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Angelic Runes #1
Angelic Runes, Volume 01
A traveler in search of his father chances upon a pair of twins about to be buried by their village. The villagers claim the two are cursed, but he rescues them. He soon finds out what makes the villagers fear them: the siblings have the power of angels and demons! But he has his own secrets as well...
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
45 people want to read
About the author
Makoto Tateno
179 books123 followersName (in native language): 立野真琴
Birth Date: March 23
Also writes under the pen-name of Shinjuku Tango.
Makoto Tateno is an extremely prolific mangaka, having created 30+ series of manga in both the shoujo and BL genres. However, she is probably most well known amongst English-speaking audiences for her yaoi series “Yellow,” published by DMP. She debuted in 1986 with the short story "Yuraete Tamago Boys," published by Hana to Yume.
Birth Date: March 23
Also writes under the pen-name of Shinjuku Tango.
Makoto Tateno is an extremely prolific mangaka, having created 30+ series of manga in both the shoujo and BL genres. However, she is probably most well known amongst English-speaking audiences for her yaoi series “Yellow,” published by DMP. She debuted in 1986 with the short story "Yuraete Tamago Boys," published by Hana to Yume.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 8 reviews
July 28, 2010
A traveler comes upon a bizarre scene - a village is burying two children alive! Appalled, he attempts to stop them. But the superstitious people claim that the bairns are cursed - when they were born they burned their way out of their mother's womb, and they speak only the strangest things - ergo, everything is their fault. Unable to persuade them otherwise, the traveler, Sowil, offers them some magic seeds in exchange for the children and takes them with him.
The boy's name is Erudite, and he speaks for the angels; the girl is Allueh, and she for the demons. As Sowil discovers when they reach a fork in the road, and he receives advice from each side. Following Michael the angel's advice, they take the left fork, as he promises them dinner that way. Imagine their surprise when they encounter a ginormous salamander! Sowil does something strange with sticks, and causes water to appear, which repels the beast, allowing them to continue and have a safer meal. Both the angels and the demons, speaking through the children, wish to know how this was done, Sowil claims it was just a little magic that angels and demons know not of, and swears them to secrecy.
As they travel, Sowil reveals that he has been sent on this journey by his master, in order to seek his father, of whom he knows nothing. They come to another fork in the road, and again he takes the angel's advice, and to his amazement, they are back in the village! Huh? And when the villagers see them, they seize the children again! At that moment, sandworms rear their ugly heads, and with a little investigation, Sowil understands everything. He warns the villagers that they are being tested, to carefully consider what they are doing, but they aren't listening, so he has to take action . . .
Sowil and the children travel on, reaching another fork in their journey. This time, angels and demons agree - go to the right. The forest soon ends, and they reach a parched land - and spy a prone figure upon their path! As Sowil races to assist her, he finds himself sliding into a sand pit, and finds a dried up spring. Returning to the others, he offers the girl on the road some water. Suddenly another approaches, who pronounces himself to be Nix, the water spirit. Apparently the girl, whose name is Lilleen, was lying on the road as entrapment for travelers. Nix apologizes for the ruse, says he's been waiting to see Lilleen for a very long time, and questions Sowil about his magic. He pleads with Sowil to help them, with his magic, to get water. Again, Sowil swears them to secrecy as he uses his runes. But not everything is as it seems. . .
There is a book - the "Sefer Raziel" - of the Angel Raziel, which is said to contain every secret of heaven and of earth. Sowill wonders if it will possess information regarding his father. Oddly, although Sowil remembers nothing about his father, neither do any of the villagers where he lived remember him either, which is very curious. As Sowil sleeps, the children converse with Raziel, who wishes to know more about him, and tells them who they must contact - Hecate, the Witch Goddess. Hecate takes them into Sowil's past, and we learn how he met his mentor, the mage Taurus. But some of his memories are blocked by a strange symbol - Perthlo - and only Sowil can unseal them.
Reaching another town, they are dismayed to see the townsfolk run from them, except for one brave girl who offers them food, for the children's sake. She explains to them that there has a been of string of deaths lately, and that before each death the person who is to die see his doppelganger (in folklore, an evil twin). Sowil agrees that they will stay the night at the home of the young girl, who is alone in the world, and he promises to look into the mysterious matter of the Doppelgangers.
A bonus manga shows Sowil having a little fun with runes.
