Ayashi no Ceres
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Wikipedia-Article "Ayashi no Ceres"
| Ayashi no Ceres | |
| 妖しのセレス (Ceres, Celestial Legend) |
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| Genre | shōjo |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Hajime Kamegaki |
| Studio | Studio Pierrot |
| Network | WOWOW |
| Original run | 20 April 2000 – 28 September 2000 |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
Ceres, Celestial Legend, known in Japan as Ayashi no Ceres (妖しのセレス), is a 14-volume shōjo manga series by Yū Watase, the creator of the popular manga/anime series Fushigi Yūgi. There is also the anime with the same title, which runs in 24 episodes in length. The manga is published in English by VIZ Media.
Ayashi no Ceres was serialized from 1996 to 2000 in the bi-weekly Japanese manga magazine Shoujo Comic (Sho-Comi). The original Japanese title is Ayashi no Ceres - Tenkū o-togizōshi, which the literal translation is "Bewitching Ceres - Heavenly Fairy Tale". The original title was changed for North American release.
The name of the goddess comes from one in Roman mythology. However, this one is completely different and has nothing to do with the duties, powers, and rank of that goddess. The word for "cherry" in Latin, however, is ceresia, and as the cherry tree is symbolic of Japan, the name was chosen as a code for Sakura.
Story
The story revolves around a teenager girl named Aya and her twin brother Aki, members of a wealthy and powerful Mikage family.
On their sixteenth birthday, they are called to gather in their family home to be given a special present. The present was actually some sort of test -- which Aya failed. She is found to be a reincarnation of a tennyō(celestial maiden), and when shaken, she will transform into Ceres, the tennyo. According to the legend, if left to live, the reincarnation of Ceres will bring ruin upon the Mikage family. Aya quickly found she is hunted by her own family who plans to kill her. She is saved by Suzumi Aogiri, another tennyo descendant, and quickly falls in love with a mysterious man, Tōya. Along with Tōya, she meets Yūhi, a very energetic teenager (who is Suzumi's brother-in-law).
Events escalate as Aya struggles to control Ceres and her brother gains the ability to manifest as the "Progenitor", the ancestor of the Mikage family who happen to have stolen Ceres' hagoromo (celestial robe) that will help her open the gate of heaven.
As Aya's allies increase, which include two tennyo like herself and the Aogiri family, and Tōya, she manages to reach a compromise with Ceres such that Ceres will not manifest herself without Aya's approval so long as Aya manages to recover Ceres' lost hagoromo.
Aya's quest to find Ceres' hagoromo wavers as she attempts to avoid her family, the advances of the Progenitor, and forces that threaten to tear her apart from Tōya, whose lost memory may be the key to finding Ceres' hagoromo.
Trivia
Tennyōs: Celestial Legend is based on a famous folktale that has appeared in various versions in the world, from Japan, Korea, and China, all the way to Scotland and Ireland.
The story always remains consistent in that a man (a fisherman, farmer, or woodcutter) will find an item belonging to an unearthly maiden (an tennyo, a star fisher, a merrow, a selkie... etc) and keep it. The maiden is not able to return to her world because the man possesses the item she needs (a celestial robe, a feathered cloak, a hat, a seal-skin... etc) and reluctantly marries him. However, she always recovers the item (usually because of her children discover it unwittingly and sing some kind of spell song) and she returns to her world. Sometimes her children from earth will be taken with her and sometimes her husband will join her. Once the maiden returns to her world, she never returns to the earth.
This folktale is referenced in both manga and anime. Ceres is one such example. Others include the Korean manwha Faeries' Landing and the Inuyasha the Movie 2: Castle Through the Looking Glass.