D.N.Angel

Not to be confused with DNAngels, a DC comics superhero group.

D.N.Angel
File:Dnangel manga08.jpg D. N. Angel manga volume 8 cover featuring Daisuke and Dark
Genre	Comedy, Fantasy, Kaitō, Romance, Supernatural
Manga
Written by	Yukiru Sugisaki
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten Haksan Publishing TOKYOPOP Chuang Yi (Chinese) Editorial Ivrea Japonica Polonica Fantastica Grupo Editorial Vid Bonnier Carlsen
Anime
Directed by	Koji Yoshikawa, Nobuyoshi Habara
Studio	Dentsu ADV Films
Video game
D. N. Angel: Crimson Wings (～紅の翼～)
Publisher	TAKARA
Genre	Fantasy, Romance
Platform	PlayStation 2
Manga
D・N・ANGEL TV Animation Series
Written by	Yukiru Sugisaki
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten

D•N•Angel is a manga by Yukiru Sugisaki (杉崎 ゆきる) which was later adapted into an anime and a PS2 game, subtitled "Crimson Wings".

Yukiru Sugisaki's wildly popular D•N•Angel manga began its manga run in Japan in Asuka Magazine in 1997 and inspired a hit 26-episode anime show in 2003. The manga is published in English by TOKYOPOP. The Manga currently consists of 11 volumes in tankobon form. While the storyline has not yet ended, no new material has been released since the August 2005 issue of ASUKA magazine. It is not known when Sugisaki will continue D•N•Angel, as she is currently doing illustration work for a series called EDEN in Shōnen Ace .

A series of drama CDs (D. N. Angel Wink) were also released, although it should be noted that the seiyu 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 released by Asuka titled "D・N・ANGEL TV Animation Series" in 2003 which followed the anime storyline.

Plot

Daisuke Niwa is a 14 year-old-boy who has a special DNA due to his genes. Whenever he sees or thinks about his crush, Risa Harada, he turns into the infamous thief Dark. Dark was created by "The Black Wings", a very large piece of artwork, along with Krad. Krad is the complete opposite of Dark, and is from the Hikari family like Dark is to the Niwa family.

Later on, after being rejected by Risa, Daisuke starts to notice Riku more often then later on he falls in love with her. Riku first thought Daisuke was an idiot but then she realises that she likes Daisuke. Riku had a crush on Daisuke near the beginning, way before Daisuke liked her. But until Daisuke is able to tell Riku about his condition and she can love both him and Dark, he'll keep transforming. Unfortunately Riku, who had her first kiss stolen by Dark, now thinks Dark is a "pervert". She loves Daisuke and cares about him a lot, but on the other hand she doesn't know Daisuke's other half is Dark and she hates Dark for kissing her.

Satoshi Hiwatari is a student at the same school as Daisuke and the Harada twins. He intends to keep an eye on Daisuke because he is the Commander of the police force, and heads the investigation on Dark. Satoshi has Krad 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 also manage to escape his plans.

Characters

Daisuke Niwa (丹羽 大助, Niwa Daisuke)

• Voiced by: Miyu Irino (Japanese); Kevin Corn (English), and Soichiro Hoshi (Drama CD)

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 old 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.

Dark Mousy (Dark)

• Voiced by: Ryotaro Okiayu (Japanese); Vic Mignogna (English), and Masaya Onosaka (Drama CD)

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. 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 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. 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.

Risa Harada (原田 梨紗, Harada Risa)

• Voiced by: Masumi Asano (Japanese); Luci Christian (English), and Sakura Tange (Drama CD)

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)

• Voiced by: Sara Nakayama (Japanese); Hilary Haag (English), and Yuka Imai (Drama CD)

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. However, she is unsure of their relationship, fearing that he chose her simply because of her resemblance to her twin sister.

With/Wiz

• Voiced by: Mariela Ortiz (English) and Megumi Toyoguchi (Drama CD)

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]). Wiz does not like learning new words as well. 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, is afraid of scary movies, and hates Krad. In the English manga translation, With is known as "Wiz", or 'Wizzy.'

Satoshi Hiwatari (日渡怜, Hiwatari Satoshi)

• Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese); Greg Ayres (English), and Tomokazu Seki (Drama CD)

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. 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 blond whose only motivation seems to be getting rid of Dark.

Emiko Niwa (丹羽 笑子, Niwa Emiko)

• Voiced by: Sakiko Tamagawa (Japanese); Kelly Manison (English), and Yūko Nagashima (Drama CD)

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)

• Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma (Japanese); Andy McAvin (English), and Toshihiko Seki (Drama CD)

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)

• Voiced by: Takeshi Aono (Japanese); John Swasey (English), Eiji Maruyama (Drama CD), and Mugihito (Drama CD, Younger Voice)

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)

• Voiced by: Minoru Shiraishi (Japanese); Kira Vincent-Davis (English), and Wataru Takagi (Drama CD)

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

• Voiced by: Takeshi Kusao (Japanese); Illich Guardiola (English)

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. This fact 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 have no triggers. Likewise, Satoshi can most times force Krad back inside his body. One very popular nickname for Krad is Homicidal Blond. 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

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. According to Kosuke Niwa in an earlier chapter, Rio Hikari is dead.

Towa no Shirube (永遠の標) is known as Towa-chan (or To-to in the English translation of the manga)

• Voiced by: Rie Tanaka (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)

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)

• Voiced by: Taeko Kawata (Japanese); Jessica Boone (English)

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 Engrish 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

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, Dark, and that he needs Risa's help to do this.

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 decendant, Satoshi. He sent Satoshi back to middle school to spy on Daisuke Niwa and also hired the young prodigy to become Cheif Commander of Police and incharge of capturing Dark even though that he always butt's in. 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's 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 marbel stone chair with a wing on the right and a broken wing on the left) which is found in Satoshi's room inside his appartment. Althought he maybe 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.

List of episodes

Main article: List of D.N.Angel episodes

Music

In the anime, several tunes are featured:

Opening

Name: "White Night - True Light -"/"Byakuya ~True Light~" (白夜 ～True Light～)

Voice by: Shunichi Miyamoto

Ending

• Episode - 1-12

Name: "Gentle Afternoon"/"Yasashii Gogo" (やさしい午後)

Voiced by: Minawo

• Episode - 13-23,25

Name: "The Day It Begins"/"Hajimari no Hi" (はじまりの日)

Voiced by: Minawo

• Episode - 24:

Name: "Caged Bird"

Voiced by: Shunichi Miyamoto

• Episode - 26:

Name: "Guidepost"/"Michishirube" (道標)

Voiced by: Shunichi Miyamoto

External links

• D.N.Angel information at Tokyopop
• D.N.Angel ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Yukiru Sugisaki's work
• D.N.Angel Anime Screenshots Archive