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Angel Sanctuary

Angel Sanctuary

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

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: WHat A Tangled Web
Review: Teenage romances are hard enough as it is, but for Setsuna his takes the cake. Why is that? Because Setsuna is in love with his sister Sara. Sounds rough, doesn't it? To make matters worse, Setsuna learns that he is the reincarnation of the angel that challenged God. Between the agents of both Heaven and Hell going after Setsuna, is there a chance for his love with Sara?
It's always a shame to see a poor anime translation of a wonderful manga. With more time, Angel Sanctuary could have easily been one of the most thought provoking anime I have ever seen. Sadly, it was nothing more than roughly 90 minutes of jumbled ideas that leaves you raising your eyebrow in confusion.
On the plus side of things, Angel Sanctuary has amazingly clear artwork and animation. The character designs are also well thought out and move fluidly throughout this OVA. The anime version of this story has such potential, but was shot down cold. Still, it still raises some good points about the nature of Angels and Demons, but not enough solid storyline to make me want to even watch it again.
Angel Sanctuary didn't even have the time to advance the beginnings of its storyline. With only three OVAs, the story starts to get very interesting... and then out of nowhere it just ends. Many people won't even bother to pick this title up due to its outlook on religious matters, not to mention the brother/sister relationship between Setsuna and Sara. Personally, these subjects don't bother me at all, but I know they will push many people's buttons.
More than anything, Angel Sanctuary really needs more episodes to fully develop. It gets points for its artwork and bonus points for effort, but overall it comes very close to failing completely

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Anime!
Review: My best friend got me this for my Birthday b/c she said it was the best anime she had ever seen. After watching it, I would have to agree.
The story follows Setsuna, a tough-boy teenager who is in *love* with his sister.(Be warned, this film has swearing,revealing clothing,incest,and yaoi...)He is the the reincarnation of a powerful angel, Alexial. Alexial wages war against God,but is captured. She is sealed in a crystal, her body and spirit seperated. She is doomed to be born onto Earth for eternity, until Kira interferes. Well...I know that may sound a bit confusing, but if you pay attention as you watch you understand. The story is told very clearly, introducing characters along the way and basically explaining things as you go. It's a sad dark tale, but an interesting one. If you're sick of the same old boring anime get this. Not only does it have a good plot and well formed characters, the artwork is to DIE for!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Yes!
Review: For people who have an axe to grind against the catholic church. You've got your humor, your gore, and an interesting take on incest. A very interesting take. ;)

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Beautiful Artwork/Haunting Soundtrack
Review: >>This anime is a potent combination of several elements that are worth mentioning and reading by the viewer. References to angels are found throughout the Bible and the heirarchy of cheribum, seraphim and archangels will spark interest in those that understand the place of each. The artwork is outstanding. In particular are the rendering of the characters eyes and hair.

This story revolves around Setsuna who is by his very nature the angel Alexiel. A concept that is hard to absorb from the beginning if you have no previous contextual idea of what Angel Sanctuary is about. Most touching is Setsuna's love for his sister Sara and their acceptance of how different they are. There are characters in the storyline that seem to be superfluous to the storyline and the main characters could have been developed further.

This is a must see, must have DVD for the anime collector. I was pleasantly surprised to see something so different and so volatile.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A taste of the manga
Review: Though this isn't the full story of Angel Sanctuary (wish it was ;_; otherwise it would receive 5 stars) it gives you a bit of what the full story is about, and what the main character, Setsuna, has to go through. I enjoyed it, but I wish they could have continued it to the end like the manga. If only they would release the manga in English...just try to find scans online if possible!
On the anime though, the animation is great! The characters are gorgerous (especially Kira XD) and every scece is beautifully drawn. The music is also worth checking out. All in all, this is a great story you don't want to miss!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Well For All You Buyers
Review: I Thought It Was A Great Story Line Where Angels Fight And Demons Get In There Somwat Too. setsuna Falls Inlove With His Sister When He Was Younge And After Saving Her He Kisses Her And His Mom Yells At Him And His Sister Hears Runs Out And Well You gtta Buy The Movie To Know Sorry. Its An Awsome Movie For All You Anime Lovers And People Who Dont Like Anime. Cant Wait Till The Next Episodes Come Out. You Will Be Disapointed At The End. Stops Right When Somthing Very Big Was Gonna Happen. Aww Well If You Really Wanna Buy Anything Buy This Movie. So Cool. And Cheack Up On It To See If The Second Tape Is Out. Well Thanks For Reading This Bye

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Looking for decent anime? You found it.
Review: As most other reviews will tell you, this anime is one of the finest you'll find, but certainly not for younger viewers or those who don't have an open mind.

