10/10
An excellent anime movie with some challenging themes.
4 October 2003
After I saw this film I tried to start a discussion of it on a manga board, only to find myself being branded as a 'sicko'. One of the central themes to Angel Sanctuary is the love affair between the hero and his sister, a theme that many are given to dismiss out of hand as perverted without actually having seen the film. It is therefore perhaps ironic that the exploration of a consensual incestous relationship is one of Angel Sanctuary's greatest strengths. The whole thing is handled with sensitivity, and one truly feels for the heros torment when he declares "I am weird, I am abnormal, I am condemned by my mother, by all of them". There is no graphic sex, and the couple's one carnel indulgence is implied rather than actually shown.

As to the rest of the story, Angel Sanctuary has a cast of colourful characters, including the heros deranged angel brother and a pair of cross-dressing demons,all fighting to either eliminate him or recruit him to assist in their war against heaven. Some may find the idea of god being the enemy offensive, though I personally do not.

I would go as far as to describe Angel Sanctuary as one of the best anime that I have ever seen.
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