.

.

.

.

.

Berserk 40

.

.

.

.

.

Angel Sanctuary 40

Homunculus 3

Naruto 17

Gantz 15

Trigun Maximum 1

Desperté a eso de las 12 y tanto, sorprendida con un leve temblor que hizo que mi cama se moviera un poco. :o  Por suerte no fue especialmente fuerte, pero igual me pilló desprevenida (y soñando algo que no recuerdo... o.o). Como todos los días, vi Everwood y después me levanté y almorcé viendo The Big Band Theory (el capítulo de hoy estuvo especialmente gracioso xD).

Mientras, aproveché también de grabar un DVD con 4 GB de dramas con M.S.-san. Me quedé impresionada al descubrir que sólo la carpeta de CD dramas en que él aparece (sin incluir otros CDs o canciones ni nada más), pesaba tanto... O.o  No sabía que había conseguido tantos dramas con él, sobretodo considerando que todavía no logro completar mi colección de drama CDs de Weiss. :p Pero bueno, eran 4 GBs que estaba ahí estorbando, así que grabé un DVD con ellos y los borré del disco duro. Un día, cuando esté de ociosa, tengo que sentarme a escuchar horas y horas de dramas, en su gran mayoría yaoi. ¿Quién lo manda a trabajar en tanta cosa yaoi? -_-'

Después de grabar el DVD, abrí el Second Life y seguí bailando por siempre en el Club Le French Kiss (a todo esto, parece que hoy había una especie de fiesta  o algo así...  Ese lugar es uno de los más concurridos en los que he estado en SL, siempre andan sus dueños y otros 'clubbers' y demás... Pero hoy día había mucha gente y todos bailaban y se ponen a spammear gritos y conectan el chat de voz y se ponen a hablar en francés y se ríen y tocan música y sonidos raros - hoy, alguien ponía de fondo el sonido que hacen los aliens de War of The Worlds para llamarse unos a otros desde sus inmensos trípodes, antes de usar el rayo calórico... T_T - y tuve que bloquear el sonido porque me tenían la cabeza mala con sus "yeehaaa"s y "woooohooo"s y otros por el estilo @_@). Al mismo tiempo, aproveché de revisar el blog de Iw.Ma.-san, de revisar el correo, de responder algunos mails, inscribirme en unos foros, postear en esos foros y escribir mi artículo de hoy para Mangas.es (sobre los premios Kobe Animation). En eso, M. llegó y con ella llegaba la hora de salir.

Y sí. Es que hoy, teníamos que ir a una tienda cercana a encargar lo que será mi sorpresa para la juntación con mis compañeros de 4to medio, a mediados de este mes. ^^ Ya cuando surgió la idea de volver a encontrarnos después de 10 años sin vernos, M. me había sugerido que preparara una sorpresa y hoy se concretó. Así que ahora sólo me queda esperar e ir a buscar mi sorpresa el próximo 6 de octubre. ¡Muejejeje! Obviamente, no voy a decir aquí qué es porque alguno de mis amigos podría leer esto y enterarse de qué planeo... Pero eso. Fue simpático ir, acompañada de M., y echar a andar esa idea. ^^  Aparte de que así ya estará lista para el día de la juntación misma.

Cuando volvimos de eso, probamos de hacer funcionar el Packard Bell que, desde hace semanas, estaba rebelde y se negaba a prenderse. O sea. Un día que yo iba a poner cosas a bajar, colapsó. Me tiró una pantalla azul y me dijo "púdrete", así que lo apagué sumisamente y lo ignoré. Unos días después de eso, M. quería usarlo así que lo prendió pero se quedó en la pantalla de 'cargando Windows' y nunca terminó de cargarlo y tampoco se quería apagar. -_-' Lo apagamos a lo bruto y lo dejamos ahí. Varios días después, yo decidí probar a ver si se le había quitado la maña, porque necesitaba poner cosas a bajar. Así que lo prendí y esta vez, por suerte, cargó Windows... Pero se quedó ahí. Una vez cargado el sistema operativo, todo se quedó congelado y no respondía ni el teclado ni el mouse ni nada... Lo dejé ahí por horas, por si acaso se despegaba por su cuenta, pero no pasó nada así que tuve que apagarlo a lo bruto de nuevo y decidí ignorarle hasta nuevo aviso. :p Y ese nuevo aviso fue hoy, porque M. me dijo que necesitaba redactar un documento que no había alcanzado a escribir en el trabajo, así que... Probamos de prenderlo. Por suerte, se le quitó la maña y funcionó, así que M. pudo revisar su Gmail, leer este blog y hacer su trabajo. ^^  Claro que me resistí a la tentación de ponerlo a bajar sobre la misma porque me pareció demasiado abusivo. El pobre viene reviviendo después de casi un mes de estar apagado y yo lo iba a poner a bajar cosas por horas y horas... No pues. ¡Con ese régimen, quién no se vota en huelga después! xD

Y... Eso. Mientras M. trabajaba, yo me puse a responder un mail para el tiernosito de M.C.. Al revisar esa casilla, me encontré con la agradable sorpresa de que la bondadosa K.M.-san me respondió mi mensaje de anoche y accedió a comprarme las cosas que le pedí. Tenemos que afinar los detalles de pago y todo, pero me dijo que ella no tenía problema y que estaba dispuesta a ayudarme. :D ¡Así que soy feliz! Aunque me voy a gastar todo lo que he ganado desde que empecé a trabajar (el 2007), voy a tener la polera del live de Ki.Hi.-san, los CDs con las canciones del Seishun Radio Charity Live y un drama CD protagonizado por Ki.Hi.-san también... Y además le pedí que, si encuentra en alguna parte el single de Suteki Robo Robo Dan, me lo compre. Esa es la otra canción que sé que Iw.Ma.-san tiene, pero el CD ya está out of print en CDJapan (Neowing) y Amazon.co.jp tiene sólo una versión usada, que la persona vende sólo dentro de Japón (y sumamente cara, casi a 6 mil yens...). Así que, bueno. Con algo de suerte, K.M.-san me encuentra el CD y logro poner mis manos encima de esa canción de Iw.Ma.-san tan desconocida para mí. *.*

A todo esto, en uno de esos foros en los que dije que me inscribí, encontré el manga de POT entero, desde el primer hasta el último tomo, para bajar. :D  Así que he estado en eso toda la tarde. ¡Voy a tener el manga de POT! Ya conseguí Eatman entero (aunque en inglés... Yo quería los tomos que me faltan en japonés, para poder leer los que la Na.Sa.-sensei me regaló hace tiempo) y también Monster (me falta Another Monster)... También Saint Seiya y varios de los mangas nuevos que sacaron relacionados con ellos... Me falta encontrar los mangas nuevos de Weiss (Weiss Side B o algo así), porque tengo sólo el primer tomo, que me regaló la C.P. hace tiempo y nada más.

Buscando scanlations, me encontré con que existen los llamados 'one-shots', que son mangas de un tomo, con historias cortas o que fueron editados sólo como trabajo de presentación de un determinado artista... Cosas así. El hecho es que me he bajado algunos porque me parecen una buena posibilidad para leer mangas y poder comentarlos para Mangas.es. Hasta ahora, me he dedicado a las series de anime y a los seiyuus, de vez en cuando, además de las noticias. He escrito sólo como 3 artículos sobre mangas, porque en realidad yo no leo manga, casi nunca. Cuando tengo tiempo de leer, leo novelas, no mangas. Prefiero el anime al manga, en general. El anime tiene seiyuus y eso lo hace más entretenido, desde mi punto de vista. Pero las series toma tiempo verlas y, aunque me pase horas viendo anime, no puedo terminar una serie de 26 capítulos en un día para comentarla... Y, aunque pudiera, se me acabarían las series que ver porque vería las cosas más rápido de lo que las bajo. Y claro, es cierto que tengo un montón de anime que he bajado por años y que no todo lo he visto, pero... Muchas series actualmente tienen mucho más de 26 episodios. Además, casi ninguna se ve en el DVD (y, por ende, en la tele) sino que son en formatos raros o con códecs extraños que me obligan a verlas en el computador. Aparte de que me carga ver cosas en el computador, en una pantalla más chica, con peor sonido y todo, la lata es que tengo que tener espacio en disco y paciencia para copiar los episodios desde los CDs al disco duro, para poder ver horas y horas sin estar malgastando el pobre lector de CD y sin tener que estar escuchando el ronroneo del lector con el CD adentro (que, en el notebook, puede ser bastante fuerte y desagradable y es en el notebook donde puedo mirar cosas más cómodamente, dentro de lo que se puede cuando se tratar de ver cosas en el computador). Por lo tanto, si quiero ver una serie, tengo que hacerme el tiempo y el ánimo de copiar los episodios al disco duro, tener el espacio para eso y después desamar medio living para poner el notebook en una posición cómoda, donde alcance el cable de los parlantes o, sino, estar con fonos que es casi peor porque después de muchas horas me hacen doler los oidos. x_x  Total, un desastre. Y para series más largas (como la misma Monster, Saint Seiya o tantísimas otras, con cientos de episodios... ¡La mismísima POT, si es por eso!), es un webeo magnánimo. ¬¬

Así que tenía que buscar algo más que hacer. Aparte de que es como fome escribir siempre reviews de series, con el mismo formato y etc. Por eso pensé en buscar mangas online, que fueran relativamente cortos (para leérmelos en una tarde o en un día) y poder comentar sobre eso. :p Eso, mientras me documento sobre algún otro seiyuu (tengo pensado Ku.To.-san, pero no sé) y mientras veo series de anime a alguna hora. :p ¡Y el tiempo no basta! Al final, siempre me quedo corta y o tengo que dejar de escribir acá o dejar de responder mails o dejar de ver anime... Y ¿de dónde demonios saco tiempo para traducir Oshin? -_-  Todavía ni siquiera empiezo el siguiente episodio (el mismo que no he empezado desde hace meses) y me siento pésimo porque mi clienta ni siquiera me jode con los tiempos y me siento como que, aunque no sea voluntario, me estoy aprovechando de esa benevolencia. Pero todos los días me prometo que empezaré al día siguiente y, después, se me pasa el día sin empezar. -_-'

Por lo mismo, no he tenido tiempo ni siquiera de mirar el texto de prueba que hay que traducir para esa editorial gringa a la que quería postularme. ¡El día se me hace muy corto! Pero, si me levantara más temprano, me tendría que acostar más temprano... O tendría que dormir menos horas. :p Igual, tengo la intención de enviar ese texto apenas pueda, porque M. tiene razón y no debería dejar pasar la oportunidad, que puede ser la que he andado buscando, de encontrar un trabajo en que me paguen por traducir mangas. :p

Como sea. Por este dilema del ver series y el que me falta tiempo (y eso que paso todo el día sola y que S. no ha existido...), pensé en buscar mangas y me encontré con estos 'one-shots', que vienen a solucionarme, en parte, el problema. Así, en una hora o algo más, me leo un manga que puedo comentar sin mayores problemas y que puedo, eventualmente, mandar como artículo a Mangas.es.

