Amnesiac assassins and possessed-by-homicidal-celestial-beings teens: now there is my kind of OTP!

[dangermousie]

I have no excuses for this post. This is basically an attempt to lure darkeyedwolf into checking out Ayashi No Ceres (Ceres: the Celestial Legend), my favorite manga.



A dark fantasy, AnC centers around Aya, a rebellious 16-year-old who is almost killed by her family on her 16th birthday. Saved by a mysterious stranger and on the run, Aya must find out what is the power that makes her family want her dead, who can she rely on, what is the truth beneath the family legends, and whether she and her beloved twin brother are destined to be enemies. Oh, and who is the gorgeous rescuer and can she trust him? And if not, can she stop herself from loving him anyway?

There is a complicated fantasy plot, cool characters and fights, but let's face it, I am in it for the hunted and potentially lethal heroine and the amnesiac assassin sent after her by her family who ends up falling in love with her instead.

Since darkeyedwolf seemed to be intrigued by the fact that there is het in this, here are some panels from the time they first make love.

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Pft. You left out the part where he has a knife that he can literally grow out of his arm.

Easily my favorite of Watase's works, and the only one I'm really still into.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Heee. I already told her that. I love that he leaves it for her as a keepsake when he goes away on a mission and she actually uses it to good effect on a wannabe rapist. Heh!

[salimbol.livejournal.com]

That knife is totally awesome. I'd kind of like one for myself (or perhaps a sword growing out of my arm, like Arashi from X ;-).

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Mmmm...Arashi. Ultimate sell for Megan: Stoic/icy swordswoman heroine. Gun being an acceptable substitute for swords.

[salimbol.livejournal.com]

It's no wonder, really, that you like Claymore so much, then ;-). It's full to the brim with them!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Claymore is filled to the brim with a lot of good things. It's like everything imaginable in manga was blended together, and then everything that could annoy me filtered out, and everything I really like doubled.

[boycottbananas.livejournal.com]

I think I tried reading this...and then I got bored. 8D;; I'm more of a simple and romantic, if not repetitive, mangas. ^^

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Have you tried her Imadoki or Alice 19th? Imadoki is pretty much just a light but cute romance. Alice 19th is her normal fantasy fare, but much shorter.

I tend to go straight for either the fantasy/scifi shoujos, or the light romances/comedies. Not a lot of patience for the more popular romantic dramas.

[boycottbananas.livejournal.com]

I've heard of both, but I think the only Yuu Watase manga that I've read most of is Fushigi Yuugi (most being half of it, I think? and yeah, that totally contradicts what I said before, since Fushigi Yuugi isn't simple. XD).

I think my favorite mangas that I own fully are Girl Got Game (basically the TokyoPop, poor man's version of Hana-Kimi, only 13 volumes shorter) and W Juliet (another crossdressing manga! XD) I like Lovely Complex, too. ^^

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

W Juliet is my third favorite shoujo. Girl Got Game I read some of, but got distracted. (IIRC, it had the problem I often have with shoujo: like the girl, don't see why I should root for either guy to "win" her. No hatred for the main guy or anything, but...) Lovely Complex I've had recced, but not checked out yet.

[boycottbananas.livejournal.com]

W Juliet is awesome, yes. :] (Ah, I get what you mean. I can't remember who I wanted her to end up with in the end, but I do know that I liked it because of the friendship that the characters had. :]) Lovely Complex is cute, but I guess kind of repetitive.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I'd rather have that kind of repetitive than melodrama repetitive (Especially since melodrama repetitive often tends to make me want to do violent things to male characters that are unfit for young ears. "Rip out their spines and stab them repeatedly with them" comes to mind.)

Lately, I've been fairly into Wild Ones and High School debut, plus my long time steadies, Wallflower and Skip-Beat.

[boycottbananas.livejournal.com]

Ooo, melodramatic/angsty repetitive-ness is lame, yeah. x_x Thankfully none of the mangas that I've read had any longterm ones...I think. 8D

My sister is buying Wild Ones (it's cute, but I skip bits of it sometimes) and I've read the first 20 chapters of High School Debut @ Onemanga or Mangafox (so cute! And that was all in a night, too. I had a headache afterwards. XD) I think I've read the first few volumes of Wallflower, but I don't remember what I stopped on. D: And I've heard about Skip-Beat, but haven't checked it out. ^^;;

Another cute one that I also like is Sand Chronicles. There's only 2 volumes out so far, though. D:

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I like Wild Ones because it caters to all the meodrama princess/bodyguard OMG FORBIDDEN kinks without making me put up with much actual melodrama, and what little melodrama there is is justified.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Aww. I like my fantasy stuff...

[boycottbananas.livejournal.com]

XD I think I'm too impatient and my brain's too small to fully love sci-fi/fantasy mangas.

[saturnhime.livejournal.com]

I love the anime, but I never finished the manga.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I like the anime but much prefer the manga: the plot is better developed and there is sexin'

[saturnhime.livejournal.com]

My friend who had it only had up to vol. 3 So I may have to find a way to read it. I really do like Yuu Watase's work though.

[darkeyedwolf.livejournal.com]

Okay, I give. Where can I download?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I'll pm you.

[salimbol.livejournal.com]

Mmm, I actually quite like Ceres myself. It's a bit more ambitious and complex than some of her stuff, though it's still obviously a Yuu Watase manga! And it's suffused with sensuality (I was a bit disappointed that the anime left out the racier bits, too ;-).

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I was quite surprised they left out the sexier bits...I mean, after some anime I've seen!

The artwork is so pretty. Plus, I am a total sucker for the Watase trope of tall, deadly men who live to protect you.

[salimbol.livejournal.com]

Might have been something to do with the time it aired, perhaps? I guess the sexploitation animes play in the wee hours of the night. But I do find it increasingly intriguing to watch anime adaptations of manga; they almost always seem tamer to me these days. Even the HYD anime cut out the underage drinking and the unlicensed driving, I noticed!
Watase's men are so, so pretty; I have a (slightly shamefaced) thing for them. Doesn't matter that all her leads look and act the same. Pretty!

[animeshon.livejournal.com]

Oh how I loved every part of this I watched/saw. Right now I really can't remember why I never finished either the anime or the manga!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

If you need links for either, let me know!

[animeshon.livejournal.com]

I think I have all of the manga somewhere on the vast expanse I call my "To Read" folder. But links to the anime would be very much appreciated :D

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

One of anime dling comms would have it...

[kitsune714.livejournal.com]

I know I've seen you mention this before -- I gather it's an anime too? The artwork looks Fushigi Yuugi-ish, which may be why I'm a bit hesitant -- Watase is a cruel master!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yup, it's an anime too, and a prety good one even if I prefer the manga (and not just because they took out all the sex scenes!)

It's pretty fun read/watch.