3.5 ( )

Angel Sanctuary is a series I wanted very much to love. The art is breathtaking: gothic and detailed.

Kaori Yuki has a way, both artistically and narratively, of inverting our expectations. She makes the beautiful grotesque and the saintly evil. But the story is too complex, has too many layers. At every volume, I felt as though I had to reread all the rest or be hopelessly lost.

I can't capture the plots in one paragraph but let me try. Setsuna is in love with his sister (a little incest is a requirement of all Yuki's work). Their mother, oddly objects. They run off but after a brief happiness, Sara is killed. In his grief, Setsuna destroys the world. Kind of. Because it turns out that Setsuna is the reincarnation of an angel. After that it gets complicated. There are trips to hell, heavenly rebellions, hopeless romances, insane creatures of every allegiance.... The series questions the authority of god and heavenly order. Each character (and there were countless characters) is more twisted and complex than the last. Most fascinated me, none more than Kira, Setsuna's mysterious friend.

Like I said, by all rights I should have loved this series. I love the macabre and I think developed characters make a story. And I did enjoy it but if it had been 3 manga, it might have worked better. Yuki has done much better. ( )