Hablando de eso, ¿alguno de ustedes se ha dado el tiempo de leer siquiera alguno de los artículos que he publicado hasta ahora? No pregunto porque me ofenda que no lo hagan sino que porque echo de menos la feedback. Mi jefe no me dice nada (ni bueno ni malo, nada xD), nadie comenta en el Mangas.es como tal - de hecho, ni siquiera sé si alguien nos lee o qué... - y ahora parece ser que un sitio de la misma empresa, llamado Meneame.net, selecciona de repente artículos de Mangas.es y otros blogs de la misma empresa. Pero mis escritos no ha sido seleccionados y, por ende, no tengo ni idea de si alguien lee lo que escribo con tanto esmero o no. Y pensé que posteando los links acá, algunos de mis amigos los leería y me comentaría algo, pero como eso no ha pasado, no puedo evitar preguntarme si alguien ha leido siquiera uno de los 30 y tantos artículos que llevo publicados. ^^U  Si es así, les agradecería en el alma que comentaran (ya sea en Mangas.es mismo o acá o donde quieran) para saber qué piensan los 'lectores'. :p No es como que esté especialmente ansiosa de recibir críticas negativas, pero sinceramente, esperaba más retroalimentación cuando empecé a escribir; pensé que las reviews generarían comentarios, que otros fans opinarían sobre ellas o comentarían sus puntos de vista sobre la serie en cuestión... Algo. :p Pero, bueno. Eso sólo por si acaso. Si no, no importa. Total, mientras me paguen, todo bien. ^^

Y antes de cambiar absolutamente del tema del manga, los artículos, el tiempo y eso... Hoy me sorprendieron, en uno de los foros en los que me inscribí, con una invitación a formar parte de un grupo que traduce mangas al español (scanlations, claro; no profesionalmente). Obviamente, el trabajo sería por amor al arte y todo, así que me lo estoy pensando porque si apenas y traduzco Oshin, siendo que por ella me pagan, ¿cómo voy a ponerme a traducir mangas por amor al arte? Pero, por otro lado, la experiencia seguro que me serviría para postular a trabajos como el con la editorial española (deudores... ¬¬) y con esta otra editorial gringa a la que pretendo postular. Formar parte de un grupo de scanlators aficionados serviría mucho como experiencia laboral, aunque fuera gratis... Pero no sé si tengo el ánimo para sacrificar tiempo de sueño o de entretención (o de ver cosas para escribir para Mangas.es) por la experiencia. Así que me lo voy a pensar, voy a revisar su sitio y veré... A lo mejor puedo probar y ver qué tal ando. Puede que no todos los mangas sean tan difíciles y lentos de traducir como Carisma. :p

Ahora que mencioné Carisma (manga asquerosito donde los haya...), me acordé de la razón por la que inicialmente mencioné los mangas one-shot. Y es que anoche, feliz de la vida, me encontré con un one-shot de Kaori Yuki, la autora de uno de mis mangas favoritos de todos los tiempos: Angel Sanctuary. Sin pensármelo mucho, dado que era de ella, lo bajé y me propuse leerlo para escribir sobre él. El manga se llamaba Boy's Next Door (Shounen Zanzou) y resultó que era yaoi. -_-' Pero eso no fue lo peor. Lo peor es que no sólo era yaoi, sino que la historia trata sobre un tipo que, durante el día, es profesor de primaria pero, durante la noche, se transforma en un psicópata que se dedica a buscar a jovencitos prostitutos (sí, hombres que practican la prostitución) para, después de acostarse con ellos, asesinarles.... x_x

Como podrán imaginarse, el manguita ese me dejó medio plop. Y más plop todavía quedé cuando fui a mirar la página de donde lo bajé y los comentarios de otros lectores eran estilo "¡Waaa, genial! Este manga es maravilloso" o "Uno de los mejores mangas que he leido nunca"... @_@ Como Os.Y. diría: 何や、そりゃ！？（← qué me gusta esa frase y el kansai-ben en general... ^^  Me imagino a Ki.Hi.-san diciéndolo~). ¿Cómo puede ser ESO uno de "los mejores mangas" que nadie ha leido? x_x La dura que no sé, pero yo quedé medio turulata después de leer el manga y eso que ni siquiera es especialmente gráfico (por suerte, que sino... x_x). Y lo seguí leyendo sólo porque ya era tarde y quería escribir un artículo antes de acostarme y porque perdería mucho tiempo buscando otro manga que leer o algo que ver. :p Pero, pero, ¡pero! ¿Por qué yaoooi? Y más encima yaoi turbio... -_-'

En fin... Ahora pretendo ver "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu", una serie divertida y más bien tiernucha, después de tomar once con M.. Se supone que ya mañana S. volverá a existir un poco (se supone) así que tendré menos tiempo para ver cosas y por eso mismo no valia la pena empezar una serie más larga. Además, esa serie es entretenida y la vi con tan mala calidad la otra vez, que ahora será agradable verla bonita, incluso aunque tenga que verla en el PC (aunque espero que no... Es en avi así que el DVD debería verla :P).

Hablando de ternura, empecé a leer "Dónde estás, Constanza" de José Luis Rosasco, un autor que escribe historias más bien románticas, que no terminan necesariamente en sexo y perversiones, sino que exploran un poco más el lado tierno, idealista del asunto. Algo así como "Gracia y el forastero", pero no igual. ^^

Es bueno ver/leer esas cosas más bien tiernuchas, románticas, no sórdidas y sexuales y pervertidas... Como cuando vi Lovely Complex (vs. Speed Grapher... -_-) o como estos mismos libros que menciono. :) Como que dejan imágenes más bonitas en la mente, sensaciones más agradables en el corazón y entretienen tanto o más que las leseras gráficas, sórdidas y crudas que están tan de moda. :p

Lo que sí, he concluido que tengo que ampliar mi repertorio de ese tipo de material, tanto en manga como anime y libros, así que si tienen sugerencias de cosas romanticonas, medio dramáticas pero bonitas, bienvenidas son. ^_~

En fin. Me dolieron los brazos de escribir, porque estoy en el sofá, con el notebook en la falda y no quedo en buena posición. Así que, me voy. Como diría Ya.Hi., adieu! :D

]]> http://cartoonmag.wordpress.com/?p=1445 Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:41:33 +0000 cartoonmag http://cartoonmag.pt-br.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/newsletter-paninicomics-del-100908/ Da Paninicomics ecco la newsletter del 10/09/'08: Complice l’edizione 2008 di Lucca Comics & Games, le uscite novembrine di Panini Comics sono un tripudio di eventi speciali. La newsletter di oggi riesce a malapena a raggruppare i principali eventi targati Marvel Italia!
STEVE ROGERS È MORTO MA… CAPITAN AMERICA VIVE ANCORA!
CHI È IL NUOVO CAPITAN AMERICA?
THOR N. 116
17x26, S., 96 pp., col. Euro 3,80 - Super-Speciale Capitan America! Un nuovo eroe a stelle e strisce raccoglie lo scudo di Cap e si erge a simbolo vivente della Nazione Americana! Una leggenda rinasce! Di Brubaker/Epting con la partecipazione di Alex Ross! La gang di super-criminali di Hood porta la battaglia dritta davanti alla porta dei Nuovi Vendicatori! Una doppia avventura by B.M. Bendis e C. Pagulayan.

ULTIMATES, LA TERZA STAGIONE BY JEPH LOEB & JOE MADUREIRA!
L’INIZIO DELLA FINE DELL’ULTIMATE UNIVERSE COME LO CONOSCETE!
ULTIMATES N. 37
17x26, S., 52 pp., col. Euro 2,80 - Arrivano gli Ultimates di Joe Madureira e Jeph Loeb! Eccovi il primo episodio della serie che è arrivata al top delle vendite negli Stati Uniti, con protagonisti Thor, Iron Man, Capitan America, Wasp, Quicksilver e i nuovi arrivi Pantera Nera e Valchiria. In appendice, la prima parte di “Ultimate Human”, di Warren Ellis e Cary Nord (“Conan”), che “mette insieme” Iron Man e Hulk.

