The multiple attractions of blood in 2D

Shock. Sudden interest. Or maybe repulsion. Possibly sadness. Excitement. Suspense.

(source: http://www.coolfacts.in/amazing-facts-about-blood/)

Blood is the one of the most recognizable and well-known elements of a horror story. Horror may not monopolize it, however it loves blood to the point of abuse, thus turning that trademark of it into its downfall.

Blood attracts and repels. Sometimes both. People swarm around a bloody story to have a mind-shower in it, others shun it because of the torrential quantities.

(Lucy from the anime “Elfen Lied”)

Why the strong impact?

Let’s start with the basic equation: blood=life. The moment a character begins to bleed (well…not of a torn lip or a punched nose…), is the moment his clock is ticking backwards in your conscience. The viewer/reader observes closely, expecting the factor that will halt the countdown, his suspense aggravated as that hardly ever arrives before the scale of 3…2…1. If the poor dying thing is an expendable piece on the board, then it all lies in the gruesome details of the scene or the drama in the reactions of his surroundings; if he is one of the main crew, each drop sparks the expectations for plot twists; and if he is your favorite character, depending on the level of your involvement, you may be feeling a muscle knocking hard against the walls of your chest. Either way, the expansion of scarlet in your screen (actual – or visionary for the bookworms-) signifies the course of the final ride, that still can or cannot be stopped.

I have to say though, none of the above applies to or matters for the almighty uke below, who always seems to bleed here and there while staying alive and kickin…

(Akira from Nitro+Chiral’s game “Togainu no Chi”)

There are those whose focus had been initially set on blood. Mostly fight and battle lovers, or fans of classic horror movies that spend a great deal of their budget on buckets of red paint. This target group of viewers and readers keep a poker face, maybe a little tainted with streaks of expectant impatience all the way to the main dish, which is served, of course, when the first crimson stream flows. Mere broken bones and faces twisted in pain are nothing; a bloody spit with a chapped tooth is where things are getting serious.

(Scene from the anime “Tokko”)

Then, there’s the sexiness factor. We gotta admit, a couple drops of red grant levels of awesomeness even to the dullest character. Add a vicious smile and surprise, he is either a big time masochist (aww) or most likely ladies, we got ourselves a badass and the blood isn’t his. Add a restrained tear and the tightly lipped wincing of a tsundere and the fangirls will shake with the urge to give the bloody human puppy a hug. Either way, Mr. Bloodyface has earned himself votes to become your new avatar and make your fangirl heart flatter.

(Snapshots from the anime “Ayashi no Ceres” and “Baccano” respectively)

However, if we stick to the horrors of it, I find blood to be incredibly more effective when its source is nowhere to be found. When a certain spattered amount of it speaks of a person’s fate but you don’t have the awesome Dexter to clearly read it for you, so you have to speculate. The tiniest drop, especially if it strikes like a thunder in the flat so far plotline. It takes but a shapeless reddish stain to set in motion stories usually far worse and far more gruesome than the original one in your mind.

Picture a relatively low fence of barbed wire with brown red stains.

(Snapshot from the opening of the anime “Another”)

If it is only a small amount of it and you’re a realist, one of the characters probably cut his hand, most likely clinging to it. But maybe he had to cling to it exactly because he was already wounded, and bloody.

If we’re dealing with a bigger amount, things get equally serious. And if we’re talking about the top of the wire, the most morbid ones would instantly picture somebody getting impaled by it, possibly due to a slip during his attempt to pass to the other side of the fence.

Or the stains had been rust all along and your morbid horror-seeking minds have been lamely trolled.

Yet, the implication of possibilities alone already induced at least the first shivers of “fear”, which most commonly are far more intense then than at the revelation of the truth behind the image.

So, how do you horror-fans like your blood-dose served in the stories?

How to achieve parental financing for your souvlakia meal

You get back home after a living hell of a day’s exhaustion. And you don’t wanna eat your mommy’s superb (no irony whatsoever here) homemade meal. Because you crave junk food so much that you can already mourn its current absence from your mouth and stomach. You’re counting souvlakia to keep yourself from hallucinating for them like you count sheep fall asleep. Only there are two objections so far; your infinite boredom to burn your already lacking calories to go get them and your wallet who’s not that willing to spill its inner world.

This utterly moronic post serves the purpose of not letting your mom/dad/destructive combo of both become the third objection and actually leading them to overcome the other two.

