A Devil and Her Love Song (Akuma to Love Song in Japanese) is a shojo manga series created by Miyoshi Tomori.
The story revolves around an unusual and shockingly beautiful girl named Kawai Maria who was expelled from her previous school for "violence against a teacher", and soon transfers to Touzuka High School, a public school with low standards. Her sharp tongue and straightforward personality often leads everyone else to hate her with the exception of two boys, Shin Meguro & Yuusuke Kanda, who eventually get involved with her. With a devil's aura like hers and an arrogant facade to pair it up with, it's just too hard to be understood. And so Maria needs to deal with bullying, adjusting, fitting in and romance.
The series was published from 2007 to 2011 in Japan in the bimonthly Margaret magazine, compiled in a total of 13 volumes. In the US, it is being licensed and translated by Viz Media. It's also available in Spain and France.
This series provides examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: Maria's class' homeroom teacher makes no effort in stopping the bullies that attack her, and even comments about how she deserves it for having such an arrogant aura.
- While they still pay for their apartment, Maria's grandfather hates her and considers her to be a bearer of disgraces, her grandmother seems to care for her but doesn't do anything. Considering they left their pregnant, single teen daughter to handle herself with a kid while coping with depression symptoms after being raped, it's amazing no one has reported them already.
- Affectionate Nickname: Maria names the pair of shoes Meguro bought for her "Augustine". When she starts dreaming with a teddy bear from her childhood, it's revealed she calls any object precious to her "Augustine".
- After-School Cleaning Duty: Used for bullying.
- Almost Kiss: See Forceful Kiss below.
- All Love Is Unrequited: By the end of the story, Ayu is still very much in love with Kanda, although she's aware her feelings won't be reciprocated. He still loves Maria, even if now she and Meguro are dating.
- Alpha Bitch: Ayu Nakamura: she's blonde, she's the leader of her group of friends, and during the first chapters she won't doubt in making Maria suffer in any way possible. After ongoing Character Development, she ends up becoming a Lovable Alpha Bitch.
- Amazing Freaking Grace: A song sung often by Maria.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: It's a shoujo manga, what would you expect?
- In fact, it's as if all the secondary female characters are out to screw Maria over in the cruelest way possible. At first.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Ayu is the blonde, Tomoyo the brunette and Maria the redhead.
- But Not Too Foreign: Maria's father is an American, making her a half-blood.
- But Now I Must Go: At the end of her arc, Anna leaves without further explanation, leaving only a cross behind. Maria receives a letter from her later, where she explains she's now living in America with her parents.
- Caught the Heart on His Sleeve
- Child by Rape: Maria.
- Concert Climax: Twice.
- Christianity is Catholic: Never outright stated, but considering the symbolism around Virgin Mary this is the most probable option.
- Cross-Popping Veins: Meguro, when he gets annoyed.
- Curtains Match the Window: Maria.
- Cute Mute: Anna.
- Maria, after her suicide attempt until she made up with Meguro.
- Declaration of Protection: Both Kanda and Meguro, especially Meguro. Not that Maria can't protect herself, she does so pretty well with her straightforward personality, but Meguro tells her he will always stand by her side no matter what. Also in recent translated chapters Meguro rejects Maria's confession in order to protect her from the 'truth' about her mother's death. According to Anna, Maria remembers nothing of it.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Maria.
- Driven to Suicide: Maria's mother killed herself in her child's arms. Anna attempted to cut her veins, but didn't succeed. Maria also attempts to do this at one point, feeling guilty for causing so much unhappiness.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Everyone finds their own dream to accomplish after graduating and decide to stay together as friends even after leaving school. Meguro is in America, but he's still very much in love with Maria and both will wait until they're older to settle their relationship. However, Ayu and Kanda's feelings aren't reciprocated, and they feel quite bitter about it.
- Elegant Classical Musician: Meguro plays the piano and is quite a prodigy, but he doesn't do any concerts because his father is a famous pianist and doesn't want people to think he's favored by this. Later he starts playing in the same choir as Maria and Anna, and even has concerts on his own.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: Maria is sometimes dressed like this in cover art & such.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: How a lot of people sees Maria. It's how she gets the nickname "Devil Maria".
- Forceful Kiss: A (failed) attempt by Kuros to Maria. Later, Meguro succeeds.
- And then Maria to Meguro.
- Game-Breaking Injury: Meguro cuts his hand with the school's piano chords, making him unable to keep playing. Although it can heal, he always forces himself and makes the injury open again. It's heavily implied that he could permanently lose usage of his hand, and even with therapy, he might not be as great as a piano player as he is now.
- Girl Posse: Ayu Nakamura and her friends.