IL GRAN FINALE DELLA X-SAGA CHE CAMBIERÀ DEFINITIVAMENTE IL VOLTO DEL MONDO MUTANTE!
GLI INCREDIBILI X-MEN N. 221
MESSIAH COMPLEX – CAPITOLO 5 (DI 6): 17x26, S., 80 pp., col. Euro 3,30 - Penultimo atto dell’eccitante X-maxisaga autunnale, e la situazione precipita in due episodi realizzati da Ed Brubaker, Mike Carey, Billy Tan & Chris Bachalo, con una girandola di colpi di scena, tradimenti e viaggi nel futuro che mettono a dura prova gli X-Men. In appendice: un racconto realizzato dall’italianissimo Marco Turini.
X-MEN DELUXE N. 164: MESSIAH COMPLEX – CAPITOLO 6 (DI 6)
17x26, B., 112 pp., col. Euro 4,00 - Ecco infine la cataclismatica conclusione della X-maxisaga autunnale, ricca di scontri all’ultimo sangue fra le varie fazioni in lotta per ottenere il possesso o la morte del cosiddetto Messia mutante. Colpi di scena a non finire, fino all’ultimissima pagina di una X-saga che cambierà definitivamente il volto del mondo mutante Marvel.

ARRIVANO I FANTASTICI QUATTRO BY MARK MILLAR & BRYAN HITCH!
LA TERRA È CONDANNATA!
FANTASTICI QUATTRO N. 290
17x26, S., 80 pp., col. Euro 3,30 - Salgono a bordo della testata fantastica due icone della scena fumettistica mondiale: Mark Millar & Brian Hitch! Il duo britannico tenterà di rinverdire i fasti della spettacolare epopea del Quartetto, esplorando dimensioni spaziali e microcosmi umani. Nuovo flirt per Ben, tendenze rock per Johnny e guai sentimentali per Sue, incalzata dall’avvenente Alyssa Moy, ex fiamma di Reed. Nuovo esordio anche per un eroe leggendario della Casa delle idee: il primo, originale Capitan Mavel! Attenzione: questo è il prologo a Secret Invasion, il mega evento Marvel Italia del 2009. Prodotto dal dream team di Brian Reed & Lee Weeks!
SPECIALE LUCCA COMICS 2008 : JOHN ROMITA JR. OSPITE ALLO STAND PANINI COMICS!
JOHN ROMITA JR. SPECIAL
17x26, B., 112 pp., col. Euro 12,00 - Per festeggiare trent’anni di eccezionale carriera ecco un volume che i fan di John Romita Jr. non possono di certo perdersi. Nonostante un’eredità molto ingombrante, quella del padre John Romita Sr., JR JR ha dimostrato negli anni di possedere talento da vendere, una spiccata vena creatività e la necessaria dedizione per diventare un artista di successo. Nelle pagine di questo speciale troverete una cronologia completa della sua carriera dal 1977 ai giorni nostri, una galleria di sketch inediti, interviste all’autore (una fresca fresca rilasciata al nostro Max Brighel), testimonianze di molti altri professionisti del fumetto e, last but not least, la sua prima storia Marvel – apparsa su “Amazing Spider-Man Annual 11” – e l’inedita in Italia, “The Last Fantasic Four Story” scritta da Stan Lee! Il modo migliore per festeggiare un grande del Comicdom.

SPECIALE LUCCA COMICS 2008: COPERTINA VARIANT BY JOHN ROMITA JR. REALIZZATA IN ESCLUSIVA PER PANINI COMICS!
SPIDER-MAN N. 497 JOHN ROMITA JR. VARIANT COVER
17x26, S., 80 pp., col. Euro 3,00 - Spidey salva il Dr. Rabin da dei misteriosi guerrieri Maya durante la tempesta di neve del secolo, solo per scoprire che il loro scopo era quello di impedire allo studioso di proseguire le sue ricerche… e per trovarsi faccia a faccia con la Divinità Maya responsabile dell’ondata di gelo! By Zeb Wells & Chris Bachalo.

MARVEL/TOP COW 2008: UNHOLY UNION & CYBERFORCE/X-MEN
17x26, S., 48 pp., col. Euro 3,30 - Durante un viaggio in Giappone, i membri di Cyberforce Ripclaw e Cyblade si ritrovano a dover fronteggiare le Sentinelle! Solo con l’aiuto di Wolverine e Psylocke hanno una chance di sopravvivere agli implacabili robot sterminatori dei mutanti. In “Unholy Union” invece assistiamo a uno dei momenti cardine per l’universo Top Cow: lo scontro fra le forze della luce, l’Angelus, e quelle della tenebra, Darkness. Un faccia a faccia così pericoloso da turbare anche lo stregone supremo dell’universo Marvel, il Doctor Strange, e lo spirito della vendetta Ghost Rider. Aggiungiamo anche una devastante apparizione di Hulk fra le strade di New York con ben due incarnazioni di Witchblade a tentare di fermarlo… Un prequel per la saga di Witchblade “First Born”, presto raccolta in un 100% Cult Comics. Di Ron Marz & Pat Lee e di Ron Marz & Michael Broussard.

MARVELS - EDIZIONE DELUXE
21x31, C., 400 pp., col., con sovraccoperta Euro 39,00 - Un volume in formato gigante assolutamente imperdibile!I supereroi Marvel visti dal basso, dal marciapiede, dagli occhi sbarrati dei cittadini di New York. L’Uomo Ragno, Capitan America, i Fantastici Quattro visti dall’altra faccia della medaglia, attraverso la macchina fotografica di un reporter che assiste all’alba di una nuova era. L’era degli eroi. Marvels, il capolavoro a fumetti di Kurt Busiek e Alex Ross torna finalmente in una nuovissima versione lussuosa e di grande formato, con oltre 200 pagine di approfondimenti, illustrazioni, interviste e contenuti inediti. Tutti gli script di Kurt Busiek e decine di illustrazioni a colori di Alex Ross.

Prima di lasciarvi alle sublimi novità di domani, vi segnalo alcuni slittamenti dell'ultimo minuto. Manga Storie Nuova Serie: Naruto Fan Book BLACK - IL MONDO DI NARUTO (uscita prevista il 25/09), ha posticipato l’uscita al 16 Ottobre. IL CAMPO DELL'ARCOBALENO e TOKYO STYLE 3 passano invece dall'11 al 18 settembre.
Non mi resta che ricordarvi l'appuntamento online con il 2.0 di www.paninicomics.it. Dal 15 settembre… webye!

Mun@
Editor Online

IL MUST DELLA SETTIMANA:
THE BOYS - 100% CULT COMICS 1
In fumetteria. 17x26, B., 128 pp., col., € 13.00 - In un mondo dove i super eroi non sono (solo) paladini della legge, ma sono corrotti e abbietti tanto quanto i criminali che combattono, qualcuno deve controllare che non esagerino. E qualcuno lo fa. Sono i Boys, un gruppo di individui estremamente pericolosi che “vigilano sui vigilantes” per conto della CIA. Alcuni devono essere ammoniti, alcuni messi in riga. Per altri invece la soluzione deve essere permanente, e magari molto dolorosa… Ed è qui che entrano in gioco i Boys. Dalla penna caustica di una delle super star del fumetto anglosassone Garth Ennis e dalla matita di Darick Robertson, un approccio completamente differente al fumetto supereroistico all’insegna dell’iper-violenza, dell’ironia e delle citazioni filmiche. Una delle novità 2008 più elettrizzanti targate Panini Comics.
LE USCITE DELLA SETTIMANA:

Marvel Italia
IRON MAN E I POTENTI VENDICATORI 6
SPIDER-MAN 493
ULTIMATE X-MEN 47
ULTIMATES 36
X-MEN 219

Panini Comics
RAT-MAN COLLECTION 68
SPAWN 104
In fumetteria
CONAN 100% 3 CULT COMICS - RISTAMPA
THE BOYS - 100% CULT COMICS 1

Planet Manga
ANGEL SANCTUARY MANGA GOLD 5
BLEACH 29
In fumetteria
ANGEL SANCTUARY MANGA GOLD DELUXE 5
HIKARU NO GO 19
I CAVALIERI DELLO ZODIACO EPISODE G RISTAMPA 1
KEKKAISHI 9
KEN IL GUERRIERO LE ORIGINI DEL MITO 36
NANA COLLECTION 15

Panini Video
SAMURAI CHAMPLOO DVD 6

Let's see if I've got this: God wanted the power of Adam Kadamon for himself, so he extracted Adam Kadamon's powers and split them in two, Alexiel and Rosiel.  Then he sealed Adam Kadamon away and made her the mother of all angels.  By being born, all angels were committing sin since the way God had this set up, they had to consume the energy of the mother in order to be born.  God created Rosiel horribly ugly and as an inert lump of flesh.  Alexiel, wanting to save her brother, agreed with God that it would be done if she imprisoned herself in Eden.  One of the conditions was that she had to pretend to be at the most indifferent to Rosiel, and at the best say to hate him outright.  Alexiel agreed to this, and Rosiel's hatred for everything grew and grew since God himself told him he had an ugly body that only he could love, plus all his servants told him all the time he was horrible-looking.  Rosiel couldn't approach the Garden of Eden where Alexiel was kept since all the servants were being driven mad by the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Alexiel was said to be a sinner because she was eating the fruit, and the last straw for Rosiel was when Alexiel wouldn't agree to kill him with her own hand, since she was following God's plan to show him no love or compassion.  Alexiel escaped with Lucifer when he tried to defile her, and she began trying to overthrow the cruel God she knew and gather the forces in hell, which is where she met Kurai.  The rebellion in heaven failed, she was tried and branded as a fallen angel, and her punishment was that her soul was to be reincarnated as a human... yadda yadda.  Rosiel was raised to basically be hated, because he was the Angel of Destruction, and in God's plan, when he slayed the one he loved with his own hand, Rosiel would wipe out creation.  I can't remember why it was that Rosiel had to be... freed or resurrected or whatever by Katan, but I'm pretty sure that was explained early on.  Rosiel's evil comes from the fact that he was made by God to hate himself.  He wanted to go to Etenamenki to get the tablet not for any reason of power, but because he wanted to feel God's love again.  Also, Alexiel didn't actually love God.  She only said that at the trial so that Rosiel would never find out about what God really thought of him and what God had been doing to her for her love of Rosiel.

