Demon Sacred 1

Natsumi Itsuki – Tokyopop – 2010 – 11 volumes

I won’t lie. I kind of hate sci-fi themes, and I’m really hard on them here (which is part of the reason I’m disappointed that the only work we’ve seen from Keiko Takemiya in English are all sci-fi related). Jyu-Oh-Sei was only marginally sci-fi themed, with more of a survivalist fantasy vibe, but because it started in a space colony and the goal was to get off the planet, there was a small corner of my heart that couldn’t forgive it. Otherwise, it was pretty amazing, exactly the type of thing I love to read.

This, though. This takes place on Earth. There is a unicorn within the first ten pages, then a disease that reverse ages you into an infant. SOLD.

Also, I love demon themes unconditionally. Even if they aren’t really demons, which is the case initially here.

The virus is caused by “supernatural influence” or something like that, and the unknown creatures that carry it are called… “intelligence,” I think? It changes over to “demon” pretty quickly. The prologue deals with a young married couple and, primarily, the young wife, who “tames” one of these creatures. Then we flash forward to a pair of 15-year-old twins and their caretaker, a distant relative named Shinobu, a gifted scientist who is only 21 years old. One of the twins, Mona, is suffering from the reverse-aging disease.

Basically, the only way to stop it is to catch and tame one of these demons. Luckily, they were raised by one, and he happens by in order to help them catch a fresh demon for the task.

It is a little melodramatic, has pretty art, and is full-blown shoujo fantasy. I LOVE it, but I can see how it can be a little too… fluffy, maybe, for some. Granted, a lot of the pull right now is the ridiculous disease and the demons, who turn into beautiful rock stars based on the desires of the girls that touch them first. But the demon hierarchy looks like it could be interesting, and there are some politics at work behind the scenes that may indicate that Shinobu doesn’t have the girls’ best interests at heart.

It’s also fairly densely plotted, with a lot of exposition. I’m glad that the first two volumes were released together, because I’d like to read at least that much to see where the plot is going past the initial setup here. So far, it’s very interesting, and I couldn’t be more pleased.