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Tenshi Nanka ja Nai

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For the Takako Shigematsu manga, see Tenshi Ja Nai!!

Tenshi Nanka ja Nai
Kindle edition of the first manga volume
天使なんかじゃない
Genre
Manga
Written byAi Yazawa
Published byShueisha
ImprintRibon Mascot Comics
MagazineRibon
DemographicShōjo
Original runSeptember 1991 – November 1994
Volumes8
Original video animation
Directed byHiroko Tokita
Produced byHiroshi Kanemasa
Written byTomoko Konparu
Music byFujio Takano
StudioGroup TAC
ReleasedSeptember 21, 1994
Runtime30 minutes

Tenshi Nanka ja Nai (天使なんかじゃない, lit. 'I'm No Angel') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōjo manga magazine Ribon from 1991 to 1994, with its chapters collected in tankōbon volumes. An original video animation (OVA), animated by Group TAC and directed by Hiroko Tokita, was released in 1994.

Synopsis[edit]

Midori Saejima is a first-year student at the newly established Hijiri Gakuen. Midori is persuaded by her classmates to run for student council. Midori is reluctant but realizes that Akira Sudō is also running for student council, she becomes eager to win the election. Ever since Midori had seen Akira during the beginning of the school year, she had felt an intense attraction to him. Akira and Midori are elected president and vice-president respectively for the student council. Thus begins their story that centers on their relationship and the many adventures of high school with their friends.

Midori and Akira quickly become close, and Midori eagerly seeks the opportunity to become Akira's girlfriend. Although Akira seems to have similar feelings for Midori, Midori eventually finds out about Akira's feelings toward Hiroko, who is Midori's favorite art teacher at their school. Akira explains his past with Hiroko and how he considers her to be an important person in his life. Midori is somewhat comforted by Akira's honesty and his explanation that his relationship with Hiroko is strictly platonic. Akira eventually comes to reciprocate Midori's feelings.

However, their relationship is troubled by Midori's increasing jealousy toward Hiroko and Akira's strong connection. They break up after months of awkwardness. Midori finds comfort in her long-time friend Ken Nakagawa, who has secretly loved Midori for years. Once Akira abruptly leaves the country to find Masashi Sakamoto, Hiroko's lover and Akira's half-brother, Midori realizes that she cannot be with anyone except Akira.

Midori and Akira rekindle their relationship after Akira comes back. The story ends with their graduation from high school.

Characters[edit]

Midori Saejima (冴島 翠, Saejima Midori)
Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa
The protagonist of the story. She is always happy and has many friends at school. Likes to draw and sing. She falls in love with Akira.
Akira Sudō (須藤 晃, Sudō Akira)
Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa
A main character in the story. The guy who Midori falls in love with. He has a troubled past with an unhappy childhood, but eventually opens up to Midori. He always wears the ducktail hairstyle, and we can rarely see him without it.
Ken Nakagawa (中川 ケン, Nakagawa Ken)
Midori's friend from junior-high. Ken is a musician who dreams of becoming a star. He first appears in volume 3, when Midori meets up with some of her old friends on her birthday. He is often mentioned in another of Yazawa's works, Neighborhood Story, as the character Tsutomu bears an uncanny resemblance to him.
Bunta Kōno (河野 文太, Kōno Bunta)
Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki
The secretary of the student council. His nickname is "Bun" (文ちゃん, Bun-chan). He is from class D.
Tomoko Kawakami (川上 友子, Kawakami Tomoko)
Voiced by: Junko Iwao
A student of class A. Her nickname is "Tonko" (トン子).
Kayo (カヨ)
Voiced by: Mayumi Nomura
A student of class A. She is calm and takes pride in her soft skin.
Hiroko Maki (牧 博子, Maki Hiroko)
Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue
Art teacher at Midori's school. She is popular among her students due to her beauty and kind personality. She is in a long-distance relationship with Masashi Sakamoto. Not seeing the love of her life makes her reach her limit but the couple finally gets married in the 4th volume.
Masashi Sakamoto (坂本 将志, Sakamoto Masashi)
Akira's tutor before high school. An avid artist, he leaves Hiroko in Japan and travels around the world (mostly France) for his art. It is revealed in the story that Masashi is Akira's half-brother.
Yuuko Mamiya (麻宮 裕子, Mamiya Yūko)
Voiced by: Akiko Yajima
She joined student council and was elected secretary with Bunta Kōno. She became Midori's best friend. She longs to be Shūichi's girlfriend ever since they went to junior high together. At first glance she looks like a stuck up or cold person because of her attitude. But she really is nice. Midori likes to call her "Mamirin". The nickname sounds like "Marilyn" because Mamiya is pretty and has mole that looks like Marilyn Monroe's.
Shūichi Takigawa (瀧川 秀一, Takigawa Shūichi)
Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu
He joined the student council at the beginning of the manga and was elected treasurer. He became Akira's best friend. He is very popular among the girls in his school because of his good looks.
Shino Harada (原田 志乃, Harada Shino)
She was Shūichi's girlfriend and Mamiya's rival. She is seen as an idol by the boys in Hijiri. She is jealous of Mamiya and doubts about Shūichi's fidelity. This will cause them to break up.

Media[edit]

Manga[edit]

Written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa, Tenshi Nanka ja Nai was serialized in Shueisha's shōjo manga magazine Ribon from the September 1991 to the November 1994 issues.[2] Shueisha collected its chapters in eight tankōbon volumes, released from May 15, 1992,[3] to March 15, 1995.[4] The series was republished in a four-volume kanzenban edition in 2000,[5] and a six-volume bunkoban edition from 2008 to 2009.[6] A five-volume "reorganized" version was released in 2019.[7][8][9]

Volumes[edit]

No. Release date ISBN
1 May 15, 1992[3]4-08-853610-X
2 September 14, 1992[10]4-08-853628-2
3 March 15, 1993[11]4-08-853655-X
4 August 9, 1993[12]4-08-853680-0
5 January 14, 1994[13]4-08-853709-2
6 June 15, 1994[14]4-08-853738-6
7 October 14, 1994[15]4-08-853758-0
8 March 15, 1995[4]4-08-853785-8

Original video animation[edit]

A 30-minute original video animation (OVA) was released on September 21, 1994.[16] It was animated by Group TAC and directed by Hiroko Tokita, with script by Tomoko Konparu, character designs by Yasuomi Umetsu, and music composed by Fujio Takano.[17]

Reception[edit]

By June 2019, the manga had over 10 million copies in circulation.[18] The series ranked fifth in a survey conducted by Oricon on the top ten shōjo manga series.[19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ 「天使なんかじゃない」矢沢あい描き下ろしポストカード、次号りぼんに. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. February 3, 2015. Archived from the original on August 7, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  2. ^ a b 「天使なんかじゃない」が全5巻の新装再編版に、カバーは矢沢あい描き下ろし. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. April 26, 2019. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  3. ^ a b 天使なんかじゃない 1. s-book.com (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on July 28, 2003. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  4. ^ a b 天使なんかじゃない 8. s-book.com (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on July 12, 2003. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  5. ^ 天使なんかじゃない 完全版 4件中1～4件. s-book.com (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on September 22, 2003. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  6. ^ 天使なんかじゃない 集英社文庫(コミック版) (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  7. ^ Loveridge, Lynzee (August 6, 2019). "NANA Creator Ai Yazawa's Tenshi Nanka ja Nai Manga Gets 'Reorganized' Version". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 24, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  8. ^ 「天ない」新装再編版4・5巻の発売日決定、矢沢あいからのコメントも到着. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. August 6, 2019. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  9. ^ 矢沢あい：「天使なんかじゃない」新装再編版にコメント 「翠たちの笑顔が皆さんの励みになりますように」. Mantan Web (in Japanese). August 6, 2019. Archived from the original on August 16, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  10. ^ 天使なんかじゃない 2. s-book.com (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 20, 2004. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  11. ^ 天使なんかじゃない 3. s-book.com (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 20, 2004. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  12. ^ 天使なんかじゃない 4. s-book.com (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 20, 2004. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  13. ^ 天使なんかじゃない 5. s-book.com (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 20, 2004. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  14. ^ 天使なんかじゃない 6. s-book.com (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 20, 2004. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  15. ^ 天使なんかじゃない 7. s-book.com (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 20, 2004. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  16. ^ 天使なんかじゃない（劇場作）. suruga-ya.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  17. ^ Clements, Jonathan; McCarthy, Helen (2015). The Anime Encyclopedia: A Century of Japanese Animation (3rd ed.). Stone Bridge Press. p. 744. ISBN 978-1-61172-018-1. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  18. ^ 矢沢あい氏の描き下ろし『天使なんかじゃない』新装再編版1～3巻カバーイラスト公開. Oricon News (in Japanese). June 18, 2019. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  19. ^ Macdonald, Christopher (November 7, 2005). "Oricon Ranks Top 10 Shōjo Manga". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2024.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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