Angel Densetsu

Here’s the scene: The student council president has dispatched one of his minions to investigate Kitano, the student with a demonic face, suspecting that he plans to throw the school into chaos. The minion's strategy was to approach Kitano casually so as not to arouse suspicion. However, upon nearing Kitano, he catches sight of his face and detects murderous intent in his eyes. Kitano knows! He senses the minion is tailing him and is far from pleased. But the minion is paralyzed with fear as Kitano draws closer. His knees tremble as Kitano closes the gap between them, his eyes narrowing every second, reaching into his pocket for what the minion is almost certain will be a knife.

And then, when Kitano is barely 5 meters away, he lets out a blood-curdling scream and pulls the knife from his pocket. The minion can't move! He's like a rabbit frozen in headlights. He can't even bring himself to look at the knife Kitano drew. Then, without warning, Kitano lets out another banshee-like screech, and suddenly the minion feels life return to his legs. Without looking back, he turns and runs faster than ever before, fleeing the demon's potential attack.

Meanwhile, Kitano wipes his nose with the handkerchief he drew from his pocket and mumbles something about his cold making him sneeze a lot.

Legend of an Angel is a delinquent story about a kid named Kitano who has the face of a devil, causing everyone to think he's plotting to kill everyone and eat their faces for brunch. In reality, Kitano is a nice, if somewhat oblivious guy, just trying to make friends in his new school. What's great about the setup is that making the scary-faced guy normal doesn't detract from the inherent awesomeness of watching the supposed mind games unfold. All the mind games are worked out through the victim's mind rather than the scaremonger, allowing us to see his brilliant yet ridiculous plans play out regardless. Watching Kitano's legend build is hilarious whether the events are intentional or not.

Admittedly, it's not the cleverest humor in the world. The satire about appearances is pretty shallow and never really evolves beyond that. But the scenario is varied enough to remain funny. Plus, it has the good quality every running joke possesses: waiting for the inevitable to happen. When someone new claims they want to hunt down this Kitano guy they've heard so much about, I genuinely get excited at the prospect of seeing someone new react to Kitano.

There are a few problems. For one, the art is terrible. It doesn't necessarily need to be great for a gag comedy, but it shouldn't be this bad. Consider how much more effective Kitano's devilish glares from the shadows could look under a more skilled artist's pen. Often, Kitano looks more goofy than scary, and characters don't have a wide range of facial expressions. It does marginally improve over the series, but not significantly.

A far bigger problem is that the author clearly had no intention of having the story go on for that long. It's 15 volumes of a gag manga that really only has a single gag. Kitano does meet a few friends and some personality traits emerge, explaining why he draws people close to him, but soon all the characters stagnate. The more characters introduced, the clearer it becomes that the author is just trying to maintain the status quo.

The whole thing loses its shine, and I ended up not finishing the manga. That's not as harsh an indictment as it sounds though. It was still relatively enjoyable. I just realized I had gotten the most I was going to get out of it, and continuing would dampen my enjoyment of what had been a decent comedy manga. I probably would have enjoyed this more if I were a teenager, as Kitano embodies that Nice Guy quality we all like to think we have at that age. He's genuinely nice, wanting nothing but the best for others. His only real character flaw is social anxiety and major cluelessness, which is more personality than some bland protagonist. I don't mean this to sound degrading, but if you're a teenage boy, I highly recommend this.

Holy cow, this manga is the absolute funniest! It's slapstick comedy at its peak, paired with a generous dose of deadpan humor. The dynamic between Kuroda and Takehisa is side-splittingly funny. Cleverly written and intelligently crafted, this series is thoroughly enjoyable.
The artwork is superb, crisp, and unmistakable. (As one would expect from the artist behind Claymore)... highly recommended

Really, really enjoyed this one; finished it all in about two days. Seiichiro Kitano has the heart of an angel but the face of a demon. Essentially, he's an incredibly kind person who always thinks about others. However, due to his appearance (they made him look like an albino and people called him Devil-san), everyone is terrified of him and assumes he's a crazed heroin addict. This leads to some hilarious situations, especially when Kitano gets into bizarre misunderstandings. There are too many to list, but my favorites include when he chases after people to return their belongings and they run away, or when someone punches him, he tries to figure out what he might have done wrong. Watching people react to Kitano's face never gets old! I always felt bad for him, but it was HILARIOUS every single time. Despite him being portrayed as a scary guy, I found him adorable almost from the start. It's also amusing and wonderful how the characters around him gradually change their opinions about him. The story features some great friendships! It's touching how all the side characters, who were enemies or antagonists at first, eventually become friends after meeting Kitano. The art remains pretty poor throughout the series, but the writing is consistently solid. Very, very enjoyable.

Is it possible to have a protagonist whose face resembles the devil himself? In Angel Densetsu, it is. Follow the life of Kitano Seiichiro, a transfer student who unwittingly terrorizes his entire school.

Angel Densetsu is a comedy/school manga with a primary focus on humor. The story is quite generic: Kitano transfers to Hekikuu High School, where he is mistakenly thought to be a delinquent. This leads to encounters with thugs from his own school, quickly overwhelming them and spreading the legend of the devilish delinquent throughout the neighborhood. As a result, all the delinquent bosses from other schools challenge Hekikuu's boss, Kitano. This results in hilarious situations and amusing fight scenes; but this is only feasible due to his devil-like face, exceptional reflexes, and misunderstandings that instill pure fear in his opponents. Who wouldn't feel terror at the sight of a devil?

Beyond the daily life of Kitano and the residents of Hekikuu Town, there isn't much of a storyline. The jokes become somewhat predictable as the story progresses, but the episodic nature and introduction of new characters keep the manga fresh and enjoyable. Kitano's ongoing misunderstandings also lead to hilarious dialogues, causing others to further misinterpret him.

There is minimal character development in Angel Densetsu. However, this is compensated for by the constant introduction of new characters, each with their unique charm and perceptions of Kitano, though most share two common traits: they view the main character as the devil and are mostly stereotypical.

Secondary characters play a significant role in the manga, including Kitano's parents, martial artists' fathers, Killer Bear, among others. Without these characters, the manga would be less amusing. Combined with the introduction of new characters, the comedic aspect of Angel Densetsu shines brightly. There is little romance in the manga, though it influences certain characters' actions.

The manga's style is old and simplistic, typical of 90's manga with characteristic faces and hairstyles. The art improves as the story advances, mainly in terms of better character movements, facial expressions, and more consistent drawings. However, this results in low diversity in character appearances, making it harder to distinguish between characters. Despite this, the art style might deter some readers, but I found it wasn't an issue as the comedy kept me engaged.

Angel Densetsu was certainly a very enjoyable manga, featuring an interesting concept of a devil-faced main character, different from today's handsome protagonists. The exaggerated expressions and jokes may become old and predictable, but they kept me entertained throughout the series. If you enjoy comedy, this manga might be perfect for you.

Thanks for reading.