Angel Sanctuary, Vol. 1 Paperback – March 10, 2004

This is definitely my favorite manga of all time! Kaori Yuki knows how to perfectly blend a superb plot that is fairly complex, with beautiful artwork while distracting from neither. It focuses on Setsuna, a boy in love with his sister, who later finds out that he is actually the reincarnation of an angel that rebelled against god! In the first volume we are introduced to the main characters: Sara, setsuna's sister, Kira (the best friend who is also more than he seems, Kurai and Arachne (Demons that have been searching for Alexiel, Rosiel (the crazed but beautiful angel and brother to Alexiel, Katan (Rosiels devoted servant). There are so many more characters to come later, but I recommend this series if you like impossible love, monsters, and any story where the lines between good and evil are not always black and white.

I am so glad they finally translated this text into English. I read the German version a year ago, and the English translation is pretty close to that one. Angel Sanctuary is by far my favorite anime of all time. Yuki's complex character and story development will keep you intrigued! Not to mention, her artwork is awesome and high quality. The story may be a little confusing at first, but once you read farther and maybe a couple times over, it'll be a lot clearer. I highly recommend this series! On a side note, this obviously isn't for younger readers since there is language, violence, gender bending, etc.

I used to love manga, but I stopped reading them when I entered high school for the most part and now am in college. I purchased this because not only was reading a manga a blast from the past, but also because it is mentioned in The Mortal Instruments series, a personal favorite of mine, and I wanted to analyze it and look for parallels. I was certainly not disappointed by this manga. The characters were.memorable and there were some interesting takes on mythology concerning heaven and shell.

Setsuma is mixed up. He wants to be noble, but he gets into fights, refuses to respect authority, and has incestuous feelings for his sister. Could it be he holds the soul of a Angel who once fought heaven? Will he end up the target of both the Demons and Angels as his past life and his present sins catch up with him?Good artwork, twisted plot, adult themes. Very much for older teens.

Angel Sanctuary is interesting, that's for sure.This story is entertaining. While it doesn't really make much sense, it still keeps you flipping pages, trying to figure everything out. The cast is VERY large, and filled with very odd, and at times over the top characters. The art is beautiful, with flowing hair, and detailed costumes. Pretty much everyone is drawn pretty, which can make figuring out specific characters' genders difficult, but that actually adds to the quirkiness of the story. I can see the roots of a very enthralling, epic drama in this volume, and I have to admit, I quickly bought volume 2 once I finished.The series can also be surprisingly gruesome when it wants to be, although it never dwells on the violence and gore, it also never holds back when it's needed. From what I've read of Kaori Yuki, she is not afraid of letting her stories get dark, and they are all the better for it. The story is also not afraid to delve into a little taboo melodrama, with a Flowers in the Attic level brother/sister romance at the center of everything. Everything feels just dirty enough to make things interesting, but it keeps from crossing that line that would make the reader want to take a shower after reading it.There are issues, however. The first, and biggest in my book, is the panel layout. While it does improve as the book goes on, the panel layout is, at times, a complete and total mess. Images are cramped, characters are hard to make out, and scenes have a very poor flow from panel to panel. While things did settle, especially towards the later chapters, the poor layout decisions nearly make the first part of this volume impossible to read.Another issues is the sheer amount of information the reader is given, and at a rapid pace. This book is about 80% info dump, which does free up the later chapters to focus more on progressing the plot, and develop the characters, but that earlier info dump can be pretty confusing.Still, the story is interesting, and at times very gruesome. The shojo art hides a shonen story, and in turn it creates a series that could be easily enjoyed by both male and female readers. While this book isn't for everyone, I couldn't help but be drawn into the twisted world of Angel Sanctuary. I recommend it, especially for kindle readers, since the price of the book is very affordable.

This is amazing! where to start? This is some of the finest artwork I have ever seen in a graphic novel, some pages are truely breathtaking. I was amazed! The storyline itself is quite shocking, dealing with incest, religion, homosexuuality, drugs... pretty much, chalk full of the taboo.this is a very compelling story, when you are done with it, you just hafta know what happens next...

The book came in wonderful condition. Since this manga piece was left in its original state, it was quite confusing to read especially for a beginner. But, to my susurprise, the book explained how to read it properly. With a bit of common sense and instruction, reading was a breeze.

At xmas time found books 2 to 6 for my kid. She was so happy loves manga. The set didn't come with the first one so I was glad to find this. It was brand new no tears packaged good. I only gave it a 3 cause she started reading it and apparently its about a brother and sister and incest and EWWW. we didn't know but now we do. But still it came through no fault of the shipping.