This is an interesting start to a new series, combining magic with myth and the familiar story of the quest to find someone or something to produce an interesting tale, so far. The creatures are a nice twist, and the children who speak in the tongues of the angels and demons are sufficiently cute and creepy both. Somehow I suspect Sowil's father is not someone he really wants to meet, but I could be wrong, only time will tell. His master, Taurus, is just as bishounen as his charge. Makoto Tateno does not draw ugly men. There is no mistaking her hand in this artwork. Sowil is a familiar type with her, found in most of her work, which is not a complaint, just an observation. I hope we learn more about the runes later, and a little something about how they actually work would be nice, rather than leaving them in the realm of stuff happens, no explanation. I think this would be best for older teens because of some of the darker themes involved, or younger teens who are maybe more mature. At times the plot seems almost a little too simplistic, but I'll chalk that up to growing pains, and I look forward to reading more.
You can read this review and others at Anime Radius
The boy's name is Erudite, and he speaks for the angels; the girl is Allueh, and she for the demons. As Sowil discovers when they reach a fork in the road, and he receives advice from each side. Following Michael the angel's advice, they take the left fork, as he promises them dinner that way. Imagine their surprise when they encounter a ginormous salamander! Sowil does something strange with sticks, and causes water to appear, which repels the beast, allowing them to continue and have a safer meal. Both the angels and the demons, speaking through the children, wish to know how this was done, Sowil claims it was just a little magic that angels and demons know not of, and swears them to secrecy.
As they travel, Sowil reveals that he has been sent on this journey by his master, in order to seek his father, of whom he knows nothing. They come to another fork in the road, and again he takes the angel's advice, and to his amazement, they are back in the village! Huh? And when the villagers see them, they seize the children again! At that moment, sandworms rear their ugly heads, and with a little investigation, Sowil understands everything. He warns the villagers that they are being tested, to carefully consider what they are doing, but they aren't listening, so he has to take action . . .
Sowil and the children travel on, reaching another fork in their journey. This time, angels and demons agree - go to the right. The forest soon ends, and they reach a parched land - and spy a prone figure upon their path! As Sowil races to assist her, he finds himself sliding into a sand pit, and finds a dried up spring. Returning to the others, he offers the girl on the road some water. Suddenly another approaches, who pronounces himself to be Nix, the water spirit. Apparently the girl, whose name is Lilleen, was lying on the road as entrapment for travelers. Nix apologizes for the ruse, says he's been waiting to see Lilleen for a very long time, and questions Sowil about his magic. He pleads with Sowil to help them, with his magic, to get water. Again, Sowil swears them to secrecy as he uses his runes. But not everything is as it seems. . .
There is a book - the "Sefer Raziel" - of the Angel Raziel, which is said to contain every secret of heaven and of earth. Sowill wonders if it will possess information regarding his father. Oddly, although Sowil remembers nothing about his father, neither do any of the villagers where he lived remember him either, which is very curious. As Sowil sleeps, the children converse with Raziel, who wishes to know more about him, and tells them who they must contact - Hecate, the Witch Goddess. Hecate takes them into Sowil's past, and we learn how he met his mentor, the mage Taurus. But some of his memories are blocked by a strange symbol - Perthlo - and only Sowil can unseal them.
Reaching another town, they are dismayed to see the townsfolk run from them, except for one brave girl who offers them food, for the children's sake. She explains to them that there has a been of string of deaths lately, and that before each death the person who is to die see his doppelganger (in folklore, an evil twin). Sowil agrees that they will stay the night at the home of the young girl, who is alone in the world, and he promises to look into the mysterious matter of the Doppelgangers.
A bonus manga shows Sowil having a little fun with runes.
This is an interesting start to a new series, combining magic with myth and the familiar story of the quest to find someone or something to produce an interesting tale, so far. The creatures are a nice twist, and the children who speak in the tongues of the angels and demons are sufficiently cute and creepy both. Somehow I suspect Sowil's father is not someone he really wants to meet, but I could be wrong, only time will tell. His master, Taurus, is just as bishounen as his charge. Makoto Tateno does not draw ugly men. There is no mistaking her hand in this artwork. Sowil is a familiar type with her, found in most of her work, which is not a complaint, just an observation. I hope we learn more about the runes later, and a little something about how they actually work would be nice, rather than leaving them in the realm of stuff happens, no explanation. I think this would be best for older teens because of some of the darker themes involved, or younger teens who are maybe more mature. At times the plot seems almost a little too simplistic, but I'll chalk that up to growing pains, and I look forward to reading more.
