Ranked #766

D.N.Angel

Let me lead of by first saying that I love D.N.Angel and its an amazing anime, however, I just feel that it had the potential of being so much better than what was presented with the final product in the anime.

The story of D.N.Angel is relatively original as you don't see other anime shows adopting what D.N.Angel has - an angel stealing artwork in hopes of preventing world destruction, if you put it in very simple terms. In a nutshell, the Niwa family has long been the bloodline that holds the dark-winged angel, Dark, in their male children and every 40 years or so, it is time once again for Dark to re-emerge and once again steal the artwork or art pieces from the Hikari family, who also houses an angel of their own, Krad <-- Dark spelled backwards if you guys did not notice that immediately. The town that the story takes place seems like it was taken somewhere from Italy and they simply just inserted Japanese speaking people there. ^_^ But don't worry, the town setting perfectly suits D.N.Angel as soon enough, you will be wishing that you were living in that quaint, little town.

A very important part of the plot is the triangle romance between our protagonist, Niwa Daisuke and the Harada identical twin sisters, Risa and Riku. At first, Niwa has a crush on Risa (the prettier of the two sisters) but as the anime progresses, we see a change in Daisuke's heart. And its rather very interesting how the change comes about. The romance is such an integral part because in essence, that is what brings out Dark from Daisuke - his love for Risa. To understand exactly what that is about would be giving away too much. You should watch the anime. ^_^

The animation is actually quite interesting. There are a few scenes in some of the episodes which you'll believe *have* to be computer animated, but amazingly enough, it isn't. In addition, the quality of the animation is crisp, clean and smooth and is up to today's standards, given that the anime is a few years old.

The music to D.N.Angel is very good, however, it does fall short of being exceptional. There are many scores that you will find enjoyable, but some of them just sound too much of the same. The introductory song is fantastic (True Light), however, it is sung in the same pitch of voice, and if you're a big music person who understands that, it may or may not get on your nerves a little.

Character development is a integral part of D.N.Angel as the relationship between Risa, Riku and Daisuke is the overall focal point of the anime. Satoshi Hiwatari is Daisuke's rival in a sense, however, as Daisuke embraces his counterpart in Dark, Satoshi is seen to reject his. The Niwa and Hikari families have been battling each other for centuries over these artworks and Satoshi is adamant in capturing Dark without his counterpart. Its interesting to watch his relationship with Krad throughout the series.

There is no doubt in my mind that everyone who is looking for a cute romance and an interesting plot will enjoy this show immensely. The only qualms that I have with it is that there are not enough battle scenes in the show that is seemingly advertised by the introductory song and the pace of the anime seems a bit slow in some of the middle episodes. The ending was also very abrupt and easily could have been stretched a bit longer, given us more information and more battles. But looking back on it, once can say that it was sufficient enough. However, once you get passed those two or three episodes that do seem a little too slow, you're in for quite a treat. If you're a sucker for romance, look no further than D.N.Angel. read more

It seems that most people who have read the manga are disappointed with the series, and that's completely understandable. I usually like to read a manga and then ignore the anime version of it, or possibly try the first few episodes. It's sad but true: the animes just don't quite live up to their manga counterparts.
That aside, I have never read the manga, so take into account that my review is written without knowledge of the story manga-style.

Fantastic! This anime is truly amazing! I want to start by telling you this:
The reason that this anime is so great is the innocence and purity of the romance. Most animes lack this, in fact every other anime I have seen doesn't come close to this. Now this could be because I haven't seen enough romance animes, but D.N. Angel touched me in such a way that still leaves me impacted, one year after viewage. (Yes, I know that's not a word.)

STORY: 9/10

Great story, I'm mainly grading by how engaging the story is, not how inventive it is. Its actually a very simple story, but its this simplicity that makes it beautiful to watch. To boil it down to the essentials, its just a story about a boy who is confused about love. As the story progresses, he slowly finds his way, and begins to understand more about his life.

ART: 9/10

I love the art, its unique yet not too forcefully new. Its very refreshing, and the smooth textures really blend in with the moods of the anime. I'm not a very artsy person, but a big thumbs up in this section.

SOUND: 9/10

The OP is just amazing, I can never get it out of my head. It sounds a bit weird at first, like the vocals are a bit weak, but the more you listen to it, the more it will be stuck in your head. The in-anime music is also fantastic, great great job here too.

CHARACTER: 10/10

This is where D.N. Angel really shines. The characters are simple, some cliche, but these are the characters I have found myself being attached to the most in any anime. The focus ends up being confusion and misunderstandings, and how the characters deal with these. And instead of turning into some dum fanservicey, ecchi, borderline hentai situation like most modern semi-romances do, the characters are forced to turn away from each other and they think long and hard about their feelings. Through this process, you really start to develop your own feelings toward each character. I really really got into this anime after about 13 eps or so, I became slightly obsessed... whoopsie :D

ENJOYMENT: 10/10

Nothing much to be said here; I kinda already said it. It's really great to see such innocence on the screen when other things like violence and fanservice are in high demand. Not that I mind either of those, but D.N. Angel puts those concepts to shame. Shame shame shame, this anime is so good.

OVERALL: 10/10

I am definitely going to have to rewatch this anime when I run out (like that's gonna happen...). But this anime has something that others lack, and its probably its ability to draw the viewer deep into the romance, and you can really see and develop feelings and attitudes during the episodes. Please, you don't want to miss D.N. Angel for the world. read more