Review: DN Angel

{I happen to have several hours of free time so I’ll add a few more reviews while I still have this time.}

DN Angel

“This is the story of a 14 year old boy, Daisuke Niwa, who turns into Phantom Thief Dark when he becomes enamored with a certain local girl that he’s fond of. Poor little Daisuke is sucked into this tale of thieving, and the only thing that will return his life to normal is to steal the heart of the woman he loves. Too bad that the object of his affections only has eyes for his other, more dangerous self! Daisuke, or as his alter-ego, Dark steals artwork that have some sort of cursed power and causes troubles for the town and its people. Once the works of art are obtained, their power is sealed by him or his family (Daisuke’s grandfather & mother).

 ~summary on back of DVD box set

Well… this anime was pretty good. I’ll admit though; I was intrigued more by Dark’s story than by the main plot in the middle of the series. Although Daisuke’s struggle is cute and relate-able, I found myself buried in shojo romance mush toward the end of the series! *gak! O.O*

For those who were scratching their heads a little at the summary on the back of the box [the one i posted above] I’ll try to give you a summary of the main plot in the series from my point of view.

Daisuke Niwa is part of the Niwa family. This family has a particular trait in their DNA/genes such that when a boy in the family turns 14, their DNA reacts to feelings of love for a girl and they turn into the legendary Phantom Thief Dark Mousie (mostly known just as Dark or by the gawking fan-girls as Mr. Dark)! Dark is part of a deeper secret in the family that we hear about at the end of the series. *I’d tell you but that would ruin everything*.
Daisuke is in love with Risa… however she only has eyes for his other side (Dark); in episode one she tells Daisuke she thinks of him as her best friend *ouchie*.. and later that night when Dark appears and is seen on the news broadcast she falls in love with the 17yr old (well he’s supposedly that old but c’mon he’s been in the family for ages. weirdo writers…) “Mr. Dark”. Meanwhile Daisuke has to find a way to make Risa love him in return or he will never be normal again; if he can’t steal the heart of the one he loves Dark will be his other half …. f-o-r-e-v-e-r *buahahah*. So along with Daisuke’s missions to steal cursed artworks in order to seal their powers and keep the city safe, he must find a way to woo the young Miss Harada.. who wants to marry Dark!

This anime has lots of high points; great action for a shojo anime, nice smooth plot development, non-pervy humor, cute teen romance, and of course one handsome character! Along with that there’s a deeper, more intricate plot-line to this anime that adds to the intrigue! Of course in the end it’s still the usual “save the world, get the girl, the end” type shojo story but it’s still lovable.

The downsides to this anime.. *sigh*. For one, the battle scenes could have been longer and have not skipped around so much; it’s like Dark and Krad (not going to give that away 4ya sry) start out battling fiercely, then there are a lot of cut-scene style parts, then a flash of wings and magic here and there… then fast flying… then its done! That was a little disappointing I must admit but if you’re solely in this anime for the storyline you’ll feel less cheated out of the battle scenes (I guess I’m just used to the awesome battle scenes in shonen anime).

To continue, the following of the plot is a bit… strange. In places it’s rushed and in others it seems almost too slow! The beginning flows well but toward the mid-end it gets choppier. I’m not sure what they were trying to do with that but it made it a little harder for the anime to keep my attention. Also, I absolutely loathe the end. *Sorry I can’t help but slightly spoil the end >.> so if you don’t want it spoiled don’t continue reading this post until you’ve seen the end yourself*

It’s like the creators felt like getting rid of Dark without so much as a heart-breaking goodbye scene with a heroic disappearance! It went faster than the flash battle scenes.. and it was one of the most important scenes in the whole series!! You think they would have been a bit more careful about how they ended the hottest character in the anime T-T. Also, after Dark’s gone, it’s like no one cares… not even RISA who still loves him (just not in the same way I guess…)! I mean, it’s like Daisuke and his friend Hiwatari *I guess i’ll give it away anyways* – who had the DNA for Dark’s evil half in him *namely Krad* – return from the last battle free of their DNA-other halves.. it’s almost like Dark never existed! No one asks “Where’s Dark?” or even mentions how sad it is that he’s gone or anything! That really made me angry; I thought it was a disservice to the character and to the plot.

An interesting thing, though, is that at the end I caught a hint that Risa and Hiwatari may end up together outside the ending plot! If you watch the end closely you’ll see a cute share of glances with that “flirty” air… oh yeah I really do think that’s how they meant it… as cute as it is though, it seems a little random and would be best if preluded by some hints a little earlier on.

Despite the ridiculous ending I liked this anime enough to buy it and rot away watching it over a few days *my sister made me take breaks >.<*. You should at least see it even if you’re not much of a shojo story person!

Additional Information:

Rating: 9.5/10

Episodes: 26

OP/ED: “True Light” (Shunichi Myamoto/Masumi Yamasaki)/*varies; idk if there are two or three… reagardless the OP is the most important*

Type: Shojo

Parental Rating: PG i think… either way use your discretion if you’re a parent or older sibling letting kids watch this or any other anime.

DVD info:

*The Perfect Collection Box Set*

languages: Engl/Jap

Sub/Dub?: yes/yes! (engl&spanish&chinese?/engl&jap) *not precicely sure the box is hard to read >.<*

Time (for entire series): This is in japanese on the back and Idk Jap so… give yourself a good well-paced two days for it or several hours and some breaks in one day for watching it.

Producer/Company: TV Tokyo/Dentsu/Xebec; TV Animation Series

youtube vid; dangerous mind by Within Temptation. I think this song fits it pretty well. give props to the makers of these vids btw, they deserve them =).

~ by hayatekaze on September 27, 2007.