Cain saga (EN) T.01

Born under an evil moon harboring dark secrets, Earl Cain C. Hargreves, the youthful heir of the aristocratic Hargreves family, is a man on a quest to find the truth about his family’s past. Written in dark, harrowing episodes, The CAIN Saga chronicles how Cain solves the strange crimes that seem to plague his cursed existence, yet somehow bring him closer to deciphering the puzzling circumstances surrounding his father’s tragic death.

Five gripping stories of love, friendship and betrayal–“Forgotten Juliet,” “Branded Bibi,” “The Youths Who Stopped Time,” “Double,” and “The Death of Cleo”–comprise this poignant first installment of Kaori Yuki’s hit gothic manga series. Gothic fans will be left in awe long after this series has ended!

Publishers Weekly

A prequel to Yuki’s popular Godchild, The Cain Saga is an anthology of five different tales all set in the same 19th- and early 20th-century London locale and concerning the young mystery-investigating earl, Cain C. Hargreaves. “Forgotten Juliet,” the opener, is a ghost story about grave robbers, a dead girl, some green poison that isn’t what it seems and a romance that shouldn’t have been the already knotty story line is further confused by some poorly organized artwork. “The Youths Who Stopped Time” is a more engaging mystery set in a posh boarding school circa 1918 and taking its atmosphere of naughty schoolboys and secret societies straight from the film Young Sherlock Holmes (as Yuki admits in one of her chatty columns sprinkled throughout). Yuki also admits to being a huge Twin Peaks fan, whose influence shows itself throughout, especially the closer one gets toward the final, Laura Palmer-inspired story. The tone overall registers in high camp. Although Cain will have no trouble pleasing fans of Godchild, it’s hard to imagine those already not well-versed in that story having much patience with this fast-paced but garbled collection. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.