Glass Wings

By Misuzu Asaoka

Fragile souls and tragic fates collide in these haunting, gothic stories about the enduring power of love...In this collection, a boy struggles with a dreaded affliction that comes between him and his... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159816158X
• ISBN13: 9781598161588
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: TokyoPop
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.3" x 0.8" x 5.0"
• Age Range: 13 years and up

Customer Reviews

LOVE AND TRAGEDY

Glass Wings presents three gothic, haunting tales of forbidden or unrequited love, rendered with beautiful artistry by Misuzu Asaoka. The three stories are almost Shakespearian in their tragic elements. In the first story, Hagane and Ruriha are brother and sister and both born with the `deathblood' which can infect and inflame all who come in contact with it. They are prisoners of a woman named Tsubaki, who loves Hagane and claims to have given birth to the pair, although it seems likely that birth may be in a sort of vampiric sort of manner as opposed to literally giving birth to the pair. The brother and sister merely want to live their life together and free from torment but Tsubaki says she will never let them go. In Firefly we meet Yuinne, who comes from a race of ghoul-like creatures that the nearby villagers refer to as freaks. They need to live on the blood and bodies of dead bodies in order to survive. When Yuinne runs away, trying to escape this horrific life, he is taken in by a young village girl named Mia who is unaware that he is a freak which soon puts the pair into conflict with the rest of the village who wants to kill Yuinne as Mia tries to help him. Finally in Jion Princess we meet a sickly young princess named Yura whose condition seems to be beyond a cure, that is until an orphan girl named Soyogi, who resembles Yura finds that she has empathetic powers to take all of Yura's ills and sicknesses into her body so that Yura will live, but does Yura show Soyogi any gratitude? As the titles suggests, Glass Wings explores the fragility of love and relationships and the often strange partnerships that come about in life, no matter how different people can be. Asaoka's art is very beautiful, particularly in the opening story. Genuine sympathy is garnered for these sad siblings who only want to live with each other without asking anything of the rest of the world. This was truly a touching story. Reviewed by Tim Janson