The Art of Angel Sanctuary: Angel Cage

I fell in love with Yuki Kaori’s work many years ago and this first album is just perfect, I love so much her drawings.
The paper of this album is good, it’s thick enough

Buchkanten vom Transport etwas gestaucht.

If you are a fan of Angel Sanctuary or Kaori Yuki, then this artbook is a must-have. If you’ve read any of her manga, then you already know what an amazing artist Kaori Yuki is, but these pictures look even better because they are in full-color! These stunning, intricately detailed pictures show many of the different characters in Angel Sanctuary, sometimes amidst poignant imagery and symbolism, sometimes posing with other characters, and sometimes just by themselves, but even then their facial expressions are so real that no other details are needed. Like the series, the mood of the artbook ranges from happy and laid-back to dark and depressing to creepy and mysterious. But having such varied themes doesn’t make the book seem disjointed, it actually makes it seem more complete.

Of course this book would be worth buying for the beautiful artwork alone, but it also includes a really helpful reference guide for the Angel Sanctuary series, including brief descriptions of nearly 40 important characters and where they rank in the hierarchy of heaven or hell, and explanations of different places and events from the manga. Considering how complex the series is, I think it’s great to have such an easily accessible guide sitting next to my bed when I’m reading, in case I need to refresh my memory. The artbook also contains an extensive interview with Kaori Yuki (in English, don’t worry) that’s both interesting and informative.

The gorgeous art and all the cool extras that come with it are more than worth this book’s price. Even if you aren’t a fan of Kaori Yuki or her work, after looking through Angel Cage, you probably will be.

wunderbar, ist Englisch

The Art of Angel Sanctuary: Angel Cage is a simply dazzling collection of art from the Manga series created by Yuki Kaori. As a relatively new reader of Manga over just the past year or so I’ve long admired many of the artists but always lamented the fact that the books I read are in black & white unlike the color comics we’ve all become used to. Thankfully VIZ has addressed this with this wonderful collection of art from Angel Sanctuary.

Angel Sanctuary is an acclaimed and hugely popular Manga created by Yuki Kaori in Hana to Yume, a bi-weekly shoujo manga magazine published by Hakusensha and now being published in America by VIZ Media. Based somewhat loosely on the biblical New Testament, it deals with Evil striking one of the corridors of heaven and taking back the body of the fallen angel Alexiel in preparation for the coming battle between Heaven and Hell. Alexiel’s body has been sealed in a crystal for her rebelling against God. As Punishment for her defiance, Her soul is reincarnated as a human being over and over in a never ending loop where she dies violently, always at a young age. As the story begins Alexiel has been reincarnated as a teenager named, Setsuna Mudou who is the Messiah prophesied to save humanity in the Black Book of Revelation.

This beautifully illustrated hardcover book shows off Kaori’s amazing talent as a digest sized, black & white book simply cannot do. Filled with the characters from the story, Kaori’s stunning use of color makes these full page, and two-page illustrations suitable for framing (but don’t tear up your book!) The illustrations run the gamut from dark gothic, to deeply sad, to wryly humorous as Kaori is able to evoke all of these emotions through her wonderfully expressive art. In addition to the art, there is a reference section in the middle detailing all the main characters of Angel Santuary, broken down by both Heaven and Hell. Also included are cutaway diagrams of the upper and lower planes and the hierarchy of angels.

Finally, there is a lengthy interview with Kaori where she discusses her work as well as her influences. Kaori reveals her love for Lewis Carroll’s original Alice in Wonderland story, particularly Carroll’s rather moody art, which is far different than what is displayed in the animated versions of his tale. Included is the calendar that she created based on Alice in Wonderland. Kaori also reveals her thoughts on ghosts and things spiritual and makes for a nice accompaniment to the art. It’s a gorgeous book that includes a gold-lettered front cover. Simply a must have for fans of Angel Sanctuary or any fan of Manga art.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

I really enjoyed these books. The art book serves as a reminder of those characters. It is fun to flip through and show to others as an introduction to the series. The art really is fabulous.