The Qwaser of Stigmata

Seikon no Quasar
聖痕のクェイサー (Seikon no Kweisā)
Genre	Adventure, Supernatural
Manga
Written by	Hiroyuki Yoshino
Illustrated by	Kenetsu Satō
Published by	Akita Shoten
Magazine	Champion Red
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	2006 – present
Volumes	5

Seikon No Quasar (聖痕のクェイサー, Seikon no Kweisā, lit. Quasar of Stigmata) is an ongoing manga series authored by Hiroyuki Yoshino and featuring art by Kenetsu Satō. The manga is serialized in the shōnen manga magazine Champion Red. An anime has been announced.

Overview

The story takes place on the grounds of St. Mihailov Academy, a Japanese Eastern Orthodox school, and draws heavily on religious references from the aforementioned religion. Here it follows the trials and hardship of two of its students, Oribe Mafuyu and Tomo Yamanobe, until the encounter with a mysterious, silver-haired, Russian boy named Alexander, or Sasha for short. This pits them and the whole school in an all-out war between the Church itself and the so-called "Adepts", a sect of individuals wielding powers linked to the elements of chemistry. Though based on the common magical girl concept shown in series such as Sailor Moon, the story diverges in depicting extreme acts of bloodshed, brutality and perversion, and also makes heavy use of fanservice.

One important and controversial theme of the series is that of the sacred substance known as Soma, which allows the Quasars to draw upon their powers and wield their elements in battle. This is connected to the main goal of the Adepts, the Theotokos of Tsarytsin, an icon depicting the Virgin Mary breastfeeding an infant Jesus which, according to their belief, holds the secrets of the Sacred Mysteries, such as the Messiah's resurrection. Linked to this is the fact that the Soma is, in actuality, breast milk, and that the Quasars have to replenish themselves by means of suckling it, a process which apparently derives pleasure and tires heavily those women who nurse them.

Characters

Alexander Nikolaevich Her (アレクサンドルニコラエビッチヘル, Arekusandoru Nikoraebitchi Heru, Александр Николаевич Хер)

The titular character and male protagonist of the story, Alexander is a young Quaser of Russian origin that controls the element of Iron, with which he can manipulate the said element on a molecular level, thus being capable not only to morph it in any form he wishes, but also create extreme heat or cold. He was held captive and trained with the other Quasers into harnessing his powers, and survived the brutal ordeal thanks to the affection received from an older girl named Olja, and whose murder by the Quaser of Gold he witnessed. He received a large scar on the left side of his face from the same Quaser. The scar is shaped like an Eastern Cross, and tends to bleed heavily when he draws upon his powers. He appeared out of nowhere on the grounds of St. Mihailov, and was quickly accepted into the school as a student of class 1-A, the same that Mafuyu Oribe and Tomo Yamanobe attend. He became Tomo's protector because of her resemblance to Olja. Silver-haired with blue eyes, Alexander, or Sasha (サーシャ) for short (though he allows only those close to him to call him by this nickname) is usually extremely cold, harsh and serious, although his weakness for borscht, his favorite dish, can soften him. He slowly changed and warmed to those around him, especially Mafuyu, though he remains extremely fierce when fighting other Quasers. Usually he fights wielding an enormous black scythe that is at least twice his size. Sometimes he tends to comment on things in Russian. He may have some feelings of love towards Mafuyu, as showen in vol. 3 chap. 11,when fighting Yuu/Aoi. He blushes when he realizes that his strength is back thanks to Mafuyu giving him her Soma, although she never admits it to him. It's worth to mention that in Russian "хер" is one of the many words for penis.

