D.N.Angel

Daisuke Niwa is a clumsy, block-headed, and wimpy middle school student who has few redeeming qualities. On his 14th birthday, he finally decides to confess his love to his longtime crush Risa Harada, but is rejected.

In an unexpected turn of events, however, Daisuke finds himself transforming into Dark Mousy, the infamous phantom thief, whenever his mind is set on Risa. Though Daisuke is unaware of this strange heritage, his mother is certainly not: since before the boy was born, his mother had been planning for him to steal valuable works of art and let the name of the elusive art thief be known.

With doubt and confusion constantly clouding his mind, Daisuke finds himself struggling in his relationships with classmates and family. And it is not long before Daisuke realizes that he is not the only one with a fated family legacy—his greatest adversary could be the one classmate he is most unwilling to fight.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mousy, Dark Main

Okiayu, Ryoutarou Japanese

Niwa, Daisuke Main

Irino, Miyu Japanese

Hiwatari, Satoshi Main

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Harada, Riku Main

Nakayama, Sara Japanese

Harada, Risa Main

Asano, Masumi Japanese

Krad Supporting

Kusao, Takeshi Japanese

With Supporting

Toyoguchi, Megumi Japanese

Hio, Mio Supporting

Kawata, Taeko Japanese

Niwa, Daichi Supporting

Asano, Masumi Japanese

Niwa, Kosuke Supporting

Terasoma, Masaki Japanese

Beniya, Yoshikazu Producer

Hiramatsu, Kiyonori Producer

Itou, Atsushi Producer

Yamanishi, Tahei Producer

Reviews

Oct 12, 2025

GarlandReese

Recommended

Watching the first episode of "D.N.Angel", I found myself wondering more about where the heck does this take place? The language is Japanese, the architecture is Mediterranean, and at times characters speak German with many plot points having a Catholic motif. I guess it was a harbinger of things to come that I wanted to know MORE about what was going on than what I got. Still, "D.N.Angel" proved to be a solid show aimed at the early teen demographic from back in 2003. Coming from Xebec, a studio with a solid reputation, I didn't actually pick this show myself. I asked a friend to ... pick a letter and number; D and 4. That led me to this on Crunchyroll- and I'm glad I found it.

The show starts in very action-packed fashion as a pair of winged angels do battle- one dark and one light- until they are separated by some seal of magic. That cuts to present day wherein we are introduced to the protagonist, Daisuke Niwa, a red-haired boy who has now turned 14 and must endure the "curse" of the aforementioned dark angel inside him, aptly named "Dark". After a ceremony from his loving mother and grandfather (also a lifetime of training) he's now forced to become a "Phantom Thief". One who steals precious art from various locations, with a letter of warning before each caper. Daisuke himself is quite likable. Spiky-haired, pure of heart, with enough awkwardness and insecurity to make him relatable. He crushes on his classmate, Risa (who has a twin sister- yes, this will complicate things), who is the key to his transformation into Dark.

This show has a very scattered and confusing premise. Daisuke must become Dark and steal art and artifacts as is family tradition. Okay, this is a crime anime? No. There are supernatural themes about each item and various plots that entail them. So, it's supernatural? Yes, but much of it relies on Daisuke's life as a high school student and him keeping his secret identity. That makes it a superhero genre? Somewhat. You can see how often I was more than a little confused as to what the heck was going on and what the writers were going for. But, I can report quite proudly that it does sort itself out for the most part by the time all 26 episodes finish and I was even firmly drawn in come the finale.

But the reason it gets a 6/10 from me is because of the oddness of it all. Perhaps something was lost in the adaptation from the manga, but this show barely managed to save itself in a meaningful way. This also might be the reason it has yet to get an English dub. It seems rather perfect for the time and market. If I were 13 and saw it on Toonami for CW11 I'd be very curious. But, there's other reasons as to why it failed to get picked up here in the US or Canada, I think; there's some awkwardness when it comes to relationships. Dark is many eons old, yet he macks on Risa who is 14, granted he's the same age in body, but it's very off-putting at times. And perhaps most of all involves the formal antagonist, Satoshi Hiwatari.

When I mentioned Dark fought a light angel, that angel, too (who's named Light) has a human host in the cold, teenage classmate (and super cop) Satoshi Hiwatari who's under his father's thumb to capture Dark. His motivations are eventually brought to light (no pun intended) and he enjoys the best character arc in the series. But there can be construed a homosexual innuendo between them which would've been VERY taboo in 2003. I could write a whole other review on the subtext of this show involving hiding one's true sexuality and the symbolism of puberty but at the end of the day; it's just a darn fine anime. When all was said and done, I had enjoyed it and isn't that the goal?

I give this show the strongest 6/10 ever. It's not going to change your life, but a good watch if you just want something casual to view. Check it out. Cheers!

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 5, 2015

HaruhixAngel

Mixed Feelings

(Taken from the same review on Hummingbird.me by the same user, but changed to better fit MAL guidelines.)

D.N.Angel is a shoujo anime series, based off the manga by Yukiru Sugisaki. While this series isn't especially popular anymore, it was pretty popular in the 2000s, especially with young teenage girls. NO, WAIT, COME BACK! I'M NOT DONE YET!

I personally believe that just because a show has a...erm, vocal fangirl fanbase, does not automatically make it a bad show. In fact, most of these shows are pretty mediocre and harmless. Is D.N.Angel a mediocre shoujo franchise, an underrated masterpiece, or a piece of garbage ... that only the most impressionable of teenagers can enjoy? Let's break it down and find out.