You can read this review and others at Anime Radius
May 7, 2018
2.5 stars, couldn't get into it, everyone kept trying to swap it to me back in my swapping days!
December 30, 2009
It opens with Sowil, a young apprentice mage, who has been sent on a mission by his master: he has to find his father. He comes to a village where there villagers are trying to bury twins, a boy and a girl, alive, claiming the kids are cursed and that this was the twins’ idea. Sowil offers to take the kids with him and the villagers are more than glad to get rid of Allueh, the girl and Erudite, the boy. However, in the process Sowil has to tackle the real creature destroying the village.
During the course of this, the twins are revealed as oracles. Allueh speaks for the demons and Erudite, the angels. Sowil, on the other hand, possesses the magic of the Nordic runes, a power that even the angels and demons don’t know about. This is why Sowil is looking for his father, thinking that’s where the power must have come from. Even the oracles can’t read Sowil.
As they travel on, they run into a village in the grip of a drought and a young girl disobeying the village edicts so she can spend time with Nix, the man she loves. In another chapter, while Sowil sleeps, the twins are visited by Taurus, Sowil’s mentor. This fills us in on Sowil’s back story, including the fact that there is something very odd going on with him.
The last chapter introduces a character who is shaping up to be a recurring villain. In a town riddled by doppelganger attacks, Sowil tries to restore order. Doing this, he meets Loft who has a grudge against Sowil’s father and plans on taking it out on Sowil. Loft has this tight leather pants and no shirt thing going on that suggests Makoto’s usually male unfulfilled sexual tension might come into play later, that along with the rather high rating for the volume.
Over all, the storyline is entertaining enough but it has problems. It’s obvious Makoto has done a lot of research into runes, demons and angels and all sorts of mythical creatures and is having a ball using them. That enthusiasm can be felt in the writing. On the other hand, Sowil starts out too powerful. He always knows which rune to use and they always work. That’s a little too easy for me. Granted, there is an effort to start and wrap up the storyline in each chapter so they’re like stand alone stories which means there is this rushed feeling. Still, I would like to see Sowil struggle a bit or at least have unexpected consequences of his magic. So far that hasn’t happened so it’s all a bit to easy and lacking tension.
Also, the twins are very annoying. They’re set up as the spokespersons for the demons and angels but the way it was done is ‘XYZ, the angel of so and so, says…’ and ‘ABC, the demon of this and that asks…’ This is the only way the twins communicate and it resulted in two things: the twins have no personality and that speech pattern grates on your nerves quickly.
During the course of this, the twins are revealed as oracles. Allueh speaks for the demons and Erudite, the angels. Sowil, on the other hand, possesses the magic of the Nordic runes, a power that even the angels and demons don’t know about. This is why Sowil is looking for his father, thinking that’s where the power must have come from. Even the oracles can’t read Sowil.
As they travel on, they run into a village in the grip of a drought and a young girl disobeying the village edicts so she can spend time with Nix, the man she loves. In another chapter, while Sowil sleeps, the twins are visited by Taurus, Sowil’s mentor. This fills us in on Sowil’s back story, including the fact that there is something very odd going on with him.
The last chapter introduces a character who is shaping up to be a recurring villain. In a town riddled by doppelganger attacks, Sowil tries to restore order. Doing this, he meets Loft who has a grudge against Sowil’s father and plans on taking it out on Sowil. Loft has this tight leather pants and no shirt thing going on that suggests Makoto’s usually male unfulfilled sexual tension might come into play later, that along with the rather high rating for the volume.
Over all, the storyline is entertaining enough but it has problems. It’s obvious Makoto has done a lot of research into runes, demons and angels and all sorts of mythical creatures and is having a ball using them. That enthusiasm can be felt in the writing. On the other hand, Sowil starts out too powerful. He always knows which rune to use and they always work. That’s a little too easy for me. Granted, there is an effort to start and wrap up the storyline in each chapter so they’re like stand alone stories which means there is this rushed feeling. Still, I would like to see Sowil struggle a bit or at least have unexpected consequences of his magic. So far that hasn’t happened so it’s all a bit to easy and lacking tension.
Also, the twins are very annoying. They’re set up as the spokespersons for the demons and angels but the way it was done is ‘XYZ, the angel of so and so, says…’ and ‘ABC, the demon of this and that asks…’ This is the only way the twins communicate and it resulted in two things: the twins have no personality and that speech pattern grates on your nerves quickly.
