Angel Sanctuary, Vol. 9

天使禁猟区 [Tenshi Kinryōku] #9

by Kaori Yuki

Setsuna's body is dead on Earth, and the two women who love him will do anything to bring it back to life. Kurai, the last Princess of Gehenna, agrees to marry Lucifer in return for a potion to revive Setsuna. She enters the deepest bowels of Hell, where she soon gets lost. Can Arachne help save her, or will a deadly secret doom Kurai to an eternity as the Dark Lord's bride? In Heaven, Sara tries to convince Raphael to resurrect Setsuna--but the archangel refuses to help unless Sara joins him in bed first!

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

[Rosenblue(vintage & retro manga & classic literature deserve more love on GR) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parental advisory:
Bloody death scenes,sexual themes,tobacco smoking and suggestive themes.
I liked this volume for the most part but dislike how Yuki (the author) writes scenes with questionable scenes in them related to her girls.
Her female characters are often written to look stupid,loud mouthed or deserving of sexual harassment whenever they criticize the character who's harassing or trying to assault them.
It isn't funny and very annoying particularly because Kurai is a little girl and Sara is 15 years old though Sara is often mistaken as younger (middle school girl/young girl) yet called a women in earlier volumes.
The author is a weirdo.

[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.

[EmpressKoh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obsessed with the mad hatter character but I still eye roll at how many people are in love with the same person *sigh*.

Excited the plot seems to be going somewhere darker.

[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.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely detailed art and interesting story. The plot is advancing and I'm goanna be interested to see where it goes from here.

[Liana Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not into this series at this point, but I'll keep reading to find out what happens.

[Anja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dieser Band war wesentlich übersichtlicher und hatte klarere Abgrenzungen der Handlungsstränge.
Konnte Setsuna daher besser in den She‘ol folgen, um Kurai aus den Fängen Luzifers zurückzuholen und Sara gegen Raphael zu bestehen.

[Lesedelfin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hach, ich liebe die komplizierten, listigen Windungen, über die man in Angel Sanctuary desöfteren stolpert und die mich als Leserin immer wieder richtig überraschen können.
Band neun macht da natürlich auch wieder keine Ausnahme und führt ein paar neue Möglichkeiten und Feinde ein. Diese Mangaserie bleibt wirklich faszinierend bis in die Fingerspitzen und die Erklärungstexte und Dialoge sind nicht einfach lieblos hingeklatscht, sondern reißen mich regelrecht in die Handlung ein. Wie ein Suchtmacher :D

In diesem Band ist Setsuna immer noch auf der Suche nach Saras Seele, die ihm ständig zu entgleiten scheint, wenn er näher kommt. Ich finde es schön, dass dieser Teil der Geschichte nun schon über soviele Bände hinweg Bestand hat und immer noch nicht langweilig geworden ist. Sogar im Gegenteil, denn Kaori Yuki zaubert ständig etwas neues aus dem Hut, womit man nicht rechnen kann. Es ist sehr schwer etwas vorherzusehen, aber das macht den größten Reiz dieser Geschichte aus.
Sara selbst hat nun auch eine recht ungewöhliche Stimme zurück erlangt - sie hat ihren Biss definitiv nicht verloren. Ich bin sehr zufrieden, dass Yuki immer wieder Wege findet vermeidlich verlorene Charaktere weiter sinnvoll und glaubhaft in die Geschichte zu integrieren.
Am besten gefällt mir an diesem Teil natürlich wieder der Kurai-Teil. Die Ogerprinzessin, die meine absolute Lieblingscharakterin dieser Reihe ist, nimmt eine immer größere Rolle ein und da sie für Luzifer selbst von großem Wert zu sein scheint, darf man von ihr noch sehr viel erwarten. Ich freue mich über jede ihrer Zeichnungen, denn sie ist wirklich unglaublich süß, vorallem wenn sie richtig böse wird :D

Setsuna mag zwar etwas blass geblieben sein und insgesamt setzt dieser Band wieder eher auf Charaktererklärungen, statt die Handlung direkt weiter zu bringen, aber dennoch nimmt die Story nicht an Drama, Überraschung und feurigen Temperamenten ab. In Band neun scheinen die meisten gereizten Charaktere vorzukommen, die ihre Krallen ausfahren - gefällt mir :D

[kuristina- tabreez · Rating 4 out of 5]

In heaven, Sara accidentally "bumps" into Raphael, and as a favor for a pretty woman, he heals her eyes which lost their vision when she awoke in Jibril's body, but not completely. After speaking for a while, Sara begs Raphael to resurrect Setsuna's human body but he declines.
In Hell, Kurai seals the deal with Hatter to become Lucifer's bride if he will give her a revival elixir for Setsuna. But little does she know that the elixir was made with Necromancy, a black magic that specializes in not resurrection but creating the walking dead that feed on the flesh and souls of the living!


I really did quite enjoy this volume, although I can't quite say how. I started it last night and finished half of it and this morning I woke up happy! I wonder if it was because of this book or second half of The Pearl I read yesterday evening...? Hmm. Or perhaps I got this feeling from a certain deceased loved one. His presence /did/ always sooth me in this way for days after, after all. Nonetheless, I am grateful! :)

[Jody Mena · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Jessye · Rating 5 out of 5]

*SPOILERS*Not going to give a long review, just wanted to say I seriously did not see that betrayal coming....

[Lissibith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodness, this volume. Death. Betrayal. Secrets. And of course, the story literally goes to Hell. Another fantastic volume.

[Nameh dah · Rating 4 out of 5]

La princesa tomando decisiones que significarán el siguiente arco. Setsuna en cuerpo de mina es más rico.