Anime reviews: D.N. Angel – Part 1

Daisuke is your typical fourteen year old. As a young man who is trying to find his place in the world, he has the tendency to be a bit awkward, especially around his crush, Risa Harada. Despite this, Daisuke is able to muster up the courage to give Risa a love letter on his fourteenth birthday. Everything seems to be going perfect when the two are together until Risa calls Daisuke the worse possible thing any boy could be called by the object of his affection: “a friend.” And to make matters worse, for his fourteen birthday Daisuke receives the very “special” gift of transforming into the phantom thief known as Dark due to his special DNA. His DNA reacts to the feelings of love, which ultimately transform him in the bishounen with vibrant purple hair and a taller physique, so whenever Daisuke even looks at his crush, he has the chance of transforming into Dark against his will. The only way, Daisuke can prevent himself from transforming into Dark ever again is to get his beloved to fall in love with him. However, the moment Risa lays her eyes on Dark, she becomes infatuated with him instead.

The title of this anime originally caught my eye as I found it to be quite catchy and befitting of the anime. Romance is a prevalent theme, as the series seems to focus on Daisuke and how he suddenly begins to develops feelings for his initial crush’s sister, Riku. The series can also be described as being very lighthearted and comical at times. There is also a good portion of action, particularly in the latter episodes. However, it can be considered a bit superficial as it lacks real depth. Many of the early episodes are repetitive as Dark goes around stealing artifacts so he is not doomed to remain in the form of a theft permanently all the while the police and others pursue him. It may become boring and tedious for viewers to keep up the series, but it does get better towards the end. Some of the situations and concepts are somewhat

trite such as the overused concept of dark versus light.’ But despite these things, I am still a fan of shoujo anime and I feel this anime is entertaining despite its shortcomings.

I felt the storyline was intriguing but I did not feel that D.N. Angel had a cast of particularly novel and memorable characters. Although Dark is appealing to the female audience, being a bishounen and having that bad boy demeanor, Daisuke is rather boring. His crush, Risa also seems to fall into the category of the typical anime love interest: young,