Cantarella (
Japanese: カンタレラ,
Hepburn: Kantarera) is a Japanese
dark fantasymanga series written and illustrated by
You Higuri. Set during the
Italian Renaissance, it follows the life of
Cesare Borgia, whose soul is damned in a pact made with the Devil. The manga was serialized in
Akita Shoten's Princess Gold magazine from 2000 to 2010, with its chapters collected into 12
bound volumes. It was licensed for an English-language release in North America by
Go! Comi, who published 10 volumes before going out of business in 2010.
Synopsis
Cesare Borgia was an Italian
aristocrat, politician, and condottiero (mercenary leader) during the
Renaissance. In the manga, Cesare's father
Rodrigo Borgia, a
Cardinal, sells his infant son's soul to the
Devil as part of a deal that will one day make him
Pope Alexander VI. Cesare is consequently shunned by his father, who is unable to see him as anything but an agent of darkness and reminder of his
sin. Increasingly alienated, Cesare eventually comes to rely on the dark powers within himself. He becomes obsessed with the idea of conquest and is aided in his political machinations by the
assassin Don Michelotto.
Publication
Cantarella was written and illustrated by
You Higuri. It was serialized in
Akita Shoten's
shōjo (girls') manga magazine Princess Gold, starting in 2000.[3] It went on hiatus for four years and two weeks in June 2005, resuming serialization in Princess Gold's September 2009 issue on August 17, 2009.[4] The manga concluded in 2010.[5] Akita Shoten collected the individual chapters into 12 tankōbon (bound volumes) published under the Princess Comics imprint from March 8, 2001, to June 16, 2010.[6][7]
Go! Comi licensed the manga for an English-language release in North America;[1] they published 10 volumes before going out of business in 2010.[8][9]Cantarella has also been translated into Traditional Chinese by
Ever Glory Publishing, French by
Asuka, German by
Carlsen Comics, Russian by Palma Press, and Italian by Free Books.[citation needed]
^カンタレラ 12. Media Arts Database (in Japanese).
Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved November 10, 2020. Text: 「初出:『プリンセスGOLD』2010 001~005」 Translation: "First appearance [of the chapters included in volume 12]: Princess Gold 2010 001~005."
^"Index". You Higuri's Official Website (in Japanese). Archived from
the original on July 6, 2010. Retrieved November 10, 2020. Text: 「発売中!『カンタレラ』12巻完結!」 Translation: "Now on sale! Cantarella, 12 volumes, complete!"
Alverson, Brigid.
"Cantarella v1". Manga Life. Archived from
the original on February 4, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
Dacey, Katherine (January 23, 2008).
"Weekly Recon, 1/23/08". Pop Culture Shock. Archived from the original on March 8, 2012.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)
King, Patrick (December 2005).
"Cantarella Vol. 1". Animefringe. Vol. 6, no. 12. p. 37. Retrieved November 10, 2020.