Sakura of DOOM

Angel's Coffin: This has been released by GoComi, and sadly, is nowhere near as cracktastically awesome as the title indicates. Seto is a demon who's been imprisoned in a book, only to be released by the unknowing and innocent Marie Vetsera. Seto promises Marie to grant her heart's desire, which is to have Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, fall in love with her. Those of you who know history (which I didn't) and who know You Higuri (which I did) will know this does not end well. Alas, Marie is totally boring and rather vapid to boot, Rudolf is a complete blank slate, and while Seto could be awesome in his demonic anachronistic way, he is instead unconvincingly in love with Marie.

Also, there may be a demon trying to seduce Seto to the dark side. Or... more of the dark side? Extremely boring, pass.

Lost Angel: Now this is more like it! (Also, a warning that I read this in Taiwan and have waited so long to write this up that I've forgotten most of it.)

Gunta is a mysterious, dark-haired new student at some school.... but secretly he is Lucifer! Or a powerful demon. But I'm pretty sure he is Lucifer, because why would you make someone a powerful demon when you could make them Lucifer?! Anyway. He is trying to redeem himself, so he goes about battling demons... with his skeleton hand! And the magical sword he wields! The sword, alas, does not have a secret identity, but that is probably just because the role of Lucifer has already been taken.

He investigates occult Satanic occurences, and while he is doing so, he meets the angelicly light-haired (or dyed, who knows) Z, whose name I have completely forgotten and cannot find after ten minutes of Googling, even in Japanese. Z finds himself strangely attracted to Gunta, as one is wont to do when confronted with someone who is... Lucifer!

Sorry. One day I will get sick of typing out the ellipses and "Lucifer!" but so far, not yet!

Gunta abandons the school, but he gets involved in several other cases that lead him Z's way again. One, of course, involves the innocent, beautiful, and totally doomed woman, although honestly, I have no idea why Higuri even tries to pretend Z is even vaguely interested in her. Instead of adding vapid love interests to nominally prove their heroes are heterosexual (HA), I feel mangaka should instead write in women who are... Lucifer!

In conclusion: Lucifer!


Given that GoComi licensed the horribly boring Angel's Coffin, couldn't they release Romaesque Mask as well? I have never read it, but it looks like it's based on the Takarazuka version of Dangerous Liaisions! How could it be bad?

So apparently "You" is pronounced like the English "you." I'm now curious why they transliterated it as "you" (which I pronounce as "yoh") instead of "yuu" or "yu."

( Spoilers! )

OMG! This series has hit a level in which it deserves the Yuki Kaori Parrot of DOOM icon!

I quote:

Cesare: (as Volpe attempts to lick the blood off his chest wound) You'll die. My blood is poisonous. [...]
Volpe: If that is so, then I have already been violated by the poison that is you. The sweet poison that is you. My life and my death belong to you!

AWESOME.

( Spoilers have poisonous blood! )

Now I am pissed off at myself for accidentally returning vols. 7 and 8 to the library before reading them. Nooooo! Must have more Borgia crack now now now!

Huh. Ok. I keep bouncing back and forth wrt this series: I thought vol 1 was boring, I liked vol. 2, and I am completely weirded out by the cracktasticness of vol. 3.

Possibly this is because I keep reading them half a year apart. But um, yeah. I wasn't expecting Cesare Borgia to be damned quite that literally. I mean, I knew it was literal, but... wow. That was literal.

( Spoilers )