Review: GUARDIAN ANGEL GETTEN

To wrap things up, let's look at a forgotten magical girlfriend series from an equally forgotten publisher (...and a later one that I wish we could forget).

GUARDIAN ANGEL GETTEN (Mamotte Shugogetten), by Sakurano Minene.  First published in 1997 and first published in North America in 2003.

 

PLOT:

Tasuke Shichiri is just another lonely, dorky high school boy with an absent family, few friends, and no girl to call his own.  This all changes when he gets a strange Chinese artifact from his father, from which emerges the moon spirit Shao Lin.  She declares that she will protect him from all harm, but can Tasuke protect her from the modern world and himself from his own growing feelings for her?

Review: FALLEN MOON

Finding BL manga about angels is not a particularly hard feat to accomplish.  Now finding a GOOD BL manga about angels?  That's the tricky thing.

FALLEN MOON (Daten no Tsuki), by Toui Hasumi.  First published in 2004 and first published in North America in 2008.

PLOT:

In this collection of stories, a man cast out of his personal Eden finds himself trapped in the lavish household of a fallen angel, where he is held captive just as much by his captor's will as he is by the walls.  In another world, an artist and his patron turn out to have a far longer and far more divine history than at first glance.  Finally, a bounty hunter and his partner face off against demons, only to undergo transformations and revelations of their own.

Review: CHEEKY ANGEL

This one may not be as literally angelic as the last one, but it's certainly a lot more interesting to talk about.

CHEEKY ANGEL (Tenshi na Konamaiki), by Hiroyuki Nishimori.  First published in 1999 and first published in North America in 2004.

PLOT:

Megumi is a brash young boy who simply wants to do martial arts and to grow up into the manliest man ever.  A chance encounter with a wizard leads to Megumi getting a magic book, which in turn misinterprets his wish and turns him into a girl.  By the time he reaches high school, Megumi has become renowned just as much for his beauty as for his fighting prowess, and class thug Soga becomes her number one fan.  Megumi is conflicted; he still sees himself as a heterosexual man at heart, so the last thing she would want to do is fall for a man...right?

Review: ANGEL SANCTUARY

This fall, we're going to kick off a two-part theme.  This month will be all about angelic titles, and I can't think of a better place to start than with the most notorious shoujo series about angels around.

ANGEL SANCTUARY (Tenshi Kinryoku), by Kaoru Yuki.  First published in 1994 and first published in North America in 2004.

PLOT:

It would be an understatement to say that Setsuna is a messed-up kid.  Not only is he constantly fighting with his classmates, he harbors a deep and shameful love for his younger sister, and now he's caught up in a literal holy war between heaven and hell.  Setsuna is the reincarnation of a powerful angel and both sides want his power for themselves and both are willing to hurt others in Setsuna's life to get their way.