- I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship: Maria towards Meguro.
- Informed Attractiveness: Maria is appreciated as beautiful by everyone who surrounds her, although everyone considers her a beautiful demon after knowing her better.
- In-Series Nickname: Tomoyo is called Nippachi as a reference to her low grades (Nipacchi = 21). Later, Maria gets Akumaria (a pun on akuma, "demon", and her name) and Kurosu gets Erosu (a pun on his surname and Eros, the Greek god of love).
- Japanese Christian: Subverted. Maria went to a Catholic school, but she isn't particularly connected to the faith until the end of the series.
- Jerkass: The story has its set of them, but none stands out more than the teacher. He is an inconsiderate jerk and deliberately overlooks the bullying to Maria. He then passes a
Moral Event Horizon when he deliberately pours ink on Maria while she is wearing her performance dress, accuses her of ditching the performances when she does not show up, when she does show up he accuses everyone of his students that they could have done it because of their history with Maria, and then after the resulting chaos he quietly admits to Maria he did do it, claiming it was an accident, but would only admit if she apologized to him. What a great teacher, huh? - Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Meguro, ultimately also Ayu Nakamura.
- Keet: Kanda, so very much. He's usually the chirpiest out of the bunch.
- Kids Are Cruel: More like highschool girls are cruel.
- Love Dodecahedron: Kanda and Meguro fall in love with Maria, with Kurosu later joining as a third love interest and taking Kanda's place in the Love Triangle when he gives up on her. Both Maria and Anna end up falling in love with Meguro, while Ayu bullied Maria because she has a crush on Kanda.
- Meaningful Name: Lampshaded: Maria's surname, Kawai, can mean "cute" if another i is added, but everyone complains about how it doesn't fit her. Played straight with her first name (her character was inspired by Mary Margaret from The Bible) and with Kurosu (his surname means "cross", and he's a priest's son)
- What is the name of Maria's biological father? John Cross, and he's a priest.
- Meido: The girls (and Kanda) dress as this for their class' cafe at the school festival.
- My God, What Have I Done?: John Cross never forgave himself for what he did to Maria's mother, and joined the priesthood to atone for his sins.
- New Transfer Student: Maria in chapter 1. She was transferred to another school because she had hit a teacher in her old one. Her new classmates didn't welcome her so much in the beginning...
- No Sense of Personal Space: Kurosu is always trying to get as close to Maria as possible to hug her.
- Parental Abandonment: Maria lives by herself, since her mother's dead and she doesn't know her father. However, her grandparents pay for her living expenses, and her father ensured she was never lonely by sending her books through a nanny.
- Pedophile Priest: John Cross is a subverted one: he raped Maria's mother when she was a teenager, but at the time he wasn't a priest. He joined the faith as a way to redeem himself once he realized what he'd done.
- Perky Goth: Tomoyo. Maria looks like she should be this but she likes fluffy, white, angelic things.
- Pick on Someone Your Own Size: Maria's class' homeroom teacher.
- Rape Leads to Insanity: Maria's mother eventually fell into depression and committed suicide for being unable to cope with the pressure of raising her child as a raped teenager.
- Real Men Hate Sugar: Meguro, much to Maria's dismay.
- Redemption Demotion: Ayu becomes part of Maria's group after she's forgiven, but doesn't get as much spotlight as the others. Anna disappears from the plot almost altogether, as well as Hana.
- Sailor Fuku: Totsuka's school uniform.
- Sarcastic Confession: Kanda's declaration of love. Twice.
- Shrinking Violet: Tomoyo.
- Split-Screen Reaction
- Stalker with a Crush: Maria considers herself to be one in the past. For Anna.
- Kurosu at first, although he's later acknoledged by Maria and joins her group of friends.
- Stepford Smiler: Kanda, but Maria sees through it.
- Stock Shoujo Bullying Tactics: Maria has her uniform ripped up and used as a flag, and balloons of ink put into her school shoes.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Maria.
- Super-Deformed: Kanda does this a lot when being overly friendly.
- Sweet Tooth: Maria likes obscenely sugary foods.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Meguro.
- Tareme Eyes: May apply to Hana and Anna. Looks can be deceiving though.
- Teen Pregnancy: Maria's mother was raped and got pregnant when she was fourteen.
- Those Two Guys: A female example: Keiko and Asami, the two girls from the brass band, are always seen together.
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Young Maria when her mother died.
- Tsundere: Meguro and, to a lesser extent, Maria. Most obviously, though, Ayu, once she starts getting along with Maria.
- Unusual Eyebrows: Hana Ibuki. Probably her most noticeable feature.
- Yandere: Anna, though her violent and manipulative tendencies might be for more reasons than just Meguro.