• You can change the word [souvlakia] with your junk poison. Like [hamburgers] or [pizza].

• You can change the exemplar word [mom] to [dad], [parents], [granny], [my horse], whatever.

• As it all comes down to factors like the type of person your parent-in-charge is, the day they had, the effort he/she put into making the homemade meal that goes in proportion to his/her willingness to shove it down your throat even if you resist in tears…you may wanna avoid certain of the following techniques or simply pick one of yours I haven’t thought of.(Ideas are always welcome).

  1)The straightforward way: “Mom, I want souvlakia today”

  This question asks for a straightforward answer, and you can be pretty sure your matter will be settled shortly. However, there’s a high risk of answers like: “No”, “Then go get them”, “And you’re telling me because…?”

  

  2)The suggestion: “Mom, let’s have souvlakia today, what do you say?”

  More polite, with slightly better chances for victory. Now the thing is, it highlights the “collective” nature of the decision. That is to say, if your mom is on diet and she’s one of those that actually keep it, be prepared for the all (won’t eat souvlakia) for one today.

  

  (Gotta love Kohaku’s way of “suggestion”)

  3)The bribe: “Get me a souvlaki today, and I’ll eat my vegetables tomorrow.”

  That’s usually a good one. You can also use the similar strategy of noting the vegetables/disgusting healthy things you already ate before out of sheer adult responsibility and earnest care for your health. Present yourself as the hardworker of maturity that finally deserves to cut himself some slack, or who needs a little motivation to do so the next day. Invoke the tiniest piece of lettuce that fell into your slimy mayonaise and chips sandwitch without ever mentioning the later.

  

  4)The forfeit of all other wishes: “Get me the souvlaki and I’ll never ask for anything else”.

  Honestly, that’s a completely retarded argument and nobody will believe you. But it will express the intensity of your desire and the childishness with which you’re going to take the potential refusal quite clearly. 

  

  5)The end of a drama: “I had this really awful day, this and that happened and I’m really devastated/tired. Can I at least get a souvlaki because I’m starving?”

  Life’s been cruel on you today. Fate whipped you relentlessly and you literally struggled to get back home. You feel miserable and have nothing to live for the next 3-4 hours separating you from that night’s sleep. And here comes the faintly bright possibility of a souvlaki to give a ray of hope. Really…who is your mom to deny this to you.

  

  *Tip: Mention tedious activities highly approved by your parents, such as university lessons. Nobody’s gonna care for the hardships of changing cafeteria seats or shopping all day.

  6)The allies: “Mom, me and dad were thinking about ordering souvlakia today”

  Search the fellow junk devourer of the family and comfortably ensure his support. It will be very helpful if he wants it as bad or looks more enthusiastic than you. You can also discreetly present him as the “mastermind”, and even fake a little bit of inner conflict: “I wasn’t too sure I wanted to order, but since dad wants souvlakia…”(also known as the “blame transfer”)

  

  7)The guest: “Hey, mom, I came back with [insert name]. Can we order souvlakia?”

  Top rates of success. You don’t even have to consult your friend, cause if he shares your wish, you have an unbeatable back-up, and if he doesn’t, your parents are likely to attribute his protests to shyness.

  

  
  

  8)The continuous pleads: “Can we order souvlakia, mom? Please, please, please, […] please, please!(or “Ple[...]eeease!)

  These sort of ball-breaking lines are a double-edged sword. The very moment they set off, the other’s first priority in life becomes shutting you up. Whether that happens with a souvlaki or a hard slap.

  
  

  9)The tempting treats: places beers on the table “You know what goes well with beer? Souvlakia!”

  Low chances, as it usually works on certain people who imagine your “treat” in the same ideal setting as you. Also, tastes can be quite unpredictable. Your mom may think this mexican beer perfectly matches the lunch’s chicken soup.

  

  10)The considerate: “Mom, you’re tired. Forget about cooking, we’ll order souvlakia”.

  This works only if she hasn’t already cooked. It also works, with a clever twist, if she’s having a busy day tomorrow, as you can order souvlakia today and make use of her lovely lunch tomorrow, relieving her of the burden of cooking again.

  

  11)The settling: “Fine, if you can’t buy me [insert super expensive meal] I’ve always wanted, at least treat me to a souvlaki. Now, that’s not too much to ask for, is it?”

  Feed on their guilt, then feed on the souvlaki they’ll get you to atone for it.

