D.N.Angel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

D•N•Angel
Image:Dnangel manga08.jpg
D. N. Angel manga volume 8 cover featuring Daisuke and Dark
Genre Comedy, Fantasy, Kaitō, Romance
Manga
Author Yukiru Sugisaki
Publisher Flag of Japan Kadokawa Shoten
Demographic Shōjo
Serialized in Monthly Asuka
Flag of Malaysia Arena Komik
Original run November 1997 - Present
Volumes 12 (currently)
TV anime
Director Koji Yoshikawa, Nobuyoshi Habara
Studio Flag of Japan Dentsu
Flag of the United States ADV Films
Network Flag of Japan TV Tokyo
Original run 3 April 2003 – 25 September 2003
Episodes 26
Game: D. N. Angel: Crimson Wings (～紅の翼～)
Publisher TAKARA
Genre Fantasy, Romance
Platform PlayStation 2
Released Flag of Japan September 25, 2003
Manga: D.N.Angel TV Animation Series
Author Yukiru Sugisaki
Publisher Flag of Japan Kadokawa Shoten
Demographic Shōjo
Serialized in Monthly Asuka
Original run 1 August 2003 – 1 October 2003
Volumes 5

D.N.Angel is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yukiru Sugisaki with an anime adaptation and a PS2 video game.

Yukiru Sugisaki's D.N.Angel manga began its run in Japan in the shōjo manga magazine Monthly Asuka in 1997 and inspired a 26-episode anime adaptation in 2003. The manga is published in English by Tokyopop. The manga currently consists of 11 volumes in tankōbon form. The series went on an extended hiatus after the August 2005 issue of Monthly Asuka, but the magazine announced in its March issue (released on January 24, 2008) that the manga would resume the next month in its April issue.[2] This issue was released in Japan in February, and it featured a 123 page comeback issue, including 20 free extra illustrations by Sugisaki[3].

A series of drama CDs (D.N.Angel Wink) were also released, although it should be noted that the seiyū cast for the drama CDs is largely different from the anime cast.

The 26 episode television series aired in Japan on TV Tokyo, and has been released on DVD in the US and the UK by ADV Films and in Australia by Madman Entertainment. The final broadcast of the anime coincided with the release of the game, which carried on the story from that point. Due to the anime series having a different storyline than the manga series, a two-volume special manga series was serialized in Monthly Asuka titled D.N.Angel TV Animation Series in 2003 which followed the anime storyline.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Main article: List of D.N.Angel episodes

Daisuke Niwa is a 14 year-old-boy who has a special genetic ability: Whenever he sees or thinks about his crush, Risa Harada, he turns into the infamous phantom thief Dark. During the start of the anime, Daisuke carries a picture of Risa Harada in his back pocket for such occasion. This will continue until his crush learns to love both him and Dark.

Satoshi Hiwatari is a student at the same school as Daisuke and the Harada twins and also the Commander of the police force, heading the investigation on Dark. This is because he is a member of the Hikari family, a clan of artists which has opposed the Niwa family of thieves for centuries. Satoshi has Krad, Dark's opposite and, like him, part of the Hikari artwork "Black Wings", within him in much the same way Daisuke has Dark within him.

Interestingly enough, Risa falls in love with Dark, and proceeds to do all sort of absurd things to get him to go out with her, which he eventually does. She has also kissed him on more than one occasion, and it is hinted that Dark loves Risa; but Dark claims that he does not love her, and that (according to the anime) Risa's grandmother, Rika, is the only woman he has ever loved. In the manga, Dark's reasons for rejecting Risa seem to be so that she is not hurt by the fact that he is immortal and not really human, and therefore cannot participate in a functional relationship. As expected, Risa doesn't really listen to him and continues to try to get him to go out with her.

During much of the plot, Satoshi Hiwatari's (adoptive) father, who is a high ranking Police Officer, happens to butt in, and ruin a few of Hiwatari's plans to capture Dark. His father also plans to capture Dark himself. But Dark and Daisuke always manage to escape his plans.