June 11, 2010
Sowil is on a mission to find his father. He is not sure what he looks like or even where he is. All he knows is that his father is the key to discovering the secrets of his past and powers. Early on in his mission, Sowil comes across a village which is suffering from drought and all sorts of problems. He soon discovers that the villagers blame this problems on two young twins. The villagers believe that by killing these children that the village will be spared of their plight. Sowil automatically realizes the wrong of this situation, rescues the children, and takes them under his wing. It is apparently to Sowil, however, that like him, these children have a special power. One that he believes will assist him in locating his father. As the group continue on Sowil's mission, it is clear that there is more to these children than meets the eye.
Angelic Runes is an captivating mix of mythology and religious ideals blended with magic. While it seems that this may be a little much, Tateno does a splendid job of making it just enough of each element without making it overkill. It was fascinating to see each working together to help Sowil on his mission. Sowil, as a character, was interesting. I love the mystery surrounding his past. Within the first volume, the reader is given just enough information to keep the reader interested without giving to much away.
One element that I am on the fence with is the episodic feel of the chapters, or acts as it is called in this manga. Each act is set up almost like an episode of a show. There is a beginning, a middle with a monster appearing, and then the end with a fight and the problem being resolved. While there is an overlying story, each act almost always starts almost with a summary of the story thus far. Personally, I would not have minded it that much if it had been limited to once a volume, since sometimes it is nice to have a small refresher. But with a 200 page manga, it almost feels like they are wasted pages. Pages that could have added more to the story.
Despite a few issues, Angelic Runes is a nice, quick read. The story is absorbing and the characters with their differences made the story quite humorous at times. I love the idea of twin each representing one side of the angel/demon conflict, and Tateno pulled it off quite flawlessly. This is a great manga for reader wanting to ease themselves into this genre, or for diehards wanting a nice read with some interesting twists. For me, this is definitely a keeper, and I am looking forward to reading more of Sowil and the twin's adventures.
Angelic Runes is an captivating mix of mythology and religious ideals blended with magic. While it seems that this may be a little much, Tateno does a splendid job of making it just enough of each element without making it overkill. It was fascinating to see each working together to help Sowil on his mission. Sowil, as a character, was interesting. I love the mystery surrounding his past. Within the first volume, the reader is given just enough information to keep the reader interested without giving to much away.
One element that I am on the fence with is the episodic feel of the chapters, or acts as it is called in this manga. Each act is set up almost like an episode of a show. There is a beginning, a middle with a monster appearing, and then the end with a fight and the problem being resolved. While there is an overlying story, each act almost always starts almost with a summary of the story thus far. Personally, I would not have minded it that much if it had been limited to once a volume, since sometimes it is nice to have a small refresher. But with a 200 page manga, it almost feels like they are wasted pages. Pages that could have added more to the story.
Despite a few issues, Angelic Runes is a nice, quick read. The story is absorbing and the characters with their differences made the story quite humorous at times. I love the idea of twin each representing one side of the angel/demon conflict, and Tateno pulled it off quite flawlessly. This is a great manga for reader wanting to ease themselves into this genre, or for diehards wanting a nice read with some interesting twists. For me, this is definitely a keeper, and I am looking forward to reading more of Sowil and the twin's adventures.
April 30, 2013
you know what's interesting about this story? angels
here's the set up. sowil, our resident kind guy protaganist (the best kind!) is journeying about when he sees a group of villagers attempting to bury two children alive. having, y'know, a conscience, he offers the villagers some magic seeds (their justification for vivisepulture being that they were cursed children who caused drought and crop failure) in exchange for letting him take the children away. he then finds out they are oracles, one transmits the words of demons and the other of angels
and i thought about it a bit more because like. i believe in god, i believe he tests us, if this were real life i wouldn't be making that judgement. it's interesting how that layer of fictionality prompts me to respond to the angels like i would to human beings who did those actions.
though, hey, pretty sure i'm meant to, tateno totally humanizes her angels and demons. they bicker! how are you going to take bickering children as manifestations of the divine? you cannot, i tell you
on that note, i hope we get to hear a bit more from the children next volume. right now all their dialogue consists of them speaking for angels or demons, i'd like to see them express their own feelings. do they have any choice about speaking for them? lots of interesting material for tateno to build off there. 3 stars
here's the set up. sowil, our resident kind guy protaganist (the best kind!) is journeying about when he sees a group of villagers attempting to bury two children alive. having, y'know, a conscience, he offers the villagers some magic seeds (their justification for vivisepulture being that they were cursed children who caused drought and crop failure) in exchange for letting him take the children away. he then finds out they are oracles, one transmits the words of demons and the other of angels
and i thought about it a bit more because like. i believe in god, i believe he tests us, if this were real life i wouldn't be making that judgement. it's interesting how that layer of fictionality prompts me to respond to the angels like i would to human beings who did those actions.
