Angel Sanctuary

In the beginning, there was God. He had a servant named Alexiel, the Organic Angel and twin to Rosiel, the Inorganic Angel and God's favorite. But Alexiel rebelled and fought against God, and, God being God, lost.

So Alexiel's body was sealed up and her spirit was sent into the human world, doomed to be reincarnated as a young boy nmaed Mudo Setsuna. I must say, after being a powerful female angel, being a teenage boy must be quite a shock. Setsuna has visions and strange dreams of power, and struggles to figure out what's wrong with his head.

But then again, he's in love with his sister, Sara, which is kind alarming. Unfortunately, she returns his love, and the two of them are involved in an incestuous relationship. Now I personally can't see why anyone would go for the incest thing, but then, that's just me. Of course, there is a precedent. Rosiel is in love with Alexiel and is obsessed with bringing her back and having her return his love. Twisted and narcissistic, Rosiel needs her to affirm his own sense of self-worth.

Eeek.

However, if you like this show--and I assure you I do--it is well worth it to check out YUki Kaori's manga. not only the 20-volume Angel Sanctuary Series, but the as yet unfinished Gravel Kingdom and Count Cain are also well. There are some shorter stories, like Wicked Fairytale, which are also worth looking out. For online scanlations, see the Sakura Crisis Scanlation Index .

Mudo Setsuna - struggling with his confused identity,and also strugglign with the fact that he's in love with his own sister, a no-no by pretty much everyone's standards, he just wants to find a place where he and Sara can be happy. The reincarnation of the Organic Angel Alexiel, he is also the focus of Rosiel's rather fervent desire to awaken his sister's spirit again.

Kira Sakuya - Kira is Setsuna's best friend.He is very much the older-brother type, and is usually getting Setsuna out of fights. He is not just an ordinary man, however. 1) He is Nanatsusaya, Alexiel's Holy Sword. 2) When Rosiel kills him, Lucifer, who was sealed inside the sword, takes over. Can we say, D'oh!

Katan - Katan serves Rosiel and is in love with him, despite the fact that Rosiel seems to have eyes only for Alexiel. I cannot even tell you how complicated the whole heirarchy is in this series. Everybody's someone other than who they seem and everyone switches bodies and dies some horrible death. O_o