[edit] Characters

Daisuke Niwa (丹羽 大助 Niwa Daisuke?)
The 14-year-old protagonist of the story is a typical school boy who has a crush on a girl at his school, Risa Harada. However, because of the Niwa family heritage, his special DNA merged with that of the legendary phantom thief, Dark, when he was rejected by Risa.
Daisuke can transform into Dark (usually unwillingly) whenever he experiences feelings of love or intimacy. Daisuke is kind-hearted, the opposite of Dark and always trying to stop Dark from performing crazy stunts to no avail. Later in the series, Daisuke gradually falls in love with his crush's older twin sister, Riku Harada. Even though he does not look or act it, Daisuke is very perceptive and athletic - capable of jumping from heights that a normal boy could never be capable of. To hone his skills, his family sets up daily life-threatening trials once he returns home from school. A specialty of this is his gift for lockpicking (or hacking, in the case of electronically activated locks) any kind of lock in succession
Daisuke, as a Niwa, has been trained in thievery all his life. He can dodge traps, pick locks, sneak past security, and break into almost any location. However, he prefers to create art, not steal it, which makes him more like a Hikari. Riku has a crush on him.
Dark Mousy (ダーク・マウシー Dāku Maushī?)
Dark is the entity passed on to each new male in the Niwa generation at the age of 14, once said male experiences love. He was dormant for 40 years due to the fact that Daisuke's grandfather (who was Dark's host before Daisuke) had no male offspring. It is not possible for females to become the Phantom Thief.
He is the phantom thief who constantly steals art pieces made by the Hikari family. Unlike Daisuke, who likes Risa, Dark fell in love with Riku(Risa's twin sister). However, he is constantly being pursued by Risa, who fell for him when she first saw him on the news. While he does not seem to reciprocate her feelings, he does say that he can "feel" her words "right here" in his heart (Volume 9). He uses Wiz (With) as his wings, because using his actual black wings would harm Daisuke severely.
In the anime, Dark informs Risa that he has no feelings for her except as she reminds him of her grandmother, whom he truly loved.
In the manga he fell in love with Riku instead of Risa.
In the English version, Dark is known as the Phantom Thief Dark, while in Japanese, he is Kaitou Dark. Dark's full name is Dark Mousy, though this name is only used in the character descriptions of the manga and on the saga comercial near the end of book 3. In the anime, he is once called by this name by Krad. His real name, however, is Kokuyoku (Black Wings), and he is one half of the exalted Black Wings, with Krad being the other half. It is apparent that they once belonged to the same artwork and were enjoined, but were at some point awakened and separated.

In the end of the anime, Dark sacrifices himself to seal up Krad, and Dark diasppears because Daisuke had found his sacred maiden. However, whether Dark will continue to pop up and humorously butt in is a given.