Mafuyu Oribe (織部 まふゆ, Oribe Mafuyu)

The titular female character, Mafuyu is the adopted daughter of St.Mihailov's last dean, and the self-appointed protector of Tomo Yamanobe. Upbeat and cheerful, she is so proficient in kendo that she carries a wooden sword with her all the time. She has to endure hardship on a daily basis in form of her classmates picking harshly on her and especially Tomo. This changes when she encounters Sasha for the first time, where she starts living with him and, little by little, is pitted herself in the fights between Quasars. Though at odds with Sasha's coldness, Mafuyu has started to open up to him and the two have formed a stronger bond. She may have feelings of love for Sasha as seen in vol. 3 chap. 11 when she gets jealous. Sasha receives a letter from Yuu, in his locker, then meets with her, and invites her to stay at his room. Later when they both fall down into a cave and Sasha has no strength she gives him her Soma, thought she dose not admit to it. When asked what her business is with Sasha she responds with "because I wanna know". A running gag has Mafuyu hit heavily Tomo when the latter makes mistakes.

Tomo Yamanobe (山辺 燈, Yamanobe Tomo)

Daughter of St. Mihailov's last dean and currently best friend and roommate of Mafuyu Oribe, Tomo is her exact opposite, both physically and mentally: she herself is very childish and naïve, and while having the largest bust of the whole female cast so far, she is physically weak. Tomo is the spitting image of Sasha's original protector, Olja, which explains why he took so willingly the role of Tomo's guardian, much to Mafuyu's chagrin. Also, sometimes an upside down Eastern Cross (with its third slab being a scar), the symbol of the Adepts, appears between her breasts. This is later revealed to be the presence of the Quasar of Gold, which apparently inhabits Tomo's body and, as itself stated, is slowly draining her of her life, which is why she has to replenish herself through Teresa's Soma.

Teresa Beria (???, Teresa Beria, Тереза Берия)

A Serbian Orthodox nun that serves at St. Mihailov in a variety of ordinary chores, such as taking care of children in the school's kindergarten or tending to flowers, she is the only survivor of a brutal massacre occurred in Serbia during the Yugoslav Wars, where an expedition led by Croa raped and slaughtered all the inhabitants of Teresa's church. Due to her assisting at the whole carnage while hidden, she became completely emotionless and stopped smiling, crying or feeling anything, and thus is presented as almost ghostly due to her quietness. Only when Croa reappears and Teresa has to recall the brutalities of her past, does she gain enough courage to face them and begin to show emotions again. She usually provides Sasha with her Soma, but can hold her own in combat by means of martial arts, a bow and huge blades concealed in her skirt.

Miyuri Tsujidou (???, Tsujidou Miyuri)

The daughter of the current dean at St. Mihailov Academy, who succeeded Tomo's father. While beautiful and well-endowed, Miyuri is extremely bossy, arrogant and prideful, making nothing to conceal her disrespect for Tomo and Mafuyu and to bully them on a daily basis, supported by Hana. Greatly humiliated by Sasha, who correctly defines her as a leecher of others' powers, she "takes revenge" by welcoming and taking care of Ekaterina Kurae, the Quaser of Copper. It can be noted that Miyuri is very rich and appears to have a sheltered upbringing, based on her drowning Ekaterina with expensive gifts. However, being treated as a fool after Sasha's arrival made her somewhat of a comic relief character. On a positive note, it can be assumed that she truly cares even for those she bullies, as she stripped naked for a group of terrorists so as to spare the same ordeal to Ekaterina, Mafuyu and the others.

Hana Katsuragi (???, Katsuragi Hana)

A student of class 1-A, she acts as an enforcer on school grounds, but also she is the main architect of the physical abuses that Mafuyu and Tomo have to endure every day, such as regularly throwing the class' garbage can on them or forcing them to fill it after "casually" tripping on it, to covering Tomo's desk with writings and trash. Being the right hand of Miyuri, she welcomes Ekaterina Kurae when she arrives in Japan, and it's here that her apparent fondness for lolicon is discovered, as she becomes extremely embarrassed in Ekaterina's presence and, while the latter fakes to fade out, she kisses her out of lust. These events let her become the unwilling slave of her new mistress, subject to humiliaton and erotic torment on a daily basis (which, on a side note, made her very proficient in S&M, such as making extremely complex nodes with little effort). She appears to have some masochistic tendencies, as she derives pleasure from Ekaterina's abuses.

