Ayashi no Ceres (Ceres, Celestial Legend in English), by Yuu Watase, draws on ancient Japanese myth and mixes it with a cynical modern perspective to produce a dark yet compelling tale of a young girl caught up in supernatural events beyond her control or understanding. It starts with twins Aya and Aki Mikage being driven to their grandfather's house on their 16th birthday. On arrival, they are made to view a family relic; the mummified hand of the clan's founder. Wounds appear on Aki; when Aya asks why no-one is helping him, her grandfather orders her death.During her escape, Aya meets Tooya, a mysterious amnesiac in the hire of her family who helps her. She is then taken in by her friend Yuuhi, his older sister Suzumi and their strange housekeeper Q.As the series progresses, it is revealed that Aya's family is descended from a "Celestial Maiden" ("Tennyo" in Japanese), Ceres, who was trapped on Earth and forced to marry a mortal. Aya is the vessel of Ceres, who occasionally takes over Aya's body and is willing to take revenge for all the misfortune she went through. Aki is posessed by Mikagi, Ceres' human husband from her former life, (also known as the Mikage "First Ancestor", or "Shiso" in Japanese), who over the years has gone... somewhat insane. Whilst Aya and Ceres cohabit, Aki is totally taken over by his ancestor, who now is on the hunt for Ceres. The rest of the family, lead by Aya's cousin Kagami, are trying to create their own army of celestial maidens, through various scientific methods.Eventually, Aya makes a deal with Ceres. In order to go back to heaven, Ceres needs her Celestial Robe ("hagoromo" in Japanese), which was stolen and hidden by Mikagi thousands of years ago. Aya promises to find it if Ceres promises to not harm anyone else in the mean time. Of course, finding the robe is not easy, and takes Aya and his friends travelling throughout Japan.Ayashi no Ceres is very violent, and features several characters with varying form of insanity: the Ancestor; Aya and Aki's mother tries to kill Aya (although because she thinks Aya is responsible of her father's death); a girl commits suicide as a wicked form of revenge; there is borderline incest as the Ancestor in Aki's body tries to have his way with Ceres in Aya's body and Aya's cousin Kagami, a Mad Scientist, threatens to rape her to make Ceres persona to manifest. All in all, not recommended for the easily shocked.This manga was a big turning point in Watase's career, and many people consider it to be her best work yet.
Anyone Can Die: On top of a large pile of dead mooks, and minor characters, most of the maidens end up dead by the end of the story, including Chidori and Shuro. Bonus points for Tooya, who manages to die twice - one death on screen, and one death implied to happen soon after the bittersweet ending (see below).
All Men Are Perverts: Played with. Watase said in one of her freetalks that all of Yuuhi's behaviour towards Aya is totally normal and that he is not a pervert. He is a teenager, after all, and at the end of the day he never crosses any moral lines, not even when Aya offers herself to him out of sheer spite. However, in another one, explaining Mikagi's actions and the intent of a group of schoolboys who try to rape Aya, she said that "the desire of raping woman was part of the male instinct to preserve the species". Make out that what you will.
Bifauxnen: Shuro Tsukasa, raised as a man out of fear of her powers manifesting
Birth Death Juxtaposition: Aya found out that she was pregnant with Toya's child right when he was about to be shot dead by Mikagi. Only he got better. Well,kinda.
Bittersweet Ending: The mostly happy ending is rendered bittersweet by the last minute reveal that Tooya is going to die soon, leaving Aya and their unborn child behind.
Not to mention, Aki cannot be saved, so he has to die so Mikagi will be stopped.
Driven to Suicide: Suzumi attempted this in the past following the death of her husband and her subsequent miscarriage, but was stopped by her brother in law Yuuhi. Later, in a much more malicious case, Aya's cousin and fellow tennyo Miori kills herself in a very gruesome manner, purposefully traumatising Aya as revenge for her mother's death, caused by Ceres.
Expy: Tooya inherited the looks, the fighting skills, and initial stoicism of his cousin Tamahome.
Eye Scream: Wei Fei-Li gets one eye sliced by Tooya's dagger in his first appearance. Perhaps even more wince-inducing is the scene near the end of the manga where, ironically enough, Tooya restores Wei's damaged eye.
First Girl Wins: male version. Tooya was introduced before Yuuhi, during which time he had already stolenakiss and indefinitely her heart. First Guy Wins seems to be a recurring theme throughout this mangaka's works.
This also applies somewhat to Aya, since Chidori could never fully win over Yuuhi since he was always pining after Aya.
Forceful Kiss: Aya and Touya's first kiss. How Yuuhi changes Ceres back to Aya...and the majority of Yuuhi and Aya's kisses. Poor Yuuhi.
Ill Girl: Yuki Urakawa. Shouta, Chidori's brother, is a male example.
Important Hair Cut: Aya gets one of these when she gets depressed over the idea of Tooya leaving her for Miori.
I Will Protect Her: Played straight with Tooya and Aya, and also with Yuuhi and Aya. Horrifyingly deconstructed in the case of Mikagi and Ceres, as Mikagi's desire to help his Dark Magical Girl wife and not just be the Understanding Boyfriend makes things go worse when he gets power to do so.
Parental Abandonment: Aya is actually set up for death by her parents to stop Aya's awakening as a Maiden. Logically, it fails big time: the father is killed and the mother is comatose. Yuhi, being an illegitimate son, was abandoned by his mother because she couldn't face Yuhi's father's family. Chidori lost her parents in a bus crash in her backstory. Miori is driven pretty much insane with grief when Ceres kills her mother.
Raised As The Opposite Gender: Shuro, because her mother thought that if she knew she was a ten'nyo she'd take the family Celestial Robe and fly away. According to the tie-in novel about her backstory, she figured out she was a girl when she was about eight, but kept up the charade to please her family.
Taking the Bullet: Aya's father does this for her early on. Much later, Chidori does the same for Yuuhi. Both cases are fatal.
And while no actual bullets are involved, Gladys sacrificing herself to save Ceres when the Progenitor tries to rip her heart out near the end of the manga involves pretty much the same idea.
With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Mikagi, a Non-Action Guy, wanted to not be a burden on his powerful Celestial Maiden wife Ceres so he asked her to give him some of her powers so he could protect her too. When he had them, he soon went completely MAD and killed one of their kids, which prompted Ceres to go Mama Bear and kill him.
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