Related titles: D.N.Angel (manga)

How much have I seen when I wrote and last revised this review?: The first 5 episodes and trailer

Genre: Shoujo | Fantasy | Action | Drama | Mystery | Comedy
Company: Asuka Magazine | ???
American Liscensing Company: None yet
Format: ??? On going series
Dates: 04/03/03 - ongoing
Original Creator: Yukiru Sugisaki
Age Rating: 10 and up

Synopsis: Daisuke Hiwa thinks he's just a normal boy. Nevermind the fact that his family has taught him how to break into just about anything ever since he was little. On his 14th birthday, Daisuke realizes that his crush, Risa, only thinks of him as a friend...right before he was about to confess his feelings. Soon after he finds his body changed into a thief called Dark Mousy because of his DNA from his mother's family. The only way for Daisuke to control his transformation is if the person he loves, loves him back. Now whenever Daisuke is around someone he has a romantic interest in (Risa), he changes into Dark. Dark also has a seperate mind from Daisuke and he falls in love with Risa's twin sister, Riku, causing him to transform back into Daisuke. All of this is happening, plus the nightly art museum robberies Dark/Daisuke performs. Then there is the prescence of the mysterious boy genius and commander of the operation to catch Dark, Satoshi Hiwatari who also seems to have dark secrets of his own that are connected to Daisuke and Dark.

SCORE: 88%

What I've thought so far: One of my favorite manga is now an anime, just this past 3rd! I've seen the first 2 episodes now! Cute, wonderful and beautifully animated without falling into overly cute mode common of magical girl (well, magical boy) anime. Well, sorta. Daisuke blushes like mad and is very awkward in his behavior, but at least there weren't flowers and sparkles covering every scene (and he's such a cute dork!)! In fact there were hardly any sparkles and flowers, and no lace! The characters are beautiful, the voices are good, and the scenery was wonderfully rendered in CG assited animation. And the music is so cute!

However, I do have complaints. The storyline is basically the same, but many stories are almost completely different from the manga. In fact, the 2nd episode already is a completely seperate story from the manga it seems. *SIGH* However, this series is good so far for standing on its own. The basic spirit of the original story is still there, it's just delievered completely different than the manga.

Hm, the new intro for episode 2 is very cool and I love the song Byakuya~True Light sung by Miyamoto Shunichi (who according to the dnangel mailing list I'm a member of at Yahoo, is a very new singer who is only 16! O.o I'm 19 this coming April 28 2003, and that fact makes me feel old!). I was right too about what I had thought about the theme music. The tune used during the Dark/Riku scene in episode 1 is the same tune as the opening theme song. ^_^

But still! I'm a little ticked! The show is almost completely lost it's angst that the manga had! I mean, Satoshi is already having problems with his transformation in this episode 3...BEFORE he becomes concerned about Daisuke's wellbeing it seems. Grrr! Satoshi is suppose to be concerned about Daisuke, bringing on his transformation, and there's no hint at all in this episode that Satoshi and Daisuke are even friends. Am I wrong? Someone correct me if I am. ^_^ (Unless he's already thinking of Daisuke *grins* I doubt that though) If they leave out the angsty scene that takes place the day after Dark/Daisuke's first robbery, I'm gonna be mad! And they did! GAAH! That was awesome, and so were other angsty scenes, such as the swimming pool story, the kidnapping dude who wants to strip Daisuke, etc. Not only that, but the use of feathers by characters is weird and never done in the manga and looks a little corny for fight lol (including Satoshi starting to use a feather in episode 2...?) Satoshi's screen time is so short again and again! GRRR!!! But Satoshi already transforming in ep 4? Grrr...not cool! But...I guess it's not really that bad.

Also, they seemed to have made Satoshi a little dumb. He's suppose to be a genius, yet he yells to ask if Dark is in a room he's outside of in ep 2. Why would he let Dark know he's there, if there's a chance that he could sneak up on Dark if he knows he's not there?

I have nothing against Risa and Riku, but I sure wish that all the screentime they had this episode could have been cut a little so Satoshi would have more time on screen. ^_^ Well, at least Dark is being a bit of a uber jerk in this episode, which is in character for him. LOL ^_^

They had transformation sequences! And they weren't sparkly all over the place either! Hopefully with the way they looked, they might not use the same transformation sequences over and over. One can hope.

The ending theme wasn't bad, even if it centered on the twins. That's cool and all, but I want to see more of Daisuke, Dark and Satoshi than the twins. I didn't think this series was suppose to be so centered around them. But then again, the series couldn't happen without them (but they couldn't happen without Satoshi too! WAAH! ^_^)

The 3rd episode had a unicorn? Okay....whatever. I wish it would have been more creepy.

The 4th ep had just a tad of angst! C'mon angst!

5th ep is going to have the twins cooking...? LOL, okay, whatever. This should be...interesting.

