"DNAngel"
by Yukiru SUGISAKI
ISBN# 4-04-924701-1
Asuka Comics, 1999

I was so thrilled when I finally managed to track down this manga! I had seen the artwork on pencil boards, and on a quickly-disappearing artbook at Kinokuniya, but I had no idea what the series was about or where I could get some of it at! Finally, after what seems like forever, Kinokuniya managed to get in a few volumes of this manga, and of course I snapped them right up! The art in DNAngel is really cool! The lines are dark, crisp, clear, the character designs are appealing to me, there is a handsome bishounen with wings... what else could I ask for? ^_^ Indeed, DNAngel is a very popular series now, easily one of the most popular stories running in Asuka magazine right now!

DNAngel can be considered almost a male version of a Magical girl story. The hero is a 14 year old boy named Daisuke, who already leads a pretty unusual life. Sure he goes to school every day like everyone else his age, but he comes home to an unusual assortment of family members, and is welcomed by all manner of deadly traps! But Daisuke is used to this, and by now can dodge the collection of lethal attacks with ease. If you think this isn't exactly a normal life for a 14 year old to lead, well think again, his life is about to get stranger! On his 14th birthday, Daisuke discovers that he has inherited a strange set of DNA from his family that causes all the males to transform! Daisuke metamorphs into the legendary thief named 'Dark', a tall, gorgeous bishounen who has all sorts of strange abilities. Now that he is 14, Daisuke can transform into Dark, but the transformations are triggered only when he has feelings of love or arousal. (This part sort of reminds me of Futaba-kun Change).

But heaven forbid Daisuke's problems end there. Now he not only has to deal with transforming into a stylish bishounen every time he gets 'excited', he also has to stay away form the girl he likes (or else he will change and everyone will discover his secret), and he also has to avoid one of his classmates who is suspicious of Daisuke and Dark, and is determined to figure out their connection. This situation leads, as you can imagine, to all sorts of fun situations as Daisuke struggles to cope with his new abilities and keep his love life intact. If you can find a copy of DNAngel, I recommend you check it out, it's a lot of fun!

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