Grand Guignol Orchestra

Grand Guignol Orchestra (人形（ギニョール）宮廷楽団) is a supernatural horror manga series written and illustrated by Kaori Yuki (Angel Sanctuary, Godchild). The story is about a beautiful singer named Lucille and his orchestra who is invited to a town threatened by puppets that attack humans. The series began its serialization run in the monthly manga anthology Bessatsu Hana to Yume in the August 2008 issue.

It was announced in Viz Media's panel at the New York Anime Festival 2009 that the manga will be released under the Shojo Beat imprint as Grand Guignol Orchestra.

The Royal Court Orchestra

 * Lucille (ルチル)
 * The beautiful singer (a philomela) of the Royal Court Orchestra. With a tuning fork to amplify the sound waves of his voice he can destroy the guignols that terrorize the cities in which he is requested to visit for a sum of money. Although his singing is beautiful and heart moving it is also deadly depending on how it is sung for guignols and humans alike. He was once the nominee for Queen-ship but because he left Cordie had to take his place, because he still believes that a Holy Song exists in the world and he is determined to find it.


 * Despite his attempts to save people from guignols, Lucille is despised in his own country because the people around him tend to die. Additionally, he once rebelled against his sister, and later pleaded for his life and showed his devotion by killing the entire Orchestra. As a result, Cordie hates him passionately, but he still loves her. He has similarly difficult relationships with Morion and Spinel.


 * Lucille is very childlike and crafty at times, but sometimes his greed carries him into impossible situations. He also looks very feminine, to the point that people often mistake him for a woman and men often hit on him (much to his disgust). He seems to have a special fondness for the tomboyish Eles, bordering on romantic attraction.


 * As of Chapter 11, he has been infected with the guignol virus and is becoming ill.


 * Kohaku (コハク): The violinist of the Royal Court Orchestra. Kohaku is an impatient and rude man who usually resolves things with violence and has a wide sadistic streak (especially where Lucille is concerned). He carried with him many weapons such as knives and guns all which are hidden in his clothing. A scar runs on his face, how it got there is unknown, although he suggested a woman had bitten him there. His right eye pains him when guignols are near.


 * Gwin "Gwindel" (グィンデル): The cellist of the Royal Court Orchestra. The only character who talks very little (But when snaps, he's quite the scary young man) but plays a big role in the series. His weapon of choice is what looks like a Pickaxe and his incredible strength, although he also has a pair of "chainsaw scissors". He owns a pet hedgehog whom he is violently protective of.


 * His true name is Jadeite, and he was an artist in the pay of the Duke Rhodonite who specialized in carving grotesquely realistic guignol statues, including of his own daughter who was turned into a guignol by the duke. Berthie and Lucille caught him, and as punishment he was used as a test subject for guignol virus research, which led to him being given a pair of guignol arms. He holds a grudge against Lucille because of this.


 * Eles "Elestial" (エレスチャル): The pianist of the Royal Court Orchestra. Elestial is the son of the Master of the city Toussaint, the first destination for the Royal Orchestra. Crippled from an accident, he is completely cold towards the traveling Orchestra. The only surviving child of the city, all the children were burned alive when they became infected with the Galatea Syndrome including his twin sister Celestite and his mother. However, it was revealed that the real Elestial died, the person now posing as Elestial, is actually the twin sister, Celestite. The true Elestial died in an attack from the Guignols along with all the other children, but Celestite survived. To protect her from the people's wrath, her father had her impersonate Elestial.


 * Celes (now going under the name Eles) is sent by her father to join the Orchestra to spare her from the impending ruin of their city, and despite initially refusing, she ends up joining them. Her piano playing has a magical effect that rivals Lucille's voice: it attracts the guignols and can temporarily restore some of their consciousness to them.

Other characters

 * Celes "Celestite" (セレスタイト): The daughter of the Master of the city Toussaint and twin sister of Elestial. Celes has the ability to play the piano so beautifully that he brother convinced her to play for the city. The playing caused guignols to become angry and attack Toussaint, killing all the children and few adults within the city's walls. Celes was therefore blamed for the disaster and thought to have been burned alive. In actuality, she is actually alive and well, albeit in the identity of her brother.


 * Heliodor (ヘリオドール): The Master of the city Toussaint who is hated by his people for his cruelty and uncaring attitude. On the day the guignols attacked Toussaint, Heliodor ordered all those infected to be burned and this included all the children. It is believe he burned his wife after she became infected, and forced his daughter to burn his infected son. However, Heliodor is more caring than he appears, since he arranges for Eles to be removed from the city before it can completely succumb to the infection. His ultimate fate is unknown, since he wasn't infected.