I couldn't tell you where Metatron and Sandalphon figured into this ending.  All I know is that I'm pretty sure that Metatron's name got translated as Megaton in the sidebar at one point.  Huh.

God wound up being the true villain of the series.  There was a brief scuffle with Rosiel where Alexiel was briefly awake in her own body, and then Setsuna scored some more wings and flew off to fight God.  It wound up being Lucifer and the Savior v. God.  Apparently the tablet everyone was trying to get wasn't a tablet at all, and sealing up Adam Kadamon was the only way to... stop it.  Adam Kadamon was in no shape to do anyone any harm or good, though.  She was torn into pieces (she must've been a huge lady) and used by God for various purposes.

While the ending is terribly romantic, it's a few steps shy of being the kind of romance that tugs at your heart.  I think this is probably because there was too much other stuff going on to fully exploit the emotional potential of the romance between Sara and Setsuna, but that final scene still feels great, and it was still one of the most romantic series I've read.  Setsuna and Sara make a great pair, but there are some other really good pairs too: Lailah and Nidhogg, Belial and Lucifer, Rosiel and Katan, some lesser pairs in Uriel and Doll and Raphael and Barbiel, and even some non-romantic relationships like Michael and Lucifer, Michael and Raphael, Zaphikel and Raziel, Sara and Lil, and Kurai and Setsuna... the character relationships were all amazing in this series.  I just wish there had been less of them.  Seriously.

I still marvel at the complexity of the plot and the amazing detail of the world that Yuki created from scratch.  It's insanely hard to get into, and there's a lot of unnecessary stuff going on, but it's very, very rewarding, and I can see how this could be regarded as a shoujo classic.  The awesome art doesn't hurt, either.  The cover to volume 20 is still my favorite piece of color art from the series, I fell in love with it when I saw it years ago.

Yuki writes some really bizarrely addictive sidebars.  I started skipping this feature in a lot of series I read (this is mostly thanks to Arina Tanemura, who writes some of the most inane stuff in them), but Yuki sometimes volunteers interesting information about the creative process, how fan input affected the series, and how she felt about drawing some scenes.  One of them made me laugh in this volume, it was something like "Oh, fans of so-and-so weren't happy with this scene, I hated drawing it too, I think severed heads are creepy.  On a tangent, my birthday was in December and someone gave me a cool hat!"

Because they've never been translated into English, I've never played the first two Shin Megami Tensei games for SNES or the two original Megaten games for NES.  However, I sort of wonder if Yuki is a fan of the SMT series, and she does mention playing Persona, a spinoff game, but this crossed my mind in the very beginning of the series and here at the very end.  A common element in the early Megaten games was that demons were summoned and people were controlled by computer games, much like the computer program in Angel Sanctuary (though most of the controlling is done in AS and most of the demon summoning is done in SMT).  Also, were Angel Sanctuary a MegaTen game, Setsuna would be a "neutral' alignment path, where he doesn't side with angels or demons, but decides to go against anyone who opposes him.  In Shin Megami Tensei II, if I understand correctly, God is some sort of evil overlord character who has humanity bowing to his every whim, and the main character has to kill him in the end.  The similarities begin and end there other than MegaTen games also often have somewhat complex and convoluted plots with about a million characters, angels and demons, that appear (though usually as summon monsters).  Sometimes they have Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Lucifer, Uriel, Angel, Archangel, Power, Virtue, Throne, Principality, and Dominion in them.  Angel Sanctuary is definitely not a ripoff or anything, and neither the world or characters resembles any MegaTen game I've ever played, but I wonder if part of the inspiration for the series lies there.  And now you know I'm a big video game geek, too.

Reading it in one go like this was definitely the way to do it, because there's no way I would have remembered all the characters had I read this bimonthly.  I'm so glad I read it.  Ridiculosly romantic and melodramatic, just the way I like it, it is certainly a fantastic girl's comic.

We've seen a few shots of Alexiel sitting in a chair naked up to now, but here we learn this is because she was being kept prisoner there in Etenamenki, in the Garden of Eden.  The Garden had the Tree of Knowledge, which sealed her powers away so she couldn't use them.  She was also forced (?) to dine on the fruit of the tree, which was nourished by a piece of the flesh of Adam Kadamon, her mother.  Thus, not only was she committing the sin of eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, she was also consuming her own mother's flesh.  But she was being forced to do this?  Anyone else forced to eat the fruit is driven mad, and apparently this happens frequently around her.  When she is forced to mercy kill these people, she is again called a callous monster.  Lucifer busts in on her one day to sully her and make God hate him, but he sees how good Alexiel actually is.

Okay.  So Alexiel lives for the fight, and apparently has no other feelings besides a love of battle and slaying demons.  No other feelings, that is, except a love for God, mentioned some time ago.  She was the more beautiful of the pair of twins, and it's revealed that Rosiel was actually born the polar opposite of her, an old, wrinkled lump of flesh, and he only looks beautiful because he's taken flesh from Alexiel's body, which regenerates instantly on her anyway and serves to make him look more beautiful.  Everyone, including Alexiel, rejected Rosiel, except God.  Rosiel was beloved by God.  And God rejected Alexiel despite the fact she was the daughter of Adam Kadamon and loved him.  So... she was imprisoned in Eden BECAUSE she loved God?  It wasn't revealed how she escaped, nor what the fight between Rosiel and she involving the Nanatsusaya explained yet, though I get the feeling it wasn't a fight born of hatred.  This is driving me crazy, because the entire plot in this volume, and really, the whole series, revolves around these questions.  I think I've got it straight, and hopefully the last volume will firm things up and answer some of the questions about the more... ambiguous aspects.

There is a fight between Lucifer and Setsuna.  It wasn't as spectacular as I would have hoped.  I thought for a moment Lucifer slayed Setsuna outright due to the fact Alexiel's powers were restricted in the Garden... but stuff happens.  Alexiel takes over Setsuna's consciousness briefly during the fight.  This is something I thought would happen before now, and I was actually expecting the two to merge body and soul at some point.  Alexiel explains this hasn't happened because Setsuna has more feelings than she ever could as the Organic Angel who loves fighting and violence.  I don't know.

Okay, so Raphael wasn't actually in Etenamenki with the others, so they were missing two of the Elemental Angels.  Now they're only missing one.  Part of me wonders if Raphael will make it, but the other part knows that nobody ever dies, and he's not in any immediate danger.  Maybe something awesome will happen though, and Belial will come from nowhere and lop his hed off or something.

In any case, I don't think this will be a very happy ending.

One of the things that bugs me a bit is the way that some of the names change throughout the course of the series.  Little things.  Very early on, "Seven-Bladed Sword" became Nanatsusaya, which isn't so bad.  Maybe they decided to change that because it could be said that the sword has a name instead of just calling it what it is.  But Riru was called Lil at first, and that one changed from volume 12 to 13.  Barbello (which may have been spelled with only one "l", but feels like there should be two) comes back in this volume as Barubelo.  There's even some weird stuff in the author notes, like Kaori Yuki referring to herself as a guy at one point, causing me to scour the internet for the one photo of her I know exists to confirm that she was, in fact, female.  On the first page of one of the earlier volumes, the homophone "thrown" is used instead of "throne," which I thought was hilarious.  I don't mind the occasional typo, and the homophone is actually kind of funny, but I mind names changing.  In the case of Barbello, her name was only mentioned once or twice, mostly in the author's notes, but still.  It's sloppy.  Not that I should be criticizing proofreading of any kind.

Kato gets yet another death scene.  I've lamented his loss one too many times.  With two volumes left to go, it's unlikely he'll be back, but... still.  He'll have to prove he's actually dead first.

Kurai and Mad Hatter come back, along with what I assume is hell's role in all this.  The "enemy of my enemy" theory that Setsuna had didn't quite work out, but other than Barbello, it looks like they're content to stay out of at least Setsuna and the elemental's way.  Mad Hatter actually turned out to be an awesome character.  Well, she was an awesome character anyway, but she's sort of unpredictable, and evil, and has her alliances, which is why I like her so much.  She likes Lucifer and she likes Kurai and seems to hate the other six satans, but she just can't help but be evil.  She's the enemy of your enemy, but she's not your friend.  I was a bit disappoined there wasn't more of a confrontation between Belial and Raphael, since Belial had been a sort of catalyst in Raphael's past.  Oh well.  I hope she's somehow involved in the final confrontation, too.

What else...?  Rosiel is still off being evil.  I can't figure out what it is he's trying to accomplish now that he's taken care of Sandalphon, but it involves getting some sort of holy tablet locked away in heaven.  Maybe I misunderstood, but for awhile it was suggested you needed elementals along with the organic and inorganic angels to open the gate to the highest heaven?  Here, the gates open only with a ritual performed by the twelve zodiac angels... and really, Lucifer just does it himself to let Rosiel in, who is now in terrible shape.  Organic angel Alexiel's body is brought in, and the savior follows, provided he is still the soul of Alexiel, but only three of the four elemental angels follow Lucifer through the gate.  Unless they accidentally brought Gabriel or Sara through the gate with them, I don't know that it's happening.  Of course, maybe Sara is linked somehow with Sandalphon, who's now linked with Rosiel.  I don't know.

