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Angel Sanctuary

Angel Sanctuary

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $26.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Totally Freaking Awesome!
Review: I love this series! I've seen it many times since I bought it. It's incredible! It's based on a very popular 20-volumes manga series by my favorite manga illustrator, Kaori Yuuki. This series is only 3 episodes long, and it was made for fans of the manga; so if you haven't follow the manga version, it may seems lacking in many areas. It follows the early parts of the manga, but many things were left out, like other characters. I love Angel Sanctuary so much that I brought wallscrolls, posters, CDs, keychains, etc., that were related to it.

You should buy this DVD just for the incredible artworks alone (mainly the character designs). It's beautiful! The first time I saw Sara Mudo in the video, I, literary, fell in love with her. She's such a hottie! The artworks for the guys are awesome as well -- they look really good! The musics are good and match perfectly to the scenes you're watching.

The story is.... WOW! I love it! Angels, incest, homosexuality, reincarnation, love, blood, mutilation..... they're all here. The story revolves around Setsuna's forbidden love for Sara, his younger and very attractive sister. This love is a secret that he does not want anyone to find out, not even Sara. He really loves her (as a man loves a women) and wants to make love to her. That might sounds... awful(?), but when you watch the show, you'll really want them to be together and love each other. His mother knew about his feelings for Sara, and therefore, she has separated them. The story also revolves around him being the reincarnated legendary angel, Organic Angel Alexial (yes, this is a female angel), who fought the gods and lost. This means he has more problems besides relationships. As being the reincarnated Organic Angel Alexial, Setsuna is being pursued by other angels and demons. The demons want Alexial to fully come out and help them once again in the revolt against the gods. On the other side, Alexial's powerful brother, Inorganic Angel Raziel, wants revenge on Alexial for locking him up (for a really long time) when they fought in the war against the gods. But what he really wants is for Alexial to be with him and to love him. Raziel's freedom from his prison was acheived through a forbidden mean by his servant. Man, what a life Setsuna has, huh? At least he has a good sempai around to help him through his troubles.

The English dubbed is really good and sounded more "powerful" than the Japanese counterpart. However, in the emotional scenes, I was a bit dissapointed in their performance. Overall, it's really good!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A fairly good OVA remake of the original manga.
Review: Angel Sanctuary is originally a 20 volumes manga drawn and written by Yuki Kaori. Even though I am one of her few male readers, I am particularly addicted to her art style and her perspectives regarding moral and religion. Although branded as a shojo manga, AS have enough spaceships, violence, blood and monsters (not to mention many gorgeous women... er and men) to keep me company. The story is simply wrong from the very start (not the story itself, but the idea of it). It goes from a brother and sister falling in love intertwined with a group of demons and angels rebelling against God. Yuki Kaori puts in a lot of effort and research in AS, and you will definitely acknowledge them once you read the manga, but as for now, since there are no US release of her works, the DVD will have to do. Unfortunately, because the development team of the OVA series had to cram an entire chapter of AS into a three part OVA, many subplots and characters were simply "deleted" for this purpose. For example, characters like Ruri and Kirie were gone from the OVA, so is the long and saddening conversation regarding Katan's past. Furthermore, what I find mind boggling is the fact that they actually altered the character, Arakune for the OVA. Instead of giving her a neutral voice (because she is a transvestite in the manga) like Rosiel, she was drawn as a women and given a female voice. Fortunately, the OVA also omitted one of the most popular hand signals given by the character and supporting characters, thus making this anime a bit suitable for younger audiences (yeah right). All in all, this is a good remake, but I would recommend the manga even more.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliant
Review: The animation is spectacular, and the story is raw and focused. I truly wish the OAV dealt with the entire story line of the manga, but even still, this is an amazing work of art. Very enjoyable from beginning to end.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I Love Angels and Demons
Review: This story is absolutely wonderful! If you get the WHOLE plot, then it's great.

Setsuna is a teenage boy who is the reincarnation of the Fallen Angel Alexiel. Alexiel collaborated with Demons and challenged God. She was caught and banished. Her body is sealed in a crystal and her soul is to live and then die a painful death throughout eternity.

Demons and Angels are searching for the Reincarnate of Alexiel to wake her up and either kill her, or rise against heaven again. God is asleep. Rosiel, Alexiel's twin brother is obesessed with her is trying to make her love him (Alexiel hates him). He has something to do with a Computer in Hell poisoning people.

Now, Setsuna is in love with his sister Sara. He cares neither about Heaven nor Hell, Angels nor Demons. And the two are on the run from those trying to kill them.

