Angel Sanctuary 13

This volume was composed entirely of the most awesome things I could imagine happening in this series.

First, Sevothtarte.  Sevothtarte, Sevothtarte, Sevothtarte.  He may be my favorite character in the series because he’s so good at what he does, which is basically being evil.  I called him names last time, but that’s only because he’s so good at what he does.  His background comes through here, and I was kind of disappointed because it’s so far out of left field.  But when I say “disappointed,” I just mean that it wasn’t something I could have predicted.  I don’t think anybody would have predicted that.  I was hoping that he’d be in this volume, too, because he was on the cover.  I can almost never tell who’s on the covers of the volumes because they’re so stylized (I didn’t realize the last volume was Sara until about 3/4 of the way through the volume), but even with monster bits looming out around him and most of his face covered, I could still tell it was Sevothtarte.

I shouldn’t be surprised by the fact Zephikel reappears, because that’s just what happens to characters in his situation, but he’s subject to some BRUTAL torture.  With that last scene, I couldn’t tell if he was faking it or was actually insane.  I didn’t actually think he’d had his wings clipped, and I still suspect that may not be the case.  Of course, Raziel sensed he was insane, so maybe he actually was and Raziel brought him out of it?  Zephikel as a raving, homicidal lunatic was really a high point in the series though.  Bonus points for the Head Thrones v. Head Principalities being won in the way it was.

Poor Raziel.  I felt so bad for him at the beginning of the volume.  I just wanted him and Setsuna to make up, but he went kind of berserk.  I don’t blame him.  I liked the sulk Setsuna went into at the beginning of the volume.  Raziel putting him in his place is what he needed, but I was surprised to see Setsuna thought he was being arrogan because he was the savior.  I… don’t think being the savior had much bearing on what Setsuna does, it seems like everything he does is just part of him.  But he still sulks at the beginning, and it’s good for him.  Plus, it makes for a really funny scene between him, Kira, and Kato.

Also funny is the interaction between Kato and the Angel of Invention, Ra… Riuet?  I guess?  Can’t tell if he’s going to stick around or not.

The scene between Sevothtarte and Zaphikel was probably my favorite in the volume.  It was even better than the Sara/Setsuna reunion last time, but probably only because Sevothtarte is psychotic and at that point you have no idea what he’s going on and on about.  Knowing his identity still doesn’t really explain what it is that he’s raving about (did he love Zaphikel… er, in a past life?), but it’s still a great scene.

Oh yes.  It’s all about Sevothtarte now.  Sevothtarte and Zaphikel, and I desperately need to see how Zephikel was affected by all this.