Anyway, I think Rosiel wants to erase and recreate the world with the power of God and/or Adam Kadamon, and that's why he's going after the tablet?  Absorbing Sandalphon gives him the power to conquer anyone who stands in his way to do this?  And the others are trying to stop him so he doesn't erase and recreate everything?  Plus they're trying to free God and/or Adam Kadamon to try and purge all the corruption that's ruining heaven at the moment so angels can love again?  I think that's what these last two volumes are about?  It could also be about Setsuna trying to get Sandalphon to give Sara her soul back, and it could also be about Michael trying to defeat Lucifer, and it could also be about the angel resistance trying to free the angels from harsh restrictions placed on them by the mouldering high council.  It could also be about Setsuna and Sara finally hooking up.  It's something like that.

The next bits should have a lot of action.  I'm not sure how cleanly everything will wind down, but I'm looking forward to some messy, ambiguous battle sequences.

Metalphon's story is probably the most interesting thing that happens in this volume.  I still can't figure out Rosiel's deal, because he seems to be stopping people from doing what they'd normally do, even though his goals seem to run parallel to theirs.  He tortures Sandalphon though, and sort of riles him up to get him good and mad before he tries to attack Sara.  He winds up fighting with Setsuna and being driven away after... I don't know, I don't think he actually got what he wanted, but he did claim Sara, I suppose.  Then he almost gets killed, and then Rosiel just taunts him more.  It's not too clear what Rosiel actually wants from him, other than to make him mad.  Is Metalphon the key to unlock the door to God?  I don't think he is.  I'm pretty sure all you need are the four elemental angels as well as the organic and inorganic angels.

There's a lot of Raphael in this volume, and he picks a fight with Sara, then leaves her, then picks a fight with Setsuna, then Michael picks a fight with him.  I couldn't figure out why he'd turned into such a disagreeable character, but apparently this is how love changes you.  And I thought he loved Barbiel.  He may be back to normal as of the end of this volume.  I really like the relationship between him and Michael.

Anything else important happen?  I think things are sort of tapering off towards this point where Rosiel tricks everyone into helping him open the gate to the highest level of heaven.  God and Adam Kadamon are supposedly hidden off there.  I'm not sure what part Metatron and Sandalphon will play in this, but Sandalphon is a really horrible creature, so I assume he'll be sent out to mess with people again, or at the very least Sara.

More importantly, Sevothtarte is finally taken care of.  I was so bummed by his ending.  He certainly got his comeuppance, but none of the characters got to take out their grievances, and his actual end, while quite beautiful, made you feel bad for him.  It also sort of pushed all the blame off Sevothtarte for his actions, and I'm not very fond of being forced to forgive evil characters because of their rotten upbringing.  I can't believe such an awesome villain went out like that.

Metatron and Sandalphon are a looming threat.  What's more dangerous, Rosiel or Metalphon?  Rosiel is certainly more evil, I think, but Metalphon poses a more immediate threat to Sara.  Here's hoping Raphael's up for a good fight.

Because characters really, REALLY can't stay dead in this series, we get two resurrections of characters who were certainly dead and the reapperance of a character who was only lost.  The lost character is someone who just... you know, shouldn't have been in more than one volume, but I've grown to like him a lot despite the fact I can't separate them from minor character status.  The reappearance is pretty awesome and a good save, so I didn't mind too much.  The other character goes hand in hand with this one.  The fact that he's back is one thing, but the fact that he sides with Rosiel is just bullshit.  What happened to all that other stuff, like everyone loving Setsuna et al?  And how do you control someone who's so powerful because you happen to hold a stone?  Huh?

What is there to look forward to now?  Everything looks pretty grim, and there's two different armies bearing down on the good guys.  I guess we can look forward to Setsuna awakening his actual power and healing that which he's lost?  He hasn't been able to use any of his powers since his fight with Rosiel that crammed Heaven and Hell together, so it's been sort of hard to watch him.  Rosiel says there's a chance for him to get his power back, so here's hoping.

So of course we're watching Sara's trial all the way through this volume.  Sevothtarte is in rare form, and he's basically sent Michael away and made sure that Raphael is blackmailed and forced away from the trial.  With Uriel gone, that takes care of the other three elemental angels.  Before the trial, Sara is given something to make it so she can't speak, so basically Sevothtarte is able to accuse her of anything he wants, and that's it.  Oh, also?  He's judging the trial.  Of course Uriel is nowhere to be found, and the person that's supposed to take his place is conveniently ill.  This is Sevothtarte's show, and it is a mighty evil one.

Rosiel's around, and despite the fact Michael and Setsuna team up after a brief scuffle at the beginning, Rosiel keeps Setsuna from appearing.  That doesn't stop everything else from happening, and he's basically allowed just enough to happen so that Sevothtarte is disgraced in front of the entire Heavenly Host.  Barbiel has a job to do, Raphael has something he wants to say, somehow Uriel can speak now, and even Sara has a few well-placed verbal jabs for Sevothtarte.  Setsuna takes a rather extreme and permanent action in order to make it to the trial with Michael, too.  The final scene is the beginning of the face-off between him and Sevothtarte, and I'm ready.

Other things are happening while Sevothtarte is occupied.  Remember our friend Metatron and how he's supposedly the most powerful angel in heaven?  Well, he's not been taking whatever it was that Sevothtarte has been giving him, and now Sandalphon's out helping him.  They unlock what appears to be some sort of apocalyptic beast, and I'm ready to see what that does, too.

Remember how I said back when Nidhogg asked Setsuna to find his girlfriend that I didn't have much hope for her after what happened to Tialiel?  Yeah.  That was Lailah.  Her random significance in this story is of a Lucy Monostone level of ridiculousness.

So, five volumes and what has to be wrapped up?  Well, I figure Setsuna will mop the floor with Sevothtarte next time, but whatever it is that Sandalphon and Metatron have done, it will take all four elemental angels and the two angels with the key to God/Adam Kadamon to stop it.  I figure Setsuna will still have to fight Rosiel at some point too.  Also, some resolution to the whole God and Adam Kadamon thing that's been hanging over the entire series.  Also, also, Hell, like I said before.  Totally unresolved.  Mad Hatter hasn't appeared in forever, and what's an ending to this series without the Mad Hatter?

Hm.  I'm a bit sad that Zaphikel isn't sticking around, but I'm glad everything was soeted out in the end and Raziel is back around.  Plus, bonus massive destruction to the prison.  That's never a bad thing.

There is also an abrupt fight between Rosiel and Setsuna.  So abrupt, actually, that I didn't understand what was going on at first and was flipping through the book so I could see if maybe the pages were out of sequence.  I had to read the few pages before it a number of times before I finally had the sequence of events straight in my head.  One of the problems is that Setsuna shows up and Rosiel is already randomly there with everything destroyed.  The other problem is that he's holding the head of one of the main characters, and it was just one of those things I didn't believe because certainly that person earned themselves a death scene.

The fight itself is actually sort of one-sided and disappointing.  I know this fight will happen, eventually, and it will be spectacular, but this was not the time.  Rosiel actually mutilates Setsuna quite a bit.  It was a shame, because Setsuna has one of his three wings torn off, and that was a design choice I liked quite a bit.  He's mutilated in other, more immediately visible ways, too.

Michael watches the fight, and afterwards captures Setsuna in the aftermath because... he laid eyes on Kira, basically.  I was disappointed by the link between Michael and Kira, actually.  Reference is made to the relationship way earlier in the series, but Kaori Yuki sort of blows it off in the margins, saying everyone should already know who this relation of Michael's is.  After being shamed by this, I looked this information up.  It certainly wasn't Kira.  I don't mind the backstory the info triggered though, and I certainly don't mind seeing more of Michael.  Like I said, I like all four of the elemental angels a lot.

Raphael, also among their number, is going to break my heart in a bit, I think.  I hope not.  Someone needs to do something about Sevothtarte right now, though, or very bad things will happen.  He's still my favorite character, I think, for being the most perfect evil you could possibly hope for, but I just love to hate him.  Somewhat related, Rosiel keeps making mention of taking him out, but at the same time, Rosiel helps him out a lot and does a lot of the same things Sevothtarte is working towards.  It... doesn't exactly seem like he's working at some sort of cross purpose to me.  Of course, Rosiel is also very insane, so his ends may not come clear for some time.

But yes, get better Setsuna, and someone needs to stop Raphael before his hand is forced.

First, Sevothtarte.  Sevothtarte, Sevothtarte, Sevothtarte.  He may be my favorite character in the series because he's so good at what he does, which is basically being evil.  I called him names last time, but that's only because he's so good at what he does.  His background comes through here, and I was kind of disappointed because it's so far out of left field.  But when I say "disappointed," I just mean that it wasn't something I could have predicted.  I don't think anybody would have predicted that.  I was hoping that he'd be in this volume, too, because he was on the cover.  I can almost never tell who's on the covers of the volumes because they're so stylized (I didn't realize the last volume was Sara until about 3/4 of the way through the volume), but even with monster bits looming out around him and most of his face covered, I could still tell it was Sevothtarte.

I shouldn't be surprised by the fact Zephikel reappears, because that's just what happens to characters in his situation, but he's subject to some BRUTAL torture.  With that last scene, I couldn't tell if he was faking it or was actually insane.  I didn't actually think he'd had his wings clipped, and I still suspect that may not be the case.  Of course, Raziel sensed he was insane, so maybe he actually was and Raziel brought him out of it?  Zephikel as a raving, homicidal lunatic was really a high point in the series though.  Bonus points for the Head Thrones v. Head Principalities being won in the way it was.