Based on a manga by the same name from mangaka Kaori Yuki, the story involves a battle between angels and demons, some graphic violence and a love story which includes incest. Still with me? For once, the story sticks to the contents of the manga rather well, and although real die-hard fans will be able to pick out some obvious differences, they don't have much effect in the end. The animation is top-notch, the main characters (i.e. Bishounen, Kira and Setsuna) looking lovely as ever and the voice actors do a fabulous job (in Japanese that is.)

The only bad thing I have to say, is that it stops rather abruptly after the third episode, leaving you wondering what the hell is going on. Nevertheless, it's still worth it, so splash out.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutely Beautiful
Review: Anime at its absolute best! The art is absolutely beautiful, and the controversial story is unforgettable: the heretic angel Alexiel is doomed to endless human reincarnations for waging war against God and her corrupt twin brother Rosiel. Demons who depend on her track down her incarnations throughout time so that the Cosmic War can be resumed again, while angels struggle to free Rosiel so that the war can be renewed. Both sides are spoiling for battle. Angel Sanctuary is the story of Alexiel's current incarnation, Mudo Setsuna, who has problems of his own far beyond a divine battle: he is in love with his own sister.

There are a plethora of unforgettable characters here, however, they were still more memorable in the originall manga by Kaori Yuki. Characterisation was consolidated for the anime, namely Ruri and Kirie were cut, and details such as the origin of the name Angel Sanctuary can only be found in the manga. Otherwise, it is pretty much faithful, with one downside being that the three OAVs showcased in this DVD cover only about issues 1-4 (of 20) of the manga, so it ends with an extreme cliffhanger and many beautiful characters (Belial, Jibrille, etc.) are never introduced.

But a plus factor to the DVD to even that out is the Japanese-lanuage with English subtitles option. I highly recommend it. Anime was simply not meant to be viewed through dubs. Kira, Rociel, and Setsuna's seiyuu (voice actors) were all excellent, and did not need to be replaced by English-speaking voices.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Setsuna Mudoooo!
Review: This is quite possibly one of the best anime features I have ever seen. It's a bit confusing @ first and leaves a lot for the viewer to understand, but it's VERY intriguing. Not to mention that Setsuna is HOTT! but that's beside the point. It may be difinitely shojou anime, but there's so much crossover that anyone can enjoy it! My best guy friend even liked it! It's dark, gothic type artwork is gorgeous and captivating. Definitely an A+ in my book. The incest is only a sidepoint. Once you get into the story, you seem to forget about Sara and Setsuna's family ties and the ambiguity of some of the characters. It's definitely a masterpiece!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Unbelievable - provided you watch it subbed, not dubbed
Review: Good grief, where to begin...

This is to date the only love story I really like. It seems to me in a time when mawkish sentimentality a la 'Titanic' *spits at having to mention it in the same breth as AS' is the norm, the only real emotion is found in somewhat twisted relationships.
That said, there's no 'somewhat' about this relationship. Setsuna - reincarnation of the Organic Angel Alexiel who rebels against God - is deeply in love with Sarah, who happens to share this love. The problem? In addition to this, they are brother and sister. Essentially, this proves Thomas Aquinas's point that incest makes family relations even more helishly complicated than they already are.
Furthermore, this is not for you if you hold strong religious convictions, for it depicts angels who are so far round the twist that you could use them as corkscrews, as well as manifesting many human failings such as lust, anger, jealousy etc. etc. Although if you're going to throw something out on those grounds, there goes _Paradise Lost_, too.
Essentially, I consider this second only to Ghost in the Shell in quality. But I will say one thing: The dubbing is terrible. I'm sorry, but Kurai's voice just sounds so wrong. Watch it subbed. The only voice hit dead on was Rosiel's.


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