From a manga point of view, the series better become closer to the manga and fix the Satoshi problems! SIGH But, I am happy to say, I do like the anime for what it is, without comparision to the manga. It's standing very well on its own. ^_^

Score so far: Maybe I should give the series a better score, and I'll just wait and see if I get less ticked off first. The score probably will change for the better. I realize that I need to see how much I like the anime for its own merit instead of comparing it to the manga. But you can't blame me for not being slightly pissed! Hopefully the anime will grasp it's angsty manga spirit is suppose to have before long! If not, I know I just need to give myself some time to get use to the spirit of the anime. Hopefully I will, because the anime really has been pretty good so far!

UPDATE after ep 4: Okay, I think I do like the series for what it is, standing seperate from the manga. Nothing beats the manga, but the anime is good too. ^_^

Episode specific remarks and commentary:

EPISODE 3 (04/20/03): The new music was interesting and it seems this series will defintely be trying to make a profit off its soundtrack, since it seems to be so pop music filled, and so quickkly.

I did not like this episode and saw it as a wasted effort that could have been used to continue the main storyline. The unicorn wasn't a good character in this ep necessarily (as I had hoped), but wasn't creepy like I would like either.

On comparing this ep to the manga (on characters and their relationships, and not on the storyline, since this ep is pretty much a filler ep), it seems in the anime, Dark likes Risa instead of Riku, even stating that Riku is not his type (of course Dark could be lying, but he wouldn't really have a reason to.) Satoshi is briefly seen, stating how Daisuke's prescense is affecting him. It mosty certainly wasn't very angsty like the typical Satoshi kind of behavior that is seen in the manga, but it is a start, since his emotions when he states this can be interpeted as angsty, but isn't a definite confirmation at all either.

The preview of the next ep is finally going back to the storyline. While I'm still a bit ticked at Krad being introduced so soon, it was nice seeing a half naked Satoshi without glasses in bed. LOL, and hopefully the angst that Satoshi has towards Daisuke, that I have been missing that is in the manga, but not in the anime so far, will start to happen. Here's hoping for a delievery of the familiar D.N.Angel angst!

The next ep better be very good, because if such a crucial episode isn't acted and executed just right, this series will remain forgetable. So far the series has been very lukewarm. An episode like this makes me really appreciate the original manga even more.

EPISODE 4 (04/27/03): Opening scene kicked ass! LOL, a half naked Satoshi! Lol, I was hoping that in the anime version of the story, Satoshi sleeps naked. Lol...but it seems he just took a bath and stayed up all that night trying to keep Krad at bay, and thus not giving him the chance to get dressed for bed...damn! What bad luck for me! LOL

Yeah, Satoshi's foster father is a jerk. :P

Daisuke's dream was sweet! Not as nearly as funny as I'd hope, but Dark did tease him in a way I'd see Dark doing, for having a "crush" on Satoshi. LOL, Daisuke's just so cute. He soon ignores that crush remark and starts worrying about Satoshi. He worries about him! How sweet! ^_^

Then Daisuke asks Satoshi if he's alright...cute klutz walking away when he asks! Then Satoshi sneaks up on him...lol. And Satoshi broke a girl's heart! HELL, YEAH! LOL The cute ultra-jerk! E-YEAH! ^_^

When Daisuke and Satoshi were locked in the cold freeze...man, that had so many possiblities for angst. LOL, if one of them suggest they cuddle to stay warm, I was going to bust a gut and die laughing! They didn't, but after Satoshi collasped, Daisuke did hold him upright and suggested that they stay that way...blushing the entire time! LOL! Then poor Satoshi transformed...Krad is such a jerk! Unlike the manga, it doesn't seem Krad is obsessed with Satoshi, and would just as well want to take over his body permentantly...not cool! More angst is lost in the show adaptation! Waah! And, if it's a physical transformation, why did Satoshi's outfit change with him...? Dark never gets outfits when he transforms, it's just a physical transformation...so yeah, there another plot error...unless that outfit got sealed with Krad, and then Dark died later on earlier, without being sealed...or something...who knows.

Thinking of the girl that Dark remembers, I sure hope the anime doesn't become a cliche, where Dark and Krad had even more grudge against each other because of a girl...ugh.

Satoshi and Daisuke enjoy a limo ride...and now Satoshi is going to disappear for an unknown time! What?! WAAH!!! My Satoshi! *grins* ^_^ I'll be looking forward for him to return.

Next ep: Cooking with the twins! Uh...this will be interesting. LOL, it'll probably be funnier than I think it'll be...hopefully Daisuke won't die of food poisoning by the end of the episode, LOL.

EPISODE 5 (07/05/03): Unlucky for me, I have to wait until I get back to college to see more D.N.Angel; episode 5 was the last one I could download before I came home. :P

This cooking episode was cute. The situations and crushes were cute. With was cute. That all said, I actually liked the mushiness. It was a good laugh!

Websites:
Lelola.Net: The screencaps for this review came from here!
Aku Tenshi: Read the original manga! It's better!
OFFRAMP: Nifty site!
Astirikinikol: Little place with fics and more
Groovy Blue: A Dark specific site from OFFRAMP!

Have a website about this series, or do you know of a good one? Want me to link to it on this review? Well, the feel free to email the sucker to me! Just make sure to put "Review Link" in the subject. Take note, that I am not responsible for the content of the websites I linked to; not all, but most sites I will be linked to will be good reference sources for this anime/manga.