Kaori Yuki is REALLY an amazing author and artist. If you love a good theological story, than this is for you. It mixes up Christianity, and myths to create an excellent plot. It actually has many story lines, but this is the main one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incredible
Review: I was weary of buying this disk. I was drawn to the cover, the beautiful boy angel, his arms wrapped and his eyes so vacantly focused... But I've been burned before, having bought really horrid animes that I had never heard about before that had really beautiful covers. I also have a tendency to space out during short OAV series. I don't know why, but really long series hold my interest better. I think it has to do with the greater degree of character development that longer series usually have. So, I almost bought Gasaraki 3 over this one. But curiosity took the best of me, and I bought it. I'm so glad I did.
It's been a while since I've seen an anime that I really wanted to watch more than once in my lifetime. I've had Angel Sanctuary for 3 days, and I've watched it three times. The story is very in depth for an OAV series, and the characters are flawed enough to be believable. They aren't perfect. You won't like them all. But they're more human than some anime characters. The art is dark and beautiful, at times downright gorgeous. Top notch anime. Definately worth the money.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutely Amazing
Review: This is probably the most awesome anime move I've ever seen. I can't wait to get the other episodes. The story is about an abnormal 16 year old boy, Setsuna, who is in love with his little sister Sara. His best friend, Kira, is the reincarnation of Lucifer and yet has become human. Setsuna soon finds out that he is the reincarnation of Organic Angel Alexiel and is being stalked by her twin brother Inorganic Angel Rosiel and his henchman. To make a long story short, Setsuna teams up with demons from hell, runs off with his sister, kills Rosiel and... well, I leave the rest for you to find out.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The most beautiful love story I know
Review: Angel Sanctuary has the only love story that really touches me. Yes, it is incestual. However, that is not the point of the series, nor is it why I like it. There is nothing particularly noble about incest per se.

What IS noble and touching, however, is that Setsuna and Sara are willing to stand up and fight for their happiness, to risk ostracism from society, from their parents, to risk the very wrath of God Himself for their love. Now _that_ is courage and nobility. That is what I like about it.

The philosophical point is that humanity has been bullied all of its existence by two Shibboleths, God and Society, each in a tug-of-war over human lives. Some say your life belongs to one, and some say it belongs to the other. The point that the protagonists of Angel Sanctuary make is that their lives belong to them, and them alone.

The anime has one or two problems, when compared with the manga, all of them due to space restrictions. This caused a severe weakening of Sara's character, which is much stronger in the manga. Also, the anime has a rushed feel to it, compared with the manga, and it is a real pity that the whole series has not been made into an anime.

However, stand alone, the anime is first rate. I still cannot watch it without my facial muscles cramping up in a smile. Also, the japanese voices are spot on, especially Takehito Koyasu for Kira. Mmmmm, Kira....

Watch the anime and read the manga, now that it is finally being released. You will not be disapointed. It is truly stunning.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Amazing story, but not for you average anime watcher
Review: A combination of Paradise Lost and the Book of Revelations was how this anime was first described to me. Filled with judeo-christian mythology, Angel Sanctuary is a story of epic proportions.

The fallen angel Alexial has been punished for her defiance of God, but Setsuna, her newest reincarnation, is the Messiah destined to save the world from the end. However, Setsuna only cares about one thing: his forbidden love with Sara, his sister. To make matters worse, Rosiel is after Alexial, his sister, and will stop at nothing to get her. Watch how Setsuna deals with his hallucinations and the never-ending grief that seems to torment him.

This anime is made more for the readers of the manga by Kaori Yuuki, which is now completed at 20 volumes. Unfortunately, this is only 3 episodes long and much of the storyline is not seen. The artwork is stunning, though still pales in comparision with the manga drawings.

I highly recommend viewing this with some previous knowledge of Angel Sanctuary, otherwise the story can be quite confusing.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Bloody and unfinished....
Review: This has the potential to be a good series--I was grabbed by the romance almost immediately, even if it is incest. But, with the series being unfinished, you are left at a cliffhanger that is never completed. Granted, it has been several years since I saw this and the company might have released the rest of the series, but given what I have seen at various anime store websites and here on Amazon, that is unlikely.

So, once again, a good anime series is spoiled because either the animators in Japan were too lazy to finish the series or because the American company was unable to obtain the rest of the series.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Interesting plot, but the blood....
Review: Blood, gore, blood, gore. Thats what most of the art is made out of. Really, I can't stand it. ICK!
It starts with our male lead,Setsuma, thinking about how he is in love with his sister, and I mean real love. Not the kind of kid-sister thing.
His life only gets worse when he finds out he is the rencarnation of female Angel-gone-wrong Alexiel, who revolted agenst God. Now he has his "brother" Rosiel and demons Kurai and Arachne.
I didn't watch more. To much blood. In what world, heaven or hell, do people get their arms ripped off, bodys cut in half, and more on a regular basis?
But my mom loved it, so I guss it can't be so bad.


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