aisuke Niwa thinks of himself as clumsy and fairly uncool, but he has a plan to fix his life: He'll confess his love to perky, wide-eyed twin Risa Harada, and they'll both live happily ever after. Unfortunately, there's a lot more going on in Daisuke's life than teen romance: His mother and grandfather are cheerful, upbeat cultist types who pepper his life with deathtraps and portentous warnings ("Be back tonight by 27 seconds after 4:52, or something bad might happen!"), training him and shaping him for the coming battles.
And his DNA is part of a long family tradition: On his 14th birthday, he turns into powerful "phantom thief" Dark Mousy, while his grandfather's pet bunny With becomes a pair of huge black wings that attach to his back. He can't revert to his old self until he steals a specific sacred item, but the police are expecting the return of Dark, who hasn't been seen in 40 years.
The first four episodes of D.N. Angel veer back and forth between Daisuke's school romance and his secret life as Dark. Flying back from his first theft, Dark spots Risa on the balcony of her family mansion and suddenly begins reverting to Daisuke and falling from the sky. Risa goes inside just as her older, more practical, more tomboyish twin Riku comes outside, and when the stricken Dark lands next to her, she screams. Dark kisses her to shut her up, but finishes reverting to Daisuke in mid-kiss, leaving Riku convinced that she had a weird dream, but uncomfortably obsessed with both Daisuke and Dark. Meanwhile, addle-headed Risa decides that Dark is her dream date and demands Daisuke's help in her efforts to woo the winged thief. And it turns out that she's the key to his condition, and to his release from the Dark "curse."
Meanwhile, magical items all over the city are activating, necessitating Dark's involvement. Dark himself has woken up and wants control of Daisuke's body and destiny. And fellow student Satoshi Hiwatari not only seems to know Daisuke's secret, he's got a potent secret of his own.
Everything old is new again
Like a lot of anime, D.N. Angel switches tones often and rapidly, but it does a better job than most of integrating them. There's an element of naïve schmaltz in Daisuke's chaste crush on Risa, but the series handles it warmly and seriously, adopting a tone that's almost reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki's Whispers of the Heart. The scenes of Daisuke running through his quaint, European-looking town, greeting everyone he meets and making plans for his future life of love, is honestly sweet in a low-key, moderate sort of way that contrasts sharply with a lot of slapsticky, strident anime love stories. The developing love square among Risa, Dark, Daisuke and Riku is weirder, but it's more like an old superhero comic (Clark loves Lois, who loves only Superman and sees Clark as a means to get to him) than anything else.
Meanwhile, the series' supernatural side is still developing, with a freewheeling sense of story that becomes more dynamic and exciting every episode, as it becomes apparent that Daisuke's world isn't our own, and nothing can be assumed. Bunny-things that turn into wings, a DNA heritage that's part magical curse, part genetic advantage and sneak thieves that fly are apparently an accepted part of this world—the local news reports excitedly on Dark's re-emergence, but no one seems too fazed—and every new episode brings new developments.
D.N. Angel is a good-looking series. The animation isn't breathtaking, but it's done very well, and the environmental design in particular stands out: Daisuke's bright, cheery hometown looks far more like a Miyazaki setting than a standard urban jungle. The battles between Dark and his opposite number, Krad—first seen in the series' opening scene and due for a reappearance later—showcase some challenging and impressive imagery, though it's a blessing when the light-angel-on-dark-angel symbolism turns out to be more complex than it initially seems. D.N. Angel doesn't feel like it's hit its stride yet, but so far it inspires confidence with its willingness to try old things in new ways and to mix up elements for a relatively fresh taste.
In many ways, this reminded me of Devil Hunter Yohko, another series about a teenager with a crazy but happy family, a legacy of transformation for supernatural battles and endless romantic problems. That series is sillier and gorier, while this one has a lot more room to stretch out over 26 episodes, but there's a certain family resemblance between them.
— Tasha
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