Risa Harada (原田 梨紗 Harada Risa?)
The younger, more naive of the Harada twins, Risa is initially the object of Daisuke's affection. However, she doesn't show the same feelings towards Daisuke as he does for her, considering the fact that he is too normal, only thinking of him as a best friend. Risa starts to develop a crush, which turns into an obsession, on Dark upon seeing his attempt to steal an artwork broadcasted over the news, claiming that he is the mysterious person whom she is destined to be with.
Risa is innocent, clumsy and can be seen as your typical "girly-girl", though she shows the same stubbornness, tenacity, and kindness as Riku, and prefers fashion and relationships to physical activities. However as the series progresses, Risa grows from being the 'naive, little girl' to a 'mature, young lady'. Other than the fact that she has longer hair and a softer voice, she cannot physically be distinguished from her sister.
Riku Harada (原田 梨紅 Harada Riku?)
Riku Harada is the older twin sister. Unlike her younger sister Risa, who prefers fashion and obsessing over relationships, Riku is more into athletics (lacrosse being her sport of choice) and academics, which causes her to be considered a tomboy. She acts 'less girly' compared to her sister Risa and is more serious, independent and down-to-earth. She is also kind, caring, very outspoken and selfless, wanting the best for everyone and to help those in need.
She holds an intense dislike for Dark Mousy ever since their first encounter, in which he spotted her after taking a shower. In the anime, upon seeing him, she was startled and in his attempts to quiet her down, as to not attract attention, he kissed her, stealing her first kiss. The manga showcases a similar situation, however Dark hid in her room to escape the police when she woke up.
Riku is attracted to Daisuke and later becomes his girlfriend.
With/Wiz (ウィズ?)
The family pet of the Niwa family and Dark's familiar spirit, With responding to Dark's call no matter where he is and transforming into a black, winged creature that becomes Dark's wings by clinging to his back. He can also perform other transformations, and can turn into Dark or Daisuke, but is not very adept at communicating verbally. For example, With's attempt to say "Daisuke" comes out as "daisuki" (lit:I really like [you]). With does not like learning new words. He does however become adept in the language of which we speak as you can see during Daisuke's date with Riku and Dark's with Risa.
With resembles a hybrid of a dog and a bunny (the closest animal Daisuke could compare it to was a lop-eared rabbit), and it is unknown how old With is. In this form, With normally says "Kyuu." He hates water, loves curry, is afraid of scary movies, and hates Krad. In the English manga translation, With is known as "Wiz", or 'Wizzy.'
Satoshi Hiwatari/Hikari (日渡 怜 Hiwatari Satoshi?)
Always calm and composed, never showing much emotion, Satoshi Hiwatari is a distant, cold, and silent character, though these qualities never seem to affect how close he keeps to Daisuke Niwa. These same qualities also get love notes from girls every day. He is extremely intelligent and has a college degree. However, he attends Daisuke's Junior High School in an attempt to have a normal life. He acts as the police commander in charge of capturing Dark.
Due to his family legacy, he is almost obsessive in his attempts to capture Dark. He is the last heir of the Hikari family, whose artworks are almost always Dark's targets for stealing. Satoshi recreates one of Daisuke's paintings during the incident with the Toki no Byuushin, claiming that he can mimic any piece if he sees it once. His reproduction is a precise imitation, impossible to tell from the original.
He was adopted by a 26-year-old police officer by the name of Hiwatari, and so his name was changed to reflect his adoption. During the course of the story, he begins to care more about Daisuke's safety. It appears that Daisuke is the trigger for Satoshi's other personality, Krad, to appear. Satoshi opposes Krad taking control of his body greatly, and has taken on an uncaring personality to 'seal his heart,' and thus, Krad. Krad is Dark's "evil twin," or opposite, a homicidal blonde whose only motivation seems to be getting rid of Dark.
Emiko Niwa (丹羽 笑子 Niwa Emiko?)
Emiko is Daisuke's mother, an extremely hyperactive woman who does not act her age. She prepares Dark's costumes for when he goes out to steal artwork. She is also responsible for sending out the notices to the police that tell them what, when, and where Dark's next target will be. It made her very upset as a young girl that she could not become a phantom thief. Emiko is very much in love with her husband, Daisuke's father Kosuke.
Kosuke Niwa (丹羽 小助 Niwa Kosuke?)
Emiko's husband is the shy and thoughtful Kosuke Niwa. He married into the Niwa family and adopted the surname; he himself is not a Niwa male. He knows a lot about magic and had journeyed often, hence he has not seen his son for many, many years. When he finally returned, he gave Daisuke a Rutile which lets him absorb all the damage received by Dark .
He is currently searching for the secrets between the Hikari and the Niwa family. He is very serious when he needs to be, but generally he seems clumsy, exactly like his son. He is easily embarrassed by his wife, Emiko, and her antics. Kosuke was also one of the few characters who arrived late into the series and his true surname is unknown.
