

Life as an angel can be hell!

The angel Alexiel loved God, but she rebelled against Heaven when she saw how disgracefully the other angels were behaving. She was finally captured, and as punishment sent to Earth to live an endless series of tragic lives. She now inhabits the body of Setsuna Mudo, a troubled teen in love with his sister Sara. Setsuna's misery mirrors the chaos among the angels, and their combined passions threaten to destroy both Heaven and Earth.

Continuing the hunt for his sister, Sara, Setsuna leaves Hades to search for her in Heaven. Unknown to him, Kurai and Kira are trying to revive his lifeless body. Their efforts pay off in an unexpected way-Setsuna awakens to find himself in the body of the angel Alexiel!

In Heaven, Sevortharte, who until recently had ruled in God's absence, is forced to publicly declare his loyalty to the mad angel Rosiel, Heaven's new ruler.

Now in Heaven, Setsuna wants his body back. His only choice is to ask for help from Raphael, the reluctant physician-angel, or the demon Lucifer...

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Romance, Fiction, Angels

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume and the following handful of volumes are Kaori Yuki's artwork at its finest. The conflicts between Heaven and Hell is building up toward a climax and the deadly internal power struggle within the Heaven's ruling class is also heating up. Plus one of the Dukes from Hell is making her(?) move as well, so much excitement!!!!

I absolutely love how the foreshadowing that was laid out in this volume would come back to reveal their importance 10 or so volumes later, I'm impressed!

Angel Sanctuary is simply my all-times favorite! I wish I still have the hard copies with me!

[Emi えみ Takami 鷹見 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Setsuna has finally found his way out of hell and... into a woman's body?! Oh, and the townspeople want to kill him.

[Bibliothecat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review for complete series



No matter how hard he tries, Setsuna always manages to run into trouble, and his love for his sister is just one of many things that seem to be going wrong. It is only when two demons appear and make his life an even bigger mess that Setsuna comes to realise all his misfortunes might be linked to the fallen angel Alexiel.

I would definitely consider Angel Sanctuary a great and classic manga. But for all that, I am sure it does not appeal to everyone. In addition to the incestuous relationship between Setsuna and his sister Sara, there are drugs and alcohol, gruesome murders and mutilations, rape, child murder, a twisted view on religion and god, suicide, characters whose minds turn grotesque and obsessive - the list goes on. These are subjects that might be very appealing to some, but also very problematic for others.

I belong to the latter - usually, these subjects would automatically cause me to stay clear from such a book. It is truly a macabre tale, and that's just the way Kaori Yuki's works go. Yet despite my reluctance to give such subjects a try, I can say that whether one likes it or not, there's no denying that this is a brilliantly crafted story with an impressive amount of meaningful characters.

Kaori Yuki's art and stories all suffer and gain from the same thing: the sheer mass of detail. Her art is absolutely gorgeous with all the fine hair and cloth and just all the immense details. But at times, it can make the pages overcrowded and confusing - it certainly takes a longer time to read than your average manga. The story is at times likewise confusing as anything - it can be hard to keep track of which panels come first. But it's the wonderfully interwoven plot that remains a solid point throughout. The smallest details from the first volume can become relevant in the later ones and there is one plot twist after the another. There's never a boring moment as we follow Setsuna unravelling all the intrigues that surround the large cast.

Although I would consider the plot a strong point of this work, it is yet the characters who seem to turn it into something special. I have rarely come across a manga with so many characters who all have diverse and deep personalities. You get to love and hate all of them as even the most villainous ones prove to have something very humane and rather pitiful about them. In the end, one wonders - who was the true villain, if there was one at all? But with all the variety, there's no denying that the majority of them are broken characters. Every one of them seems to be involved in one twisted mess or another.

Luckily, there are great bonds of love, friendship and family that stand strong throughout the story and every now and then offer a well deserved comic relief. Angel Sanctuary is most certainly worth a try for any who enjoy strong character-driven stories that'll leave you with a hard time picking out a favourite character.

[Elyse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Setsuna’s journey to Hades come to an end, finally. Instead of coming back to earth in his body, the teenager wakes up as the angel Alexiel. The only person who can resurrect his body is the archangel Raphael, who for some reason is a player, ladies’ man. Setsuna also need to retrieve Sarah’s soul that is somewhere in Heaven.

Once again, the manga is hard to follow, and the story is confusing. There are also additional characters, (like we really need it), since a lot of them are put on the side.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot is slowly coming together, and the further we get in the series the less it is brought up that Sara and Setsuna are siblings, and the more of a backseat their relationship takes to the rest of the plot.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda gross.

[Anja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Also diese Story mäandert mittlerweile in alle Richtungen. Prinzipiell bekomme ich noch mit, was passiert. Aber gut ist das nicht erzählt :(
Zum Glück ist Alexiel hübsch...

[Haley The Caffeinated Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/4

[Lesedelfin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nach den anfänglichen Startschwierigkeiten mit der Angel Sanctuary Reihe von Kaori Yuki, hätte ich nicht gedacht, dass sich die Geschichte noch so wendet, dass ich mich wie eine Süchtige auf den nächsten Band stürze! Jetzt bin ich beim siebten Band und so voll und ganz in diese Geschichte reingesaugt, dass ich froh bin alle Bände zu haben, wenn es so spannend und mächtig weitergehen sollte.

Erstmalig ist mir aufgefallen, dass die Mangas gar nicht mit einer Rückblende oder Charaktervorstellung beginnen. Keine Ahnung wie mir das entgehen konnte, aber scheinbar war es doch nicht so wichtig.