  

  12)The detailed praise: “Wouldn’t it be great to have a souvlaki now, you know, with that awesome roasted meat, that rich sauce, the potatoes melting in your mouth…[blabla]”

  In other words, you describe it vividly till saliva is pouring out of their mouths and they can’t help but surrender to temptation.

  
  

  Yes, some of those strategies are low and sneaky. Remember, nevertheless, that your goal is noble and that deep down everyone longs to commit the sin of junk food every now and then. Bon appetit.

  
  

  *Credits to my wizard friend for some of the above!

  Disc: All pictures of this post are from the amazing manga “Grand Guignol Orchestra” (Ningyou Kyuutei Gakudan), and of course they’re property and creation of Kaori Yuki ^__^

Handling the misericorde

Misericorde: 3. A narrow dagger used in medieval times to deliver the death stroke to a seriously wounded knight.(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Misericorde)

The title of this post is inspired by the name of a chapter in Kaori Yuki’s Godchild.

Life = movement and thus includes a number of goodbyes that can be terrifying if you take a minute to count. The journey is long to just keep adding baggage, and circumstances are big bitches that force you to toss a substantial part of it away in order to lift your foot for the next step. My first thought on this unoriginal realization is: that sucks.

I really envy those who are not attached to things like the black pair of Converse shoes that walked them through all j-parties in 2008. And those that don’t stare at the now closed store where they used to go with their friends sniffling. And those who don’t feel for at least for a couple of hours that their everyday routine is condemned to emptiness because the manga they’ve been reading for ages ended.

I don’t envy those who completely forget. For living in the present is a great feat, but living it without any “bookmark” to me equals not truly living anything at all. Paths split somewhere along the way, but there were people walking beside you on each part of the road.

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

So the ones I truly admire, are those who are living in the moment while embracing the dear memories of their past. The ones that are open to new friendships while treasuring the old ones that gave them part of who they are, and those who can only see possibilities in change. Those who look down on distance and the “wicked” circumstances and keep the feelings of what’s been worth to them alive.

However, it’s not always “life” and “reality” that bring forth the necessity of saying goodbye. Sometimes the change is not happening around you but within you. Sometimes you gotta say it yourself. To things you will always love but no longer represent you and to people whom you held dear but eventually didn’t live up to it. To anything keeping you from shaping the present you truly desire. And most of all, to the “you” of habits and memories you no longer are.

You do not forget them. This is a respectful goodbye to a loved one, after all.

Mistaken thoughts from beyond the sky
A life spent saying goodbye?
The little piece of the future I saw                                      
Was waving goodbye

The small room i once lived in
Is now occupied by someone else
The horrible things I said to you
The days that were wasted

Perhaps if I’d taken that chance,
if I could go back to that day
But I’ll never be that person again

Even if that frail happiness
had somehow lingered on
A bad seed would have surely sprouted
So, I guess this is goodbye

The cold cans of coffee from freezing winters
That long rainbow coloured scarf
I stroll through the back alley
It all comes back to me now

Even if that frail happiness
had somehow lingered on
A bad seed would have surely sprouted
So, I guess this is goodbye

I guess

Goodbye, that’s enough
You can cope anywhere
Goodbye, I’ll manage somehow without you
Goodbye, that’s what I’ll do

                                                            Solanin, Asia Kung-fu Generation

(lyrics copied from: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858824169/)

To you out there who have actually achieved this: you have my absolute respect and I’d love to know how you do it.

  Sincerely yours,

A person terrified of change.

Disclaimer: The first three pictures are property and creation of Kaori Yuki (from Godchild and Angel Sanctuary respectively), and the last one is property and creation of Inio Asano (from his manga Solanin). Yes, I’m going to repeat this every time.

Slow-walker: the natural stopper of haste

Every person has a pace in everything he/she does, whether it is about eating a piece of cake or completing an important task. But it must have occurred to you, though, that your pace is not defined by you alone, but also by your not always lovely surroundings. Let’s note down for a bit how the “living” ones affect our second to breathing function, the movement and more specifically walking.

Early superhighlighted note: This will not be a whining rant over people with moving disabilities, injured people and those facing difficulties due to old age. It will not be about people with an actual reason for doing the following other than shredding our nerves to ribbons, really. This will be about slow-walkers of conviction. It is also meant solely for fun, being intentionally exaggerated.

