I invested heavily into AS, going as far as to buy the whole series, OVA, and art books.
To me, it was a worthy purchase.
Even though the characters were all similar in terms of art, it was still a compelling, deep, and disturbing manga that leaves one excited, upset, utterly confused, and heartbroken.
I give this mangaka a lot of credit for touching on so many uncomfortable subjects, and as long as you don't take this for more than what it is -a manga- you won't feel 'damaged' afterward. (And this comes from a Christian. lol.)
But I would be remiss if I didn't say that many of the complaints people have are true:
If you're bothered by incest -you won't like this.
If a story with 1001 characters bugs you -you won't like this.
If you're religious (and of the Christian faith) and don't have the capacity to separate fact from fiction and view this as a form of entertainment and nothing more -you won't like this.
If you're super picky about art and can't get into androgynous-looking characters -you won't like this.
If a zillion sub-plots irk you -you won't like this.
And this isn't the sort of manga where one can recommend that you read the first few chapters to see if you can get into it; the story becomes too complex and too far away from where it started for that. This is more of a story that you need to just decide that you're going commit to and see where it takes you.