Story

This series has a pretty interesting concept, and the story itself is pretty okay. Since this is a fantasy show, it's hard to criticize the story for being "unrealistic." That being said, this anime does have filler episodes that add nothing to the story. It's expected from a show with 26 episodes to have some filler for the most part, Most episodes are for character development, but saying that is somewhat generous. There's an episode where the animal sidekick falls in love with another animal. Now that I think of it, didn't Tokyo Mew Mew, another shoujo anime from the same time period, do something similar with cats? Weird. Other than that, I don't have too many complaints about the story itself. It's execution is okay, and it's pretty easy to follow

Animation

The animation was done by Xebec, a subsidiary of IG Port, the holding company of PRODUCTION I.G, I kid you not. Xebec also worked on shows such as Love Hina, Shaman King, Negima!: Master Negi Negi, To Love-Ru, and many other series. There isn't too much to say about the animation, other than it's pretty good. The action scenes look pretty good, while the calmer scenes look...good enough. It's not a strain on your eyes or anything. It does definitely look like a 2003 anime, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Sound

The opening theme song is called "White Night -True Light," performed by Shunichi Miyamoto. The opening song is actually a really good song, and the opening animation is really good as well. There's also an official English version performed by Vic Mignogna, Dark Mousy's English voice actor. That version is actually just as good as the Japanese version, a rarity for dubbed anime songs. There are a few ending songs, but they are ultimately forgettable and do not stick around in your head for long. The BGM is fairly decent, but the show does like to repeat certain pieces like...every episode, pretty much. If that doesn't bother you, then the soundtrack is decent.

As for the Japanese dub, I cannot say if it is actually good or not, because I do not speak Japanese and I'm not an expert on Japanese voice acting. The only thing I can say about it is that it sounds good from an English speaker's perspective. Now let's talk about something that doesn't sound good AT ALL.

The dub is one of the worst dubs I've ever sat through, up there with Higurashi and Elfen Lied. The casting itself isn't that bad, however. It's just irritating. Thankfully, we also have some half decent performances. Hilary Haag did a good job with Riku's character. No, it's not the best performance ever, but it's still good enough for what it is. The best performance has to go to Vic Mignogna as Dark. He captured the sarcastic tone and attitude of Dark very well, and he brings emotion to the character, like he does in most of his other roles. It's not as good as his performance in FMA, but he's still fun to listen to. Thank god for him, because he's the only saving grace in the English dub. If you are going to watch this anime, please watch the Japanese version, for your ears' sake.

Character

The protagonist is a typical love-struck teenage boy. Yes, he's very obsessive over Risa, but he's not the worst of this archetype. I suppose he has a "good heart," but in all seriousness, he's just an average character who's not very interesting. Risa Harada is your typical fangirl. She loves Dark to pieces, watching him on T.V, trying to meet up with him as much as possible and always talking about him. She's just as annoying as she sounds, and she gets in the way of Dark's schemes. I know she's supposed to be cute, but she's really not. Her sister is the polar opposite. She's probably the most relatable character in the whole show. She feels insecure about her feelings for Daisuke due to her tomboy-ish attitude, and she cares about his happiness much more than Risa does. She also worries about her sister and has a very close bond with her.

Dark Mousy had a lot of potential as a character, but does not develop into later in the series. He's just there for two reasons:

1. To steal stuff

2. To provide eye candy for both Risa and the target audience

All of the other characters are pretty forgettable, with Hiwatari being the typical cold teenager and Krad being the typical bad guy. However, the characters are actually pretty fun to watch if you forget about their flaws. The interactions and different relationships are all very entertaining.

Enjoyment

If you don't think too much about how good the show actually is, it's surprisingly enjoyable. I had a lot of fun making fun of the show's silliness at times. I 'm sure teenage girls will go crazy over Dark and enjoy that aspect of the show as well. I don't care about that, but hey, to each their own. I personally had a blast watching this anime. It's definitely guilty pleasure worthy.

Overall

As a whole, D.N.Angel is a fairly decent series. It's not anything special, but it could have been a lot worse than it is. I have heard that the manga is better, so if you are unsatisfied with the anime, the manga is probably worth checking out. The characters are decent, the story is decent, the animation is decent. The best word to describe this series is "decent." I would recommend this series to someone who has just started watching anime or someone who likes romance/action series. To answer the question asked in the beginning; D.N.Angel is indeed a mediocre shoujo franchise.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Dec 14, 2020

cryptodisco

Not Recommended

This anime made me so mad lol i liked it in middle school and recently decided to rewatch it with a friend.

To start: there's not a single likeable character in this thing. The twins are whiny and stubborn for no damn reason, Daisuke too tbh, side characters are obnoxious, and Dark's a creepy ass bastard i wanna whoop him omg (constantly hitting on
Also none of the characters have any goddamn sense, always making dumb decisions just for the drama of it all. Like no one just acts like a regular human the whole time I'm dumbfounded by their interactions and reasonings

Also the villain ... being named krad is so dumb it's hilarious 😂 I ain't got much to say about the other villains cause they were so boring I forgot everything bout them

The story is super weak and really don't make much sense and the pacing is allll over the place, but it's kinda coherent I guess, just dumb lol

Not a single joke made me laugh and were all pretty obnoxious, but that's subjective I'll let it pass 👀

And the ART 😂😂😂 soooo many awkward frames and proportions, uneven doofy eyes (and just ugly character designs imo). Also the cgi most times was ungodly and sooo distracting. Sometimes they had some smooth animations tho I guess

The op and ed are bangers and the rest of the music's okay? Also I like the vibe/aesthetic they were going for

Tldr not a fan but i recommend watching the english dub it's hilarious

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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