is a manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series by Takako Shigematsu

Takako Shigematsu

Takako Shigematsu is a Japanese manga artist most famous for her manga series Tenshi Ja Nai. Her first manga, published in 1995, told the tale of an all girls dorm. However, it wasn't until her 2002 release of 3 Meters from the Sun that she truly stepped into the spotlight as a professional manga...

. It should not be confused with a similarly titled manga series by Ai Yazawa

Ai Yazawa

is a Japanese manga author. Her pen name comes from Japanese singer Eikichi Yazawa, of whom she is a fan.-Biography:Yazawa started her manga publishing life in 1985. She studied in a fashion school but later dropped out. Throughout her 15 years of publishing, she wrote over 10 series in Ribon...

, Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai

Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai

is a shōjo and romance manga created by Ai Yazawa. It was serialized in Ribon and later in eight volumes of graphic novels. This series should not be confused with another similarly titled manga, Tenshi Ja Nai.An OVA adaptation was released in 1994....

. The manga was serialized in America by Go! Comi

Go! Comi

Go! Comi was an imprint of the American manga publishing company, Go! Media Entertainment, LLC. They published such series as After School Nightmare, Cantarella, Her Majesty's Dog, Tenshi Ja Nai!! and Crossroad...

. The eighth and final volume was published in September 2007.

Main characters

Hikaru Takabayashi

Her parents are being transferred to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and she does not want to go. Her mother agrees to let her stay if she goes to an all girls boarding high school

Boarding school

A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...

, her mother's alma mater

Alma mater

Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...

. Hikaru went wanting a quiet life, having been bullied at her other schools. She is a kind, loyal girl, extremely strong as at one point she carries Izumi Kido away from a mob of fans. She falls in love with her music teacher, Tsukasa Ayase, and at first he rejects her, but then they start going out. Ayase then breaks up with her, and later Hikaru falls in love with Izumi and they get together. Hikaru used to be bullied by her classmates since they believed she was acting stuck up and snobby while she modeled, and although she loved modeling, she eventually quit to avoid the bullying.

Izumi Kido

Apparently a very beautiful girl working as a model/actress, she is actually a boy in secret. When he realizes his secret has been discovered by Hikaru he very aggressively blackmail

Blackmail

In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...

s her into keeping that secret. They eventually come to a friendlier arrangement. He desperately needs lots of money to pay his father's medical bills and is dismayed that he fell into this sort of career that just barely enables him to make that kind of money. When blackmail is no longer satisfactory he makes Hikaru his sub-manager and go-fer. He falls in love with Hikaru, and is very irritated at first when Hikaru's with Ayase. To his joy, Ayase and Hikaru break up. After confessing his love for her later in the series, he and Hikaru start dating. Izumi disappears after his secret is revealed. A year later Hikaru spots him attending her graduation ceremony; He had changed his name and studied architecture. The series concludes with the two kissing in the forest as her classmates coming running up.

Yasukuni Inukai

He is Izumi's manager and works at the school as a janitor

Janitor

A janitor or custodian is a professional who takes care of buildings, such as hospitals and schools. Janitors are responsible primarily for cleaning, and often some maintenance and security...

 to protect his secret. He is Izumi's best friend, and, depending on the circumstances, eventually a good friend to Hikaru too. Because the dorms are pet-free he keeps Hikaru's little dog.

Yuichi Akizuki

He is Izumi's agent. He is quite intent on finding Hikaru bits as an extra, etc., in the Izumi's work, despite Hikaru's strong desire to hide in the background.

Tsukasa Ayase

Music teacher at the high school and grandson of the head-mistress. A relationship develops with Hikaru and she falls in love with him. He has similar feelings for her, until events in volumes 5 and 6 tear him away from the school.

Hayata Kurobe

A Kansai

Kansai

The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, and Shiga. Depending on who makes the distinction, Fukui, Tokushima and even Tottori Prefecture are also included...

 manzai

Manzai

is a traditional style of stand-up comedy in Japanese culture, which usually involves two performers —a straight man and a funny man —trading jokes at great speed...

 (comedy duo) team member. He and Izumi are frequently cast in the same productions. Is introduced in volume 2 and in volume 3, he accidentally saw Izumi coming on to Hikaru, mistakenly thinking that Izumi was a lesbian

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

. Nevertheless, he fell in love hard for Izumi and Izumi. Hikaru and Yasukuni have to work hard to exclude Kurobe from Izumi's private life.

Kaoru Habashi

He's Kurobe's friend and the other half of the manzai

Manzai

is a traditional style of stand-up comedy in Japanese culture, which usually involves two performers —a straight man and a funny man —trading jokes at great speed...

duo. At first, he was mocked by Hikaru when she said he couldn't live without his friend (Kurobe). Later, he fell for her. Just as Kurobe is abusive in trying to make out with Izumi, he is abusive in trying to make out with Hikaru. He and Kurobe finally discovered Izumi's secret.