 * Vivian (ビビアン): The longtime caretaker of Elestial and Celestite. She lost her lover the day the guignols attacked and claims she doesn't blame Celestite for causing it. In actuality, she is keeping her guignol lover in a cage and secretly hates Eles for what happened, even trying to have the child eaten by guignols.


 * Nepheline (ネフェリーン): Master of the territory of Red Beryl who resides in the city of Niobium. Nepheline is clearly insane, a misandrist and obsessed with a world where women are always smiling and happy. As a child he was disgusted by his father constantly beating his mother and the maidservants, and eventually he murdered his father with a shotgun. To his horror, he discovered that his mother and the maids all loved his father despite his abuse, and when they "betrayed" him, she killed them all as well.


 * As an adult, he lived in a castle filled with maids whom he had seduced into becoming part of his experiments with the guignol virus, as well as the resurrected guignol corpse of his mother. He developed a massive crush on Lucille (believing him to be a beautiful girl), and tries to turn him into a guignol, but ends up devoured by his mother.


 * Spinel (スピネル): The only woman soldier in Nepheline's army who has an incredible strength for killing guignols and intruders in the Red Beryl, and who acts as a spy in the Rhodonite household. She is immune to the guignol virus, though it isn't known how.


 * As a child, she was much like Eles in that she was a girl who sneaked into an all-male monastary. Lucille took a liking to her despite her surliness and anger, because he saw that they were alike in that they were afraid. She has a voice that can mimic almost any person's vocals, but her natural voice is "cute" and "moe" which amuses people around her.


 * Morion "Morion Stilbite" (モリオン・スティルバイト): Lucille and Cordierite's cousin. When Lucille left he put Master Larimar to take over the official royal orchestra but dies under mysterious circumstances and Morion therefore took over. Morion changed his name to Count Morion Stilbite and is completely loyal to his cousin Cordierite.


 * Cordie "Cordierite" (コーディアライト): Lucille's little sister whom he left behind along with his cousin Morion. Cordie has always been jealous of her brother's beauty and compares him to her mother who was Queen at the time. Cordie feared becoming the Queen of Epidote due to the fact that her mother was beautiful and young but cold and destructive. Lucille meets his sister later on and she is now Queen Gem Silica of Epidote who has only hatred for him now.


 * Much of Cordie's thoughts seem to revolve around her hatred of her brother, and the fact that she had to become ruler of the country instead of him. She will do virtually anything to hurt him, including threatening the lives of his companions and forcing him to fight Morion. She is extremely cold, cruel and vindictive even to the people who love her.


 * Cook "Cookiete" (クーク石): The butler of Cordierite, Lucille and Morion who remains loyal to the two after Lucille leaves. He does not hold Lucille's past actions against him, and even helps Eles sneak into the queen's chambers.


 * Berthie "Berthierite" (ベルチェ): The Piano Tuner who was once a member of the Royal Court Orchestra. The Pianist to be precise. Berthierite is under the orders of the Senate to rid for them unwanted enemies under the name of Accordeur. With the mask of a cat and what looks like a long double sword he attacks the royal orchestra without mercy. He was thought to be dead by Lucille, since he slit his own throat during a battle with guignols. But was confirmed to be alive in Volume 2, although it is unknown how he was resurrected. There are black crack marks around his left eye and across his scarred throat, hinting that he is contaminated with the Galatea Syndrome; the contamination may be contained, since the Senate is implied to have very advanced medicine at their disposal.


 * Berthie seems to be rather capricious and sadistic, toying with Lucille's emotions and claiming that he only wants Eles as a sister-substitute instead of as a true friend, as well as tormenting Carnelian by pointing out that the Rhodonite family had discarded him.

Convent of St. Vienna

 * Garnet (ガーネット): A sister at the convent of St. Vienna. Garnet is a beautiful mysterious women who claims to be a noble from the Rhodonite family, and is idolized by the other nuns as a holy woman. She is the only one that the nuns' guignols obey.


 * In actuality, Garnet was actually an orphaned boy named Carnelian, who was bought by the anti-queen Rhodonite family. They hoped that he would be able to surpass Lucille, but overtraining destroyed his voice and surgery left him a castrati unable to make love to Shinsha. The Rhodonites got rid of him by sending him to the convent, where he took over the production of the Adderly guignols. He is horribly injured by falling debris when the convent starts to collapse, and is carried off by Berthie. It is implied that he will be used by the Senate for some purpose.


