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Ayashi no Ceres
Mysterious Ceres by Yuu Watase

Fans of Watase-sensei's fushigi yuugi will find ayashi no ceres no dissappointment. It features many of the gut-wrenching plot twists which so mark the descent of FY's plot into the sordid abyss of loss and heartache which draws us in and won't let go. In other words - its like watching a train wreck. You almost can't bear to watch, but you just can't help it.

Unlike the April Issue of Animerica ('00), I won't ruin the entire plot in my description. (incidentally, I advise not reading the "new in japan" section for this month if you would like to be surprised - the rest of the mag rocks though ^_^)

On the dual sixteenth birthday's of Aya and Aki Mikage, the twins are taken to their family's ancestral home, where they are subjected to a mysterious family custom. In the aftermath, several family members lay dead/dying, Aki wounded, and Aya hunted down by the surviving family members. After a brief run-in with a mysterious and handsome stranger, Aya is rescued on the Mikage lawn by a few members of the Aogiri family. She is whisked away from the gun-toting members of her family, and given shelter in the Aogiri household.

Suzumi Aogiri informs Aya that she has tennyo* blood in her ancestry, and that the Mikage family, wealthy and ruthless, has been cursed by the soul of one particularly bitter tennyo since its founding. Ceres, the restless spirit, is able to channel herself through her descendents in order to take revenge on the Mikage. Aya is percieved as a threat, since she channels Ceres very well (hence the bloodshed at the ceremony earlier).

While Aya is rescued, Aki is imprisoned by the family and subjected to various genetic experiments to test out the whole tennyo thing. Aya, guarded by the Ceres-chosen tennyo-guardian Yuuhi Aogiri (Suzumi's younger brother-in-law) who fights with steel chopsticks - it looks cooler than it sounds - begins her quest to rescue her brother.

Of course, it all goes completely against plan. She falls deeply in love with the mysterious stranger, Tooya, a bodyguard for her family (and yes he gets brainwashed). Also, she finds others who possess similar tennyo powers to her own. Complicating all this, is the fact that Yuuhi is in love with her, and seemingly, so is her brother...

Strictly Shoujo Ayashi no Ceres Information

Strictly Shoujo Ayashi no Ceres Sites

Hagoramo Falling

Great Ayashi no Ceres Sites

ayashi.net
studio pierrot's official anc anime site - japanese

The anime for Ayashi no Ceres premiere's this spring in Japan, consisting of 24 episodes (initially). The manga themselves have finished, totalling 14 tankubon, and now one artbook ^_^

The picture above is from the April '00 Animage article on New Faces in the Spring anime lineup in Japan. The background is of Ceres.

Strictly Shoujo Notes on Ayashi no Ceres:

Ayashi no Ceres is one of the best manga I haven't read. Yeah, you read that right ^_^ ANC isn't yet available in North America yet (translated), so in my Japanese-deficient-ness I have had to rely on the excellent translations available at ayashi.net Graphic novels released by Viz (they are also doing Fushigi Yuugi - slowly) are due to come out some time at the end of this year, beginning of next? Something like that...