Ceres: Celestial Legend, Vol. 10: Monster

妖しのセレス [Ayashi no Ceres] #10

by Yuu Watase

Hell hath no fury like a heavenly maiden.

Horror, Comedy, and Romance Made in Heaven

Yuu Watase , the immensely popular writer/artist of the shôjo (girl's) fantasy smash Fushigi Yû The Mysterious Play , has turned her creativity and wry sense of humor to the horror genre with her anime/manga hit Celestial Legend . Aya thought she was a normal teenager until she discovered that she can transform into a vastly powerful “heavenly maiden” named Ceres...But Ceres is furious and out for revenge!

Their search for the celestial robes or "hagoromo" resumed, Aya and Yûhi transfer to (yet another) new school. But, here, their problems are more serious than just making new friends. Aki--or, should we say, the "Progenitor"--is on campus and making Aya's life hell. And then there's a kind of actual hell itself, in the form of a beneath-school passageway, where a...creature...is said to roam. Is there any truth to Aki's claim that the monster is the daughter of a priest who made the grave error of angering a celestial maiden or "ten'nyo" hundreds of years ago...? Speaking of ten'nyo , Aya has vowed to never release Ceres again. But Aki has made his own vow...and he will claim Ceres--his woman--one way or the other....

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Romance, Shojo, Horror, Comics

200 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 1999

About the author

Yuu Watase (渡瀬悠宇) is a Japanese shoujo manga-ka. She is known for her works Fushigi Yūgi, Alice 19th, Ceres: The Celestial Legend, Fushigi Yūgi Genbu Kaiden and Absolute Boyfriend. She likes all music, except heavy metal and old traditional music.

She received the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo for Ceres, Celestial Legend in 1997. Since writing her debut short story "Pajama de Ojama" ("An Intrusion in Pajamas"), Watase has created more than 80 compiled volumes of short stories and continuing series. Because of her frequent use of beautiful male characters in her works, she is widely regarded in circles[which?] as a bishōnen manga artist.[citation needed] In October 2008, Watase began her first shōnen serialization, Arata: The Legend in Weekly Shōnen Sunday.
Her name is romanized as "Yû Watase" in earlier printings of Viz Media's publications of Fushigi Yūgi, Alice 19th, and Ceres, The Celestial Legend, while in Viz Media's Fushigi Yūgi Genbu Kaiden and Absolute Boyfriend her name is romanized as "Yuu Watase". In Chuang Yi's English-language versions of Fushigi Yugi (spelled without a macron or circumflex), her name is romanized as "Yu Watase".

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for complete series



After I didn't enjoy Fushigi Yuugi as much as I had hopped I would, I was a little concerned how well I'd like Ayashi no Ceres - after all, I was much more interested in the former. Now that I have read both, I think the latter is the superior work in terms of story telling. Pacing was one of the biggest issues I had with Fushigi Yuugi and, while the beginning is a little slow, the other all pacing is infinitely better. The flow of the story felt right with neither dragging nor rushing and the order of events made reasonable sense.

Thanks to the good pacing, the relationships between characters were a lot more believable. Yuu Watase writes likeable characters but sometimes fails to connect them - it's not perfect in the case of this series but it is so much better done than I have seen her do in other works. My only issue probably lies with how fast Aya falls in love with Toya. I wouldn't necessary call it instant love but she definitely has her eye on him from chapter one and the extent to which she starts to love him comes around very quickly. As a result, I initially struggled to root for them but I have to say that the story between them was otherwise nicely written. I definitely really enjoyed the friendships that were formed and was sad about many of their fates.

This series has an over all darker and more mature tone than many of Watase's other series. While she's never exactly been afraid of killing off a few of her characters. Some of the deaths caught me off guard but over all this was a borderline slaughter fest, at times I wondered if I'd picked up Angel Sanctuary instead - I do see fans of one liking the other. In this darker plot, Watase tried to include some comic relief in the form of Kyuu (the housekeeper of sorts?). I didn't like this character at all as she had zero substance beyond apparently being so ugly characters feel sick at the site of her. This joke soon became very, very, very old, especially given that it was repeated regularly over a 14-volume series. Not too mention that I found this joke to be in poor taste.

Another thing that makes this series different from Watase's other works is the art style. While it is still recognisably Watase's style, it is over all less cute and I take this as an attempt to match the more mature story. I do generally prefer her usual style over this one, but it's not that there is anything wrong with the style used here - it's simply different and, unlike me, others may prefer it over her usual style.

Over all, Ayashi no Ceres surprised me in a good way. It is an all around well crafted sci-fi manga that keeps most of its secrets for the final two volumes. Sci-fi isn't my main genre and there were a few hiccups along the way (Kyuu and the somewhat rushed romance) that prevent me from giving this a full score but it definitely earns its place among shoujo manga classics.

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still a huge fan of Yuu Watase, but I must say that this is probably my least favourite of her series to date - it has her trademark high quality artwork and emotional drama but its so unrelentingly dark with no let up in sight.

So in this one Aya nearly gets raped twice - first gang raped by a group of her male classmates and then later by her twin brother possessed by the progenitor. The monster it would seem is a human who tried on a hagimono and got turned into an evil monster for 700 years.

