Hmm. So I was going around PowerBooks a few weeks ago and I chanced upon this title. It immediately drew my attention because of the volume I happened to pick up. I think it was 3 or 4 but I distinctly remember reading something about a student falling for her teacher, and you know how fangirls go crazy over that sort of thing. So yeah, that's how I got introduced to
Tenshi Ja Nai. I would have liked to buy all the volumes for this little library I'm building up in my room. But I wasn't sure how many volumes there were in all, or if it was even complete yet. I found out a few nights ago: just 8 volumes, a nice even number. And the story is neither too fast nor too slow. Yep, I ended up downloading it instead from The Evil Empire. So here's my take.
Tenshi Ja Nai loosely translates to
I'm No Angel, which I believe is actually the English version of the title. The story revolves around a girl named Hikaru Takabayashi who just wants to get away from the spotlight due to some really bad memories. Apparently, when she was younger her parents (with their connections) got her the chance to model for an upcoming poster. Hikaru was absolutely delighted (as it was her childhood dream), but that was short-lived when she got back to school. To her dismay, her friends began ignoring her and some awful schoolmates started bullying her. Hikaru was beaten up everyday till it traumatized her, which resulted in her choosing to move away.
Years later, while her mother moves to France Hikaru enters her mom's old school, Seika High. She is hoping for a quiet, normal life. But her dream is shattered when she literally runs into Izumi Kido. The pretty girl is actually a popular idol and everyone is out to get her. Just when she believes that that is the height of her worries though, Hikaru discovers a silicon padding next to where Izumi fell, which means... Izumi's a flat-chested girl? Nope, not quite. Izumi is, in fact, male and Hikaru has to share a room with him. Yep, they ended up roommates. Now, Hikaru has to deal with blackmail, the chance of a scandal, kidnapping, and whatnot; the perfect mix for a whirlwind romance. Get my drift?
In my opinion, the story's perfect. The characters are superb and the plot moves at an easy pace. It gives Hikaru ample time to mature and allows the romance part of the story to develop beautifully. Izumi obviously refuses to trust her at first, and Hikaru wins that trust because of her own personality. The fact is, she's a pure soul. She's innocent with the right kind of common sense. And she isn't the type to judge. Izumi, on the other hand, is broken; a person who has lost his faith and Hikaru is just the cure for that.
Joining them on this cross-dressing adventure is Izumi's "servant", Yasukuni Inukai who appears to be quite the butler-who-doubles-up-as-a-bodyguard type. (You should totally check out his character sketches. He looks just like Haji from Blood+.) But his past is unfortunately not delved in to. You, however, get to meet a lot of other interesting characters along the way. Tsukasa Ayase, Izumi and Hikaru's music teacher, is one of them. This is where the whole student-in-love-with-her-teacher plot comes in. It got my heart thumping, I swear. But I have to admit, I was pretty frustrated with this bit of the story. I found out later that I preferred Kaoru Habashi, Hikaru's other love interest (near the end of the manga) to the calm and enigmatic Ayase.
Don't worry. Though the romance was a big factor, that wasn't all the story focused on. Friendship, trust, school spirit, I think Takako Shigematsu-sensei was able to pull it all together. I would have liked it better, however, if she added at least 2 more volumes to get into the arc where Habashi comes in. She could have also done a better job at introducing Ayase, who was said to be Inukai's old friend/rival. Well, one can't have everything. I look forward to reading more of Shigematsu-sensei's works. And just as well, I recommend this title for your fangirling pleasure.
Starian Princess
~Kat