天使なんかじゃない

TENSHI NANKA JANAI

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
8
RELEASE
Invalid Date
CHAPTERS
40

DESCRIPTION

In a rainy spring day, first year high schooler Midori Saezima saw a tall, handsome fellow student took care of a stray kitten. Without knowing the boy's name, she fell in love with him at the first sight. Due to sickness, Midori returned to school three days after summer vacation -- only to find out that she was "volunteered" as a candidate for student council. After a series of embarrassing accidents, both she and the mysterious boy she had a crush on, Akira Sudo, were elected as members of the student council. Being the first student council of this newly established high school, they are about to create "new traditions" for their school and a bittersweet love story for themselves...

(Source: AnimeNewsNetwork)

CAST

Midori Saejima
Akira Sudou
Yuko Mamiya
Ken Nakagawa
Masashi Sakamoto
Shino Harada
Mako Taniguchi
Bunta Kouno
Hiroko Shibata
Hiroko Maki
Shuuichi Takigawa

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO TENSHI NANKA JANAI

OVA ComedyTenshi Nanka ja Nai

REVIEWS

RoseFaerie
86/100
A criminally underrated series from NANA author, Ai Yazawa, which offers a truly grounded romance-drama.
Ai Yazawa is most famous for her josei work, Paradise Kiss, as well as her more mature shoujo series, NANA. However, before these, she actually got her start creating manga for the shoujo magazine Ribon, which has a much younger target audience.

I've been planning to read all her early works, and I'm glad I read this one. I'm surprised that it's not more popular, given that more grounded shoujo without all the love triangles and stuff are high in demand. In addition, Yazawa's later works are so well known. Perhaps it's the age and lack of English licenses.

Anyways, the story is about Midori Saezima, a high school student, who is returning to school after recovering from an illness, only to find that she was volunteered for a role in the student council. She discovers that the boy she fell in love with at first sight back on the first day of school was also nominated.

This is one of the most grounded romance stories I've read. I never felt like it was melodramatic. There were a few parts that were a bit extra, but none of it felt out of the realm of reality. I appreciated the way that Akira (the ML) had family problems that were normal things like his parents' divorce. It's not just big dramatic problems that leave an impact on people and their lives.

I appreciated the arc at the end about the characters growing up, preparing to go off to college and discovering their passions. I felt like Mamirin was the one who benefited the most from it, and I was very pleased with how she decided to go about her dream.

The way the characters care just as much about their friendships as they do about romance was really great. I feel like it really ads to the strong realism and the deep bonds between everyone.

This is a story about happiness. We all want our own happiness and happiness for our love ones above everyone else. We also don't realize what we have until it's gone.

Midori is a girl who can't hide her emotions. She can get jealous, be selfish, and be nosy and it's all visible. However, her kind heart and compassion for her friends shine more. She's friendly, energetic, and she knows what she wants. I really loved watching her as a protagonist.

Her love interest, Akira, stands in perfect contrast. He's determined to hide his emotions and his pain from his past. He's had to shoulder some adult problems and deal with things that he shouldn't from a young age. However, he doesn't let it stop him from being a good person. He shows the people he loves great care, even if he is a bit intimidating.

I was impressed by the growth of their friends and how they were all able to find their happiness and something that they wanted. Mamirin was probably my favorite. I loved watching her friendship with Midori shape her into a more caring person who is more comfortable around people and showing her emotions.

As for the art, I adore the atmosphere Ai Yazawa creates. It feels very retro. The fashion and the hair feel very 90's. Akira looks like a real delinquent with the Elvis-style hair. You wouldn't think he was the student body president. I always loved Ai Yazawa's art, but this really charmed me.

Seriously people, read this. If you want grounded shoujo where they have realistic romance and life problems, read Tenshi Nanka Janai. It's criminally underrated.
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SEGURIDA
90/100
Follow, perhaps the most charming female lead's, last years in highschool and first years in a lifelong relationship.
_This review does not contain spoilers, but as usual, I encourage you to go into this read blind_
After finihsing her work on Embraced by the Marine Blue Wind, her best received manga until then, Ai Yazawa was looking to push her comics’ popularity to a bigger scale. So, she turned to her older works to look for the missing element, the key aspect that would elevate her stories. With the help of a couple of her peers in the industry, she came to a finding that would shape her narrative from then on, and become one of her defining characteristics: writing captivating female characters. Thus, Midori Saejima was born.

‎
ALL THAT'S RIGHT WITH I'M NO ANGEL
It is clear that Midori’s personal growth as she treads through her last years of highschool is the main focus of the manga. This central point is laid against her and Akira’s relationship, as well as the secondary cast’s romantic turmoils, with their paradise-like school life as a backdrop. The setting in which the coming of age drama develops is so bright and comforting that the dramatic moments seem inspiring rather than anxiety-inducing. This, paired with a cheerful yet delightfully nuanced cast, makes for a totally heartwarming read.