Poor Raziel.  I felt so bad for him at the beginning of the volume.  I just wanted him and Setsuna to make up, but he went kind of berserk.  I don't blame him.  I liked the sulk Setsuna went into at the beginning of the volume.  Raziel putting him in his place is what he needed, but I was surprised to see Setsuna thought he was being arrogan because he was the savior.  I... don't think being the savior had much bearing on what Setsuna does, it seems like everything he does is just part of him.  But he still sulks at the beginning, and it's good for him.  Plus, it makes for a really funny scene between him, Kira, and Kato.

Also funny is the interaction between Kato and the Angel of Invention, Ra... Riuet?  I guess?  Can't tell if he's going to stick around or not.

The scene between Sevothtarte and Zaphikel was probably my favorite in the volume.  It was even better than the Sara/Setsuna reunion last time, but probably only because Sevothtarte is psychotic and at that point you have no idea what he's going on and on about.  Knowing his identity still doesn't really explain what it is that he's raving about (did he love Zaphikel... er, in a past life?), but it's still a great scene.

Oh yes.  It's all about Sevothtarte now.  Sevothtarte and Zaphikel, and I desperately need to see how Zephikel was affected by all this.

Remember what I said about Zephikel last volume, that I liked him a lot but just didn't talk about him much?  Well, maybe I should have talked about him a little more.  He does something awesome and noble at the end of this volume that broke my heart a little, and it was after a grilling from Sara that had already broken my heart a little.  He's a pretty good character.

Sara and Setsuna!  Setsuna and Sara!  Finally! Finally! Finally!  I was teased the whole volume through.  They saw each other in dreams, then Sara caught a glimpse of Setsuna from far away, but then...!  And then they're interrupted, because Sevothtarte is a dick.  But that was my payoff for this volume.  I'm unclear as to whether I'm going to get more next time or not since I'm not clear on who is where in the final scene, and what happened other than... yeah.  The one bad thing.  If I don't get more next volume, I'm going to blame Sara.  I thought it was weird that she could totally disregard the cute servant girl when it happened, but the fact that she felt bad about it RIGHT THEN and then felt like throwing away that cute little girl's sacrifice... well, that was unacceptable, Sara.

Also in this volume was some intense Setsuna-Sevothtarte interaction.  The two meet face to face, and Setsuna helps the cute servant girl where Sara has failed.  Setsuna tries to stop Sevothtarte from doing what he does, but Sevothtarte isn't the most powerful angel in heaven for nothing.  When Setsuna tries to use the Nanatsusaya, a horrible beast appears behind Sevothtarte and stops him.  Seriously, what the hell is up with Sevothtarte?  Later, Sevothtarte not only tortures and kills several people, he then decides to throw away the life of the savior.  Then he ate a baby.  Except he didn't so much eat it as he pulled out its brain and put it in a jar so he could experiment on its consciousness.  He's a great villain.

Rosiel reappears very briefly.  I almost forgot he existed.  He shows up and basically gives Sevothtarte all the information he needs to ruin absolutely everything for Sara, Setsuna, and Zephikel.  And here I thought Rosiel didn't like Sevothtarte.  Apparently they can agree on who to be a jerk to, though.  I can't remember, has the other shoe dropped?  Are we going to get another brother/sister romance between Rosiel and Alexiel?  That would make a great deal of sense in the context of the story, and also help explain why it was that Alexiel didn't kill Rosiel.

Setsuna also changes a bit again, as does Sara.  Setsuna's change is kind of funny, since Zephikel makes him do it so that he can run around heaven without being recognized.  Zephikel dresses him up in what looks like an elementary school uniform, dyes his hair, and gives him glasses.  Setsuna complains that he didn't even dye his hair for school.  Later, Zephikel dresses him up like a punk rocker, which I thought was pretty awesome, but Setsuna threw out that disguise pretty quickly.

Does anything else notable happen?  Mmm... not more notable than the stuff I mentioned, I think.  That poor servant girl sure did get the shaft, though.

Also, Kira.  His role.  HIS ROLE.  Was that necessary?  It is kind of cool, I'll have to admit, even though it doesn't totally make sense to me.  It'll be important later, I suppose.

The thing with Lucifer actually having hell inside him is pretty cool.  Lucifer makes hell liveable with his power, but after disappearing from hell, the bridal sacrifices are necessary to keep his power in check and not destroy everybody.  Apparently Lucifer is actually AWOL.  Even with what was revealed this volume, I'm not entirely convinced that my theory on Lucifer/Sevothtarte is incorrect.  I'm just waiting for that one person to be all people.

Raziel gets more of a role this time around.  I'm not sure what to think of Raziel, he's a faithful servant and wants to do the right thing, doesn't seem tainted with extreme evil like all the other angels in heaven.  He gets in trouble with Sevothtarte after he tries to do a little good for the angels in the lower levels of heaven when he wasn't supposed to (apparently Thrones are supposed to go down there and kill people periodically, particularly children born from illegal pairings between angels, and then bring the angels responsible for producing a child to justice).  Zephikel saves him from being executed by Sevothtarte, and it goes into a flashback as Zephikel shows his past to Raziel.  I don't talk about Zephikel very much, but he's in the story quite a bit.  I like him, but the reason I don't really talk about him is because I had no idea what his function in the story was until this volume.  It was clear he was plotting something, but given the fact that everyone else is also plotting something on their own behalf, I concerned myself mostly with what the more powerful angels were doing.  Zephikel is the head Thrones, but he's no match for Rosiel or Alexiel or Sevothtarte or the elemental angels or anything.

Zephikel's flashback was pretty brutal.  It explained what it is that he's trying to do, and it also showed how he got the scar on his neck, how it was that he actually lost his sight, and what his relationship to Sevothtarte is.  Anael, another head angel, was in the flashback, as was the character Nidhogg asked Setsuna to find earlier.  Maybe we'll get a story about her yet.  Zephikel was framed, though I'm not sure why the high council got ticked off at him other than the fact that he was doing too good a job killing the little angel kids... and possibly because he liked Anael?  There was no child there, but I guess it was still a sin.  The frameup he went through was pretty brutal, and it was clear it wasn't the old council members he was complaining about in the past that were responsible for it.  Anyway, the important thing is that Zephikel is a good guy, whatever that means, and Sevothtarte is not.  We already knew that about Sevothtarte, though.

What else... Setsuna gets his form back, but just barely.  The four elemental angels were... interrupted in the middle of the proceedure.  I guessed before the beginning of this volume who the character was that gave Metatron the power over dreams, but it's sort of an instance of... well, there really being only one character other than Gabriel and Sevothtarte that Metatron has spoke of.  Sandalphon is an evil little brat, too.  Zephikel is aware of Metatron's power, and he does his business where Metatron can't see him, but the four elemental angels are not so lucky and Sevothtarte busts them.

Zaphikel speaks to Setsuna to enlist his aid... and, of course, the only thing that can get Setsuna to act immediately is letting him know Sara is involved.  The two of them spoke briefly in this volume, and my heart nearly broke.  I like the pairing a lot, weird though it is, and I sincerely hope the two of them get a little more time together.  As it stands, I don't think Sara has much chance since she's fallen in the hands of Sevothtarte and he finds it most convenient to execute her.

It's kind of surprising that the actual villain of the series, or what it seems like at this point, is actually one that you wouldn't suspect of being evil.  Of course, in this universe of evil angels and persecuted demons, things are never what you expect them to be, I suppose.  Of course, candidates for top bad guy at this point are numerous, and may even include God himself even though he hasn't really been spoken of and hasn't appeared.

Uriel came back, which made me happy because he's my favorite of the four elemental angels.  Which says a lot because I really like Michael and Raphael.  He pulls a trump card and tricks all four of them into the same space.  When Kai comes back and goes against Kira's wishes (I liked Kira's reaction, I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks this stuff is insane), at first I was cursing Belial.  She mentioned her trump card again even after it was revealed, so I thought she had something else up her sleeve.  But I couldn't make the connection to what Kai said about his body being made out of plants.  I realized what had happened about a split second before it was revealed.  Very nice twist there.

Also, it WAS Mad Hatter that healed Kira last volume.  Kira goes to hell to find out what the deal is with him being able to sense stuff while Setsuna's there, and while he really doesn't have much of a role in this volume... the last panel tells me I'm in for a treat next time.

When Mad Hatter and Setsuna meet up, I like the game Hatter plays when she mentions both she and Setsuna should split up and look for Kurai in the realms of the other seven satans.  Hatter gets to Astoreth too late, but I loved that Setsuna and and Asmodeus teamed up.  Asmodeus was a pretty awesome character, and a better womanizer than Raphael if only because he was very, very evil.

Aww, Arachne.  I still don't like her very much.  Her backstory is revealed in this volume, and I liked what her (or really, his, since he doesn't actually want to be a woman) actual relationship to Kurai is, and I liked that Kurai's dad was so clever as to fool, like, EVERYBODY.  But Arachne's allegiances are so scrambled and messy that I have no idea what his motivation was.  I mean, I know what he wanted, but he knew it wasn't going to work, so why bother trying?  For revenge, I guess.

I also liked that the wedding ceremony was just a cover for the fact they were trying to keep Lucifer's power under wraps, and that despite this, it was still a formal affair in hell with all seven satans showing up along with a bunch of demons.  I did crack up when Asmodeus insulted Mammon's (the sin of greed) gold chest as tacky.

I also liked that Kaori Yuki explained that she swapped out the real demon of sloth for Astoreth because Belphegor was said to always be sitting on a toilet, and it just wasn't something she could see herself including in a shoujo manga.  She talks about bands a lot occasionally, but her author notes are better than most shoujo author notes.

But yes.  That last panel?  I'm dying to know what the real deal with Kira is now.