 So, there is this…vast group of people who likes to walk slowly…Like… Tragically…slowly. Nothing wrong with that till they manifest a whole remarkable range of techniques to completely drag you into their pace, and assimilate you in it whether you like it or not. I’m talking about these people for whom letting another bypass is not an option. Doesn’t matter whether their conscience is activated and set on this “cause”, they will absolutely let none walk past them. Your deadline doesn’t matter. You shall be punished for leaving home one whole minute late by being late at least twenty for your appointment. The services department you desperately want to reach will also be open tomorrow. According to a wise greek saying whoever rushes trips.

I have news for you, dear slow-walkers of choice. It doesn’t say “crush” on your impeccable barrier. Also, when it says “trips”, it doesn’t mean on your shoe soles.

Here are some of the slow-walkers’ most common categories:

1. The lost in space: This type of person doesn’t see you. Or others. Or the pavement. Or the sky. He does however have incredible sensors for cars, trees and pillars(usually). So with nothing but a body present and a traveling mind to keep at bay, how could he possibly perceive your effort to bypass him, mister? This person will not stop his movement for anything of anyone of less interest than what he has in his head. Thus, he walk-floats eternally, slowly of course, a moving obstacle securing a path only for himself (aka 1 person). In a crowded/stuffed place, that path will most likely be the one you’ve spotted for yourself as well, even though you at least have the intention of occupying every inch of it for far less time than he will. If you’re lucky and there’s open space at either of his sides, you pass. If not…don’t waste your breath on polite pleads or insulting shouts. He’ll pay no heed; he can slow you down – you – won’t rush him. Also…if you’re a fast lost-in-space walker, be prepared for a “collision of worlds”.

   

2. The shopping hunt: She(let’s not fool ourselves, ladies) stalks the shop windows, patiently, taking her time as she should. She is mostly harmless to fast-walkers because she walks closer to the aligned shops, normally leaving a fast lane. However, those of them that have a better sight and a weaker sensitivity for others, keep a distance till the label or a certain item of a shop catches their eye. Unfortunately, this phenomenon occurs in times when their number is at their peak, such as non-work hours. That’s when we have the “curve” phenomenon, (just named it after the shape of their “course) as the shop-seeker spots something of interest and suddenly quits the “straight” line of her course, and walks a clumsy half-circle that definitely crosses a fast lane…

    

3. The quest: This slow-walker is looking for something, but has only a vague idea of what it is. Or he knows what it is but he doesn’t know the exact location. In the distress of his failing attempt, he is prone to falling into the first slow-walker category and, if female (again…usually), she may periodically turn into the second type.(of course, searching can wait. Why else would we walk slowly =_=). The tricky part about this type is the abrupt pause: every time he thinks he’s found it, he will halt, even if there’s a team of runners following behind him. What’s a chain of forehead bumps before the triumphant ending of your quest….

   

4. The lovers: These people are trapped in their unbreakable bond of love and can’t help it. They will keep their hands joined during their slow, lovesweet stroll, and their arms will form a perfect V to occupy the whole width of the pavement for themselves. Occasionally, they may pause, right in front of you of course, to show you their connected tongues in a heartfelt kiss and then carry on their journey of life together just the moment you thought you were about to bypass them.

   

5. The 3+ group, also known as the wall: Akin to the category above in the aspect of feeling-induced behavior, these people have to walk in the row only. You will not find a single hole in those bricks, and if you do it will be so momentary that you need a clover in your pocket to make it through. Their arms are “knitted”, usually at the elbows, and their step is not always synchronized, usually at the cost of valuable speed. And you, sir, shall not tear down this friendship to be on time at your petty work.

   

6. The zig-zag, also known as the drunkwalk: This type totally fails to walk a straight line. He takes a few steps on the right, then left, then center and all over again, with you, meanwhile, fighting to escape the moving wall of his back. Makes you reminiscence those “dodging” games on your ancient Nintendo consoles…(any examples to help my hazy memory would be appreciated). Sometimes your irritation reaches the point where the only way to go forward is this:

   

7. The surprise slow-walker: BEWARE. This type will definitely trick you into thinking you are of the same league. He’ll walk fast and relentlessly, avoiding obstacles, with the same stressful expression of chasing time on his face. You’ll be catching up happily, considering your “road” empty. And then you’ll realize that his speed is only temporary means to achieve a goal. Once the goal is served, he’ll return to the slow-walker he truly is, the “transition” OF COURSE occurring at the crucial for you point (Murphy’s law? I don’t know). The classic example of this is the metro. You and the hypocrite fellow are rushing together to get in seconds before the closing of doors, him being ahead. And once he’s only a couple of steps from the door, having secured his safe entrance, he takes them slower than he’d peel potatoes with a spoon. And the last thing you see will be the view of his fat ass as the doors close behind him, and you’re left on the platform.

