The ability to heal damage to both the "heart" and "body," and to rescue those who have lost their way.
This power is called "Soul Rescue."
This power is called "Soul Rescue."
Soul Rescue is a two-volume action/adventure/drama Shoujo manga starring angels, demons, and co-starring God. Written and illustrated by Aya Kanno (who also created Requiem of the Rose King and Otomen), it was serialized in Hana to Yume from 2001 to 2002, only to be cancelled due to low volume sales.
In another world and time, the angel Renji is infamous for his violent nature; though Heaven's most accomplished warrior, he has no interest in an angel's duty of tending to Mankind. To fix this glaring flaw in his personality, God Himself exiles Renji from Earth until Renji has 'rescued' ten thousand human souls. To facilitate this, Renji is given the Soul Rescue: An ability to negate the darkness in a person's soul that happens to be focused through his lips. Renji's also given a babysitter, the Elite Angel Kaito, whose straitlaced demeanor clashes with Renji's personality. And with that the pair is sent to Earth to commence their journey.
Among the way they meet various ladies in need, battle a pair of demons, and become friends.
Both volumes were licensed and published in English by Tokyopop.
This manga provides examples of:
- A Friend in Need: Kaito shows up at exactly the right time to fight alongside Renji in the final chapter.
- Alone in a Crowd: All of Kaito's flashback make a visual point with one dark-haired angel amidst a sea of pale hair.
- Baddie Flattery: Whenever Renji fights Vinny, the latter won't shut up about the former's impressive skills.
- Bare-Handed Blade Block: Kaito catches a blade made of dark energy. One-handed.
- Battle Aura: Use of powers seems to make both angelic and demonic wings visible.
- Being Personal Isn't Professional: Standard for angels, it seems: They don't need friends because they have their duty to God. God Himself, though, seems to want to change that.
- Big Damn Heroes: Standard M.O. for our heroes is to show up just in the nick of time to save everything.
- Bodyguard Betrayal: A member of Princess Lucy's guard has been poisoning her on the Queen's order.
- Celibate Hero: Renji and Kaito, with a dash of Oblivious to Love. Angels aren't allowed to love period and they don't seem to understand it at all.
- Consummate Professional: Kaito, recognized as such throughout Heaven; this is apparently the standard by which angels are measured.Family... Loved ones... Friends... An angel needs none of these things.
- Cut Short: The entire series, due to
Cancellation. There's only two volumes and the implied plot is absolutely not finished. - Days of Future Past: It's implied that the series takes place After the End ("In the distant future, there is a world carving out a new history for itself..."), possibly accounting for Heaven's advanced technology compared to the rest of the world's tech-level.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Kaito is a male version; his stoic attitude is a defense mechanism, but it starts to melt once he's partnered with Renji.
- Emotion Suppression: Before the manga begins, Kaito spent his life valiantly pretending he didn't care how isolated he was.Kaito: 'That's right... I don't care about those around me. That's how...'Kaito: '... All I was doing was fooling them.'
- Far East: The Asian-style country—heavily Japanese—visited in Volume 2.
- Feud Episode: Interestingly, it's implied that Renji and Kaito have no real idea what friendship 'is, as angels and demons don't form such bonds. When they
get back together, they're apparently the first angelic friends ever''. - Fire-Forged Friends: Renji and Kaito warm up to each other by fighting alongside each other and becoming Bash Brothers.
- Friend to All Living Things: Everything loves Lulu, from bears and wolves to weird little fuzzy things.
- Friendless Background: Due to his atypical coloring for an angel, Kaito was ostracized throughout his life.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: It seems as if God Himself expects Renji and Kaito to turn out this way. If they were, the series never got there thanks to the cancellation.God: "Those two could never really separate. The time will come when he will understand..."God: "Understand just how irreplaceable they are to each other."
- High School AU: An official one in the omake pages: Kaito is the Student Council President (complete with glasses), Renji is the Delinquent, etc.
- Light Is Good: All angels have fair hair and light-colored eyes... except Kaito. That doesn't make them not fantasy racist to Kaito.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Renji's Blood Knight tendencies draw comparisons, sometimes explicit, with the demons he fights.
- Older Than They Look: The author's notes indicate that despite their late-teen good looks, Renji and Kaito are "around a couple of thousand years old."
- Red Baron: Renji has many names, including the Sword of God and the Rogue/Wild/Rebellious Angel; Kaito is known as the Eye of God.
- Schizo Tech: Most of the world is a Standard Fantasy Setting, but Heaven is high-tech with a hint of Organic Technology.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Kaito's crisp suit, compared to Renji's sleeveless vest. Both are examples of Awesome Anachronistic Apparel.
- The Conscience: Kaito's job, and the reason why he's chosen as Renji's escort, is to keep Renji and his Blood Knight tendencies in line. Well, that and to remind Renji that he really can save people.
- Tsundere: Kaito blushes when Renji indirectly calls them friends, then recovers with a barrage of insults.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Our heroes are a relatively mild version, mostly due to their clashing personalities.
- Weapon Specialization: Toi seems to have some kind of sword-slash-energy-bow that can also be an energy-whip. Notable because he's the only one who seems to use any kind of weapon; everyone else prefers Ki Manipulation or Good Old Fisticuffs.
