Review: Kaori Yuki's Manga

Kaori Yuki is, in my opinion, the greatest manga artist/author of all time. It would be an understatement to describe her as a genius. She is an excellent artist and has the best storylines I’ve read in manga. Kaori tends to stray from what society has always thought as the norm and portrays unconventional love stories with heart-wrenching scenes of betrayal, passion, and forbidden love. She is a lover of Horror, SciFi, fairytales, and Alice In Wonderland. What I love most about her is her twisted point of view.

I actually began reading her works backwards. The first series that caught my eye was Godchild. Godchild 1 has a picture of a dapper young gentleman in vampire-like threads (tux, top hat), sitting on what appears to be coffin, holding a candelabra. There also appears to be blood or perhaps red rose petals all around him. Godchild is not a vampire manga, but is entertaining nonetheless. The main character is Lord Cain Hargreaves, an Englishman in Victorian London who is fascinated with poisons.

After reading the series, I have come to one conclusion: Lord Cain exists in London to solve mysteries, catch killers, and generally be there for every damsel, waif, or orphan that needs him. His lackadaisical manner makes it seem almost effortless and as if he couldn’t care less when he has saved one of the victims of yet another plot by Deliah. Deliah is an evil secret society hell-bent on collecting human organs, creating undead clones, and generally doing “unnatural” experiments. Riff is Lord Cain’s manservant who goes above and beyond the normal servants duties. He is also the only one who Cain has shown his scars on his back. They are so close, you wonder at a love affair, though that really never materializes to satisfaction. The art in this manga is in beautiful, traditional Gothic Lolita style. There are dresses with ribbons and multiple layers of fluffy petticoats, mini hats, lace gloves, and a mass of curly headed beauties.

The Cain Saga is actually a sort of prequel to Godchild. It runs with the same main characters as Godchild and is equally enjoyable.

I’ve just finished the first 2 books of Angel Sanctuary and am eager to finish out the series though it is 20 volumes long. The main character in this series is a mortal who doesn’t realize he is the incarnation of the angel Alexiel. There are many love affairs intertwined and so many angels and demons coming to earth to “awaken” or kill him, it is sometimes hard to figure out who is who. This being the least of my favorite Kaori Yuki projects, I still have to say that it’s better than anything anyone else is doing.

To find out more or purchase her manga series, check out these links:

P:S Shop for Kaori Yuki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaori_Yuki