Angel Sanctuary 18

Somehow, things have gotten much less interesting now that the final battle has started.  I think it’s probably because, at this point, a lot of what’s going on is basically characters cashing in on the relationships that have been built up in all the earlier volumes.  There’s a lot of standing around talking, and a lot of the resolutions are accompanied by soliloquies and flashbacks to earlier events.

One of the things that bugs me a bit is the way that some of the names change throughout the course of the series.  Little things.  Very early on, “Seven-Bladed Sword” became Nanatsusaya, which isn’t so bad.  Maybe they decided to change that because it could be said that the sword has a name instead of just calling it what it is.  But Riru was called Lil at first, and that one changed from volume 12 to 13.  Barbello (which may have been spelled with only one “l”, but feels like there should be two) comes back in this volume as Barubelo.  There’s even some weird stuff in the author notes, like Kaori Yuki referring to herself as a guy at one point, causing me to scour the internet for the one photo of her I know exists to confirm that she was, in fact, female.  On the first page of one of the earlier volumes, the homophone “thrown” is used instead of “throne,” which I thought was hilarious.  I don’t mind the occasional typo, and the homophone is actually kind of funny, but I mind names changing.  In the case of Barbello, her name was only mentioned once or twice, mostly in the author’s notes, but still.  It’s sloppy.  Not that I should be criticizing proofreading of any kind.

Kato gets yet another death scene.  I’ve lamented his loss one too many times.  With two volumes left to go, it’s unlikely he’ll be back, but… still.  He’ll have to prove he’s actually dead first.

Kurai and Mad Hatter come back, along with what I assume is hell’s role in all this.  The “enemy of my enemy” theory that Setsuna had didn’t quite work out, but other than Barbello, it looks like they’re content to stay out of at least Setsuna and the elemental’s way.  Mad Hatter actually turned out to be an awesome character.  Well, she was an awesome character anyway, but she’s sort of unpredictable, and evil, and has her alliances, which is why I like her so much.  She likes Lucifer and she likes Kurai and seems to hate the other six satans, but she just can’t help but be evil.  She’s the enemy of your enemy, but she’s not your friend.  I was a bit disappoined there wasn’t more of a confrontation between Belial and Raphael, since Belial had been a sort of catalyst in Raphael’s past.  Oh well.  I hope she’s somehow involved in the final confrontation, too.

What else…?  Rosiel is still off being evil.  I can’t figure out what it is he’s trying to accomplish now that he’s taken care of Sandalphon, but it involves getting some sort of holy tablet locked away in heaven.  Maybe I misunderstood, but for awhile it was suggested you needed elementals along with the organic and inorganic angels to open the gate to the highest heaven?  Here, the gates open only with a ritual performed by the twelve zodiac angels… and really, Lucifer just does it himself to let Rosiel in, who is now in terrible shape.  Organic angel Alexiel’s body is brought in, and the savior follows, provided he is still the soul of Alexiel, but only three of the four elemental angels follow Lucifer through the gate.  Unless they accidentally brought Gabriel or Sara through the gate with them, I don’t know that it’s happening.  Of course, maybe Sara is linked somehow with Sandalphon, who’s now linked with Rosiel.  I don’t know.

Anyway, I think Rosiel wants to erase and recreate the world with the power of God and/or Adam Kadamon, and that’s why he’s going after the tablet?  Absorbing Sandalphon gives him the power to conquer anyone who stands in his way to do this?  And the others are trying to stop him so he doesn’t erase and recreate everything?  Plus they’re trying to free God and/or Adam Kadamon to try and purge all the corruption that’s ruining heaven at the moment so angels can love again?  I think that’s what these last two volumes are about?  It could also be about Setsuna trying to get Sandalphon to give Sara her soul back, and it could also be about Michael trying to defeat Lucifer, and it could also be about the angel resistance trying to free the angels from harsh restrictions placed on them by the mouldering high council.  It could also be about Setsuna and Sara finally hooking up.  It’s something like that.

The next bits should have a lot of action.  I’m not sure how cleanly everything will wind down, but I’m looking forward to some messy, ambiguous battle sequences.