Heaven's Will: A Poem of Atonement

Mikuzu Sudou is terrified of ghosts, vampires...and men. Luckily for her, the one man in her life, a transvestite exorcist named Seto Ashiya, looks--and acts--like a beautiful girl. The two young people meet by chance one day; Mikuzu is a Kenki, a person who can both perceive and attract restless spirits called "oni," and Seto saves her from a particularly troublesome one. Unfortunately, the supply of oni is endless, and Mikuzu's safety can only be temporary. So in return for protection from future supernatural mischief, Seto convinces Mikuzu to bake a cake for him every day. And before long, he has also convinced her to join him in starting a ghost-busting business. Their first and only on-the-job adventure is at the student council president's home. He wants them to exorcise the oni possessing his handcrafted upright piano. However, even with the assistance of Seto's vampire companion Kagari, they meet with failure. If they are to have any hope of success, Mikuzu will have to unravel the mystery that is Seto. Why is he dressing like a girl, and what does he hope to accomplish? The answer to the riddle may well destroy the tentative bonds of friendship only too recently formed between Mikuzu and Seto. The single-volume shoujo manga Heaven's Will was never intended to be a multichapter storyline, yet even when expanded significantly by creator Satoru Takamiya, it does not feel particularly complete. Readers never even learn Seto's real name, for example, and there is no romance to speak of between any of the characters. Nevertheless, this attractively illustrated title serves up plenty of provocative food for thought about the boundaries between male and female, friendship and love. Of course, this manga, though free of explicit content per se, is nonetheless rife with sexual ambiguity and homoerotic tension. Since Mikuzu is afraid of men, Seto's crossdressing makes him the only tolerable male friend. Yet at the same time, the reader is never allowed to forget what lies beneath the long blond locks and frilly dresses, so when Mikuzu realizes that what she wants most in the world is to stay always with Seto, you are not entirely certain whether her affections are wholly platonic. Seto, for his part, has some serious, self-effacing issues related to his crossdressing, but I will not spoil them here. Suffice it to say that they are equally--if not more--intriguing. Takamiya's artwork in Heaven's Will is pretty and light. She combines the vintage shoujo horror style of Chie Shinohara with latter-day gothic Lolita fashion sense while demonstrating an unexpectedly high level of skill in her angles and panel layouts. Seto's fan-wielding exorcisms are reasonably dynamic from a visual standpoint yet remain pleasingly easy to follow and digest quickly. Takamiya's character designs are likewise lovely. Mikuru is a dark, brooding waif, while Kagari (a vampire after all!), and to a lesser extent Seto, boasts a delicious fission of decadent sensuality

Heaven's Will is something that could use a continuation. The artwork is nice and the characters are enjoyable, but the plot is very simple and lacks depth. Personally, I would have loved to see more of Kagari. I really like his character, but there wasn't a lot of focus on him. Had this been an ongoing series Satoru Takamiya could have done a lot with it. The end would have been fine for the first volume of a series, but as a standalone it was very open and there wasn't really any closure to the story. Even so, I'm still giving it four stars. Kagari was my favorite, but Seto was interesting and brought some laughs. The story wasn't bad, just simple. Although I do wish more had been done with it, I still enjoyed what there was.

Part of Viz Media's "Shojo Beat Manga" series, featuring Japanese graphic novels with a focus on characters' emotions and relationships, Heaven's Will is a stand-alone manga complete in one volume about a young girl with a paranormal gift and the mysterious allies she befriends. Sudou Mikuzu has the power to see ghosts, and it terrifies her - she is a focal point that attracts any number of hideous monsters! Seto, an exuberant, cross-dressing exorcist agrees to help her, and along for the ride is Seto's mysterious companion: Kagari, the blood-feeding demon. Seto's cross-dressing and obsession with "girly" things like cake hide a dark secret, though. Seto is not a transgender, but rather haunted by extreme survivor's guilt over the sister who died in his place. As Sudou draws closer to Seto, she better understands him and the feelings that drive him, but can she allow him to pursue his most fervent wish, even if it will ultimately bring about his destruction? Presented with "unflipped" right-to-left artwork as the creator originally drew it, Heaven's Will is an enthralling story of complex characters, highly recommended especially to fans of shojo manga and the occult.

Heaven's Will is the story about a young girl named Mikuzu who can see Oni (ghosts,demons,etc...) and has a habit of running away from anything and everything that scares her. While escaping from a 'stalker' she runs into a beautiful girl named Seto who turns out to be a cross-dressing exorcist. This is one of my favorite titles so far. I'm kind of sad to see that it is a one-shot since it has an interesting story and great characters. The art work is stylish, and simply gorgeous! I hope to see more from Satoru Takamiya in the future.