Note: This page contains spoilers. If you don't want to know anything, please go back.

Stage 1 - Fukkatsu no Dark, The Resurrection of Dark
aired on 2003.4.03

Brief Summary

It was Niwa Daisuke's 14th birthday. He eagerly waited for the day when he can get a transform: from the lame Daisuke to the cool Daisuke! He was going to give the girl of his dream, Harada Risa, a love letter. However, things just doesn't go the way he wanted them to, Daisuke and Risa remain "friends".

Hearbroken, Daisuke could care less about the big event everybody was talking about -- The Legendary Phantom Thief, Dark, is reappearing after 40 years and that he is going to steal the holy woman statue from the museum! As Daisuke was thinking about Risa, strange feeling came to him, and he felt the presence of another person inside his body. When he regained his consciousness, he has already transformed to his cool self, Daisuke is Dark!

In order to transform back to Daisuke, he must steal the statue from the art museum....

Voice acting

I'll start off with some informations about the seiyuu (voice actors/actresses), the chart is incomplete, because I am not too familiar with them. References: Seiyuu Database WWW version [Japanese]

character seiyuu roles in other anime
Niwa Daisuke Irino Miyu Haku (Sen to Chihiro Kamikakushi, Spirited Away)
Dark Mousy Okiayu Ryoutarou Keinosuke (Jubei-chan), K (Gravitation), Hartia (Orphen), Tezuka (Tennis no Oujisama)
Harada Riku Nakayama Sara n/a
Harada Risa Asano Msumi n/a
Hiwatari Satoshi Ishida Akira Hakkai (Saiyuki), Shinkouhyou (Senkaiden Houshin Engi)
Krad Kisao Takeshi Hanamichi Sakuragi (Slam Dunk)
Niwa Emiko Tamagawa Sakiko n/a
Niwa Daiki Aono Takeshi n/a

Comments

One of the reasons why I want to watch the anime is because Okiayu Ryoutarou is Dark. [insert fangirl scream here.] He's the only one in the above list that I actually know. I think his role as Dark is perfect, because he has the sexy voice, the foreigner speaking Japanese voice (whatever that means, it refers to Mr. K), the funny voice, the deep voice. He didn't speak that much in this first episode, but I think he's the only male voice in the anime that wasn't irritating. Go Okiayu!

Daisuke Daisuke Daisuke Dai.... His voice just sounds extremely weird. The voice is too old, too mature, and too deep for him! Daisuke is only 14, why does he sound so much like a guy? I wonder if it would be more suitable to have a girl to do his voice, because Dai-chan is nowhere near masculine, and he really is too young for that voice. It's like he got an early puberty and his voice changed already.

I don't like Satoshi in the anime. He is simply too creepy. In my opnion he was awkwardly drawn, awfully voiced. He is still mysterious, but 10 times more creepy than in manga. (I'm sorry, Satoshi lovers.) I always imagined Orikasa Ai doing his voice, cute and evil...

My friend spoiled the story for me before I watched this episode, she complained how confusing the story was, and "confusing" is the general word I have seen after visiting a few forums talking about the anime. Is it really that confusing? There are many differences between the anime and manga, good or bad, it's all personal opinions.

→ about Dark and Krad
It is hinted in the first scene of the anime that there is something between Dark and Krad -- when Dark sealed him, Dark referred to Krad as "my other self". If Krad is sealed, Dark will also be sealed.
In the manga, you don't get to know Krad's existence until a lot later. Honestly I like this change in the story. When I read the manga, I thought Krad was added to the story to prolong it.

→ Risa and Riku going to school
Risa got dropped off at the train station, and then she took the train to go to school. Riku rides the bike on her own, and then meets Risa at Grande station at the top of the mountain, and then go to school together. How weird is that? right... Riku is a sporty girl and want to exercise.........

→ strange rituals
After Dark stole something, it would be sealed in the anime; in the manga, just exactly what happen to the art pieces after they are stolen by Dark? What was the motive for stealing? The motives were not explained...

→ tarot cards
Risa engages in superstitious activity in the anime. I suspect this is a scheme to sell D.N.Angel-themed tarot cards...

→ Risa vs Riku?
In the first chapter of the manga, Risa said that (in thought bubbles) Riku is her rival, and to prove herself better than her twin sister she must get a better guy. Such logic disappeared after the first few pages, and is not expressed in the anime. Though you could see that Riku was not pleased what Risa almost got a love letter from Daisuke.

→ entering the art room
In manga, Daisuke had no problem with Hiwatari looking at him unlock the door to the art room until Hiwatari asks why he knows how to unlock that special lock; in anime, he was totally freaked out when Hiwatari saw him unlock the door.

→ Hiwatari-kun goes high tech
In manga, Hiwatari writes in his little note books about Daisuke [you awful stalker!!!]. In anime, he got a hand held computer! I don't recognize the model...

→ Hiwatari-kun's slashy moments
- Hiwatari-kun: "I want to be here, just you and me"...
- Hiwatari-kun pins Dark onto the floor, getting tooooooo close
- those creepy eyes always staring at Dai.. (.....how should I explain in details?)

→ Dark kisses Riku!
Why did this happen so soon! "You don't kiss someone to shut them up!" said my friend.

→ Red hair
What happened to Emiko's (Daisuke's mom) red hair? It is brown in the anime. So instead of genetic explainations, the red hair is probably passed to the person who posesses Dark's DNA. Therefore, mommy has no red hair. If it really IS the truth, then it explains why Hiwatari just knew that Daisuke is Dark. Or may be it's just because of the family name, Niwa.

As a television serie, I think the animation is very good. How good? The characters are always moving, instead of just standing there in static. The background are amazing. It goes as far as utilizing 3D for the background. Which makes me wonder, is there a place in Japan that the town is modelled after? (You know, in other animes, such as Hikaru no Go takes place in Tokyo, and the setting is exactly the same as Tokyo.) I have heard that the setting looks remotely similar to one other anime.... (reuse?) but it was hearsay so you can probably ignore that....

The animation was so good it distracted me from all the bad voices, confusing plot... I'm looking forward to whether the quality will keep up, or degrade.. I'm glad there are only 26 episodes!

2003.04.24

← back to main page