I was kind of right about Kurai, but I don't think things will work out as well as I had imagined.  Apparently Belial lied (of course he did, I believe he is the lord of lies), and Kurai didn't get what she wanted, and Lucifer winning a battle doesn't seem like it will help anybody out, if what the seven satans say is true.  Every being in hell thinks only of itself, so if hell won against the angels, that doesn't mean that everyone would be free.  That doesn't even mean that remotely.

Apparently I got my wish about Boyz, too.  I... wouldn't have wished that on him, but... yeah.  Noyz is still around, and apparently things will move from Gehenna to the lower levels of Hell now.  I don't mind Noyz so much as long as she's no longer possessed by a demon.

Kira was on his way out, and then was saved.  At first, I thought Rosiel did it, and even though I couldn't figure out why, it would make sense that Rosiel could since it's his blood keeping Kira around.  But... if the panels follow in sequence (which isn't necessarily true, things jump around a lot abruptly), it was... Belial?  Which doesn't make sense to me at all.  And for a second, I had this wild idea that Belial was the one who appears to Metatron.  I don't think that's the case, either, because there is absolutely nothing sane-looking about Belial, and the one who appears to Metatron looks at least a little serene.

Up in heaven, Sara's wandering around, and now she's with Raphael.  I'm not sure what Raphael wants with her, other than to annoy Sevothtarte.  He says he doesn't do anything that doesn't benefit him, so even keeping Sara away from Sevothtarte for her safety isn't something he would do.  He propositions her later, of course, because that's what he does, but I don't think that's why he kept her either.  Maybe he just wants to see what happens to her body?  It explained things better in that regard, too, because now I understand what they mean when they said Sara made up for the lack of Archangel.  I guess that's the same situation as Setsuna?  Except I'm under the impression Setsuna and Alexiel are separate souls.  Maybe that's not necessarily the case.  Yeah, because I don't think Setsuna and Alexiel's consciousnesses can exist apart.

Sara also has a run-in with Michael, which is very funny.  I like Michael a lot.  I like everything about him.  The fact that he randomly shows up and makes up with Raphael and brings him a whole bunch of random weird crap was good enough, but then he gets reamed by Sara, who he doesn't recognize.  Excellent.  I'm under the impression that next volume, things won't go so well between Sara and Michael, though.

Now that Sara's back in things, it's just killing me that her and Setsuna are being kept apart.  I know that's the whole point of the story, but now that she's back, it's like they're so close and yet so far.  Sara's campaigning in Heaven to bring Setsuna back so she can see him, but now Setsuna's off on this side quest in Hell to save Kurai.  Oh Kurai, if only your love weren't so cute and pure.

Aside from his very evil master plan, he does a bunch of other things that let us know he's just not the kind soul you'd expect one of the most powerful angels in heaven to be.  They bring up the fact he keeps his face hidden a few times, and after someone catches him in part of his plan, he... sticks them with a pin so that if they ever talk again, their head will explode.  That's kind of an awesome power.  His face will probably wind up being a huge plot point later, but something tells me that if we saw it now, we would either have no knowledge of who he was supposed to be, or it just wouldn't be that surprising.  I can appreciate a wait for this bit of knowledge, because I think it will be a really great twist when it comes.  Or he'll wind up being someone stupid, obvious, and impossible like Lucifer, which isn't totally out of the question at this point since Lucifer still hasn't been introduced and his silhouette has long hair.  They go through the connection between him and Jibreel, which is something I'd already sort of guessed.

Michael meets up with Setsuna, and because Michael just loves picking fights, they fight on Earth while time stands still.  Michael doesn't actually play fair or listen to reason, and he sends Setsuna into a berserker rampage.  Michael also doesn't figure out who Setsuna actually is for quite some time, which is sort of hilarious and made even more so when Setsuna calls him out on not recognizing him.  Setsuna also meets Raphael briefly, but since he's overcome with rage (Michael messes with Boyz a little) he can't ask what he needs and winds up still having to go to heaven.

I keep forgetting to mention Boyz and Noyz.  Yuki says that they were originally side characters that wouldn't appear ever again (she gives their names for the first time in the side bar, presumably because she didn't plan on using them in the story).  I like their designs a lot, but they have the unfortunate distinction of having the two stupidest names in the series.  I'm especially sorry that Boyz is the dominant of the pair.  I'd seen the names translated elsewhere as Voice and Noise, which are significantly better names, but I'll give Viz the benefit of the doubt and say that they used the names that Yuki picked out.

After being driven out of Gehenna by the evils last volume and having everyone but Boyz and Kurai lose faith in him, Setsuna gets welcomed back only when he begs them to save Boyz, and only then because the Dragon Gods interfere on his behalf.  A demon sent by Lucifer is responsible for turning everyone on him, and apparently the demon will stick around until he can get his old body back... which requires a trip to heaven.

Possibly.  Kurai is still struggling with her decision.  For a second, I thought her mind was made up not to do it, which would be kind of silly on her part.  But Mad Hatter shows up again and entices her further, and then further still.  The volume ends with a great scene where Kurai is trying to see definitively if there is a way for her to steal Setsuna's heart away from Sara.  Her story is sort of a sad one since Setsuna and Sara are fated lovers and all that, so I'm guessing she'll be making the decision in favor of setting Setsuna free at the cost of... well, her freedom, I guess.  We'll see how that goes.

Sara finally comes back, which is good because she's been sort of useless since, like, the third volume.  Metatron helps her, and Metatron only helps her because a mysterious character basically tells him to help her.  I thought this mysterious character was Setsuna, much like I thought Setsuna was on the cover of this volume, but I think the person on the cover and this person are the same, which means very little... other than they are a fallen angel that can appear to Metatron in dreams.  Sevothtarte definitely disapproves, and he looks like he wants to will people to explode or something after all is said and done.  They... sort of reveal why Alexiel's newest incarnation didn't have an Archangel watching over him, except it didn't make much sense to me... it's somehow because of Sara, but is it because Sara is actually a very powerful angel, or did her soul just wind up in that body?

I finished this and was really looking forward to the next volume, which is the first time that's happened so far.  The story's really starting to pick up, and with more and more of the pieces falling into place, the story is becoming easier to understand and easier to appreciate.  Kaori Yuki has definitely set things up to operate on a grand scale, and now that I'm this far in, I can see that the ambitious plot is finally starting to get going and pay off.

Setsuna comes back, and this time he's... different!  I was definitely expecting this, but it happened much sooner than I thought.  It's pointed out to him that the people around him only see Alexiel and not Setsuna Mudo, and for some reason, it was like a big revelation for him.  I mean, has anyone actually been calling him Setsuna all this time?  He's surrounded by people who gathered BECAUSE he's the reincarnation of Alexiel, for pete's sake.

He's handed some sort of subquest.  I have little faith in this diversion after what happened to Tialiel last time, but maybe something will come of it later.

The most important among the things that happen, other than Setsuna's transformation, is that Mad Hatter introduces himself to Setsuna and gives him secrets and... some sort of alliance?  He actually propositions Kurai too, and I'm not sure what Kurai has to think about.  I mean, she can't turn down what it is that Hatter offers.  It comes from higher up.  Or lower down, as the case may be.  I like Hatter a lot since she is sufficiently insane and very, very evil.  Kaori Yuki did it again though... dammit, stop fooling me with the genders.  Hatter points out that none of that matters though, and she's got a point.

Michael and Raphael are finally introduced.  They're about what I expected given the descriptions of them we were given.  I liked Michael a lot.  It's interesting to see where their allegiances lie in the heaven power struggle though.  That situation is still kind of messy in my mind, though, and I think it's necessary to see what Sevothtarte has in mind before everything comes clear.

Adam Kadamon saved the day though, and spelled out the seven layers of heaven and seven layers of hell clear as day, though, and what he didn't cover Kurai went over later.  It doesn't explain everything, but it helps.

This volume was the end of the Hell chapter and the beginning of the... lower floors of heaven chapter.  The elemental angels will probably start to come into play more and more, and I'm looking forward to seeing Setsuna in his new form, which I suspect he'll keep for awhile unless Kaori Yuki really hates drawing it as much as she says she does.

There's some interesting things going on in both heaven and hell.  Remember Tiara/Tialiel?  Yeah.  She fills her role.  I'm a bit angry that so much time was spent fleshing her out.  Oh well.  Rosiel is one evil bastard, and he does a fantastic job foiling a plot against him in grand style.  There is resurrection.  Naked resurrection.  Speaking of evil bastards, Sevotarthe is officially a bad guy, at least in my book.  He is extremely terrifying.

So on to hell.  I forgot about Lucifer's role in hell last time, but luckily Lucifer didn't forget about me.  He sends his agent in the form of Mad Hatter, a character at least one of my friends was obsessed with.  Mad Hatter is extremely awesome, as he is both insane and evil as well as a clown.  So, we have Enma-O, who holds souls for judgement.  He sends those souls going to hell to Uriel, who casts them into the flames or into the non-existent Gehenna, where they are tortured by our freinds Kurai and the evils.  Gehenna is a top layer of hell, and there are layers below it.  At the bottom lies Lucifer, but other stuff comes in between.  I can accept this.

Setsuna and a friend face off against Enma-o so he can get back to his body, since there is apparently no way out of hell, only ways in.  He rumbles with Enma-o a bit and things go crazy, he may not have a body to go back to, blah blah blah.  He's coming back anyway, and that's the end of the hell chapter.  At least I think it is, anyway.  I have a feeling most of the story will take place in hell, or at least that's where Setsuna will stay for awhile.

Alexiel and Rosiel have now been cast in Cain and Abel roles.  Cain loves God, but God apparently only loves Abel, and Abel is the most beloved.  In with that comes the knowledge that the most forbidden taboo of all for angels is to love God.  What.

