D.N.Angel

D.N.Angel is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yukiru Sugisaki. The manga is still ongoing, and premiered in Japan in the shōjo manga magazine Monthly Asuka in November 1997. The series went on an extended hiatus after the August 2005 issue, returning in the April 2008 issue. Kadokawa Shoten has collected the individual chapters and published them in 13 tankōbon volumes so far. The manga series is licensed for English language release in North America by Tokyopop, which has released 13 volumes of the series as of December 2009.

Dentsu and Xebec adapted the manga into a 26-episode anime series which aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from April 3, 2003 until September 25, 2003. The anime was later adapted into second two volume manga series. The manga was also adapted into a PlayStation 2 video game, and a series of drama CDs.

Plot
Daisuke Niwa, an average teenager until his fourteenth birthday, declares love for his crush, a girl named Risa, and is rejected. Later that day, he undergoes a strange mutation, and becomes another person. He is told calmly by his mother that because of cursed D.N.A., all the males in Daisuke's family gain the countenance of Dark Mousy, a famous phantom thief. The transformation occurs every time Daisuke has romantic feelings -- in other words, whenever he thinks too long about his crush. Daisuke is forced to keep his family's secret and control his alter ego, Dark (who Risa, Daisuke's crush, has fallen for), all while dashing his way out of being caught by the commander of police. It doesn't help that Dark developes affections of his own for Risa's twin sister, Riku, and that his dynamic personality tries to take over Daisuke's body any chance he gets. Daisuke learns that in order to return to normality, he must have his unrequited love returned.

The commander of the police aforementioned is a classmate of Daisuke's, named Satoshi. Satoshi is affected by his own version of the phantom thief curse, and a bond between Satoshi (see below) and Daisuke forms because of their similar afflictions. Satoshi carries the alter-ego of Dark's mirror image, Krad. However, though Dark and Krad hate one another, Satoshi and Daisuke maintain a strained but genuine friendship - despite Dark's constant moaning. Dark steals certain artistic objects of value, works made by Satoshi's ancestors, because they contain dangerous magical properties. Some of them, such as The Second Hand of Time and Argentine also have personalities.

Characters
D.N.Angel follows the adventures of Daisuke Niwa and how he must cope with his alter-ego, Dark. Because of the nature of the ability, his two friends, the twin sisters Risa and Riku Harada become involved. Other central figures include Satoshi Hiwatari, a descendant of the Hikari family who created the artworks that Dark targets in his thefts and the adopted son of a high ranking police officer. Like Daisuke, Satoshi possesses his own alter-ego, Krad.

Daisuke's family act as supporting characters in the story and aid Daisuke as he copes with the instability of his transformations.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Yukiru Sugisaki, D.N.Angel premiered in Japan in the November 1997 issue of Monthly Asuka where new chapters were serialized monthly until Sugisaki put the series on an extended hiatus after the August 2005 issue. The series eventually returned to serialization, starting in the April 2008 issue of Monthly Asuka, where it continues to run. The individual chapters are collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Kadokawa Shoten. The first volume was released on November 13, 1997; as of October 2008, 13 volumes have been released.

The series is licensed for an English-language release in North America by Tokyopop. The first volume of the series was released on April 6, 2004; as of August 2008, the 11 volumes published before the series hiatus have been released. On November 8, 2005, Tokyopop released a box set containing the first two volumes of the series.

In August 2003, while the primary series was on hiatus, a second manga series, D.N.Angel TV Animation Series began serialization in Monthly Asuka. Also written by Sugisaki, the short series was based on the anime adaptation, which had diverged from the storyline of the manga series. D.N.Angel TV Animation Series finished its serialization in the October 2003 issue. It was published in two tankōbon volumes by Kadokawa Shoten.

Anime
D.N.Angel was adapted into a 26 episode anime series by Dentsu which aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from April 3, 2003 until September 25, 2003. The series was directed by Koji Yoshikawa and Nobuyoshi Habara.

The series is licensed for release in North America and the United Kingdom by ADV Films, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment.

Five pieces of theme music are used in the anime adaptation. The song "White Night -True Light-" (白夜 〜True Light〜), by Shunichi Miyamoto, is used for the opening for twenty four episodes. For the ending theme, "Gentle Afternoon" (やさしい午後) is used for the first twelve episodes, and "The Day It Begins" (はじまりの日) is used for episodes 13-23 and episode 25. Both songs are performed by Minawo. Episode 24 uses the song "Caged Bird", by Shunichi Miyamoto, for its ending, while the final episode of the series uses Miyamoto's song "Guidepost" (道標).

Video game
A PlayStation 2 video game, D. N. Angel: Kurenai no Tsubasa (D·N·ANGEL〜紅の翼〜), was developed by Takara. The game was released in Japan on September 25, 2003 to coincide with the conclusion of the anime adaptation. However, the game storyline is closer to the manga, and even mentions past events from the manga that would make it inconsistent with the anime.

Drama CDs
A trilogy of drama CDs called D.N.Angel Wink was released in 1999 between March and December. Some of the scenes follow the manga word-for-word, while others have either minor differences or do not appear in the manga at all. The first CD is called "TARGET: SLEEPING BEAUTY" and was released on March 5, 1999. The second is "2nd TARGET: Love Sick" and was released on November 17, 1999. The third is "3rd TARGET: Love Pleasure" and was released on December 15, 1999.

There is another CD, "A Legend of a Vampire" that uses the same voice cast as the Wink dramas, though it doesn't relate to the manga. This CD was released in 2001. The plot centers around Daisuke's alter ego, Dark, being a vampire. Krad, who wasn't in the Wink dramas, also made an appearance in this CD.

There were also two drama CDs released after the anime, "Sweet" and "Cute". These CDs use the anime voice actors and are based on the anime with events taking place just before its ending. They also include parodies of scenes in the anime.

Novels
Three novels were released in Japan between September 2000 and September 2001. The titles are Mermaid's Tears (人魚の涙), Snow Queen (雪の女王), and Glass Shoes (硝子の靴). Although there was an ad for them left in Tokyopop's translation of the 4th manga volume, they have not been licensed, so little is known about them.

Radio program
A series of seven broadcasts aired Japan in 2005 called Decade on Net: Radio D.N.Angel. It was hosted by Miyu Irino and Akira Ishida, who voiced Daisuke Niwa and Satoshi Hiwatari, respectively.