The highlights of this volume are Toya who realises, with a doctor's help that perhaps being a cipher doesn't matter to Aya and they could still be happy together - his coming in guns blazing to rescue her towards the end made my heart beat a little faster - yay. The other strength is the issue of sex vs love - a strong theme both in the story itself and discussion in the side bars. Everyone it seems wants to possess Aya/Ceres in some way.

Enjoying this series over all, but be warned it is very dark.

[Lau · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75

Mi primer pensamiento al retomar fue 'ugh, todavia quedan 5'. Sé que no es una buena forma de empezar, pero vengo de libros excelentes y a esta altura Ayashi no Ceres está en categoría "lo sigo porque llegué hasta acá".

En el intento de violación de turno, ahora le tocó a Grupal. Esta mujer tiene una fijación.
No es el único del libro, hay otro más cerca del final, porque como ya se sabe a esta altura, si "Aki" no intenta forzar a Aya no sabe qué hacer con las manos. Lo digo fuera de spoiler porque dudo que sorprenda a nadie.

Las escenas de acción son muy confusas a veces, no se notó en qué momento Ceres quedó inconsciente. Pasó de estar bien a dejar de estarlo de un cuadro al otro, y pum! secuestrada.
Fue bastante más de lo mismo durante un buen tramo y nuevamente mejora hacia el final. Ahora parece que se está encaminando el desenlace (igual quedan 4 tomos más asi que va a ser una 'encaminación' lenta). Y la revelación de las descendientes de Tenyo del final podría haber sido más larga, pero Aya sólo piensa Tooya Tooya Tooya.

[Aurelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

More character growth for Aya, who continues on her search to learn more about the celestial beings etc this volume was particularly dark and violent; TRIGGER WARNING for two instances of attempted rape on the protagonist. It was a bit surprising (at least one of the two instances at least felt not exactly necessary) but I understand why the author did it (especially considering the constant themes of body autonomy, male violence against women etc) I really love the darker themes of this story.

[Kasumi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Está claro que aun no hemos llegado al límite de las desgracias que persiguen a Aya, sobre todo cuando el primer antepasado (en el cuerpo de su hermano) está decidido a dejar de esperar y recuperar a su esposa de una vez, y si la violencia no funciona, Kagami le propone alterar los recuerdos de Aya, como hicieron con Toya, que siente que Aya está en peligro y decide regresar antes de que sea demasiado tarde.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW for Suicide/Rape/Abuse
Technically a 4.5 out of 5 for me. This one was really intense between Aya's kidnapping and Tōya's memories returning. I absolutely despite the progenitor with a passion. I cannot wait to see where this series continues.

[Laurelyn Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's really a 3.5 but I'm not rounding up. The art is stunning.

[Coke Fernández · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10.
Pobre Aya, de verdad. Lo que no le pase a esta chica... :(

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rich, exciting story with well developed characters, intriguing plot, and captivating art. Can't wait for next volume.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heck. I had forgotten how dark this series gets

[Maria del Mar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odio l'avantpassat, que es mori ja.
Cal tanta agressió s*****??
Queden 4 volums i està molt interessant la cosa

[Ryofire · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sole good part of this is Alec helping Toya and (eventually) Aya.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yuu Watase is an amazing storyteller and draws some gorgeous artwork! She is one of my favorite manga authors and I love everything she has done. The characters in Ceres are amazing and imaginative and extremely easy to relate to. She is able to capture the character’s emotions amazingly with a realistic outlook on life. Aya’s reaction to finding out about her supernatural powers was real and her ongoing fight through all of her problems strikes the reader as something that would ring true. My favorite character was Touya, hot and mysterious with a little bit of attitude thrown in. The series has gory moments and is dark but everything about life is not always peachy as Yuu Watase truthfully is able to point out.

Note: this review is about volumes 1-14 .

[Kat Petersdorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

The series does have some odd moments in which you want to cringe from the twin brother loving his sister, however I enjoyed this story because she finds power to escape some situations on her own, without Ceres. I also enjoy the art work, Yuu Watase is an amazing artist.

[Shannon (Twilight Sleep) · Rating 5 out of 5]

First manga I started collecting. Watase-san is a literary genius. I love her works. Ceres is an incredible story.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is when her bro turns fully crazy, and shows his colors to his sis.
great read

[CJ - It's only a Paper Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Really dark but really good

[Zelda Vaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emiri 2011

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, man. This series just gets more and more over-the-top. The whole thing about Toya hijacking a helicopter to rescue Aya was ridiculous, but awesome at the same time.

[Jenifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great action sequences in this volume!

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This volume kinda dragged for me until the end.

I hope that was the last of Aki...

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

oh Aya, look at the time! Rape-o'clock already?
.... thats most of this book in a sentence. Still, Mikage the-original-bastard really does make things interesting again

[Danyka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched and loved the Anime version of this since I was a kid. It also landed on my favorites.

For now, I got no plans for buying a copy.

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifth read for BTAT 2017! Another great volume! Love this series so much!

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe Aki.. the progenitor is doing things to Aya.. ugh.. at least Toya was sweet enough to give his dagger to her.

[Liz Licata · Rating 2 out of 5]

and the soap opera continues

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume was like a horror movie, a soap opera, and a Hollywood action blockbuster combined . . . I'm not sure it worked, but I guess it was entertaining.