Lots of stuff happens here, which is good because I think this is the end of this section of story.  I'm still waiting for more movement from the very powerful angels and more very powerful demons to be introduced.  Plus, there's a fairly decent complication concerning Setsuna now, and I'm looking forward to how that will be resolved.

As I hoped, the tiers of hell sort of became more clear.  Setsuna finds himself in the... judgement area, with Enma-O and Uriel, the angel of death.   I think.  At least, I know he's dealing with both at the moment.  Uriel passes judgement on human souls and either passes them off to heaven or tosses them into the fires or into the now-non-existent Gehenna.  He may not actually pass them off into heaven, they may be beyond that before they reach him.  I can't tell.  Any sense I may make of this is immediately nullified by the fact that Uriel lives in Yggdrasill and rides a dragon called Nidhogg.  Not only is Kaori Yuki crossing her mythologies here, she also freely admits to inventing a lot of stuff, which is fine, it's a story. Nothing is going to make much sense here anyway unless she explains it, and I can't begrudge her making up stuff for a story.

We learn that not only are there seven great angels, there are also four powerful angels that are in charge of each of the elements.  We hear about all four of them through the course of this volume.  It seems to me like they would wield the most power, or at the very least Uriel is the most powerful character we've yet seen.  Yet Metatron and Sevothtarte are the rulers in heaven, and Metatron is just a kid.  I don't know, I suppose that's why there's a lot of infighting.  Uriel doesn't want any part of that, at least.  After hearing so much about Uriel and his powers, he is now my favorite character.  I just wish he weren't so emo.

Rosiel's pet is escaping, and he doesn't seem to like it much.  I'm sad that this has to end so soon, since I sort of liked the fact that this extremely powerful being in charge of heaven fed his enemies to a monster and left body parts Godfather-style in people's beds.  I'm not entirely sure I approve of Tiara, but from what I've seen, I kind of like him/her.  Though God knows that the last thing this story needs is another minor character tangling with a minor character.  Hopefully Tiara gets a bigger part soon so I can see more of him/her.

The friend I mentioned last volume leading Setsuna around hell finally implodes, and a lot of the volume is spent either in a flashback of his life, with Setsuna pleading with him to find reason in living, or with Setsuna saving him.  As it stands, he may become some sort of slave to Setsuna in the same way Katan is a slave to Rosiel.  Fine.  He's grown on me since he's reappeared.

Exposition exposition.  Lots of new characters.  I like the explantions of what's going on.  There's an extremely rich mythology being created for us.  I just kind of wish I'd get to the part where something happens in this mythology.  Of course, a lot of it is still murky, and there's still about 420 of the 500 characters in the series left to go, so I think there's a whole lot more exposition to come, unfortunately.

So... Setsuna is offered a choice after going berserk last volume.  I guess there was a reason that this section of story was named after what the heavenly beings call Earth.  The next part takes place in... hell?  The land of the dead?  The underworld?  Some vaguely non-earthly, non-heavenly realm.  There seems to be several levels to this dark realm, one of which was destroyed, Gehenna, where the Evils lived, which is why Kurai and Arachne are now wandering around.  I assume more of this will be explained in future volumes.

A character comes back, which is good.  I thought he got a weird amount of focus for who he was in the earlier parts of the story, and I like him better in his new role.  I can't figure out what he's going to do, though.

Yuki has drawn a parallel to Orpheus and Eurydice with this section, which is fine by me.  It's still not entirely clear how Setsuna will go about reaching his goal, so... I guess we just wait and see.

The stuff happening in heaven now is significantly more interesting.  So... God is the most powerful in heaven, but otherwise it seems like the angels can be pretty evil, petty, and just... un-angelic, aside from having their own power struggles.  I can't figure out what constitutes good and evil for them.  Apparently Rosiel isn't immediately kicked out of heaven, and can dethrone the most powerful angel currently seated by just showing up.  I thought Rosiel was evil.  I... don't know anymore.  I like that the lead angels don't show up to help Metatron or Seve-whatever so they can see who wins the power struggle.  I also still don't understand why Alexiel and Rosiel alone don't belong to any group of angels, and... what Adam Kadamon is, why the creations of God would want to destroy it, why it is currently sealed away, and even whether it is an angel.  It is very powerful, though.

Exposition, exposition.  So far I'm not so fond of the Hell bits, but the Heaven bits are getting better and better.  Here's hoping things start clearing up for me soon.

'Okay, yes, this volume was awesome.  I can compare this series to X, because they're complex and impenetrable in the same ways, but there's an almost direct connection between Sara Mudo and Kotori Monou now.  Except Kotori didn't have the same effect on Kamui that Sara has on Setsuna.  No... Kotori had more of a Sara effect on Fuuma.  And end-of-the-world thing has sort of come into play as of this volume, which is yet another parallel to X.  There doesn't seem to be two sides to the battle in this story though, and I don't think that Alexiel can choose a side.  But yes, anything running this close to X has my attention.

Much of the first part of the volume is spent developing the relationship between Sara and Setsuna.  After the first couple chapters, I heartily approve of the pair.  The first chapter in this volume takes place in an airport.  Sara was going to go off with her mother and marry another man in London, never to see Setsuna again, but Setsuna shows up with the police hot on his tail (he's a murder suspect) and does the whole public confession thing at the airport.  It's a bit hokey, but in the right context, it can be awesome.  This was about right.

Also covered are Kira's background and what he's doing hanging out with Alexiel.  Apparently he's been following Alexiel from life to life, always making a pact with a human to be next to her.  That's also sort of romantic.  I'm not sure if Kira's true form is male or female, but I could see some sort of Setsuna/Kira or Alexiel/Kira pair working out well, too.  There's a chance that they were a pair in the past... Arachne mentions that there was only Alexiel and Rosiel present at their last confrontation, yet that's supposedly where Kira got his power to live forever.

Also covered are the relationships of Katan and Kirie to Rosiel.  Katan has a great backstory, whereas Kirie is sort of a fool.  I don't mind so much.  It didn't make me like Katan any more or less, and I still am not quite sure where he stands, or whether or not the Angels are actually the "good" guys in whatever is about to happen.  Actually, with the way they've been portrayed, they almost certainly are not.

Speaking of angels, we meet two more.  Metatron, who is one of the most powerful angels both traditionally and in this story, is a child for some reason, and his keeper is Sevothtarte, another powerful angel.  Apparently both are among the seven most powerful angels in heaven, and I can't tell if Alexiel and Rosiel rank among those seven... but I think Zaphikel is among the seven, the blind angel we met last time.

But lots and lots of romantic stuff happens between Sara and Setsuna, and it is all quite touching.  I liked the volume for that, plus it opens and closes with two very raw and romantic scenes.  If the series can keep topping those scenes, I think I'm going to enjoy this very much.

This volume was almost all about Sara and Setsuna.  I said before I don't like incest, and I'll say it again, I hate incest, but it's handled so well here that I find myself feeling pretty sympathetic for the couple.  The spotlight is more on the taboo and the repurcussions than how true their love is, which also helps, I think.

Sara's mom catches her and Setsuna in a close moment, and after being taken down a couple notches by her, Setsuna says the most terrible things he can think of to drive her away and make her fall out of love.  Fate is not so kind, though, and Setsuna's love is used against him by Rosiel for blackmail.  After rumors go around the school about Setsuna and his sister, only his friend Kira's words keep him from flying off the handle.  Kira basically says that they've never been in his shoes and can't know what it's like to fight yourself over the forbidden love he has.  Setsuna just needed to hear that he wasn't the most evil person on earth for his feelings, so this made him feel much better.

Then, it made him feel much worse later during another scene with Kira.  Towards the end of the volume he loses the will to live, and I really thought the main character was going to die in volume two since this would unleash Alexiel (Alexiel can't live unless Setsuna dies, but I suspect there will be a way around this later).  Instead, two new characters are introduced, one of whom is apparently one of the most powerful angels in heaven.  He's looking for Adam Kadamon.  There's another new character too, an Archangel-in-Training that replaces Rosiel's Cherubim-rank angel.

Just a plot summary, sorry.  I still have no opinion on this story other than it's very busy so far and I like the doomed romance.  Here's hoping something awesome happens next volume.

My main problem with this volume is that it introduces the main character, his sister, her friend, his friend, the two "Evils," a Cherubim-rank angel, Adam Kadamon, and two other characters who may or may not be the most powerful angels in heaven, who are definitely somehow against heaven, but also seem to be against each other for some reason.  When I put it like that, it doesn't really sound like that many, but mix in the beginnings of, at this point, a very poorly-explained heavenly conflict involving all these characters possibly on different sides and... you have a mess.  Also, those two evils, their genders turn out to be not what you think, and because I didn't trust things after this, I had a hard time believing in the genders for Alexiel and Rosiel.  It would have been easier if the angels were genderless like usual, but nooooo.  I don't really mind that much, but Kaori Yuki should stop trying to fool me.

Normally I would sort of forgive this and assume everything would work itself out in future volumes, but from what I've heard things only get more complicated and we've only seen the first several of about 500 characters.  Bah.  But this is why I decided it might be better to read the whole thing at once, so it was easier to keep track of the story, characters, and places (we've also already had 3 or 4 intangible places mentioned by name in this volume).

I like the basic story.  Normally I don't go for incest, no matter what, but here it's set up to be most heartbreaking, and depending on how it's handled, it could turn out quite well.  So far Setsuna looks like he'd make for a pretty good character (he's kind of a punk, but an honest punk, and he picks his battles), and I also don't mind Sara.  Here's hoping the random comic violence between the two will be phased out as the series continues.