D.N.Angel

[jamesesz]

Story – 8

Daisuke Niwa, a clumsy, shy, and kind-hearted boy realises that he is not a normal 14-year-old when his love for Risa Harada turns him into the legendary phantom thief, Dark Mousy (what a cute name for our hero). Daisuke’s grandfather explains to him that the Niwa family bloodline carries in it a unique DNA that causes Dark to emerge from a Niwa (male) family member when he sees or thinks of the one he loves.

What I really like about D.N. Angel (and also the reason for me giving good ratings for its story) is the originality of its storyline. We have artworks that spring to life solely because of the emotions and feelings poured into them by their creators and owners. For instance, how the painting of an artist’s daughter (with a unicorn) came to life because of loneliness and neglect.

The one thing that pulls down the story rating for D.N. Angel is its storytelling pace. D.N. Angel builds up good anticipation and suspense in the beginning of the story but loses steam on and off throughout the series. I feel that some of the episodes should either be combined with another episode or be removed completely from the series.

Animation - 9

Xebec Inc. did an excellent job on the graphic animations in D.N. Angel. The European-looking town environment in the series with western style buildings and cobblestone pavements are very lovely to behold. The level of detail is definitely above average with the presence of infrastructures essential to a real functional town.

D.N. Angel utilizes bright and vibrant colours for characters and infrastructures (like the colour of Daisuke’s school). However, what really catches my eyes is the good blending of colours that I feel greatly enhances the flavour and vividness of the characters. I literally fell in love at first sight with the colour of Risa’s hair in the very first episode!

Another aspect that justifies the high points given to D.N. Angel is the appropriate use of computer animation in the show. In D.N. Angel, computer generated graphics seem to be a part of its immediate environment with nothing awkwardly out of place.

Sound - 8

D.N. Angel boasts a good and solid soundtrack that meet the demands of the various situations and scenarios the characters are facing. The opening theme song is White Night – True Light performed by Shunichi Miyamoto while the ending theme songs are Gentle Afternoon (Minawo), The Day It Begins (Minawo), Caged Bird (Shunichi Miyamoto), and Guidepost (Shunichi Miyamoto).

In terms of voice acting, the English dubbed version is acceptable in my point of view. This is very surprising as English dubbed anime normally performs below my expectations with horrid, over-pitched, and glass breaking kind of voices. Luckily, the dubbed version of D.N. Angel didn’t follow the common norm.

Also present throughout the series are good and compatible musical pieces (especially those involving the piano) that music lovers would adore. I highly recommend getting the soundtrack of D.N. Angel. Music in the anime is a mixture of melancholic, slow rhythm, and heart breaking tunes with some happier, and more carefree ones.

Characters - 6

Character development is the real and critical shortcoming of D.N. Angel. Set aside Daisuke, Risa, Riku, and Emiko (all with good character development), other characters (which include Dark) lack proper revelations on their backgrounds and experiences. Look at how Emiko’s husband, Kosuke, who comes home mysteriously after 12 years and suddenly manages to integrate back into the Niwa family with apparently no effort at all.

Making matters worse is the complete absence of character development for the main antagonists namely, Satoshi and Krad (it is really Dark spelt backwards). The antagonist is a very VERY important character in any show. Most good stories normally follow the challenges that the protagonist is facing when up against an antagonists with deep hidden motives. I personally feel that Satoshi and Krad fail to provide a strong counterweight against the protagonists in D.N. Angel.

Hopefully, directors will remember the next time around that having good, likeable, and interesting characters like in D.N. Angel is not enough. These characters must come hand in hand with at least a moderate level of character development and background revelations.

Overall – 7.5

Overall, I really liked the general impression that D.N. Angel gave me. The entire storyline was perfectly balanced between being a romantic comedy and an adventure series. Coupled together with an excellent animation and good audio, the anime has made its way into my favourite anime list. Character development remains the only true downside to D.N. Angel.

[Cetonis]

That last paragraph is pretty spoiler-tastic...

In any case, while I don't necessarily have time right now to get into grammar/style and whatnot, I will say that at times it feels like you forget that the target reader is one that hasn't seen the series yet. For instance, when you talk about liking the things they do with pieces of art, the reader is left wondering "what do these pieces of art have to do with the story?" It hadn't been mentioned or explained previously, so they didn't even know there was any art to begin with. There are a lot places where you use examples as if the reader has seen the series, some of which has to do with using past tense but there's also a few that need more explanation as well. "The episode where they cut cabbage" doesn't mean anything to someone who hasn't seen the series. Also look at the comments regarding the unicorn painting, the husband, that last paragraph, and the "obviously Satoshi and Krad fail." (how can it be obvious to someone that hasn't seen the series?) I would suggest too that you change using Dragonaut specifically and just say "Gonzo works" or something; more people would know what you meant that way.

On the whole, from an outline perspective - the topics you touch on, etc. - I think it's pretty solid, but you need to remember the target audience, and some other things could use a little more detail, transitions, etc. in general. Once you get out of the synopsis, you spend a rather short amount of time talking about the story - if you used the kind of detail and explanation you put into the animation paragraph, (this is good btw) and maybe touch upon something else you liked/disliked, it'd feel much more meaty. There's an argument out there that reviews don't need synopsis info at all, but you keep yours fairly short so I guess it's fine. (Though the fact that it's equal in length to the time you spend talking about your opinions of the story makes it seem a lot bigger) Just try not to think of it as a "proper" part of the review when you look at how much time is spent on the story. I'm thinking

the thing about Riku getting romantically involved is something of a spoiler though. After all, it is pretty much a surprise considering that for 10 episodes or so it only focuses on the status of his non-relationship with Risa and barely even hints at Riku having an interest, if it hints at all.

I'm gonna tag that and the last paragraph for now until you can get around to editing it. Pretty good review at its core, and the animation/sound section are particularly good, just try to look at the things I mention above. Hope this is more helpful and less annoying -.-'

[battosai37th]

Down to the point this is one of my favorite animes i think the character development was pretty good. I liked it cause it had an uplifting kinda feel to it and was just overall great to watch(note: english dubbs are pretty bad haha not gunna lie)(also there appears to be 2 DN Angel review boards ur w/e)
story- 8
characters- 9.5
animation- 8
music/sound- 8
overal- 8.5this is a great one that i really liked and the characters basicly make the show. This goes against the previous review but i really do feel like the characters where the best part, they all had resonable character development like the change in love (not revealing any spoilers) and how the main character grows threwout the story, but thats a diffrence in our opions nothin to do but go judge for yourself =)

[NnyOdango]

I liked this anime a lot for its simplicity but that was one of the reasons why I didn't like it.

I loved the cute characters and opening song still plays in my head! The story was simple and sweet, I felt for the characters and understood how some of them felt.

I recommend this anime to others who enjoy a sweet story with a little bit of action from time to time.

I give this anime an 8 out of 10 it had a good bit and it is memorable but it lacked in a little depth.

While my copy did not have much in the way of extra features the episode or two of commentary was pretty funny so I'll give it a 3 out of 5


Sum Up:
Anime: 8/10
Extras: 3/5