Tenshi Ja Nai

Tenshi Ja Nai!! (天使じゃない) is a manga series by Takako Shigematsu. It should not be confused with a similarly titled manga series by Ai Yazawa, Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai. The manga was serialized in America by Go! Comi. The eighth and final volume was published in September 2007.

In the illustration to the right, the characters are Yasukuni Inukai, Hikaru Takabayashi and Izumi Kido.

Main characters

 * Hikaru Takabayashi
 * Her parents are being transferred to France and she does not want to go. Her mother agrees to let her stay if she goes to an all girls boarding high school, her mother's alma mater.  Hikaru went wanting a quiet life, having been bullied at her other schools. She is a kind, loyal girl, extremely strong as at one point she carries Izumi Kido away from a mob of fans. She falls in love with her music teacher, Tsukasa Ayase, and at first he rejects her, but then they start going out. Ayase then breaks up with her, and later Hikaru falls in love with Izumi and they get together. Hikaru used to be bullied by her classmates since they believed she was acting stuck up and snobby while she modelled, and although she loved modelling, she eventually quit to avoid the bullying.


 * Izumi Kido
 * Apparently a very beautiful girl working as a model/actress, she is actually a boy in secret. When he realizes his secret has been discovered by Hikaru he very aggressively blackmails her into keeping that secret.  They eventually come to a friendlier arrangement. He desperately needs lots of money to pay his father's medical bills and is dismayed that he fell into this sort of career that just barely enables him to make that kind of money.  When blackmail is no longer satisfactory he makes Hikaru his sub-manager and go-fer. He falls in love with Hikaru, and is very irritated at first when Hikaru's with Ayase. To his joy, Ayase and Hikaru break up. After confessing his love for her later in the series, he and Hikaru start dating. Izumi disappears after his secret is revealed.  A year later Hikaru spots him attending her graduation ceremony; He had changed his name and studied architecture.  The series concludes with the two kissing in the forest as her classmates coming running up.


 * Yasukuni Inukai
 * He is Izumi's manager and works at the school as a janitor to protect his secret. He is Izumi's best friend, and, depending on the circumstances, eventually a good friend to Hikaru too.  Because the dorms are pet-free he keeps Hikaru's little dog.


 * Yuichi Akizuki
 * He is Izumi's agent. He is quite intent on finding Hikaru bits as an extra, etc., in the Izumi's work, despite Hikaru's strong desire to hide in the background.


 * Tsukasa Ayase
 * Music teacher at the high school and grandson of the head-mistress. A relationship develops with Hikaru and she falls in love with him.  He has similar feelings for her, until events in volumes 5 and 6 tear him away from the school.


 * Hayata Kurobe
 * A Kansai manzai (comedy duo) team member. He and Izumi are frequently cast in the same productions.  Is introduced in volume 2 and in volume 3, he accidentally saw Izumi coming on to Hikaru, mistakenly thinking that Izumi was a lesbian. Nevertheless, he fell in love hard for Izumi and Izumi, Hikaru and Yasukuni have to work hard to exclude Kurobe from Izumi's private life.


 * Kaoru Habashi
 * He's Kurobe's friend and the other half of the manzai duo. At first, he was mocked by Hikaru when she said he couldn't live without his friend (Kurobe). Later, he fell for her. Just as Kurobe is abusive in trying to make out with Izumi, he is abusive in trying to make out with Hikaru. He and Kurobe finally discovered Izumi's secret.