Daiki Niwa (丹羽 大樹 Niwa Daiki?)
Daiki is Daisuke's grandfather and Emiko's father. He was Dark 40 years ago. Unlike Daisuke, he took the task of stealing as though it was a job. He appears more in the manga than he does in the anime and is more than often goofy and silly.
Takeshi Saehara (冴原 剛 Saehara Takeshi?)
Takeshi is Daisuke's best friend in school and is the son of Police Inspector Saehara, who pursues Dark under the command of Hiwatari Satoshi. He usually serves as comic relief, as he is very excitable, friendly, rude and irresponsible. He is an enthusiastic reporter who uses his father's contacts to his advantage. However, he is rather reckless, proven in his plans, which Hiwatari often justly criticises, calling them ineffective. Saehara also likes to dump his workload, such as homework and cleanup duty, on Daisuke, so he can get out early to find a good spot to get good shots of Dark.
In the anime, Takeshi bribes students with photos; he offers the girls pictures of Dark in exchange for being able to copy their notes and offers Daisuke pictures of Risa Harada in a bikini in exchange for Daisuke cleaning the art room for him.
Krad (クラッド Kuraddo?)
Krad is the complete opposite of Dark (with even Dark's name spelt backwards) and also Dark's worst enemy. Krad is the homicidal blond of the series who is the alter-ego of Hiwatari Satoshi. Apparently, Daisuke was the reason that Satoshi first transformed into Krad. With (Wiz) absolutely despises Krad and always tries to attack him on sight. Krad can be called insanely obsessive, as he attempts to kill Daisuke after their first encounter because he is very possessive over his host, Satoshi, and does not let him get close to anyone. He affectionately calls him, "My everything". Satoshi, however -- like his whole family generation -- despises Krad.
Unlike Dark, Krad does not use any wings other than his own and is entirely willing to utilize his magic, thus demonstrating his lack of care for his host's wellbeing. Although feelings of love are what cause Daisuke to transform into Dark, it seems that Krad can force his way out of Satoshi at any moment, although the original trigger was Satoshi's desire for Daisuke's safety and happiness. The fact that he can now come out at any time may be due to Krad's greater willingness to injure his host, since it makes little sense for Daisuke to be triggered by love and Satoshi to seemingly have no continuous triggers. Likewise, Satoshi can most times force Krad back inside his body. One very popular nickname for Krad is Homicidal Blonde. Krad has no last name, but only he calls Dark with Mousy attached. He uses it to express how he feels about Dark.
Rio Hikari (氷狩 理緒 Hikari Rio?)
Although only mentioned a few times in the manga, Rio Hikari is an important part of the background story. Rio, the mother of Satoshi Hiwatari, was shown only in an undetailed way in the manga. She was also mentioned by Daiki Niwa when he was explaining to Daisuke Niwa that when he was a child, the Hikari was a woman who gave birth to Rio, then vanished. Rio then had a son, Satoshi. Is told by Kosuke Niwa in the third volume of the manga that Rio Hikari has been dead for about fifteen years, and it is hinted later that either Satoshi or Krad were to blame for her death.
Towa no Shirube (永遠の標?), known as "Towa-chan" (or "To-to" in the English translation of the manga)
She is one of the Hikari's creations but was later released of their services by their last descendant, Satoshi. She is the "symbol/guide of eternity" and was originally in the form of a pelican statue on the lighthouse. A very spunky and lively guardian, she can only maintain human form at night; during the day, she is a bird-shaped statue or a small bird the size of With. Her first appearance is in volume five, where she emerges to assist Daisuke. She appears to have some of her own powers; she can find magical things and also successfully guides Daisuke into the mirror of the Sleeping Sage. Later on, she begins living in the Niwa household and frequently helps Daisuke whenever she can.
In the anime, Towa is a bird statue that Dark was to steal from the ruins of an old house that was damaged by a landslide. When Daisuke first finds her statue he calls her very valuable and from then on (when she was later released and took the form of a cute young girl) she became very loyal and compassionate towards Daisuke. Personality wise she is very optimistic, enjoys shopping and cooking, compassionate, caring and is somewhat of a romantic.
Unlike in the manga, she is also able to retain her human form during the day and only occupies her bird form when she is weak, flustered (whenever she gets kissed by Dark) or playing with With. She stays with the Niwa family as their house maid.
Towa (in human form, as the Niwa family's maid) dresses in the Gothic Lolita style.
Mio Hio (桧尾 澪 Hio Mio?)
