Customer Reviews

D.N. Angel - The Dawn of Dark (Vol. 1)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Okay, the dvds aren't like the books, but that's okay. The story's still really good, and the theme is very energetic. Plus, there are subtitles.
So, what is DNAngel? Basically, it's about a 14-year old boy, Daisuke Niwa, who inherits the "Love Gene", which basically means everytime he thinks about his love, Risa, he turns into his "other self", Dark Mousy. What's special about Dark is 1. He's an art theif and 2. The only way for Daisuke to get rid of him is to have his love, Risa, be in love with him too.
There are other characters important to the story, like Daisuke's Mom, and his grandpa. There's also Risa's twin, Riku, his best friend Takeshi Saehara, and of course, Satoshi Hiwatari, a boy with many secrets surrounding him...
The voice overs were excellent, and if you enjoyed the books, you'll love the DVD, it just takes a while to get used to the fact that Krad is introduced before Dad is. Oops...

DNAngel: Dawn of Dark: Vol. 1 is the first DVD in the anime series. It contains four episodes, which are called "stages" in this anime. The stages are titled: "Dark Revived," "Rekindled Feelings," "Whisper of the Unicorn," and "Between the Light and the Darkness." All episodes in this volume flow more or less as one long movie, so there is no need to explain them separately. DNAngel is the story of young, short, shy, Daisuke Niwa. Daisuke is in love with cute Risa, who has no idea he has a crush on her. On his 14th birthday, Daisuke learns his family's secret: that he is the bearer of the identity of tall, dashing, winged Phantom Thief Dark.

The setting for DNAngel is a seaside villa in Europe. The town police have received a warning letter that Dark is about to make his first appearance in forty years. Dark steals the hearts of young ladies in addition to artifacts. One big problem is that Dark has also stolen the heart of Risa! On his way back from a mission (given to him by his mother and grandfather), he accidentally runs into the twin of Risa, with unforseen consequences for all.

Daisuke has someone dogging him at school - Satoshi Hiwatari. Could it be Satoshi knows Daisuke's secret? And why does Satoshi seem so malicious? There is another boy in class, an amateur detective very interested in catching Dark, but Satoshi seems to have a much more personal interest.

The extras in this volume are fantastic. The opening song is so beautiful. The man who sings it sings like an angel, and one of the extras shows this seventeen-year old prodigy recording the song.

This new entry in the youth oriented segment of the anime market tells the story of Daisuke Niwa, a young, somewhat clutzy boy, who happens to be in love. One his 14th birthday Daisuke sets out, determined to finally announce his affection to Risa Harada and ask her for a date. But fate intervenes in the form of Daisuke's mother, Emiko, and his grandfather Daiki. Not in the way families usually discourage dating, though, Instead, Emiko and Daiki plan to ressurect the legendary thief Dark Mousey who will share Daisuke's body.

This isn't really ill intentioned, but having Dark, who is cool wherever Daisuke is not, as an alter-ego comes with a whole set of problems. Not the least of these is that every time he gets emotional about Risa, Daisuke changes into Dark. To make matters worse, Risa thinks of Daisuke as a good friend, but she is attracted to Dark. And then there is Satoshi Hiwari - Supposedly Daisuke's friend, Satoshi is really a police agent intent on bringing Dark to Justice. Things get even more complicated when Krad (Dark's real antagonist) makes his appearance.

While this is played lightly (especially by the US actors) thise complicated plot mechanism is the means whereby Daisuke comes of age. Rather than flee from Dark's influence, the young boy embraces his 'Dark side,' and the ensuing drame enables him to come to an richer understanding of himself.

This only real hitch is, as other reviewers have noted the dubbing is sophomoric, with the Japanese taking the story much more seriously. This is another time when I recommend turning on the subtitles and taking your emotional cues from the Japanese acting. But from a story and artistic viewpoint, D.N.Angel is worth watching.

i'm so glad Dnangel finally came out of DVD.its such a exciting anime that everyone should watch.it has romance,action,and the animation is fantastic.the drawing and art is so bueatiful.and i am so excited to hear the dubbed version.i have already watched it in japanese and was great i'm looking forward to getting the whole seen.and my all time fav character is DAISUKE!

I am not an anime fan, but after watching this dvd i bought the entire series and I am so happy i did it is the greatest show of all time a great storyline,great characters and wonderful songs, Shunichi Miyamoto's if i can be with you was truly a breathtaking exibit i tell all who are intrested buy now i assure you you will not regret it and this will inspire....i have not more to say except this is purely the best.