 * Aventurine (アベンツリーン): The abbess of the convent of St. Vienna who first welcomes the disguised Lucille and Eles. An old smiling women with much darker secrets behind her, she is secretly creating docile guignols in the crypts of the convent, under the orders of the Rhodonite family. She is killed by Shinsha.


 * Shinsha (シンシャ): A sister at the convent of St. Vienna who is the organ player at the church, and was formerly Carnelian's maid and lover. Under mysterious circumstances she is killed while playing the organ and her death is ruled as suicide, despite the fact that it was clearly murder. It is later found that she was impaled by a booby trap in the organ, and has been turned into an Adderly guignol.


 * Aqua (アクア): A sister at the convent of St. Vienna who was obsessed with sister Garnet who is killed before Lucille and Eles arrive. She was found impaled on the chapel's crucifix.

The Senate

 * Richter "Richterite" (リチテライツ): Part of the senate who spends his time playing cards with the other senators. Although he is just a child he is actually very old and is younger than Jasper his friend and competitor.
 * Jasper (ジャスパー): Part of the senate who also spends his time playing cards with the other senators and plays with his toys. Like the others in the senate he is much older than he looks but is older than Richter.
 * Meerschaum (ミアシャム): Part of the senate and the only girl in it. She spends her time drinking cocktails and beating the other senators in games of cards. It's hinted that she doesn't like the queen or Lucille and gossips about both of them.
 * Valentinite (バレンチナイツ): Part of the senate who is seen playing cards with the other senators.

Others

 * Duke Rhodonite (公爵・ロドナイツ): Duke Rhodonite is a rich noble who has taken Ruby (aka Spinel_ as his young bride. Lucille suspects that the duke has a new virus in his hands and goes undercover. Rhodonite has one child, Carnelian, whom he bought from an orphanage and banished to a convent when his beautiful voice failed.


 * The duke is a cruel, selfish man who turned his past wives and fiancees into guignols when he grew tired of them, selling them at auctions. He also implies that he is sexually interested in Lucille because of his beautiful voice and face. He even stated that he would have raped Lucille if he had been a girl.


 * Telulu "Tellurium" (テルル): Gwindel's only daughter who was killed in order to become one of Duke Rhodonite's doll statues that surround his home. Telulu owned a pet hedgehog that is now cared for by her father, Gwindel as the only reminder he has of his daughter.

Release
Written and illustrated by Kaori Yuki, Grand Guignol Orchestra began its serialization in the Japanese manga magazine Bessatsu Hana to Yume in August 2008, and ended its run in the June 2010 issue on April 26th. Hakusensha has released four bound volumes as of May 2010. The first volume was released on February 19, 2009; the fifth and final volume will be published on August 19, 2010. Viz Media licensed the series and plans to release it under its Shojo Beat imprint in October 2010. The series is also licensed in Germany by Carlsen Comics, in Italy by Planet Manga, in France by Editions Tonkam, in Taiwan by Tong Li Comics, and in Hong Kong by Culturecom Comics.

Terminology

 * Guignol (ギニョール): A person infected with the Galatea Syndrome. The only way to become infected is from a bite or a scratch from a guignol. The incubation period and transformation of those infected differs from person to person; the transformation makes the skin hard and limits the movements of the person. Because of the doll-like movements and symptoms of the virus, it is known as Guignol which comes from guignol, a French word referring to a puppet manipulated by human hands. Guignols are much more stronger than the average human being and cannot be easily destroyed. They crave human blood and flesh, much like zombies.


 * Galatea Syndrome (ガラテイア症候群): A virus that has begun to spread around the world. It is still not known how the virus was created or by who and has begun to evolve into separate viruses.


 * Adderley (アダリー): A new virus that evolved from the original Galatea Syndrome virus in which these guignols look and act like normal human beings. They are also known as 'Slave Dolls' who can function without any basic human necessities like emotions or materials. They will only respond to the voice of their masters, which is imprinted and sealed inside their minds. If the seal is broken the adderleys will spiral out of control and attack even their own masters. A cracked mark is either visible on some part of their bodies to identify them as adderleys.


 * Black Oratorio (黒の聖譚曲): A book full of forbidden melodies that creates miracles for the user. One effect of a melody is that, when played, it can temporarily restore the memories and human souls of the guignols before they die.


 * Divine Lightning (神雷): When an area is 70% or more is infected the Queen sends her Divine Lightning that will burn and destroy that area to the ground. It is used to keep the virus from spreading.