Ceres, Celestial Legend

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Ceres, Celestial Legend (妖しのセレス, Ayashi no Seresu or Ayashi no Ceres), 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 Shōjo Comic. The original Japanese title is Ayashi no Ceres - Tenkū Otogizūshi, 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 Ceres in Roman mythology. However, this one is completely different and has nothing to do with the duties, powers, and rank of that goddess.

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 finda she is being hunted by her own family who plans to kill her. She is saved by Suzumi Aogiri, another tennyo descendant, Yūhi, a very energetic teenager and Suzumi's brother-in-law, and Tōya, a mysterious man with whom Aya soon falls in love with.

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.

Characters

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A sixteen-year-old girl who discovers she is a descendant of a ten'nyo named Ceres and is Ceres' latest medium for existence. While Aya is initially horrified that her life has been turned upside down, she is determined to right the past doings of her family and recover Ceres' hagoromo so that her family will no longer suffer in fear of Ceres' re-emergence.

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A celestial maiden, or ten'nyo, who married the Progenitor of the Mikage family. While she is extremely powerful and volatile, she seeks to recover her hagoromo, or celestial robe, to regain her powers. She has repeatedly attempted to manifest herself through the female descendants of her line when they reach the age of sixteen, only to be thwarted each time as they are killed by the Mikage family. Ceres hides a tragic past misinterpreted by descendants who seek to kill Aya to stop Ceres for another generation.

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A mysterious young man who has absolutely no memory of his past or the nature of his being; his only clue is the name "Mikage". He and Aya are drawn to one another, not only in love, but in more ways than they realize. As he regains his lost memories, he may actually be the key to ending Ceres' quest...

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Aya's twin brother, a gentle and caring person who is subject to becoming a medium for the spirit of the Progenitor, the founder of the Mikage family who aggressively pursues Aya and Ceres.

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A descendant of a ten'nyo from the Kansai region, Suzumi is a head of a branch of the one of the Aogiri family's schools of Japanese dance. She welcomes Aya into her household when she discovers Aya has become Ceres' latest medium. Suzumi cannot become a ten'nyo like Aya, though she does possess slight psychic powers like clairvoyance and telekinesis.

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Suzumi's brother-in-law, the younger brother of Suzumi's deceased husband. He has unrequited feelings for Aya, who comes to see him as a brother. A notable martial arts expert, he is also an extraordinary cook.

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The Aogiri's household help, a gnome-like woman known for her reckless driving and ridiculously ugly appearance, despite her consistent claims that she is a beautiful woman.

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Another ten'nyo descendant, a sixteen year old girl who looks younger that she actually is until she transforms into a ten'nyo. Chidori cares deeply for her younger brother, who was hospitalized upon her introduction into the story. Unlike Aya, she can transform into a ten'nyo at will. She seems to have feelings for Yūhi.

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A ten'nyo descendant raised as a man by her family in fear that Shuro would one day take away the family's heirloom hagoromo and ascend to heaven. She is a famous pop star alongside her cousin Kei Tsukasa, who ends up committing suicide because of his love for Shuro as a woman. Shuro has the ability to magnify her voice to epic amplitudes when she transforms into a ten'nyo.

Kagami Mikage

Aya's distant cousin, he is one of the few members of the family who actually wants to meet Ceres and does not fear her. Kagami wishes to learn the true nature of ten'nyo in hopes of bettering humanity though his methods are less than moral.

Alexander "Alec" Howell

A Scottish scientist hired by Kagami, he is a certified genius with a really high IQ and is a complete otaku. The only keeping him from doing his job ends up being his own moral convictions.

The Progenitor

The founder of the Mikage family, a man from the Jomon period of Japan named Mikagi. He loved Ceres dearly, but at some point, that love became an obsession. He hid her hagoromo and unknown incidents following led Ceres to kill him, covering him with lacerations identical to the ones that appear on Aki Mikage when the Progentor manifests himself in his descendant. The Progenitor will stop at nothing to ensure Ceres is his again.

Trivia

Ceres: 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 keeps it. The maiden is not able to return to her world because the man possesses the item (usually a garment) she needs (a celestial robe, a feathered cloak, a hat, a seal-skin... etc) and reluctantly marries him. However, she always recovers the item (often as a result of her children discovering it) 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.de:Ayashi no Ceres fr:Ayashi no Ceres ko:선녀전설 세레스 ja:妖しのセレス pt:Ayashi no Ceres ru:Ceres, Celestial Legend