I love D.N.Angel and truly wish that I could give this five stars. However, must of the voices do not fit the character they are given to. I have been quite acquanited with this anime for about 3 months, I broke down and bought it in Japanese, and the voices are excellent for their character. Dark's is deep, and cocky, totally in sink with his attitude. In the english, dare I say that he sounds like a girl? Dark still has the same sass in his voice, but it is just too high, not nearly low enough for an 18 year old. Out of the two alter egos, Krad's voice is the best, although he has a bit of a British accent. Not much, but you can tell in one part when he says to Dark, "Have you gone mad?!"
In the first episode, it shows Dark sealing Krad away. It fades out, to show Daisuke's mother and Grandfather doing a ceremony to him. Disgruntled, he runs to school with barely enough time to grab a piece of toast. His mother, Emiko, yells at him not to go on a date tonight, even if the love letter works. She also says that he needs to be home no later that 27 seconds after 4:52. (<- Quite a mouthful in Japanese) Daisuke boards his ride, all prepared as to what he is going to do. Have Risa board, protect her from the others, look into her eyes where they will enter into a world all of their own, and give her the letter, saying, "Will you read it later?" However everything just goes south from there on. Due to Construction, the ride does not stop where Risa usually boards, so she gets on elsewhere. After, she makes the comment that they are very good friends. Heartbroken, Daisuke sulks through the rest of the day, even taking Takeshi's (<- Who's voice is also to high!)duty of cleaning the art room. However, He grabs the wrong card and has to break into the room. Hiwatari, the only other one who is cleaning the room, catches him, but makes no comment about. Daisuke makes it home, and then has to pass a ridiculous trap that his mother has set in the hallway. He enters his bedroom and sees a painting of Risa that he drew. Something inside him triggers and he starts to transform. Panicking he runs downstairs to his mother. Basicly whenever he experiences feelings of love he will transform into Dark. He doesn't want to steal a statue, however the warning notice has already been posted, so he is forced to go. Risa is watching on TV as Kaitou Dark appears for the first time in 40 years. "Dark" successfully breaks in and unlocks the code on the statue. However Hiwatari enters the room, and succesfully traps "Dark" to the floor. Dark gains control of Daisuke's body and breaks free from Hiwatari, taking the statue as well. On the way back to the Niwa Household, he catches sight of Risa and starts to transform back. Riku steps out onto the balcony, which Dark lands on, trying to hold back the transformation. She screams and Dark covers her mouth with his hand saying that he is no suspicious. Riku breaks and starts crying for help, so Dark leans over and kisses her. End of episode one.
Episode 2 explains a bit more about the Transformation process as Risa announces her new love Dark, who appears to feel something for her as he asks her out on a date. Lucky for Daisuke, he starts to transform before anything major happens to change their relationship.
In 3, a sort of filler with an Unicorn from a painting stealing young children from locked rooms, that happens to take Risa and Riku. Daisuke to the rescue! However, when things turn magical, he is forced to let out Dark out. Dark almost kisses Risa, but Daisuke prevents him from doing so.
Episode 4, enter the bishounen Krad! The episode starts off rather funny with Daisuke dreaming that Risa has made a delicious bento just for him. Feeling very courageous, he hugs Risa and nuzzles her, saying that he will never let her go. Risa chuckles and says that she is happy to hear it. Suddenly, the voice changes to Hiwatari's who says that he won't let go either, for he has taken Risa's spot. Breathing heavily, Daisuke wakes from the nightmare to promptly be teased by Dark that he is gay. (Love Hiwatari, gay, same thing) School progressess, Daisuke does get a bento from Risa, that I think was concocted from poison, pobre Daisuke! Crashing into Hiwatari, he apologizes for it by taking half of the items he was carrying to the storage room, which only happens to be 20 degrees below C. Krad breaks free from Hiwatari's control (Eeeeeee!) and promptly attacks Daisuke, who transforms just in time. Dark makes a mean comment about being lucky that the kid falls in love quickly. The episode ends with Hiwatari saying that he will go away for a while.

I have heard so much about this series from different magazines and thought I just had to try it out.

Overall Feel: It seems to be set in Italy or Rome, so it gives a historic feel to it. The characters are drawn wonderfully. Also, computer graphics? This is one of the few series that the computer graphics look GOOD with the characters. Both the characters and the computer graphics look really well together, and one doesn't over shadow the other. A prefect match made in heaven.

Characters: The character Daisuke is a very believable character. He deals with the problems of every teenage boy. You even start to feel really sorry for him when things don't go his way with the girl he has a crush on. He is also a totally spaced out. He is always falling all over the place. Most of the time that I spent laughing in the movie was at Daisuke. Dark is the kind of character that you either like in the beginning or grow to like later. I think hes great, although, he can be kind of full of himself. Which by the way, is funny to watch. Riku is a great character, I really like her. However her twin sister Risa...now she needs a good kick. If you watch the movie, you will know where I am coming from.

Storyline: The storyline is alright. In the beginning you are like " What the heck is going on?" But, I think that is the whole point. It is to leave you wanting more. The whole thing really starts to pick up around the last epsiode (so you have to buy the next volume to see what happens ^_^')

Anyways, enough of my talking. Buy the DVD, I think that you will like it. Its a great edition to any anime fan's collection!

I'm so excited for this title! I've been a big fan of this series for years of the subbed/ Japanese Dialogue version. I'm sure ADV will do a good job with the dubbed!

Daisuke Niwa appears to be a typical 14 year old boy, until he learns of his families heritage that turn into the Phantom Thief Dark, and rob museums in attempts to seal away mystical energies the artists place on them.
DNAngel is a romantic comedy. Enjoyable for all ages, even though it is suggested 13+

I own the whole serie, it has romance, comedy and suspence, I'm keeping the set. And when I decide to keep a serie it because I love it. But you have to see the series, so you can see understand what I mean.

This series totally rocked! I'm not going to lie to you, Dark is hot. But what really peaked my intrest was all the intresting stories I heared about DNAngel. Anyway, this story is about Daisuke Niwa. A normal teenager...until his 14th birthday. Now, everytime he thinks about Risa Harada, the girl he's in love with, he changes into lengendary phantom theif Dark Mousy. You'll find out the rest when you, hopefully, buy it. This story is so interesting. It really pulled me inside and i hope it does the same for you. Buy it now!