Angel Sanctuary: Book of the Material World: Volume 2

by Kaori Yuki, 185 pages

Teenager Setsuna already has problems--he gets into fights at school and has an unhealthy crush on his sister--but finding out he's the reincarnation of a beautiful (female) angel named Alexiel, whose evil brother Rosiel has come back and is possessing whatever body is at hand to reclaim her, sends him a little over the edge. As angels and devils from all sides of the long-standing, cosmic balance-endangering sibling conflict try to either kill or recruit him--and Alexiel keeps taking over his body whenever it suits her--Setsuna just wants to keep his loved ones safe. But what can he do when his own emotions are part of what's endangering them?

Gah. The first volume of this series made clear it would be complicated and gory and goofy and melodramatic, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to read one more if I saw it in the system. If I ever pick up another, it will only be out of curiosity about the outcome and not actual interest in the story or characters. I've tried a few of Yuki's other series and found them to have the same problems--they're narratively too complex and visually too busy, with stories that skip about too much to give me reasons to actually care about the characters involved in them. She's got some good ideas, and some enviable talent, but she goes overboard and doesn't take the time to let the reader get invested, possibly forgetting we're not mind-readers who can see into her imagination and learn what she's neglected to show us.