   

8. The world is mine, as Hatsune Miku said: This guy truly believes it. And in his own global property, he can walk wherever he pleases, changing directions at his (in)discretion, stepping on your non-existent to him brand new shoes, and of course, feeling entirely free to stop and make a couple of pirouettes on the spot because, sometimes, walking is just so last century. No need to say that this attitude doesn’t only apply to our case; these people will most likely stay true to this belief of theirs in every little aspect of their lives.

   

9. The pauser: Dear slow-walker of this kind, I have been in your team for a while. But suddenly I came to realize that turning on my mp3 player or reading the newspaper is more comfortable with my back against the wall or in a quiet corner, unhindered by the tiny gusts of other people’s coats as they pass me by. And you really don’t have to light your cigarette in the middle of the street.

   

All of the above are among us, unleashed in the streets to make busy people’s lives a tad harder. You can try asking them to move aside, and quickly find out that “excuse me” has become your new catchphrase. Truly many of them will do so, even apologizing. Others won’t even hear you. A few will turn around to give you the troubled cow look, silently asking you what your problem is, dude. And finally, a few others will dare to express annoyance through their wrinkled foreheads or even worse, phrases like “you’ll die young with all that stress” or “would it harm you to wait for a second?”. Breaking news! If that happens it will be thanks to your honestly admirable apathy. And life is too short to waste it all behind your walking back. =3

It is more than likely that even more slow-walker categories exist or will arise in the near future. But let us look at the brighter side of things; thanks to their contribution and forced training, most busy people will soon evolve into highly-skilled city ninjas.

Disc: All pictures included in this post are (as usual) creation and property of Kaori Yuki, from her awesome manga series Ludwig Kakumei (the final bubbles being a silly editing of mine XD)

PS:  If you speak Japanese, French or German, you should buy it rightaway. <3

An orchestra of angels, poisons and fairies

So…my first blog post is going to be about the only thing it could possibly be about. Kaori Yuki.

I’d like to believe everybody has sources of inspiration. Not necessarily leading to creativity; just those little triggers of thoughts and emotions to go with your morning coffee, a boring ride in the bus and your gradual fall into sleep. Some have few, others have many, some search hard to trace them and others just bump into them. And some lucky ones realize at first touch that what they found had magically been calling them.

Needless to say what my missing piece of the puzzle was. Because when I first read Angel Sanctuary, it felt like the first time I truly knew art.

                                                                

Kaori Yuki’s art is otherwordly. You open her manga to find faces so beautiful that realism has lost all meaning. It is not just the angel whose celestial nature calls for a fitting appearance. It is also the student who is isolated and mocked by everyone, yet the reader can’t take his eyes off him. People are going to argue about her earlier works and their evident aesthetic flaws. Clearly, Erii from her debut work looks nothing like Fairy Cube’s Rin…but as artists grow and evolve, so does their work and personally, I think “observing” the course of that evolution is one of a true fan’s biggest delights.

The best way to instill an impression on the progress on both her art and stories is to observe Cain, the main character of the Cain Saga. You’d hardly recognize the Earl of the first Cain Series as the “Godchild” of the sequel:   

                                                                  

  Reading through the entire series you watch the gothic art(that I still adore) ascend from simplicity to perfection, along with Cain himself growing out of his past into maturity. As chapters go by, the plot thickens, the characters’ psychology comes to surface and their finally revealed complexity coincides with the stunning visual outcome of a now fully blossomed talent.

 However, the most important factors had always been there from the beginning. Soul. Identity. Feelings. Her stories have always been speaking to you, even through less refined characters. Cain may have grown up, but he has always been Cain.

On the matter of her “stories” themselves, it is common knowledge among people familiar with Kaori Yuki’s name that they’re not for everyone. The elements needed for their proper appreciation are a certain attraction to darkness, a genuinely open mind, an eagerness to abolish the boundaries of your world and try to stick to another during your reading hours. There will be incest, abuse, unhealthy obsession and lots of cruelty. There will also be true love, unbreakable bonds, hope and unbelievable inner strength. If you’re the type to get carried away by fiction, there will probably be moments where you’ll find yourself hurting with an inexplicable warmth in your chest. You may have tears rolling down the crack of your smile. Life’s full of emotional conflict. And so are her manga.

