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SUMMARY

Aya Mikage is very excited about turning 16.  She and her twin brother Aki are going to a party at her rich grandfather's house.  She has also met the very attractive Toya, who literally sweeps her off her feet.  It seems that her birthday is going to be very exciting!

Little does she know how much her life is about to change.

At the party, Aya learns she is direct descendent of a celestial being called Ceres.  The power she holds makes her a threat to the entire Mikage clan.  Her grandfather orders her killed before she can destroy Aki and the rest of the family.

While on the run, she is rescued by Toya.  He takes her to safety, turning her over to Suzumi and her brother Yuhi. Suzumi knows the real truth about the Mikage clan, and why Aya is such a threat.  She offers to protect Aya, and help control the power within her.

Kagami, President of the Mikage Corporation has his own plans for Ceres and her descendents.  If he is not stopped, Heaven and Earth will suffer from the wrath of Ceres.

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: The video quality is well done.  There were no color bleeds, pixels, or rainbows.  There is some edge enhancement, but it doesn't detract from the presentation.

AUDIO: Both the English and Japanese 2.0 are pretty evenly matched.  The Japanese has a little more treble than it's English counterpart.  There is a fuller soundstage on the English track, but it's softer than the Japanese.

EDITS: Clean open and close are used.  No other edits were noted.

EXTRAS: On Disc one, we have an interview with creator Yu Watase and selectable character profiles and sketches.

On the second disc, there is the text less opening, text less ending 1 and 2, English and Japanese promo trailers.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY:  Forget the mystical trappings, this is a soap opera of the highest order.  Series Coordinator Yukiyoshi Oohashi and the writing staff packs each episode with the right amount of drama, romance, danger, and comedy.  Each episode builds off the last, so it's very important that you pay attention.

ACTING:  The Japanese cast does an excellent job.  Yumi Kakazu has the right voice for the sweet and innocent Aya.  "X" alum Junko Iwao is down right sexy as the vengeance driven Ceres.

You ladies will fall in love with the very beautiful and soulful voice of Katsuyuki Konishi.  His voice is perfect for the very hot Toya.  Kentarou Itou is damn funny as Yuhi.

The English cast does a fine job, although it's a little rough.  Mariette Sluyter is a little more whinny than Yumi Kakazu, but still conveys the sweetness in Aya.  Matthew Erickson as Yuhi also makes you laugh with his over the top performance.  Victor Atelevich is a little too flat and emotionless for Toya.

FAN SERVICE: There are quite a few shots of Aya in some form of undress, as well as a few additional bra and panty shots of other characters.  There are a couple of strongly inferred sex scenes as well.

CONCLUSION:

Ceres-Celestial Legend is a super Shojo soap opera.  It puts many of it's American contemporaries to shame.  Full of romantic entanglements, heart wrenching tragedy, and hideous family secrets, this would give "General Hospital" a run for it's money.

The story starts off pretty simple at first.  You have twins Aya and Aki, getting ready for their birthday.  Both love to go to karaoke, have a penchant for blood red earrings, and get along extremely well.

Naturally, this is the calm before the storm, both literally and figuratively.  On what is supposed to be a "sweet 16" party has now turned into a horrible nightmare.  In just 20 minutes, Aya is cast aside by her family and forced to go on the run.  For the Mikage, she is not considered a threat, she is an abomination.  From there, things just snowball as several different factions appear, each hell bent on getting Aya for themselves.  As the cast grows and we learn more about the Mikage families plan for universal domination, things get really messy.

Fortunately for Aya, she has some super dreamy support. There is jack of all trades, the emotional, frustrated, boy next door Yuhi.  He has some serious issues of his own, but they take a back seat as he risks everything to save her.  Then there is the man sent to kill her, the long haired sexy boy Toya.  Like Yuhi, he has a soft side for our fair maiden.  Plus, he is so damn cool, he makes Rui from "Boys Over Flowers" look like a dork.  I bet all you ladies out there wish you had to hunky guys looking after you.

I feel sorry for Yuhi.  First, his sister Suzumi tricks him into wearing a celestial headband that electrocutes him any time he has thoughts about Aya.  He is totally excited by Ceres, but wants Aya, who slaps the hell of him when he makes a play.  It really sucks for him, because Aya has the hots for Toya.

Toya is like "The Pretender" only sexier.  He has no memories, so Kagami is able to implant what ever Toya needs to infiltrate his assignment.  At first, it looked like Toya was your typical hitman, cold and eager to fight.  As things progress, that hard edge becomes softer the more he "protects" Aya.  He seems to favor being a doctor, and does so on two separate occasions.  His name is perfect.  He is nothing but a programmable toy, designed to obey his master.

This series reminded me a lot of Gasaraki.  Like the Gowa family, the Mikage clan owns a multinational conglomerate.  They have no problem using their own family members to achieve what ever grand plan they have in mind.  Experimenting on humans is not a problem, and they use that research for more nefarious purposes.  The only thing we are missing from Ceres are bi-pedal weapons.

There are some creepy moments, most of them occur when Kagami is around.  There are some oooky discussions of having sex with your cousin, dating your brother, and raping an angel.  While there isn't anything graphic, some of these subjects might be a little weird for younger viewers.  You 16 and older kids might want to wait till evening to watch.

Like in "GTO" the animation is a little rough.  It also has a few CG enhanced scenes, which clash with the traditional animation.  There is plenty of detail, but it with a story this involved, you would think the art would be of a higher quality.

If you are looking for romance, adventure, and a little paranoia, then Ceres: Celestial Legend is the anime for you.  Even those who are not big on Shojo will find something that will catch your eye.

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