| A Cruel God Reigns | |
Cover of A Cruel God Reigns volume 1 as published by Shogakukan |
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| 残酷な神が支配する (Zankokuna Kami ga Shihai Suru) |
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|---|---|
| Genre | Drama, Yaoi |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Moto Hagio |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| Demographic | Josei |
| Original run | March 19, 1993 – August 20, 2001 |
| Volumes | 17 |
A Cruel God Reigns (残酷な神が支配する Zankokuna Kami ga Shihai Suru, aka. "A Cruel God Rules in Heaven") is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Moto Hagio. The manga was serialized in Shogakukan's josei manga magazine, Petit Flower.[1][2] Moto Hagio was awarded the first Osamu Tezuka Culture Award Excellence prize in 1997 for A Cruel God Reigns.[3]
Contents |
The story follows the ordeals Jeremy endures at the hands of his sexually-abusive stepfather, Greg. He does not tell his emotionally unstable mother for fear of destroying her dream of a happy marriage,[4][5] but tampers with the brakes in his stepfather's car, killing his stepfather and accidentally killing his mother too.[6] The stepfather's older son Ian begins to suspect Jeremy of involvement in his father's death, and tries to get him to confess.[7] Jeremy runs away from home and becomes a drug addict and prostitute; Ian finds him and tries to help him recover but also wrestles with his sexual attraction to the younger boy and his fear of becoming an abuser like his father. At the end of the story, Jeremy and Ian form a relationship.
Hagio describes her impetus to write the story thusly: "Because of my problems with my parents, I did a lot of reading about psychology and counseling. Among those stories were a lot about stories about sexual abuse. I always had a hard time understanding why other members of the family, particularly the mother, does not step in and help. In order to search for the answer to this question, I started that story. [... ] I had the idea, but it was such a dark, heavy story, it took me 10 years to find a way to put it into manga form. When I started A Cruel God Reigns, I told the editor it would probably last two years, but it took a lot longer; it took nine years [to finish the series]."[8] Hagio found that Julian (Ian) in particular was difficult to characterise.[3] The name comes from Al Alvarez's 1972 book, The Savage God: A Study of Suicide.[3]
Shogakukan published the manga's 17 tankōbon volumes between March 19, 1993 and August 20, 2001,[1][2] having decided to bring the series to a close in September 2000.[9] After completing A Cruel God Reigns, Hagio took a year's hiatus from manga.[3] The manga was republished into 10 kanzenban volumes between October 15, 2004 and February 15, 2005.[10][11]
| No. | Release date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 March 1993[12] | ISBN 4091721710 |
| 2 | 31 August 1993[12] | ISBN 4091721729 |
| 3 | 19 February 1994[12] | ISBN 4091721737 |
| 4 | 20 October 1994[12] | ISBN 4091721745 |
| 5 | 20 April 1995[12] | ISBN 4091721753 |
| 6 | 20 October 1995[12] | ISBN 4091721761 |
| 7 | 20 April 1996[12] | ISBN 409172177X |
| 8 | 19 October 1996[12] | ISBN 4091721788 |
| 9 | 20 May 1997[12] | ISBN 4091721796 |
| 10 | 20 September 1997[12] | ISBN 409172180X |
| 11 | 20 March 1998[12] | ISBN 4091722415 |
| 12 | 20 October 1998[12] | ISBN 4091722423 |
| 13 | 20 April 1999[12] | ISBN 4091722431 |
| 14 | 20 November 1999[12] | ISBN 409172244X |
| 15 | 20 May 2000[12] | ISBN 4091722458 |
| 16 | 20 January 2001[12] | ISBN 4091722466 |
| 17 | 20 August 2001[12] | ISBN 4091722474 |