though, hey, pretty sure i'm meant to, tateno totally humanizes her angels and demons. they bicker! how are you going to take bickering children as manifestations of the divine? you cannot, i tell you
on that note, i hope we get to hear a bit more from the children next volume. right now all their dialogue consists of them speaking for angels or demons, i'd like to see them express their own feelings. do they have any choice about speaking for them? lots of interesting material for tateno to build off there. 3 stars
June 17, 2019
Sowil, a travelling mage encounters a pair of twins, about to be sacrificed by a frightened village. They are Allueh, who speaks in the tongues of demons while Erudite utters the voices of the angles. Their mother died giving birth to them, same as Sowil, whom instantly feels protective of these two children. The twins were ready to give up their lives for their village, but Sowil managed to use his magic to save their home instead. The odd children become Sowil’s companions on the road as he searches for his father, who’s a complete mystery to the young mage, yet the source of his unusual magic. As the three travel, they encounter many an adventure (and misadventure), including Loft, a mysterious shirtless sorcerer with a grudge against Sowil’s father, intent on hunting and messing with Sowil as part of his revenge.
The artwork and depiction of the characters was beautiful, very much what I’ve come to expect and enjoy from Tateno-sensei. The story was engaging, although I often wanted to slap many of the various side characters they met for their ignorant hostility. The mix of mythology was fun, plus I chortled at the shirtless Loft, whom appeared to have walked out of a yaoi manga and be quite put out by the fact that he couldn’t do more to Sowil than simply pin him to a tree. Sorry, Loft, there are children watching in this story, even if they are precocious. Guess this comes of reading many of Tateno-sensei’s other works when something would have happened. In spite of Loft’s limits due to the rating, this was a charming story. I’m not quite sure what was missing, which kept from getting more into it. Perhaps a sense of tension? Maybe some of the side characters irritated me a little too much. Criticism aside, I enjoyed this and was eager to read the next volume.
The artwork and depiction of the characters was beautiful, very much what I’ve come to expect and enjoy from Tateno-sensei. The story was engaging, although I often wanted to slap many of the various side characters they met for their ignorant hostility. The mix of mythology was fun, plus I chortled at the shirtless Loft, whom appeared to have walked out of a yaoi manga and be quite put out by the fact that he couldn’t do more to Sowil than simply pin him to a tree. Sorry, Loft, there are children watching in this story, even if they are precocious. Guess this comes of reading many of Tateno-sensei’s other works when something would have happened. In spite of Loft’s limits due to the rating, this was a charming story. I’m not quite sure what was missing, which kept from getting more into it. Perhaps a sense of tension? Maybe some of the side characters irritated me a little too much. Criticism aside, I enjoyed this and was eager to read the next volume.
May 12, 2011
And so it begins. Sowil is on a quest to find who his father is. Born in strange circumstances and with painful consequences, he takes to the road to discover his roots. Along the way he winds up with the responsibity of two special children-oracles, Allueh who hears the voices of demons and Erudite who hears the angels. But even if the similarities in their births and unique abilities bind them together, who Sowil really is may be the biggest mystery of all.
This volume is about introduction. You get to meet the primary characters; Sowil, Allu, and Eru. As the story unfolds you get little bits and pieces of just who they are and what they can do. But since it's barely the beginning, of course Tateno-sensei isn't going to make it easy and give up all the goodies right away, so this vol. ends with alot of secrets yet to be revealed.
So yes, while this is just the beginning-a really nice and intriguing one by the way, Tateno-sensei has hooked me in and so now I'm awaiting for the next volume. I want to learn what's in store for this trio.
This volume is about introduction. You get to meet the primary characters; Sowil, Allu, and Eru. As the story unfolds you get little bits and pieces of just who they are and what they can do. But since it's barely the beginning, of course Tateno-sensei isn't going to make it easy and give up all the goodies right away, so this vol. ends with alot of secrets yet to be revealed.
So yes, while this is just the beginning-a really nice and intriguing one by the way, Tateno-sensei has hooked me in and so now I'm awaiting for the next volume. I want to learn what's in store for this trio.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 8 reviews