                                                                     

In the more technical aspect of the plot, despite recurring themes like forbidden relationships, dark pasts, destruction, possessiveness, the ever-present mystery is so deftly weaved that you never know what to expect. Even if a plot twist was vaguely foreseen by the hardcore fans, the next one lurking in the next pages won’t be. And when suddenly all the answers (or not?) are handed down, the reader begins to recollect in his mind all the minor details that the mangaka, like every skilled storyteller, has planted all over the story. But what Kaori Yuki is truly a master at is building up tension through minor details in such a profound and overwhelming way that when the plot reaches its climax, the reader experiences his own emotional outburst along with the characters. Note this: the tying of shoe laces had never had such a dramatic impact before.

That brings us to the characters that, in my opinion, are the very beginning and the end of a story. As mentioned above, most of the characters (basically, all except very few…sorry Sandy) are of exceptional beauty and for some of them that creates an impression of “plastic” perfection. In addition to that, comes their usually “dramatic” speech, the combination, most likely completed by a fantasy setting, putting them in a place seemingly too far away for the reader to “empathize”.

                                                                         

Yet, the flaws are bound to arise for each and every one of them, sometimes to complete their image, other times to overturn it. The inorganic angel may know and has the power to define the fate of everyone around him, yet understands nothing about his own existence. The same person who shoulders the fate of the world and brought his loved one back from the dead made a grave mistake that led to a tragic personal loss. Suddenly you come to realize that this “fantasy” you’re reading about is full of human traits. The setting is unreal but the feelings springing from it couldn’t have been more real, and bits of yours are lying in at least some of the numerous characters. You may have not been confined in the garden of Eden, but you must have felt solitude.

Furthermore, the distinction between good and evil is blurred to the extent that you can’t tell them apart. The examples are ample. Angels are fighting over power and politics, while the devil himself has cared for his people. A tyrant wants to purify the world because he has only known the ugly side of it. The doctor who cruelly takes lives had once respected life at his own cost. One has faked loyalty for so long that it became his reality. There’s hardly black and white when it comes to fully-developed characters, only different shades of gray. If there’s one thing repeatedly emphasized in Yuki-sensei’s works, is that even the greatest villain is a prey to his demons, sometimes more apt and “material” than his traumas.

The characters, especially in Angel Sanctuary, are…countless. Yet they’re all developed as much as time and space allowed their creator. And they’re wonderful. Kaori Yuki has proved that a complete character doesn’t take a great number of pages to reveal himself, by bringing out the full scale of Kaine, one of the most twisted and complicated personalities, in merely two chapters.

At this point, an answer to those people who criticize Kaori Yuki’s characters as overdramatic: they live in their “universe”, not yours. And their world itself is full of a tragedy you hope to only see in fiction. And seriously…take a good look at the time/place/overall setting. Can you really picture Cain saying “Dad, this time I’m gonna shoot your ass” or Alexiel’s words as something like “Sorry, bro, there was a misunderstanding”?

And to those who complain the art is overloaded: … Yes. Depth and detail must be a terrible thing for you.

I’ll stop it here in fear of falling into the pit of my own sarcasm.

In conclusion, I’d like to add that the name of the blog, apart from my preferences to horror and chocolate, was also based on the aftereffect of her manga. For me, Kaori Yuki’s manga leave a taste of sweetness and iron. They bring you face to face with inevitable truths, like the fact that everybody’s bearing wounds from his past that are continuously “eating” his present. That loss is a part of life you’ll eventually have to deal with. That sometimes you only see past your true friend’s helping hand till it’s too late. But on the other hand, in her manga- unlike some others…*cough mitsukazumihara cough*- there is always hope (even way too deeply to find it), and most of all, there’s a solid and incredible faith in sheer willpower and human strength. And usually the positivity of a few powerful words ends up overshadowing the harshness of the struggle.

Kurai: Yourself being happy or someone important to you being happy…which one would you choose?

Setsuna: Isn’t it obvious? Everyone being happy. That’s what I’d choose. (Angel Sanctuary vol. 9 )

Disc: All the pictures above are work and property of the one and only Kaori Yuki~