Mio first appears halfway into the anime series. She is a character exclusive to the anime version of D.N.Angel, a student who suddenly transferred to Daisuke's school (as shown in episode 14). All that is known at that time is that she left for America and stayed there for 2 years before coming back to Japan. The first impression one would have of Mio is that she is a rather simple minded "valley girl" (or an American gaijin in the Japanese version, even going as far as to say "Sorry! I can't speak Japanese!" when confronted with certain demands or, in the English dub, telling Riku in Spanish that she can't speak English). She also seems to speak relatively poor Japanese because she inserts English into her phrases constantly. It is later revealed that she is actually a voodoo doll living in a temporary body and promised a real life by Satoshi Hiwatari's adoptive father, Kei. However, in order for her to attain a real life, someone must be sacrificed... in this case Daisuke. The initial reason why she occupied herself with Daisuke was to get him to wear a powerful magical charm (actually a pair of charms [one in the shape of a heart, the other in the form an arrow] and the pair must be interlocked when worn for the magic to activate) that would then seal his soul within it. However, over time she eventually fell in love with him. She wanted a real life, but not at the cost of Daisuke's. Mio then decides that she refuses to give up Daisuke's life and ventured to retrieve the magical charms from Riku (whom she had given to in hopes that she would get Daisuke to wear it). Despite her actions, she arrived too late at the Harada house seeing Daisuke and Riku out in the backyard, both with the magical charms around their necks. Unable to stop them, she used her powers to negate the charm's effect and sealed herself within Riku's charm before Hiwatari's father was able to negate her temporary life.
Before the series ended, Mio's spirit (sealed within Riku's charm) pleaded with the Harada twins to lend her their power so she could save Daisuke and Dark as well as Hiwatari's father. She then gains her own body back, using the Harada twins as a medium, and goes out to prevent Kei Hiwatari from activating the Black Wings in hopes of saving his life as well. Retaining some of her powers and using that of the Harada twins, she was able to stall Hiwatari from activating the Black Wings she was, however, unable to prevent his death. As the last of her power was used up, she left, telling the twins that she was glad to be able to do something to save Daisuke and Dark and requesting that they thank Daisuke for her, since it was through him that she was able to truly be alive. Her last words before disappearing in a shimmering light were: "Riku....you and Dai.... are an uber cute couple!!" (or in the Japanese version: "Riku...be happy with Daisuke, damn it!")
Argentine (アージェンタイン Ājentain?)
He is a mysterious boy who seems to have something against Dark, and kidnapped Risa during her date with the phantom thief. According to Kosuke, Argentine was a piece of art created and destroyed by the Hikari family long ago. He has stated that he wants to become Kokuyoku, in other words, the mix of Dark and Krad, and that he needs Risa's help to do this. He only appears in the manga.
Saga Keiji
A film producer that first appears in Volume 3. He is always looking for ways to publicise Dark, and uses Daisuke in his commercial. Later in Volume 6, he gives the class the idea to use Dark in "Ice and Snow" instead of Elliot. In volume 6, it is hinted that he works for Hiwatari's father, as well as his assistant Funibashi.
Kei Hiwatari
Kei is the Commissioner of the Police department and Satoshi's adoptive father who appears in both manga and anime. He is ruthless (especially to Satoshi) and he has a great obsession of the Hikari's artworks, which is also one of the reasons for him adopting their last descendant, Satoshi. He sent Satoshi back to middle school to spy on Daisuke Niwa and also hired the young prodigy to become Chief Commander of Police and in charge of capturing Dark even though that he always interferes. In the anime, he was the one who found the voodoo doll that is Mio Hio and sent her to the same school as Satoshi to make Daisuke wear a magical pendant in exchange of giving her a real human body. It was also found out that he asked Krad to work for him and help him in awakening the Black Wings by searching for an Ax-like object passed down to the Hikari's, which was later found sealed inside the Hikari Throne(A marble chair with an intact wing on the right and a broken wing on the left) which is found in Satoshi's room inside his apartment. Although he may be cold, it is shown that he once had a soft side to Satoshi(This is shown once by Hio Mio, wherein he complimented Satoshi while he was painting and that he thought of Satoshi before he died). It is not sure if he actually died at the end of the anime after Mio tried to stop him from activating Black Wings.
Some believed that Kei may have some past relations with Rio Hikari, Satoshi's biological mother.

[edit] Music

In the anime, several tunes are featured:

Opening theme
  • "White Night -True Light-" (白夜 ～True Light～ Byakuya -True Light-?), by Shunichi Miyamoto
Ending themes
  1. "Gentle Afternoon" (やさしい午後 Yasashii Gogo?), by Minawo (episodes 1–12)
  2. "The Day It Begins" (はじまりの日 Hajimari no Hi?), by Minawo (episodes 13–23, 25)
  3. "Caged Bird", by Shunichi Miyamoto (episode 24)
  4. "Guidepost" (道標 Michishirube?), by Shunichi Miyamoto (episode 26)

[edit] References

  1. ^ D.N.Angel (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia. Accessed 2007-02-06.
  2. ^ D.N.Angel Manga to Return to Asuka Mag in February
  3. ^ [1]

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
v • d • e
D.N.Angel
Franchise
Characters
Niwa family
Daisuke (Dark) · Emiko · Kosuke · Daiki
Harada family
Hiwatari/Hikari family
Others