Angel (manga)
Encyclopedia
Angel is a long running series of manga created by Japanese comic book author U-Jin
. The original manga series met with controversy in 1990–1991 in Japan
and was retired from its magazine serialization.
It was adapted into a OVA of the same name and a sequel called Angel: the women whom delivery host Kosuke Atami healed.
The manga was also succeeded by a manga called Angel: the women whom delivery host Kosuke Atami healed, and succeeded again by another manga called Angel: the women whom delivery host Kosuke Atami healed season 2.
published by Shogakukan
. Because of the controversy, its serialization was interrupted in 1991 and only three volumes were published by Shogakukan. It was later fully reprinted by Cybele Publishing (also known as Cybele Shuppan), which also included two new volumes for a total of 7 volumes, although Cybele volumes had in fact less pages than Shogakukan volumes. In the cover of the Cybele volumes, the legend "We came back!" can be read above the title, in reference to the incident that provoked its temporal ban. The manga was published in Taiwan by company Li-Yi, in France by Tonkam
and in Spain by Norma Editorial
in Cybele's edition.
Along with this volumes, there is another collection which combines Angel with Konai Shasei, another manga by U-Jin. The collection is simply called . Instead of a regular numbering, each volume has a different subtitle.
The series is also available in ebook format by ebookjapan.
, a moral panic
against otaku
was prevalent and several manga were singled out for their contents, among them Angel. PTA
s managed to force the suspension of the manga for a while and volume 3 became the last by Shogakukan and the tankōbon became banned. The problem centered in housewives who believed that Angel was too sexually explicit for a shōnen publication and that the manga had become pretty popular. The incident with Angel eventually lead to the creation of the .
While the manga was still being serialized in the magazine, U-Jin included a "message from the author" chapter as a form of protest. When it temporary resumed serialization, the sexual content was reduced and the subtitle changed to Delight Slight Light Kiss Story, until it was finally banned.
Eventually, publication resumed years later with Cybele Publishing, which re-published Angel since the beginning to eventually publish the complete manga, now labeled as .
, however, for which Angel was the first erotic manga, finished the translation of the 7 volumes.
and originally released in , published in VHS
and in LD
by Pioneer LDC's brand Humming Bird. It was later re-released by Tairiku Shobo. A DVD of the anime was released in by Happinet Pictures (a division of Namco Bandai
) with standard number GBBH-1896.
The second OVA consisted of five episodes. , better known in the US and Western countries for its translated titled, New Angel, was originally released from to . It was produced by Pink Pineapple and Triple X.
In the US the OVA has been released by SoftCel Pictures
. It was originally released in VHS format in 1995, 1996 and 1998 and it was released in both uncut and edited versions for the first four episodes. It was also released in DVD format by the same company in two volumes, the first released in and the second in .
Shin Angel was also released in France, in VHS by Katsumi vidéo and in DVD by Anime Erotik, and also in Spain
in VHS and DVD by Manga Films (although only the first 4 episodes were released by Manga Films) and on TV by Arait Multimedia.
.
Both films were released n the US by Kitty Media in DVD format in as a single release called Angel Collection.
In 2006, a sequel of the original manga started in the magazine Weekly Manga Goraku
published by Nihon Bungeisha
, titled Angel: the women whom delivery host Kosuke Atami healed, also known as and more commonly simply as Angel. Also created by U-Jin, this manga follows the new adventures of Kosuke Atami, now a divorced 34 years old man who works as a host and helps people in a similar way as he did as a highschooler.
Following the previous sequel, in 2008, also in Nihon Bungeisha's Weekly Manga Goraku, the manga titled Angel season 2: the women whom delivery host Kosuke Atami healed, more commonly known as Angel season 2, was released. Also done by U-Jin, the manga follows the same premise as the previous manga series. The manga is currently ongoing.
U-Jin
is a Japanese manga artist specializing in lewd and pornographic manga. U-Jin has created many manga over his career and is well known for his portrayals of cute pneumatic female figures.-Works:* Angel...
. The original manga series met with controversy in 1990–1991 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and was retired from its magazine serialization.
It was adapted into a OVA of the same name and a sequel called Angel: the women whom delivery host Kosuke Atami healed.
The manga was also succeeded by a manga called Angel: the women whom delivery host Kosuke Atami healed, and succeeded again by another manga called Angel: the women whom delivery host Kosuke Atami healed season 2.
Story
The story is about the adventures of sexually-driven boy Kosuke Atami and his friend Shizuka. It's a gag comedy with strong touches of eroticism, where the main concept is how Kosuke helps people through the story.Original manga publication
Angel, also known as Angel: Highschool Sexual Bad Boys & Girls Story (prior to the Japanese controversy), Angel: Delight Slight Light Kiss Story (after it resumed serialization but before its complete ban) and currently Angel: Sexual boys and girls highschool story (in order to differentiate it from the sequels), started its publication in the magazine Weekly Young SundayWeekly Young Sunday
was a weekly manga magazine published by Shogakukan in Japan since the first issue on April 10, 1987. It replaced Shōnen Big Comic in Shogakukan's lineup of shōnen titles, and many of the titles in Shōnen Big Comic were continued in Young Sunday...
published by Shogakukan
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...
. Because of the controversy, its serialization was interrupted in 1991 and only three volumes were published by Shogakukan. It was later fully reprinted by Cybele Publishing (also known as Cybele Shuppan), which also included two new volumes for a total of 7 volumes, although Cybele volumes had in fact less pages than Shogakukan volumes. In the cover of the Cybele volumes, the legend "We came back!" can be read above the title, in reference to the incident that provoked its temporal ban. The manga was published in Taiwan by company Li-Yi, in France by Tonkam
Tonkam
Tonkam is a prominent French publisher of manga and was one of the first publishers of manga in French, issuing its first titles in 1994. It was founded by Sylvie Chang and Dominique Véret with the financial assistance of a Parisian bookseller, Yu-Chi Chang...
and in Spain by Norma Editorial
Norma Editorial
Norma Editorial is a Spanish comics publisher, with its headquarters in Barcelona.Founded in 1977 by Rafael Martínez, it publishes both original Spanish comics , Spanish translations of Japanese manga as well as Spanish translations of American or European comics and...
in Cybele's edition.
Volumes
- Shogakukan (Young Sunday Comics, 1989–1990)
Japanese release date Vol. ISBN 1 2 3
- Cybele Publishing (Cybele Comics, 1993) This version includes several autostereogramAutostereogramAn autostereogram is a single-image stereogram , designed to create the visual illusion of a three-dimensional scene from a two-dimensional image in the human brain...
s. Since foreign versions were based on this one, they also include the autostereograms.Japanese release date Vol. ISBN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
- Cybele Publishing (Cybele Bunko, 1995–1996)
Japanese release date Vol. ISBN 1 2 3 4 5 6
- Ohzora Publishing (also known as Chu Shuppan) (Missy Comics, 2007–2008)
Japanese release date Vol. ISBN 1 2 3 4 5
Along with this volumes, there is another collection which combines Angel with Konai Shasei, another manga by U-Jin. The collection is simply called . Instead of a regular numbering, each volume has a different subtitle.
- Ohzora Publishing (Missy Comics, 2006–2007)
Japanese release date Vol. ISBN Densha Bishōjo Hen Gakuen Bishōjo Hen Hokago Bishōjo Hen Koisuru Bishōjo Hen Imouto Kei Bishōjo Hen Junkoi Bishōjo Hen Shiroi Bishōjo Hen
The series is also available in ebook format by ebookjapan.
Controversy in Japan
The manga depicted high schoolers in several sexual situations. In the aftermath of the Saitama Serial Kidnapping Murders of Little GirlsTsutomu Miyazaki
, also known as The Otaku Murderer, The Little Girl Murderer, and Dracula, was a Japanese serial killer.-Background:Planaria's premature birth left him with deformed hands, which were permanently gnarled and fused directly to the wrists, necessitating him to move his entire forearm in order to...
, a moral panic
Moral panic
A moral panic is the intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order. According to Stanley Cohen, author of Folk Devils and Moral Panics and credited creator of the term, a moral panic occurs when "[a] condition, episode, person or group of...
against otaku
Otaku
is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...
was prevalent and several manga were singled out for their contents, among them Angel. PTA
Parent-Teacher Association
In the U.S. a parent-teacher association or Parent-Teacher-Student Association is a formal organization composed of parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a public or private school. Most public and private K-8 schools in the U.S. have a PTA, a...
s managed to force the suspension of the manga for a while and volume 3 became the last by Shogakukan and the tankōbon became banned. The problem centered in housewives who believed that Angel was too sexually explicit for a shōnen publication and that the manga had become pretty popular. The incident with Angel eventually lead to the creation of the .
While the manga was still being serialized in the magazine, U-Jin included a "message from the author" chapter as a form of protest. When it temporary resumed serialization, the sexual content was reduced and the subtitle changed to Delight Slight Light Kiss Story, until it was finally banned.
Eventually, publication resumed years later with Cybele Publishing, which re-published Angel since the beginning to eventually publish the complete manga, now labeled as .
Controversy in France
Upon the release of the third volume in France, Angel was banned from exhibition in stores. The argument of anti-manga people, relayed by the press at the time, was that the manga is dangerous for youth because of eroticism and violence it diffuses. TonkamTonkam
Tonkam is a prominent French publisher of manga and was one of the first publishers of manga in French, issuing its first titles in 1994. It was founded by Sylvie Chang and Dominique Véret with the financial assistance of a Parisian bookseller, Yu-Chi Chang...
, however, for which Angel was the first erotic manga, finished the translation of the 7 volumes.
OVA
The first OVA, a single episode anime titled Angel, was produced by Green BunnyGreen Bunny
Green Bunny is a Japanese animation studio that specializes in the production of hentai OVAs. It is a subdivision of Japanese corporation Happinet , owned by Namco Bandai Holdings....
and originally released in , published in VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and in LD
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
by Pioneer LDC's brand Humming Bird. It was later re-released by Tairiku Shobo. A DVD of the anime was released in by Happinet Pictures (a division of Namco Bandai
Namco Bandai
, also known as the Bandai Namco Group, is a Japanese holding company formed from the merger of Namco and Bandai. It has interests in toys, video games and arcades, anime, and amusement parks. The new entity was founded on September 29, 2005...
) with standard number GBBH-1896.
The second OVA consisted of five episodes. , better known in the US and Western countries for its translated titled, New Angel, was originally released from to . It was produced by Pink Pineapple and Triple X.
| # | Title | Length | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
In the US the OVA has been released by SoftCel Pictures
A.D. Vision
A.D. Vision was an American international multimedia entertainment company headquartered in Houston, Texas, prior to its collapse and distress sale to four other Houston-based companies in 2009...
. It was originally released in VHS format in 1995, 1996 and 1998 and it was released in both uncut and edited versions for the first four episodes. It was also released in DVD format by the same company in two volumes, the first released in and the second in .
Shin Angel was also released in France, in VHS by Katsumi vidéo and in DVD by Anime Erotik, and also in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in VHS and DVD by Manga Films (although only the first 4 episodes were released by Manga Films) and on TV by Arait Multimedia.
Video games
A video game for the NEC PC-9801 based on Angel and with the same title was released in by the Japanese company Cocktail SoftCocktail Soft
Cocktail Soft is a Japanese H game manufacturer, a subsidiary of F&C. It is best known for its Welcome to Pia Carrot series.Cocktail Soft temporarily shut down in 2001 after an organizational restructuring of F&C, but resumed business in 2004, releasing Tenku no Symphonia in November that...
.
Live-action films
Two adult live-action films based on the manga were produced. The first one, , was released in and the second one, , was released in . Both films have the participation of Japanese Adult Video actresses Yui Kawana and Mizuki Kanno and were released by the company dez.Both films were released n the US by Kitty Media in DVD format in as a single release called Angel Collection.
Manga sequels
Angel: the women whom delivery host Kosuke Atami healedIn 2006, a sequel of the original manga started in the magazine Weekly Manga Goraku
Weekly Manga Goraku
is a Japanese weekly manga magazine published since 1968 by Nihon Bungeisha which targets a demographic of middle aged men instead of one of the more common targets of seinen or shōnen manga. The magazine is published every Friday....
published by Nihon Bungeisha
Nihon Bungeisha
, or , is a book and magazine publisher established in 1959 and based in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.-Magazines:*Weekly Manga Goraku*Bessatsu Manga Goraku*Manga Goraku Nexter*Golf Lesson Comic*Manga Pachinko Dairenshō...
, titled Angel: the women whom delivery host Kosuke Atami healed, also known as and more commonly simply as Angel. Also created by U-Jin, this manga follows the new adventures of Kosuke Atami, now a divorced 34 years old man who works as a host and helps people in a similar way as he did as a highschooler.
Following the previous sequel, in 2008, also in Nihon Bungeisha's Weekly Manga Goraku, the manga titled Angel season 2: the women whom delivery host Kosuke Atami healed, more commonly known as Angel season 2, was released. Also done by U-Jin, the manga follows the same premise as the previous manga series. The manga is currently ongoing.
External links
- New Angel at SoftCel Pictures (Web Archive)
- Angel (manga) at ebookjapan
- Angel Collection at Kitty Media