Earthian 1 (Yaoi) (v. 1) [Paperback]

Yun Kouga (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Earthian | Publication Date: November 8, 2005

Angels are among us. They are scattered across the globe, living in our neighborhoods, observing humanity--the Earthian--in crisis...Chihaya and Kagetsuya have known each other since their days at school. They are friends...and possibly more. These two angels roam the world, compiling lists of the positive and negative traits of humanity. In the process they become involved in the lives of various humans, full of despair: An astronaut about to venture on a dangerous mission, a sorceress running from the mafia, and a mysterious artificially created human are just a few of those beings who Chihaya puts himself at risk to help, much to Kagetsuya's dismay. But after a meeting of angels, it is discovered that a dreaded disease is plaguing a growing legion of angels. Salvation possibly lies in the fallen angel Lord Seraphim--and as Chihaya and Kagetsuya search to find him, he turns up in the most unlikely of places...BLU proudly presents the much-anticipated classic boy's love series!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Angels began observing the Earth five billion years ago from a base on the moon. Now, disturbed by the corruption on Earth, the Archangel Michael has decided to eradicate the "Earthian" (as the angels call us) if he counts more than 10,000 "minuses" while measuring Earthian behavior. Mutant angel Chihaya demands to be allowed to count up pluses to balance against the minuses Michael's agents find. Chihaya winds up paired with Kagetsuya, a by-the-book angel who likes to cook in his spare time. As the pair try to sort out the pluses and minuses of human behavior, they encounter a female astronaut, a crime family's dragon priestess out to avenge her murdered brother, and a photojournalist vacationing in Hawaii who sees Chihaya using his wings (a no-no for angels). And of course, because this is a yaoi, or "boylove," manga, they have to battle simmering sexual tension, because among angels "homosexuality is a crime." Yun's story is a messy epic, taking the "walk the Earth like Caine from Kung Fu" formula and setting it against a backdrop of bickering homoerotic angels. The art is perfectly serviceable, with Yun handling the androgynously pretty boys familiar in the genre quite well.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Blu (November 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598160060
• ISBN-13: 978-1598160062
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,091,858 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kouga Yun Magic, November 18, 2005

By 

Merro M. (Frederick, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earthian 1 (Yaoi) (v. 1) (Paperback)

I bought Earthian because of her current work on Loveless. Of course, based on what I could find on the net, her early work on Earthian is a different style. If Loveless has sharper, leaner, modern lines, Earthian is drawn in what I think of as the old-fashioned style, fluffier hair, sparklier eyes, rounder cheeks. At first, I was disappointed it wasn't Loveless. But that was before I read the first page.

Earthian is the story of two angels sent to Earth to catalogue the plus and minuses of humankind, before the final judgement. Chihaya is the soft-hearted plus-checker, Kagetsuya his cynical minus-partner. The first volume covers three cases where you slowly grow to love the interactions between the two, Chihaya's hope and optimism, and Katgetsuya's stony exterior being only that, a shell, under which he unwittingly falls for and cares for his partner.

This is classic Boyslove romance, but done so gradually, gently, and quietly, that the heartrending implications of the two angels' union takes a gripping hold over the overarching story at the end.

The book is beautiful - it contains one colored insert at the beginning that is in Kouga Yun's current style, and one towards the end that is in her earlier Earthian style. The cover is in matte pearl with cover art you see on the Amazon page. It's gorgeous - and makes me anticipate the future releases, esp. Vol 3 where the style shifts toward her current trademark illustrations.

This is a lovely, absorbing volume, and the re-release at close to 400 pages, it's well worth it. I bought it a skeptic, and closed the volume a convert.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blu's Boys, November 11, 2005

By 

Carolyn "Dedicated Yaoi Fan." (NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earthian 1 (Yaoi) (v. 1) (Paperback)

It's present day, and Archangel Michael is fed up with the pathetic development of the human species. The angels, in their world high above ours, have been given the choice between destroying or preserving humanity. This will be decided by having "Plus Checkers" looking for good points and "Minus Checkers" looking for bad points, and whichever finds 10,000 points first decides the outcome. Chihaya and Kagetsuya are angels who have known each other since their days at military school in Eden, and having taken up opposing sides of this "good vs. bad points" checking system, are teamed together during their stay on Earth.

However, Chihaya is unusual even by angelic standards-he has black hair, eyes and wings. He's one-of-a-kind, unusually powerful in spite of his naive demeanor (much to Kagetsuya's dismay), but set apart from his angel kin...until the Black Cancer strikes the heavenly population, darkening the wings and hair of its victims before spiraling them down into painful death. Tension builds among the angels and between Chihaya and Kagetsuya in particular, and it looks as if the secrets to the salvation or destruction of both Earth and Eden may lie with Chihaya himself.

The story of angels Chihaya and Kagetsuya, their travels on Earth while they tally the plusses and minuses of the human species, Raphael and Michael's relationship back home in Eden, and a doomed society where loving someone of the same gender is a crime punishable by death, is both comedic and elegiac by turns. It's amazing to see how Kouga-sensei's art changes and grows over the course of the series, and the arcs of the characters relationships are just as thrilling.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "messy epic" i think not!, December 6, 2005

By 

frosting is good (Baltimore, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earthian 1 (Yaoi) (v. 1) (Paperback)

dude, whoever in hell wrote that publishers weekly review thing above has not come across too many yaoi titles in his/her day. most of what's being published in the states now-a-days is plotless dribble and nonsense sex. don't get me wrong, i love a little smut for smut's sake, but after a while it's nice to get a story. earthian is not at all a "messy epic." it's a well done manga where, yes, there is your classic stoic seme (kagetsuya)and upbeat eager uke (chihaya) pairing, and uh "imaginative" plot lines (there's cyborgs in vol.1 folks) but yun kouga slowly develops their relationship, kagetsuya cooks, and some of those little plots can come back to reality. every once in a while, there are hints of the gay thing and it is mentioned, but i think ultimately, the story is driven by the people and situations the two angels come across.
yun kouga knows how to tell a story and if you're like me and was introduced to her because of earthian and have been waiting to read it in english, i'd grab vol.1.