DEMON SACRED (Demon Sakurido), by Natsumi Itsuki. First published in 2003 and first published in North America in 2010.
PLOT:
Fifteen years ago, strange phenomenon started to occur across the earth. Demons straight out of mythology appeared, and a condition known as Return Syndrome started to retroactively age people back to zygotes. Mona's twin sister Rina is one of those affected and Mona is determined to save her by any means possible. She gets her chance when a mysterious man from their past named Mika returns. Through him, Mona discovers she is heir to an incredible power that allows her to capture and tame the demons. Together, they may be able to reveal the truth and save Rina...if the government doesn't get to them first.
STORY:
I have to give Itsuki credit for the sheer ambition she brings to Demon Sacred. She goes hard right from Page One, throwing all sorts of ideas at the reader: demons, unicorns, shady government agencies, crazy syndromes, magical powers, mysterious hot guys, and so much more. It all gets a bit convoluted after a while, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't compelling.
Luckily, Mona is engaging enough to serve as an anchor for all the nonsense around her. She's got the spunky courage of your typical shojo heroine, but her relationship with her sister and her late mother helps ground the series emotionally. She's even allowed a few moments of teenage giddiness in the middle of what is often a lot of serious business.
There's just one major problem: Itsuki is terrible when it comes to showing versus telling. So much of the plot and backstory are delivered through what at times feel like endless lectures. Because of this, it's easy to get bored and start glossing over the details. That's a bad tactic when it comes to a story with so much to explain and it truly holds the story back at a point when it needs to get moving and keep the reader's attention.
ART:
While this manga was started in 2003, visually it's still living very much in the 90s. There's something about Itsuki's character designs that feels old-school even for its time. Maybe it's the way she draws bishonen, who are all these long-limbed creature with heavy-lidded eyes and sharp, triangular chins. Maybe it has something to do with how much she focuses on fashion, even in the middle of all this drama.
Despite the retro stylings, she draws great faces that do a great job balancing beauty and expression. She also draws great hair that looks soft and stylish instead of sculptural. Even the body language and poses here are better than they have any right to be. If there's any downside to the art, it's that she overdoes it with the heavy screentones during the demon battles. It makes them hard to follow, something that's only hindered further by the usual muddy image quality of your average Tokyopop book.
RATING:
If Demon Sacred could figure out how to better deliver backstory, then I think it could become something special. It's got a good heroine and equally good art working in its favor, and its premise is so out there that it's hard to not be entertained.
This series was published by Tokyopop. This series is complete in Japan with 11 volumes available. 4 volumes were released and are currently out of print.
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