Ekaterina Kurae (???, Kurae Ekaterina, Екатерина Курае)

A little Russian girl, no more than ten years old and with the beauty of a doll, she arrives in Japan shortly after the beginning of the war of the Quasers. While she is presented as extremely shy and child-like, befitting her age (she has a habit of addressing herself in third person in these instances), her true colors depicts her as a domineering, arrogant, prideful and almost malicious queen, all maintaining a facade of childish innocence. She is a powerful Quaser who wields the element of copper, which usually makes her gain control and manipulate electrical wires and redirect their flow to electrocute and incinerate her foes. She does not fight herself due to her frailty as a little girl, and this is why she is always guarded by a grim, archaic gynoid dressed in regal attire named Anastasia, which Ekaterina calls mother for reason currently unknown. Currently she attends at St. Mihailov's primary school, being the subject of admiration and love of her classmates and teachers thanks to her doll-like features, and has Hana serve as her slave and replenish her of Soma. Recently, it has been revealed that she shares heavy connections with the Imperial Family of late Tsar Nicholas II, and it is heavily hinted that she herself is the same Tsarina Alexandra that served as Nicholas' consort, though this is has not been proved, just suggested by Ekaterina herself (although this would also explain why her guardian gynoid is named Anastasia).

Elizabeth (???)

Known as Lizzy for short, she is the disciple of Shin'ichiro Ootori and a Quaser on her own, who wields the element of titanium, which she uses in battle in form of an enormous greatsword named Excalibur, whose high-frequency blade can produce massive shockwaves and slice through almost anything. Although very strong as a Quaser, she is quite brash and childish when not fighting, though she is also very responsible and reliable and, most of all, completely loyal to her master. This loyalty prompts her to aid Shin'ichiro in kidnapping Tomo, by fighting Sasha so as to repel his attempted rescue, where she is defeated but spared.

Ayana Minase (???, Minase Ayana)

A bespectacled classmate of Tomo and Mafuyu, Ayana appears to be one of the only students of class 1-A willing to take their side despite them being bullied or ignored while mistreated. Though she appears to be gentle and weak, she is in fact the very first Adept to appear in the series: her true identity is that of a Quaser, and she wields control over the element of magnesium, which she usually shapes in razor-sharp chakrams that she throws and controls in both trajectory and shape, being also capable of igniting them with fire. Revealing her friendship with Tomo and Mafuyu to be mere acting, she confronts Sasha three times, being killed during their third battle after failing to kidnap and held Tomo as a hostage. As a clone without will, she is later summoned to fight against Shin'ichiro Ootori.

Croa (???, Kuroa)

Known as Gas Chamber, he is a tall, wicked-looking member of the Adepts, and as a Quaser he wields the element of chlorine, with which he can create noxious and lethal gases or, in conjunction with water, generate hydrochloric acid. He was the one responsible of the massacre that left Teresa as the sole survivor, and years later appeared again at St. Mihaiolv, ordered to complete an "ethnic cleansing" of its inhabitants, namely Sasha, Teresa, Mafuyu, and Tomo. He himself is a psychotic assassin, bent on spreading atrocities such as rape and slaughter in the name of extermination, as he did during the massacres of the Yugoslav Wars. While dangerous and deranged, he is easily defeated by Teresa, and then killed by Sasha. He is one of the Quaser cloned and resurrected to face Ootori later on.

Aoi/Yuu Kuchiba (???, Kuchiba Aoi/Yuu)

A pair of twins of unknown, assumed Japanese origin, that were held captive and brutally trained to become members of the Adepts as children. While Sasha endured thanks to Olja's support, Yuu and Aoi had to rely upon each other, which in the end became their demise, culminated in Yuu apparently becoming a homicidal maniac and an extremely powerful Quasar. His sister made contact with Sasha via a love letter, pleading him to find and stop her brother from his mad rampage, a request that he granted and that pitted him against his strongest enemy to date. Being metal manipulators, both Sasha and Ekaterina were initially at a huge disadvantage against Yuu, as he could simply oxidize whatever they threw at him at astonishing speed, fly and create vacuums or pressures of hundreds if not thousands of fathoms through his element, oxygen. Only during the last confrontation between Sasha and Yuu it is learnt that he died long time ago, and that the one assaulting him was Aoi all the time: condemned to become a supply of Soma for the Adepts, she unconsciously awakened her powers as a Quasar and obliterated her assailant, only to discover that it was her brother. This drove her to utter madness and created a split personality that emulated her dead brother, and it is with her last glimpse of sanity that she urged Sasha to kill her before her murderous instincts would take over again.

