Angel Sanctuary
Reviewer: Wiggle [website] [email]Overall Rating: A
Media Reviewed: DVD
Creator: Kaori Yuki
U.S. Licensed: Yes
Released by: Central Park Media
Run time: 90 minutes
BL Content: None (slashable/suggestive)
Genre: Drama/Supernatural
Other media: English-licensed manga
Angel Sanctuary, based on the manga by Kaori Yuki, is often mentioned along with Kizuna and Fake in discussions of boy's love anime released in the United States. While not exactly a yaoi title, the subject matter, the level of complexity and the strong overtones of love between male characters draws yaoi fans to Angel Sanctuary. However, the three-part, ninety-minute OAV is not for the faint of heart or the easily-offended. Yaoi fans tend not to "squick" (get grossed out) as easily as your typical anime fan, making Angel Sanctuary perfect, edgy viewing for us.
What makes Angel Sanctuary so unusual? Incest, angels, demons, swords becoming people becoming swords, holy beings, resurrection, buckets of blood, death, cross-dressing, wars and the end of the world, just to name a few. Mostly, though, it's the main relationship around which the rest of the plot revolves: the main character, Mudou Setsuna, is in love with his blood sister, Sara. Complicating matters is that Setsuna is the reincarnation of one of the highest of Heaven's angels, Alexiel -- whose body was imprisoned when she led a revolt against Heaven. In an ironic parallel, Alexiel's twin brother Rossiel lusted after her in her original incarnation. Rossiel pursues the "new" Alexiel with the same fervent passion that Setsuna pursues Sara.
A cast of unusual characters slowly surrounds Setsuna and these spiritual siblings. Kira Sakuya has been Setsuna's best friend for years, but he hides a secret that relates to Setsuna's previous existence. Kurai, a girl who acts like a boy, and Arakune, a man cross-dressing as a woman, proudly proclaim they are demons from hell. Katan is a cherub who breaks Heaven's laws to free Rossiel, whom he loves and serves above even God. The mysterious Adam-Kadamon, the Seraphita, appears unpredictably to save Setsuna from deadly predicaments. Yet Setsuna and Sara steadfastly ignore all attempts to break them up, determined to be together despite the wrongness of their love.
Even though a straight relationship is the focus of the show, there are plenty of slashy points. The relationship between Rossiel and Katan -- or, more accurately, the obsession of Katan with Rossiel -- strongly suggests something beyond a master/servant relationship. Kira and Setsuna are slashy enough, both being beautiful and being close friends, but as the plot develops Kira's feelings for Setsuna are revealed. These relationships are completely unfulfilled and entirely hopeless, giving us slash fans even more angst to play with.
Though based on a twenty-volume manga series, the Angel Sanctuary OAV is only three thirty-minute episodes long, barely enough time to scratch the surface of this world. The end comes on a terrible cliffhanger, which made me at least hungry for the rest of the manga story. No more Angel Sanctuary anime was ever made.
Technically, Angel Sanctuary is a masterpiece. The animation is all digital and never appears clunky or awkward. The character designs stick very close to Kaori Yuki's original manga designs, right down to details of jewelry and weaponry. Special effects are frequent and go beyond the boundaries of line animation, and still panning shots are very rarely used. Everything is lush and full, nothing is skimped.
The Japanese voice acting is very strong, with Nojima Kenji playing Setsuna, Susumu Chiba as Rossiel, and Miki Shinichirou as Katan. Stealing the show, as usual, is Koyasu Takehito as Kira. Koyasu-san's deep voice and strong sense of drama makes a perfect Kira Sakyua. The other stand-out seiyuu is Nakao Ryuusei, playing the genderless Adam-Kadamon. Nakao-san also played Farfarello in Weiss Kreuz, and brings that same quiet, rapid, flat speech to the Seraphita. However, the English dub is not only badly-recorded, but badly-acted, despite the talents of Crispin Freeman as Rossiel. Stick with the well-casted Japanese soundtrack.
Any review of Angel Sanctuary will caution the viewer to be careful of intense subject matter and the lack of a real ending. For yaoi fans, who are used to these pitfalls in our favorite anime, Angel Sanctuary is a perfect choice.