this manga develops some really interesting stuff, drawing on diverse sources that range from the mystery tradition in western culture to real historical figures (including the Chevalier,a noted swordsman employed by Louis XV Secret Service, who dressed as a woman) in France's pre-revolutionary period. and out of these disparate sources it builds a fantastic and macabre world, loaded with detail, that feels in a dream sense pretty real. about (fine subject) poetry/poets as a corrupting force in the word/world. ah, you're beginning to intuit, maybe, why i might like it?*g* ( )