Post by Slinky on May 9, 2008 22:16:26 GMT -5
If you enjoy a good dose of romance, angels and demons, and pretty boys, then why are you still sitting here? Go out and buy this manga!!
Yukiru Sugisaki starts out a little shaky in parts, then about volume 7 up she settles into her own drawing style that’s easy on the eyes. She put her art on a hiatus, leaving the fans hanging at volume 10. On January 24th it came back on sale. She still has yet to complete the series.
A 26 long anime series was developed. As Yukiru hadn’t finished the manga, it branched off, and Yukiru even drew a two volume manga to finish it off
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Plot
Daisuke Niwa is a 14 year-old-boy who has a special genetic ability: Whenever he sees or thinks about his crush, Risa Harada, he turns into the infamous phantom thief Dark. This will continue until his crush learns to love both him and Dark.
Satoshi Hiwatari is a student at the same school as Daisuke and the Harada twins and also the Commander of the police force, heading the investigation on Dark. This is because he is a member of the Hikari family, a clan of artists which has opposed the Niwa family of thieves for centuries. Satoshi has Krad, Dark's opposite and, like him, part of the Hikari artwork "Black Wings", within him in much the same way Daisuke has Dark within him.
Interestingly enough, Risa falls in love with Dark, and proceeds to do all sort of absurd things to get him to go out with her, which he eventually does. She has also kissed him on more than one occasion, and it is hinted that Dark loves Risa; but Dark claims that he does not love her, and that (according to the anime) Risa's grandmother, Rika, is the only woman he has ever loved. In the manga, Dark's reasons for rejecting Risa seem to be so that she is not hurt by the fact that he is immortal and not really human, and therefore cannot participate in a functional relationship. As expected, Risa doesn't really listen to him and continues to try to get him to go out with her.
During much of the plot, Satoshi Hiwatari's (adoptive) father, who is a high ranking Police Officer, happens to butt in, and ruin a few of Hiwatari's plans to capture Dark. His father also plans to capture Dark himself. But Dark and Daisuke always manage to escape his plans.
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Characters
Daisuke Niwa
The 14-year-old protagonist of the story is a typical school boy who has a crush on a girl at his school, Risa Harada. However, because of the Niwa family heritage, his special DNA merged with that of the legendary phantom thief, Dark, when he was rejected by Risa.
Daisuke can transform into Dark (usually unwillingly) whenever he experiences feelings of love or intimacy. Daisuke is kind-hearted, the opposite of Dark and always trying to stop Dark from performing crazy stunts to no avail.
Even though he does not look or act it, Daisuke is very perceptive and athletic - capable of jumping from heights that a normal boy could never be capable of. To hone his skills, his family sets up daily life-threatening trials once he returns home from school. A specialty of this is his gift for lockpicking (or hacking, in the case of electronically activated locks) any kind of lock in succession
Daisuke, as a Niwa, has been trained in thievery all his life. He can dodge traps, pick locks, sneak past security, and break into almost any location. However, he prefers to create art, not steal it, which makes him more like a Hikari
Dark Mousy/ KokuYoku
Dark is the entity passed on to each new male in the Niwa generation at the age of 14, once said male experiences love. He was dormant for 40 years due to the fact that Daisuke's grandfather (who was Dark's host before Daisuke) had no male offspring. It is not possible for females to become the Phantom Thief.
He is the phantom thief who constantly steals art pieces made by the Hikari family. Unlike Daisuke, who likes Risa, Dark fell in love with Riku(Risa's twin sister). However, he is constantly being pursued by Risa, who fell for him when she first saw him on the news.
In the English version, Dark is known as the Phantom Thief Dark, while in Japanese, he is Kaitou Dark. Dark's full name is Dark Mousy, though this name was used as a joke in the extra pages in volume 3
His real name, however, is Kokuyoku (Black Wings), and he is one half of the exalted Black Wings, with Krad being the other half. It is apparent that they once belonged to the same artwork and were enjoined, but were at some point awakened and separated.
His demeanor is candid and confident, which is the complete opposite of Daisuke (shy and reserved). He is well aware of his good looks and on the surface he could be seen as arrogant. It would be easy to dismiss the deeper, kinder side of his personality. Daisuke and Dark often fight against one another for control (resulting in some comedy relief)
Risa Harada
The younger, more naive of the Harada twins, Risa is initially the object of Daisuke's affection. However, she doesn't show the same feelings towards Daisuke as he does for her, considering the fact that he is too normal, only thinking of him as a best friend. Risa starts to develop a crush, which turns into an obsession, on Dark upon seeing his attempt to steal an artwork broadcasted over the news, claiming that he is the mysterious person whom she is destined to be with.
Risa is innocent, clumsy and can be seen as your typical "girly-girl", though she shows the same stubbornness, tenacity, and kindness as Riku
Riku Harada
Riku Harada is the older twin sister. Unlike her younger sister Risa, who prefers fashion and obsessing over relationships, Riku is more into athletics (lacrosse being her sport of choice) and academics, which causes her to be considered a tomboy. She acts 'less girly' compared to her sister Risa and is more serious, independent and down-to-earth. She is also kind, caring, very outspoken and selfless, wanting the best for everyone and to help those in need.
She holds an intense dislike for Dark Mousy ever since their first encounter, in which he spotted her after taking a shower. In the anime, upon seeing him, she was startled and in his attempts to quiet her down, as to not attract attention, he kissed her, stealing her first kiss. The manga showcases a similar situation, however Dark hid in her room to escape the police when she woke up.
Riku is attracted to Daisuke and later becomes his girlfriend.
Satoshi Hiwatari
Always calm and composed, never showing much emotion, Satoshi Hiwatari is a distant, cold, and silent character, though these qualities never seem to affect how close he keeps to Daisuke Niwa. These same qualities also get love notes from girls every day. He is extremely intelligent and has a college degree. However, he attends Daisuke's Junior High School in an attempt to have a normal life. He acts as the police commander in charge of capturing Dark.
Due to his family legacy, he is almost obsessive in his attempts to capture Dark. He is the last heir of the Hikari family, whose artworks are almost always Dark's targets for stealing.
He was adopted by a 26-year-old police officer by the name of Hiwatari, and so his name was changed to reflect his adoption. During the course of the story, he begins to care more about Daisuke's safety. It appears that Daisuke is the trigger for Satoshi's other personality, Krad, to appear. Satoshi opposes Krad taking control of his body greatly, and has taken on an uncaring personality to 'seal his heart,' and thus, Krad. Krad is Dark's "evil twin," or opposite, a homicidal blonde whose only motivation seems to be getting rid of Dark.
Krad
Krad is the complete opposite of Dark (with even Dark's name spelt backwards) and also Dark's worst enemy. Krad is the homicidal blond of the series who is the alter-ego of Hiwatari Satoshi. Krad can be called insanely obsessive, as he attempts to kill Daisuke after their first encounter because he is very possessive over his host, Satoshi, and does not let him get close to anyone. He affectionately calls him, "My everything". Satoshi, however -- like his whole family generation -- despises Krad.
Unlike Dark, Krad does not use any wings other than his own and is entirely willing to utilise his magic, thus demonstrating his lack of care for his host's wellbeing. Although feelings of love are what cause Daisuke to transform into Dark, it seems that Krad can force his way out of Satoshi at any moment, although the original trigger was Satoshi's desire for Daisuke's safety and happiness. The fact that he can now come out at any time may be due to Krad's greater willingness to injure his host, since it makes little sense for Daisuke to be triggered by love and Satoshi to seemingly have no continuous triggers. Likewise, Satoshi can most times force Krad back inside his body.