Band sieben startet mit einer Zeichnung, die ich mir mehrere Minuten fasziniert angeschaut habe. In der Mitte ist die Erde und jeweils sieben Stockwerek darüber und darunter, welche für die einzelnden Reiche in Himmel und Hölle stehen. Im Manga werden diese Ort nochmal namentlich genannt und kurz erklärt, aber für die schwierigen Namen brauchte ich schon einen Notizzettel. Es fasziniert mich sehr, mit welchen Details Yuki diesen Orten Leben einhaucht.

Dies ist auch der erste Band, der von mir das Label Lieblingsbücher<3 bekommt, denn die Story war einfach hammermäßig gut. Wieder neue Engelscharaktere - diesmal der Feuerengel Michael und der Windengel Raphael - und die Schlacht zwischen Rosiel und Sevathtorte wird zwischen den beiden offener ausgetragen, obwohl noch nicht alle Engel es mitbekommen. Es ist ein mächtiges und überwältigendes Leseerlebnis, denn die Geschichte strotzt nur so vor Kraft, die sich entladen will.
Rund um Setsuna wird es auch ziemlich heiß und Yuki trumpft mit einer ungeahnten Wendung auf, wo ich erstmal fett grinsen musste.

Auch meine Lieblingsogerprinzessin Kurai bekommt größeren Handlungsspielraum und muss eine schwere Entscheidung treffen. Hier sind wieder Mächte am Werk, dass es nur so brodelt.

Besonders toll fand ich Michael und Raphael, die ziemlich krass dargestellt sind. Michael's Erscheinungsbild und Temperament ist dem Feuer mehr als würdig und er will nichts lieber als kämpfen. Egal gegen wen, hauptsache Krieg. Raphael ist eher der Typ, der die Frauenwelt erkundet.
Mein lieber Scholli :D
Ich erhoffe mir noch mehr Feuer für die nächsten Bände. Humor besitzen die beiden schonmal und passen somit gut zu den anderen Charakteren.

Was ich ein wenig schade finde ist, dass der Namenssinn dieses Mangas irgendwie nur in den ersten beiden Bänden präsent war und jetzt scheinbar keine große Bedeutung mehr besitzt. Vielleicht kommt Yuki ja nochmal darauf zurück?

[kuristina- tabreez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Setsuna has returned from his quest for Sara's soul in Hades, but when he is revived instead of returning to his Setsuna Mudo body he returns to Alexiel's! It appears that this happened because a demon boy with a crush on Kurai, in a fit of rage and jealousy (or rather, just a fit), accidentally pulled out the dagger, that was infused with time magic, from Setsuna's chest, thus, killing that body. Now Setsuna must somehow get angel doctor Lord Raphael, whom currently resides in Heaven, to revive his body. Later, a mysterious messenger from Lucifer's lair approaches Kurai, telling her that if she makes a deal with him to become Lucifer's bride that he will revive Setsuna's body. However, she cannot tell a soul of this dark deal with the devil...

Meanwhile, in Heaven, Sevotharte is forced to publicly declare his loyalty to Rosiel, whom has unknown intentions to everyone but is already creating his own army of zombies...


I couldn't really follow this one either, but I really did like it. I really like seeing Alexiel in it now too! But I really miss Setsuna's face. I wonder if their soul might split like Kikyo and Kagome from Inuyasha? ... Naahh, L0L!

[Lissibith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rosiel has the denizens of heaven under his thumb but that doesn't mean the plotting stops. Some angels are trying to call the great powers - Michael, Raphael, Uriel and Jibril. Problem is, Jibril's catatonic, Uriel disappeared after the great war (but we know from previous volumes that's he's hanging out in hell), Raphael has his own pursuits and Michael... well, I love Michael, but he's not terrible disciplined, nor interested in what all is going on.

Meanwhile, Setsuna has been successful in getting out of Hell, but there's a problem - with his body having died in the last book, his soul returned to that of Alexiel. So now he's an uber badass hottie - but also a feared and sometimes hated angel. And he's worried that having the form of Alexiel will show his relationships as being all about Alexiel, rather than Setsuna.

I really liked this volume, largely for the (yet more) additions to the cast. Raphael and Michael are great, and as of the end of the book, Setsuna's band is looking for one while the other looks for Setsuna. Onward to the next book!

[Michael Schmid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diesen Band habe ich wieder mehr als genossen. Endlich kommt der Himmel mehr und mehr ins Rollen und es kommen auch immer mehr Engel wie auch Dämonen ins Spiel. Setsuna als Alexiel ist sowieso zum Schießen, von daher. Das Ende macht wieder einmal Lust auf mehr und ich kann den nächsten Doppelband kaum mehr erwarten, obwohl ich die ganze Reihe schon einmal gelesen habe.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's volume seven, so I assume that anyone still reading this isn't going to be swayed one way or the other by a review. Despite a long wait between volumes six and seven on my part, I got swept up again by the sheer scope of the story. This isn't the best many a I've ever read, but something keeps drawing me back to it ...

[Aleina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow. It's getting better....all though the gender confusioness of it all just bothers me! Yet, the storyline is good. I know people who would love this, and I know others who wouldn't....I definitely wouldn't recommend this to a religious person, but otherwise, it is an interesting series. Confusing...but interesting.

[Nikki Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stellar. The art is amazing and so is the storyline. It's totally original. The manga is MUCH better than the time-crammed anime version.

WARNING: it's not for the faint of heart. It features lots of blood and a twinge of incest.

[Oyceter · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://oyceter.livejournal.com/504750...

[Jody Mena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this entire series. Kaori Yuki is a masterful storyteller and a talented artist.

[Scott Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book cover looks nice.

[Nameh dah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Setsuna de mina wins. Ese dialogo que tiene con Kira por el tema del cabello hacen el tomo.

[Michel]

no