Q & R (???)

Two deranged, ghastly female twins, approximately 12-13 years old, dressed in oddly shaped suits and armed with a wide variety of S&M and erotic devices, such as dildos, pincers and so on. They appeared asking anyone to guide them to St. Mihailov by means of "ordering" them - torturing and tormenting them, otherwise "disqualifying" the ones they asked by brutally slaughtering them. Probably the epitome of perversion of the entire manga so far, Q and R were completely masochistic and capable to derive insane pleasure from their perverse acts, so much so as to cry out of bliss when Ekaterina confronted them and had them impaled by Anastasia. This revealed the twins to be immortal, as they were capable of regeneration even after the most brutal and grievous wounds in mere seconds, even when killed or torn apart. Being clones of their mistress, they share her power to control the element of mercury. Both Q and R were used by Eva to heal and rebuild herself after her first demise at the hands of Sasha. Another clone, S, appeared during the final confrontation between Sasha and Eva, though she was completely burned, rendering her regeneration useless.

Eva Silver (???)

The Quaser in control of the element mercury, known as the Witch of Living Silver, appeared as a fake teacher at a lesson of class 1-A, where she trapped the students thanks to her powers and then had Fumika Mitarai humiliated in front of her classmates, so as to "punish" her and them all for their bullying or indifference to Mafuyu and Tomo being bullied. Initially killed and burned alive by Sasha, she managed to survive, altought greatly disfigured, and recover herself by patching her torn body with those of her clones, Q and R. She later kidnapped Mafuyu so as to have another confrontation with Sasha, in which Ekaterina intervened as well, pointing out that "Eva Silver" is a mere nickname, and that this Quaser's real identity was that of Eva Braun, wife-lover of Adolf Hitler. She herself states that being alive and young after so much time is thanks to cloning herself and using her clones (Q, R and S being the latest, from A to P having already been killed) to constantly regenerate herself, and thus fulfill Hitler's ideal of a single, superior entity served by all others. While having Mafuyu as a hostage, she proves no match for the combined strength of Sasha and Ekaterina, and is slaughered for good with her last clone. Nevertheless, she is one of the Quasers brought back to life to fight Ootori later on in the story.

Joshua (???)

A member of the Adepts, and a true rarity among them in that he is neither brutal nor prone to mass murder. As a Quaser he is unlucky at best, as his element, roentgenium, is completely useless in combat due to its unbelievable short time activation of 3.5 microseconds, this caused his peers to pick and mistreat him due to his weakness. He is the eldest of five siblings and apparently lives in poverty. Initially described as a maniac who threatened girls, he tried to abduct Tomo and ended up helping her and cooking for her, but also tried to steal her Soma. However, he was overcome by guilt and shame, choosing to leave the Adepts behind him and living with his dear siblings. As for now, he is the only Quaser of the Adept who didn't die at the hands of Sasha, even though the two of them met.

Shin'ichiro Ootori (???, Ootori Shin'ichirou)

Presented after saving Mafuyu's life, he is a mysterious but polite mid-aged man who lives a solitary life with his only disciple, Elizabeth. After rescuing Mafuyu he was appointed as a teacher at St. Mihailov, but after returning from Russia he changed drastically, becoming detached and cold. He resolved to the same objective of the Adepts, and thus kidnapped Tomo and faced against Sasha when he came to her aid. He was present when the Quaser of Gold disfigured Sasha's face with the scars he currently has, and he himself is a Quaser, with control over the element of sodium. Aptly named the Phoenix or the Pyrotechnicist, he uses his power to control others' bodies and to create razor-sharp wire with which bind, slash and incinerate his victims. His fate is not clear, though he apparently died after a heated battle with Sasha.

External links

• The Qwaser of Stigmata (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• The Qwaser of Stigmata (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia