D.N.Angel 7/10

For a show that really gets away from the main plot during it's run, a decent ending was unexpected and a pleasant surprise.

I really didn't like the guy who sings the opening theme and a couple of other songs during the show. His voice grated and I skipped it all but once. The rest of the music sadly contains many instrumental variations of the opening and it always made me cringe when I heard it. I liked the JP VAs and the look of this show was great. Consistent great character designs, nice backgrounds and well blended CG effects make this show a pleasure to watch. This show ran for 26 episodes in 2003.

The main plot here revolves around a junior high kid, Daisuke, who is possessed by the spirit of a mysterious thief, Dark. For generations his family has aided Dark in stealing artworks possessed by malicious spirits to seal them away. Of course this part of the plot fades as the episodes begin to focus more on Daisuke's love life.

Daisuke has a thing for one of a pair of twins in his class. Of course the one he likes is the girly one of the two and she shoots him down in the first half of the first episode. As the show moves along Daisuke eventually resolves his love problems as he gets to know the tomboy sister and things actually get resolved some ways before the last episode. This gives the whole ending a stronger emotional feel as his girlfriend and her feelings affect his choice of actions and any sacrifice made will effect more than just the main character.

This anime is also one of the few where the main character has a caring and supportive family. Father, mother and grandfather are there throughout the series helping Daisuke and offering him their support and encouragement. This is worth noting as many anime characters live alone and get little help from their loved ones and this is an interesting change.

I really didn't have much hope for the ending but it turned out pretty well. I felt Dark's nemesis wasn't prominent enough throughout the series but the ending ties things up nicely and this show was different enough throughout to compensate for that. Recommended.