Koi Cupid is a manga written and illustrated by Mia Ikumi, who's best known as the artist of Tokyo Mew Mew. The manga was serialized in Comic Digi from 2005 to 2008 and compiled into five volumes.
The story revolves around three young cupids, Ai, Ren, and Koi. Training to become full-fledged angels, they go on special missions to bring people together using The Power of Love.
However, it isn't as easy as one would think; sometimes the humans are uncooperative or disbelieving in the supernatural forces around them, or even about falling in love. Add in the demons, who work to break couples up and try to kill new cupids, and you have a recipe for potential disaster.
This manga contains examples of:
- All-Loving Hero: Ai can connect to almost anyone, and her greatest wish is to be friends with people. She even warms Lizette's heart.
- Applied Phlebotinum: Each cupid has a magical item to assist in bringing people together. Ai's is love letters, Koi's is a bow and arrow, and Ren's is scissors. It's subverted with Ai, whose magical item doesn't seem to do anything; she uses the letters as a symbol to let her complete the missions.
- Cat Girl: Lizette's demon outfit has cat ears, giving her this look in conjunction with Cute Little Fangs.
- Cats Are Mean: Lizette calls forth a cat familiar to eat the baby bird representing a couple's love; afterwards she gloats that they will never get along now.
- Cute Kitten:
- Sister Yuuri, the angel supervising the cupids, is a cat with two tails.
- Lizette's demon costume has cat ears, givign her this appearance.
- Honorifics: Ai talks in a childish way and most often uses the suffix -tan. Koi talks more formally, using the suffix -senpai.
- Our Angels Are Different: Some of the types of angels they can become are guardian angels, and grown-up cupids. Cupids exist to bring couples together so their baby can be born.
- The Power of Friendship: The cupids quickly forma bond of friendship as they work on their missions, sometimes helping one another solve problems.
- The Power of Love: The story revolves around cupids-in-training helping people fall in love.
- Red String of Fate: Literally, as strings are seen connecting people together. If necessary, the strings can be cut with magic scissors.
- Smug Super: Ren is a spoiled showoff, but completes her missions faster than anyone else.
- Sugar Bowl: The angel world is peaceful and happy all the time.
- Theme Naming: Ai, Ren and Koi are all words for "love", fitting their roles as cupids.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Ai is so convinced she and Lizette can be friends that she tries to walk her to the demon world, and even as she's almost dying from poison she expresses hope they could be friends.
- You're Nothing Without Your Phlebotinum: Cupids can't give up their pochettes; if they do they are disqualified from training. Lizette is aware of this, and says she'll be Ai's friend if she throws her pochette away. Ai attempts to do this and almost drowns trying to recover it.
