Angel Sanctuary 10

Wow, things really won’t just stay dead in this series.

Uriel came back, which made me happy because he’s my favorite of the four elemental angels.  Which says a lot because I really like Michael and Raphael.  He pulls a trump card and tricks all four of them into the same space.  When Kai comes back and goes against Kira’s wishes (I liked Kira’s reaction, I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks this stuff is insane), at first I was cursing Belial.  She mentioned her trump card again even after it was revealed, so I thought she had something else up her sleeve.  But I couldn’t make the connection to what Kai said about his body being made out of plants.  I realized what had happened about a split second before it was revealed.  Very nice twist there.

Also, it WAS Mad Hatter that healed Kira last volume.  Kira goes to hell to find out what the deal is with him being able to sense stuff while Setsuna’s there, and while he really doesn’t have much of a role in this volume… the last panel tells me I’m in for a treat next time.

When Mad Hatter and Setsuna meet up, I like the game Hatter plays when she mentions both she and Setsuna should split up and look for Kurai in the realms of the other seven satans.  Hatter gets to Astoreth too late, but I loved that Setsuna and and Asmodeus teamed up.  Asmodeus was a pretty awesome character, and a better womanizer than Raphael if only because he was very, very evil.

Aww, Arachne.  I still don’t like her very much.  Her backstory is revealed in this volume, and I liked what her (or really, his, since he doesn’t actually want to be a woman) actual relationship to Kurai is, and I liked that Kurai’s dad was so clever as to fool, like, EVERYBODY.  But Arachne’s allegiances are so scrambled and messy that I have no idea what his motivation was.  I mean, I know what he wanted, but he knew it wasn’t going to work, so why bother trying?  For revenge, I guess.

I also liked that the wedding ceremony was just a cover for the fact they were trying to keep Lucifer’s power under wraps, and that despite this, it was still a formal affair in hell with all seven satans showing up along with a bunch of demons.  I did crack up when Asmodeus insulted Mammon’s (the sin of greed) gold chest as tacky.

I also liked that Kaori Yuki explained that she swapped out the real demon of sloth for Astoreth because Belphegor was said to always be sitting on a toilet, and it just wasn’t something she could see herself including in a shoujo manga.  She talks about bands a lot occasionally, but her author notes are better than most shoujo author notes.

But yes.  That last panel?  I’m dying to know what the real deal with Kira is now.