The back and forth of Midori and Akira’s relationship makes their journey so endearing, and keeps the reader wondering how the plot’s twists and turns will play out. Midori is shown in a neverending cycle of conviction and flailing, of doubting and reassuring herself. What might seem repetitive and make the reader impatient, also makes for a wonderfully satisfying sequence of tense, emotional, reflective and finally conclusive events, where the reader gets to fully follow along Midori’s internal processes. These moments are written almost in a personal diary manner, and make for some utterly charming one-liners. Take the following as an example:

Ahh…
Maybe…
I went wrong somewhere, the way I fell in love.

These pensive passages are one of Yazawa’s staples, and it is interesting how they’ve morphed throughout her career and adapted themselves to the several tones of her works. These quotes in I’m no Angel serve as a way of characterizing Midori as a thoughtful, sweet and caring girl, whose immediate way of confronting situations can be selfish but ultimately cannot help herself from helping others achieve happiness. Contrastingly, in Neighbourhood Story, Miwako’s musings paint her as passionate but childish, as she struggles to admit her true feelings to herself. Later on, in Paradise Kiss and NANA, introspective moments become more of depth and poem-like.

Even though Midori has an intense hold of the reader’s attention, the rest of the cast remain essential to the story’s atmosphere, and make its main character shine even more brightly. For instance, Takigawa has a more laid-back approach to relationships, both romantic and friendly, and in the few moments where he is featured, he blows a gust of fresh air into the drama-heavy story. Similarly, Mamiya and Bunta are the most upfront and wholehearted of the cast, and make for great friends of overthinker Midori. They often spark funny bits, and help the manga achieve a sense of depth and cozyness that is not all that common in highschool romances. In fact, it is pretty rare to see a story with these themes have such a large cast, but keep focus on the main couple, while having its supporting characters be so vital to the reading experience. This is one of the features that differentiates I’m no Angel from other Ai Yazawa manga, for instance NANA, in which the supporting characters take active roles in shaping the plot and the lines between main, secondary and tertiary characters are blurred. Because of this, in I’m no Angel, both ensemble cast lovers and those who hunger after the main couple will find things to love. And where the reader takes away the most from, whether it be the subplots, Midori’s self-reflection or a mix of both, results in a different reading experience.

The humour featured in I’m No Angel seems quite out of the norm for shoujo manga. The gags are very visual and the humour is fast-paced, which makes for an upbeat read. Yazawa pens some hilarious doodles and expressions while keeping the perfectly dainty and delicate nature of her art intact. Plenty of bits are referenced, even be those a single panel or scribble, later on in the chapter or book, which never fails to get a smile out of you.

Adding to the wonderful setting which Ai Yazawa builds for I’m No Angel, is its sublime illustration and design. Akira’s biker get-up gives the manga the perfect 90’s sweethearts style from page one. Midori’s attitude is portrayed in her constantly changing outfits, each cuter than the last. The rest of the cast rock bouncy and flowy hairstyles, stylish fits and adorable dresses. As in all her other works, Yazawa’s fashionista self wonderfully shines through.
But what is perhaps even more of a treat to the sight is the traditional illustration featured all across the manga. Yazawa’s apparent strokes and free movements give I’m No Angel’s art a special touch that differentiaties it not only from her other works, but also from her peers’. The distinct media used throughout, such as pencil, watercolor, marker and charcoal, perfectly capture the manga’s feeling.
_do open this image in a new tab and zoom in to view the art in all its glory_
Moreover, this makes for a great parallel between Midori and Yazawa herself, and Maki and Masashi, who all share a passion for drawing and art. All of Ai Yazawa’s most prominent manga have female leads and multiple side characters who make a living in the art field. This lets her portray the role that creativty plays in developing one’s identity, and how it shapes coming of age stories, as well as the more practical aspects of pursuing a career in the arts. Even though this is not prominently featured in I’m No Angel, it’s still nicely tied in at the end of the story, and represents this characteristic of Ai Yazawa that she would continue to highlight in her later works.

At times it does seem as if some apsects of I’m No Angel were sketches of what Yazawa would write later on. Subtle drama without it being unrealistic, and endearingly flawed characters are all throughout her works, but Midori and her story’s developments can be found to be a tad predictable, which diminishes the writing’s impact. However, I firmly believe that this does not take away from I’m No Angel being a perfectly warm, unbelievably sweet and inspiring read. In the end, I cannot ignore the fact that what I’m taking with me after finishing this read is a cheerful yet quiet and sheltering atmosphere and the lively and reassuring presence that is Midori.
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