Forgotten Juliet (Cain Saga, Book 1)

Kaori Yuki's heart and soul! A pivotal must read!

I don't know what the previous viewer was saying about the art being "dated". Kaori Yuki is one of the most talented artists out there. If you like darker stuff with beautifully illustrated Victorian style and decor, you'll absolutely love The Cain Saga and Godchild. Granted Godchild is more refined, since it's her later stuff, but you won't regret buying Cain Saga....anyhow, you'll need to read it before you read Godchild because it's part of the storyline.But don't just read these reviews; go to the bookstore and check it out, then come back and take advantage of the buy 4 for 3 deal at Amazon. = )

The Cain saga is supposed to be Cain's origin story, but oddly the first volume doesn't delve into it at all. We just have two standard Cain murder mysteries followed by two mysteries with new characters and no Cain at all, one of those being a contemporary story. Then finally we have another Cain mystery. But the final mystery is merely the conclusion. We don't see the whole story, just Cain explaining to the culprit how he solved the case. It's a decent book if you just like murder mysteries, but it won't give you new insight into Cain's history.

It definitely smells new.There is an odd long mark on the book, but it doesn't dig into the book so that's fine.

About two years ago Viz Media launched their Shojo Beat line of graphic novels. Besides a slew of highly anticipated bi-monthly graphical novel serials, Viz decided to take the chance of releases a monthly manga anathology magazine ala Shounen Jump. One of the most puzzling decisions for the magazine was the procurement of Kaori Yuki's "Godchild". I say puzzling because "Godchild" is actually a direct sequel to Cain Saga a series which the artist stopped suddenly to work on her most famous series "Angel Sanctuary"- think Jerry Springer-esque contorted love triangles and insane family feuds set in The Divine Comedy. As it wasn't until now, two years later, that "Cain Saga" is finally available in English, magazine subscribers were put off by Godchild's I'm-missing-half-the-story vibe, so much so that it was booted out of the magazine for its unpopularity. Now that I have read Cain Saga vol 1: Forgotten Juliet, I understand why Viz was so reluctant to release it.Forgotten Juliet is a Victorian mystery anathology. Three of its five stories center around Earl Cain Hargreaves. However, his character is never really defined well enough to set this story apart of any of the other Mystery-Solving-Aristocrat stories. As for the stories themselves, they are not particularly clever or memorable.In "The Forgotten Juliet", the titular story, the young beautiful Suzette, a cousin of Cain's, dies under mysterious circumstance. The girl seemingly rises from her grave and begins taking revenge on those she knew in life. Cain suspects something other than the supernatural is afoot."Branded Bibi" is a rather ridiculous story about vengeance. A nobleman lost his beloved child many years ago. When the man recieves a letter from a woman claiming to be Madalaine, he asks Cain to investigate. The ending is so far-fetched that its sure to cause a few groans."The Boys Who Stopped Time" does not feature Cain at all, but a boy investigating the strange happenings at his boarding school."Double" is probably the worst story in the collection. Len promises to meet his friend Emilio after his friend becomes a big movie star. When Len goes to see his friend many years later, he suspects that this is not the person he once knew."The Death of Cleo Dreyfus" is shortest and the best story. Cain suspects a friend of his was poisoned by his own brother. He proceeds to deal with the killer in his own way.Besides the weak story-telling, I imagine the dated art is another reason Viz was reluctant to bring this over. Later Kaori Yuki work is known for its delicate and detailed line work and bizarre imagery. While hints of those characteristics are here, the artwork as a whole is more rounded and cruder than her later stuff.

Forget This Long Winded Text Book Stuff.I Have Been Waiting For Kaori Yuki's Count Cain Saga To Come Out. I Myself Like This Very Much.I Like How She Made Varios Stories With Varios Charaters.Nothing Created By Yuki Could Ever Disapoint Me.This Is A Very Great Piece To Add To Your Manga Colletion.Can't Wait For The Others To Become Avalible.

I picked up Cain Saga (aka. Count Cain) having read most of Angel Sanctuary and loved every minute of it. Cain Saga was written just before Angel Sanctuary, in the earlier volumes of AS, Yuki talks about it during her chat columns. Cain saga ended up being written in two sections with Angel Sanctuary sandwiched between them, consequently there are a lot of stylistic differences between Cain Saga and Godchild, the second part of Cain Saga.Cain Saga's first volume is a lot more difficult to get into. I've read a few other Yuki works such as Cruel Fairytales and Boys next Door in German, but the artwork seems very crowded in the first volume. The layout is very disjointed making it harder to follow the already complex storylines, most of which actually have very little to do with Cain at all. This book serves more as a prequel or a stand-alone version of short stories than as the first volume of the series, which really starts in volume two.Please don't be put off by the first volume, Cain Saga is a very good series. It swaps AS's fantasy elements for murder mystery realism, although it can push the boundaries of plausability a little. Yuki's fast-paced stotytelling makes for a really good read, although occasionally I do have problems telling the characters apart. I haven't got round to reading Godchild yet, but it's on my list.

An interesting book with cruel and twisted tales introducing an eccentric cast of characters and a good view of the time that they take place in.