DNAngel Volume 1: The Dawn of Dark - Animesou
- Animesou
- hinatasou
- 11/10/04
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"DNAngel is the must have series of 2004."
"One of the top ranked animes of all time."
'DNAngel'
Running time:
520 min. Type:
DVD / SeriesCompany:
ADV Synopsis
Imagine that it's your fourteenth birthday and on that day you've finally confessed to your true love only to find out that she thinks of you as a best friend. Depressed you stare at a painting of your girlfriend in the safety of your own home when suddenly it happens. A great pain afflicts your chest, you gain a few inches of height, and your hair changes from red to purple. That is the life of Daisuke whose bloodline carries the legendary phantom thief Dark Mousy. It's been forty years since his last appearance but his purpose is the same, to steal in order to protect those who are in need.
Review
Parts of this review come from the past Watcher column right here at animesou. Just a reminder, DNAngel is not the same as DNA^2 that Alpha has been reviewing, although Dark is quite the womanizer. Nor is it related to the Angel's Sanctuary OVA. The series is much longer than either one of them, 26 episodes in length. DNAngel is based off of the manga by Yukiru Sugisaki. The DN in DNAngel can represent the initials Niwa Daisuke. Angel symbolizes Daisuke's other personality, Dark-san. The story with the whole split personalities between Dark and Daisuke seems reminiscent of Yugioh, Samurai Deeper Kyo, and Angel's Sanctuary in that there is another spirit sharing the host's body. DNAngel is slightly different because Dark-san is constantly being reincarnated through the generations along the male bloodline. The last person who transformed into Dark was Daisuke's grandfather. Daisuke is not the only one though; his classmate Hiwatari-kun contains the soul of the white angel Krad, Dark's arch nemesis.
The Pros:
Ok let me try to explain the elaborate love triangle, pyramid (?). Who knows what shape it is. DNAngel has just the right amount of characters to pull this off. In the center of it all is Daisuke who likes Risa. Problem is Risa likes Dark-san. Dark flirts with Riku, Risa, even Towa the housekeeper but in actuality he loved the Harada sisters' grandma. Riku, the athletic sister, doesn't know for sure whether or not she likes Daisuke, and Daisuke doesn't know whether to stick with Risa or go with Riku. Mio-chan comes in between Risa and Riku snatching Daisuke all to herself, to the misfortune of Takeshi, Daisuke's classmate, who first had a crush on Mio. Finally, Dark and the whole school tease Daisuke for the yaoi relationship he has with Hiwatari-kun. So totaling it all up:
Takeshi --> Mio --> Daisuke --> Risa --> Dark --> Harada sisters' (Riku & Risa) grandma
Daisuke <-?-> Riku
Daisuke ... Hiwatari (GAY!!!)
How's that for drama? It's like a daytime soap opera.
The Cons:
Seems like I might be the only one out in the anime world that is stricken with this series. Anime Academy ranked DNAngel at a 74% and THEM Anime Reviews 3/5. I heard that the anime DNAngel is nothing like the manga. A friend, who is more obsessed with DNAngel than I am, scanned me some images and the manga does come out funnier. THEM mentioned that DNAngel is one of those girly anime series, a shoujo type anime. I did state Daisuke and Hiwatari-kun's you know, hehe. The art style did remind one of our staffers Stikz of the all girl art of CLAMP (Card Captor Sakura and Chobits), but they did not do DNAngel at all. Nevertheless, I still think it has much to offer regardless of gender.
Genre: Doses of Drama, Romance, and Action
Language: English dub or Japanese with English subtitles
Extras: Miyu Irino and Shunichi Miyamoto Special Video Clip, and the usual ADV previews
Package: Artwork by Shinichi Yamaoka. The DVD cover features a bright red image of Daisuke.
Likes: Move over Tama-chan (Love Hina), Chu-Chu (Utena), and Menchi (Excel Saga). Wizu is the new cutest anime pet in town.
Dislikes: I'm personally not into witchcraft, tarot cards, horoscopes, and those expensive psychic hotlines. But that's Risa for you and it suits her character. Why are her parents never home? Sigh...I wish I had a mansion like that all to myself.
Animation ?9.8- Animated by Animation produced by XEBEC (Nadesico, Love Hina). Animation is concrete blending evenly the dark shades of night with the brighter shades of daylight, with noticeable computer rendering of building structures, windmills, and trolleys. For contrast the artists deliberately painted the hero, Dark-san, black while the evil angel, Krad, is white. Nice touch.
Sound ?9.8- Opening theme True Light sounds Celtic due to the organ with vocals done by Miyamoto Shunichi. In addition, he sings beautifully Caged Bird in episode 24 and the lovely concluding song in episode 26. The first ending song Yasashii Gogo is calm and dreamy. The second ending song Hajimari no Hi is even better. Krad has his own theme song that plays when you are first introduced to him in episode 4 called Rakuen ~ Fanatic. That same friend who sent me the manga pictures also let me listen to samples from the DNAngel soundtrack (arigato Sherry-chan ^.^ ). The beat of Natsu no Yoru no Yume is like it was taken from Initial D. Hearts sung by Irino Miyu, who does the voice for Niwa Daisuke (also Haku from Spirited Away), is trespassing into the realm of Love Hina anime soundtracks, where mainly the hinatasou girls, but not to forget Keitaro, sing. Even Dark-san steps up to the plate singing Groovy Blue. Might as well list this while I'm at it, yup Hiwatari-kun (Ishida Akira) sings Tatoeba, surpassing Daisuke's song LOL. Ishida Akira is an anime Seiyuu pro. His other works are Xellos from Slayers Next/Try, Chrno from Chrno Crusade, and various roles in Evangelion, Kiddy Grade, Samurai Deeper Kyo, and Final Fantasy Unlimited. Devil and Angel is different from all the other songs. I don't know how to explain it. It is not really jpop-ish like Ayumi Hamasaki, Kuraki Mai, or Utada Hikaru. Well for one a guy sings it. Maybe like one of those Korean summer concert songs.
Story ?9.5- Excellent development throughout the whole series. The first half of the series can be summed up as either the Crime of the Week (Anime Academy coined this phrase) or Daisuke's school side adventures (my more optimistic phrase). The characters evolve and are shaped by every passing episode setting the stage for the latter half when Towa and Mio-chan are introduced, and Daisuke finally decides who his true Shine Maiden is. I can't remember the literary term for this but the first few minutes of the first episode are the same as the final episode. The rest of the series is one long extended flashback elaborating the plotline. Thus DNAngel begins and ends at the same place. You think Hiwatari-kun and Risa in the last episode might...ahh never mind. :p
Recommend ?9.5- DNAngel is the must have series of 2004. Out of all the new shows on Japanese airways in the spring of 2003 - Stellvia, E's Otherwise, Last Exile, Da Capo, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch to name a few - DNAngel takes the first place trophy. One of the top ranked animes of all time.
The Breakdown
High scores all around in animation, story, characters, and music. Don't forget, inside you a piece of Dark exists.
Rating: 9.7
Scores are based on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 = crap 10 = excellent)
Posted on Wednesday, November 10, 2004 (Archive on Friday, December 10, 2004)