DNAngel: volume 1: The Dawn of Dark

 

 

Reviewed By:   Carla Land

 

DVD ADV Films

Review based on first disk (episodes 1-4)

Rated 13+

 

What it’s (basically) all about: Niwa Daisuke is not having a good 14th birthday. His mom didn’t have time to make breakfast, Risa just wants to be friends, and he’s learned that as long as his love for her goes unrequited he’ll be turning into the legendary art thief Phantom Dark Mousy. And he’ll stay that way if he doesn’t steal whatever it is that he’s supposed to steal. The objects de arte that he must steal have magical properties that must be sealed, preventing bad things from happening. The catch is that his mom always sends a note saying when and where he’s going to steal things! On top of that, Satoshi Hiwatari, Daisuke’s child genius classmate, is working with the police and is hot on Daisuke’s trail. High school just got more interesting.

 

Nitty Gritty: I’ll start with the special features, since there are more here than I’ve seen on any non-Miyazaki anime. All the usual suspects are here: clean opening/ closing animation; DVD credits; previews for other ADV releases (some innuendo, nothing inappropriate for teens); Japanese in-store promos, TV spots and trailers. One of the two really cool features is the inclusion of a mini-documentary on the recording of the show’s theme called “True Light: The creation of an opening theme.” If you dislike the opening theme, best to avoid this as it’s a serious, almost take-by-take chronology of how they recorded it. It’s also not dubbed, so you’ll need to brush up on your subtitle reading skills to get through it. The second really cool feature is cast commentary on the first episode by the two actors that voice Daisuke and Dark. They keep it clean and throw in some interesting behind the scenes stuff.

 

As for the show itself, the animation is pretty good and the voice work is really good. The plot gets a little confusing here and there, especially when Dark (who is a person all his own) and Daisuke (the poor kid who Dark is “living” in) switch places, transform, whatever you want to call it. Subbed or dubbed, the language is mild and there are few four letter words- the strongest ones used being “damn” and “hell.”

 

Other characters include Risa, who is obsessed with Dark, and tarot cards, but other than being sort of irritating isn’t that bad. Her twin sister, Riku, has a thing for Daisuke, but she’s about as different from her twin as possible and she keeps knocking him over for some reason. Daisuke’s mom and grandfather aren’t the greatest role models, as they have been training him to be a thief since birth, it seems, but they care about him a lot.

 

Miscellaneous stuff to look out for- Dark accuses Daisuke of being in love with a male classmate; the whole “ritual in the basement” during the first episode; Dark and his nemesis, Krad, fight every time they are in the same room; Dark kisses Riku to keep her from screaming after landing on her balcony; Dark and Daisuke fight over Risa; Risa’s infatuation with tarot cards.

 

Survey says: Apparently in later episodes things get a little weird when an older woman falls in love with Daisuke, making things a little icky for him, but as far as the first four episodes go teens will be able to handle it without any problems. There’s little here that would be offensive to many people, and it’s rated 13+. This will be fine in YA sections.

 

Personal Ad: It wasn’t bad at all. Greg Ayres, a favorite actor of mine (you’ve heard him in Saiyuki and Ghost Stories, along with countless others) plays Hiwatari and Hilary Haag is Riku, another Ghost Stories alum. I wish the female characters were a little less giggly, but I really like that Dark isn’t necessarily a bad guy. Krad (spell it backwards!) seems intent on destroying him, and it will be interesting to see who is really the “bad guy” in all of this.