is a Japanese manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series written and illustrated by manga author

Mangaka

is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...

 Ei Itou. The manga was serialized in the Japanese seinen

Seinen

is a subset of manga that is generally targeted at a 20–30 year old male audience, but the audience can be older with some manga aimed at businessmen well into their 40s. In Japanese, the word Seinen means "young man" or "young men" and is not suggestive of sexual matters...

 manga magazine Comic Gum

Comic Gum

is a Japanese seinen manga magazine pushlished on a monthly basis by Wani Books.Unlike other Japanese magazines, Comic Gum rarely contains posters or pin-up pictures. However, a special gift is given away together with each issue, which is releated to one of the series featured in the magazine...

between January 26, 2005 and November 26, 2007, published by Wani Books

Wani Books

is a Japanese publishing company focused on manga-related publication, including magazines and books. The company was established in November 1979. It publishes one manga magazine Comic Gum.- Wink Up : is an idol magazine published since July 1988....

. The manga has been licensed by Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

-based company Seven Seas Entertainment

Seven Seas Entertainment

Seven Seas Entertainment is a publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original manga, but now publishes licensed manga and novels, as well as select webcomics...

 for distribution in the English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. The first English-bound volume

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

 was released on June 30, 2007 with the second and third being released on November 28, 2007 and July 8, 2008, respectively. The fourth volume was released in December 2008.

Plot

Tetragrammaton Labyrinth is set in alternate pre-industrial London, where in Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...

 call on Meg Cross, a nun with a special talent in exorcism, and her eternally youthful partner Angela to deal with extraordinary crimes. To keep mankind safe from the creatures that lurk in the shadows Meg and Angela continue to exterminate demons and bring demon summoners to justice.

Characters

More commonly known as Meg. At first look she is a Nun

Nun

A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

 who acts as guardian to Angela. Both of them are in service to the "organization", fighting demons. Her weapon of choice is a gun. She also relies on her Christian faith. (The manga artist considers this western magic.) Her back-story, told in volume 3, shows that the relation of Meg to Angela is nearly the reverse of first appearances. Years ago Angela had declared that because of demon-taint it was best for young Meg to die, so that she could go to heaven. Young Meg wanted so much to live that Angela relented and took Meg under her protection. As Meg grew up to a young adult it was convenient for them to pretend that the roles were reversed and that Meg was protecting Angela. Angela tells Det. Wise that the cross Meg wears suspended around her neck serves as a safety valve.

The eternally twelve-year-old partner of Meg. Angela can not die, can not go to heaven, and wishes very much that she could. She claims that she needs Meg to need her and so long as Meg needs her she will exist and will be there for her. As told in volume 4, many centuries ago Gilles de Rais had massacred all the children of a village. Angela had not died, but had lost her soul instead. Angela had found a new meaning to her existence when she met and protected young Meg Cross. She said that Meg was the first person she had met who truly needed her. Angela's favorite weapon is a scythe. After her first scythe is destroyed in chapter 3 she and Meg travel and take hold of an even stronger scythe, "Anathema", one capable of convincing an immortal angel that it had killed that angel.

The Organization

Created by Angela to protect her and serve as her eyes and ears. Members of the organization include The Professor, who provides Angela with a new scythe, Bianca, The Professor's assistant, The Magus, Trude Kurtz, a daughter of The Magus, and Gertrude Kurtz, the younger daughter of The Magus.

A Scotland Yard police detective. In chapter 2 a demon possesses a woman he was close to. Meg and Angela confront Edith and the demon that possesses her. Edward Wise interferes, delaying Meg and Angela to the point that they could no longer save Edith's life. Det. Wise then had to assist Angela in the fight against the demon, succeeding in killing Edith in time so that Edith's soul could go to heaven. He returns in volume 3 chapter 17, recruited into the organization and assisting Meg and Angela in their second fight against the demon Prelati.

Hisame came from the east. She is a miko

Miko

is a Japanese term that anciently meant a "female shaman, spirit medium" who conveyed oracles from kami , and currently means a "shrine maiden; virgin consecrated to a deity" who serves at Shinto shrines.-Word:...

 in search of a treasured sword that was stolen when war broke out in her country. In chapter 4 Angela takes the sword from a museum, leading to a confrontation between Hisame and Angela. Hisame returns in volume 3 chapter 17, recruited into the organization and assisting Meg and Angela.

The named demons

Meg and Angela confront Hugh Williams on a ship in chapters 9-11. They confront Prelati in chapters 10-11 and again on a train in chapters 18-20. They confront Poitou, Henliet the witch & Gilles de Rais in chapters 18-20.

External links

• Tetragrammaton Labyrinth at Seven Seas Entertainment
  Seven Seas Entertainment
  Seven Seas Entertainment is a publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original manga, but now publishes licensed manga and novels, as well as select webcomics...