Daisuke Niwa

nihongo|Daisuke Niwa|丹羽 大助|Niwa Daisuke is the main character of the anime and manga D.N.Angel. Daisuke, in the Japanese version of the anime, is voiced by seiyū Miyu Irino, and the younger version by Tomoko Kaneda. In the English dub he was voiced by the talents of Kevin Corn. In the Wink drama CDs, he's voiced by Soichiro Hoshi.

Basic information

The 14 year old hero of the story, a typical school boy who has a crush on a girl at his school, Harada Risa. He has inherited the Niwa family's genetic curse whereby, after his 14th birthday, his "love gene" activates: whenever he experiences feelings of love or intimacy, he turns into the phantom thief Dark. Very adorable and kind-hearted, he is the opposite of Dark and is always trying to stop Dark from doing crazy stunts. Later on in the series, he falls in love with the older twin sister, Harada Riku. Even if he doesn't look or act like it, Daisuke is very athletic and perceptive and can jump from heights that a normal boy could never be able to do.He is said to have the 'Blood of Thieves' flowing inside him, the Niwa's. He faces daily life-threatening trials from merely entering his home. One of his best skills is his keen ability to pick any kind of mechanical or electronic lock.

Love life

Like all other teenagers, Daisuke is feeling the first twinges of love. One of the girls in his class, Risa, has captivated his heart and mind, even though she rejects him on his 14th birthday by saying that he is a really good friend to her. Daisuke had wanted to pass her a love letter declaring his love for her, but after her sentence of "rejection", he gave up the letter, heartbroken. Nevertheless, he tries to gain Risa's affection, only to fail again and again because of Dark. Later on, however, he falls for Riku, Risa's twin sister, and he and Riku are now together.

The problem is Daisuke changes into Dark whenever he has romantic feelings. Even a picture would trigger his emotions causing him to transform into Dark. In the anime, Dark liked Risa because Risa resembles her grandmother, Rika, whom he fell in love with 40 years ago. Risa adored Dark the moment she saw him on television.

Family and friends

Daisuke is well liked at school and in his home town. He is good friends with Takeshi Saehara and Sekimoto, who he is often seen with earlier in the manga. Daisuke resides with his eccentric mother, Niwa Emiko his father Kosuke Niwa and grandfather, Niwa Daiki, who transform their home into a training ground to prepare Daisuke for his destiny to become Phantom Thief Dark, which is the Niwa fate.

Later on in the series, his father appears as a guide and protector. His father is extremely knowledgeable in magic, and tries to use his knowledge to help Daisuke.

Secrets

Unlike other teenagers, Daisuke must deal with an inherited family secret. All the males in the Niwa family have a gene that matures on the fourteenth birthday and is activated with feelings of love. For generations, members of his family have transformed into the fabled thief, Phantom Dark. Once Dark has been introduced, Daisuke must share his existence with this darker, legendary aspect of his family tradition.

But the catch is Dark will never go away until Daisuke's "holy maiden" returns his love for him.

Trivia

His given name, "Daisuke" (大助) comes from his grandfather's "Dai" (大) and his father's "Suke" (助).

The family last name, "Niwa" (丹羽), is made up with the kanji character for 'rust-colored' and 'feathers'.

The title name D.N.Angel can be seen as either "D.N.A"(a reference to the inherited curse of Dark/Krad) or as "Daisuke Niwa Angel".

Recently in the Manga

In volume 11, Daisuke has been having feelings of anger ever since Argentine kidnapped Risa. He promises he will save her, although Dark tells him that he won't be able to help him due to those feelings, saying they are too dangerous. Then at the end of the volume, Daisuke is looking in Riku's window, saying how he wants to see her, but Risa is the one that needs his help right now. When he looks down at the bottom of the tree, he sees Satoshi, who tells him that he knows where Argentine is and offers to take Daisuke with him. When the story was picked up again in the February 24th issue of Asuka, Daisuke hesitates at the offer, mainly because of Dark, who is unsure of accepting this, but finally agrees to go with him. Back at the Niwa house, Emiko and Daiki also are unsure of Daisuke going, as Satoshi is a Hikari. Kousuke then steps in to give him a break, while Daisuke explains that since the Hikari are the ones who created Argentine, Satoshi must know something, also saying that he is his friend, despite the feud their families have. When Daisuke is alone in his bedroom, he starts talking to Dark, who is still worried about Daisuke and Satoshi's agreement. Daisuke reassures him and then looks out the window at the sky, swearing to save Risa no matter what it took.

While setting out to rescue Risa, Satoshi confesses to him that the Hikari family are short-lived, and believes that he has not 'much longer to live' and will die soon, greatly upsetting Daisuke.

DNAngel Vol.12 Ch.001.3: Stage. 3 Vol. 19 -

Satoshi: "The members of my family...don't live very long lives. We're 'short-lived', in other words. My mother, for example, passed away when she was still very young, and the same will most likely hold true for myself, as well. I don't think I have much longer to live."

Daisuke: "No...what are you trying to say?! 'Short-lived'...you can't mean that, Hiwatari-kun! Tell me! This is some kind of joke, right?!"

Satoshi: "If only...I could say that much..."

Daisuke: "..."

Daisuke: "It's a lie...Hiwatari-kun, please...PLEASE TELL ME YOU'RE LYING!!"

Wings

In the anime, Daisuke briefly obtains wings by hovering his hand over Wiz's/With's head causing With to turn into a pair of wings. Dark knows growing wings during every mission would hurt Daisuke so he always used Wiz/With. Unfortunately in the last episode, an earthquake happened so suddenly that Riku was about to fall to her death off of the city's fountain, Daisuke jumped after her and caught her. Now both falling, in mid-air he promises he'll protect her. In need of wings, Wiz/With is not there so he pleads to himself, "Give me wings!" and wings (same red color as his hair) burst from his back (which apparently was quite painful). However, in seconds his body will not allow him to keep this form, so he turns into Dark. In the manga Daisuke is able to obtain his own wings in a single frame after Risa is kidnapped. As in the anime Daisuke soon turns into Dark, however because the transformation was forced by Daisuke's outrage, Daisuke's body is unable to handle the transformation or the wings and he soon reverts to normal and falls to the earth. [http://sl.glitter-graphics.net/pub/93/93095i4v63tzyha.gif]