The story takes place on the grounds of St. Mihailov Academy, a Japanese Eastern Orthodox school, and draws heavily on religious references from the aforementioned religion. Here it follows the trials and hardship of two of its students, Oribe Mafuyu and Tomo Yamanobe, until the encounter with a mysterious, silver-haired, Russian boy named Alexander, or Sasha for short. This puts them and the whole school in an all-out war between the Church itself and the so-called "Adepts", a sect of individuals wielding powers linked to the elements of chemistry. Though based on the common magical girl concept shown in series such as Sailor Moon, the story diverges in depicting extreme acts of bloodshed, brutality and perversion, and also makes heavy use of fanservice.
One important and controversial theme of the series is that of the sacred substance known as Soma, which allows the Qwasers to draw upon their powers and wield their elements in battle. This is connected to the main goal of the Adepts, the Theotokos of Tsarytsin, an icon depicting the Virgin Mary breastfeeding an infant Jesus which, according to their belief, holds the secrets of the Sacred Mysteries, such as the Messiah's resurrection. Linked to this is the fact that the Soma is, in actuality, breast milk, and that the Qwasers have to replenish themselves by means of suckling it, a process which apparently derives pleasure and tires heavily those women who nurse them.
The Qwaser of Stigmata (聖痕のクェイサー, Seikon no Kweisā?) is an ongoing manga series authored by Hiroyuki Yoshino and featuring art by Kenetsu Satō. The manga is serialized in the shōnen manga magazine Monthly Champion Red. It will be published in North America by Tokyopop. A 13 episodes anime television series adaptation is currently broadcast.
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