Unlike modern titles, reincarnation is more of a curse than a blessing in this anime.
Anime is often characterized by fantasy bordering on sci-fi, especially when it comes to works created at the turn of the millennium. One of the brightest artifacts of the 2000s was released by Pierrot Studio, known for such series as Great Teacher Onizuka and Super Gals.
The shojo anime Ceres: Celestial Legend is a must for those who have been looking for unique projects about reincarnation.
What Is Ceres: Celestial Legend About?
Twins Aya and Aki are normal school kids. Their quiet lives are shattered on their 16th birthday when their parents unexpectedly ask them to visit their grandfather, the head of the Mikage family.
He gives the twins a box, but as soon as they open it, something terrible happens. The girl feels a mysterious force inside, and Aki's body is covered with bloody wounds. The grandfather orders his son to kill Aya, but he sacrifices himself to protect her. A shock once again awakens her strength, which allows her to escape.
It turns out that Aya is the reincarnation of Ceres from the legend of a fisherman who stole a magic cloak from the celestial goddess. Without the cape, Ceres could not return home and became the wife of the man, bearing him children.
Since then, her spirit has been reborn in the Mikage family – the descendants of the fisherman and the goddess who kills every incarnation of Ceres because she hates all men in the family and seeks to destroy them.
Reincarnation in Ceres: Celestial Legend Is Not a Salvation
The end of the 1990s was not an easy time for shojo anime: all sorts of doomsday predictions were at their peak, and girls' manga became much more violent and bloody.
It was then, in 1996, that mangaka Yuu Watase began working on her second hit, Ceres, Celestial Legend. She turned to the incredibly popular topic of reincarnation, but in her story, it is associated with horror and a dark fate.
The anime was released by Pierrot Studio in 2000. The work turned out to be truly frightening and dark, in the spirit of other shojo hits of the time: X and Angel Sanctuary.
Reincarnation here is not a blessing or a chance to start a new life as in modern works. Ceres wants to take over Aya's body in order to kill Aki and, at the same time, anyone who gets in her way.
Ceres: Celestial Legend Didn't Adapt the Entire Manga
All in all, Ceres: Celestial Legend is a real artifact of its time. However, unfortunately, not everything from the manga was included in the series.
Some questions were left unanswered and some characters were not even introduced. However, at least half of the series looks like excellent shojo action with elements of psychological horror.