Pita-Ten is a manga created by Koge-Donbo, who's also known for her work on Di Gi Charat. The manga ran in Dengeki Comic Gao! from 1999 to 2003, with an anime adaptation that aired in 2002 for 26 episodes. It was also adapted into a three-volume series of Light Novels, illustrated by Koge-Donbo and written by Yukari Ochiai.
Kotarou Higuchi, a classical Ordinary Grade School Student suffering from Parental Abandonment, suddenly finds himself glomped by his new neighbor, a Verbal Tic-afflicted Ditzy Genki Girl girl named Misha. She assures him that she is an angel in training and she is on Earth to take care of him. She then proceeds to demonstrate it enrolling in his same school (although since she is seemingly older and assigned to the Middle School section, she still escapes to the elementary wing to watch over Kotarou), following and glomping him at the minor chance and often without excuse, for amusement of Kotarou's best friend Takashi Ayanokouji (aka Ten-chan). This is to the great annoyance of Koboshi Uematsu, a girl who has a crush on Kotarou, who immediately sees Misha as a rival.
Complications (and hilarity) ensues when, after Kotarou discovers that Misha is really an angel, a demon apprentice named Shia arrives in town. But, while Misha is just inefficient as an angel, Shia is absolutely awful as a demon, since she is anemic, sweet, considerate, and a perfect House Wife. Then, when Misha and Shia move in together, even with both girls being aware of each other's identity and alignment, it doesn't take long to predict that things are not going to end well.
This series is incredibly sweet and light-hearted, even with the dark past of almost all the cast.
The anime was available to watch on Tubi for a time, though it only had the Japanese version with English subtitles. It's since been removed, however.
This series provides examples of:
- The Ace: Ten-chan. He consistently has the highest marks in class, is good at sports, and a lot of girls have crushes on him due to his good looks, not to mention his energetic and friendly personality. However, he reveals that he actually works very hard to achieve such high marks.
- All of the Other Reindeer: The villagers to Kotaroh.
- All There in the Manual: The third light novel (which was never translated) reveals Nya's real name: Klaus Rosenberg.
- Alternate Continuity: The anime is separate from everything else.
- Animal-Eared Headband: Koboshi always wears a pair of fake cat ears. She takes them off in the last chapter of the manga.
- Ascended Extra: The Mitarai siblings appear much more often in the anime than in the manga.
- Beach Episode: Anime episode 18.
- Been There, Shaped History: Although the Great Kanto Earthquake started as a natural earthquake, it would have been much less severe had Shia not snapped during it.
- Berserk Button: Don't hurt Taro. Shia will go on a rampage.
- Big Ball of Violence: These tend to show up every so often in the anime.
- Bishie Sparkle
- Bittersweet Ending: The manga.
Very much. Kotarou is separated from Misha, but does so on his own terms and finally gains the strength to start living his own life. He doesn't get the girl but he becomes a better person than he was at the start of the series. - Blessed with Suck: Kotaroh's ability to see the supernatural and predict death.
- Bunnies for Cuteness: Misha wears bunny shaped hair decorations which signify her childish and cute characterization.
- But Now I Must Go: More like But Now You Must Go, when in the manga Kotarou asks Misha to use her magic to take away his ability to see the supernatural, meaning they won't be able to see each other anymore.
- Canon Foreigner
- Cat Girl: Nya turns Kaoru into one via Demonic Possession in anime episode 17.
- Cats Are Mean: Nya, a ranking demon, spends most of the series (in the anime, the entire series) in the body of a black cat.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Misha.
- Death Course: The Mitarais' Big Fancy House features one for Hiroshi's "training."
- Deadpan Snarker: Kotarou.
- The Ditz: Misha.
- Doom Magnet: Shima laments that misfortune is drawn to her throughout the flashbacks involving her. Taro doesn't care.
- Dream Melody: The song in the manga. Well, the lyrics, anyway.
- Driven to Suicide: Kotaroh in the manga.
- Education Mama: Ten-chan is a victim of this.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: Shia and Misha's sense of fashion falls here, as they both wear dark-colored dresses with numerous frills.
- Elevator School: The main characters' school is apparently this; most of the cast goes to the elementary school, but Misha goes to the middle school, which is located in a separate building but has the same uniform.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: Well, embarrassing last name: Mitarai means 'toilet'. This leads to nicknames like Poops.
- Expressive Accessory: Misha's rabbit hair decorations will sometimes mirror her emotions.
- Fate Worse than Death: Failure to pass the angel or demon exams will result in Misha or Shia to be deleted from existence and all memories of them expunged.
- First Girl Wins: Manga-only, subverted; Kotaru knew Koboshi first, but Misha is introduced to the readers first.
- The Glomp: Misha is very quick to do it to Kotarou. Heck, the title is a contraction of Pittari Tenshi, or Clinging Angel!
- Good Colors, Evil Colors: Misha (angel apprentice) wears a black dress and (demon apprentice) Shia's devilish outfit is mostly white, but when we see (full angel) Sasha's white dress a possible explanation is both Heaven and Hell dress their younger members with the colors of the "Other Side".
- Subversion when off the job, with Misha's school outfit and Shia's maid uniform
- Also a subversion in the manga, Misha is forced to wear black as punishment for supposedly driving someone to suicide. Shia's apparently just so non-evil that she likes wearing white.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Kotaroh and the first Shino are half-demon. Kotarou and Shino are descended from the first Shino and as such are about one-eighth demon.
- Halloween Episode: The manga chapter How to Enjoy Halloween.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Misha and Shia, in a way.
- Hot Springs Episode:
- The manga chapters How to Enjoy Oneself at the Hot Springs: Part 1 and How to Enjoy Oneself at the Hot Springs: Part 2
- Anime episode 4.
- The fancomic The Aurora Borealis Plot (included in the Pita-Ten Official Fan Book Vol. 3) is a minor one.
- How We Got Here: The first light novel, How to Spend a Day Slightly in the Past, consists of four such flashbacks with a Framing Device.
- I Am a Monster: Shima/Shia has one of these moments after her rampage at seeing Taro hurt after the Great Kanto Earthquake. She tells Taro to forget about her, but he tells her he loves her and will never leave her.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The "lessons" (chapters/episodes) are all named How to ____.
- Important Haircut: Koboshi in the manga.
- Instructional Title: The "lessons" (chapters/episodes) are all named How to ____.
- Invisible to Normals: All supernatural beings. Misha and Shia can be seen because they have fallen to a level that low, and others can only be seen by Kotarou and Shino due to their demon heritage.
- Kawaiiko: Koboshi and Kaoru try to be ones, with varying degrees of success. Misha is genuinely one, and is perceived as annoying by the above mentioned.
- I Will Wait for You: Taro.
- KidAnova: Ten-chan. It's also implied that he's a budding Bishounen.
- Kid Samurai: Hiroshi.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Shia.
- Likes Older Women: Ten-chan and his infatuation with Shia, who may or may not be Really 700 Years Old, but is significantly older than him in any case. Even not counting that, Ten-chan is STILL a 12 year old boy who ends up seriously perusing a relationship with a girl who physically appears to be 19.
- Living with the Villain: Deliciously lampshaded and subverted, since Misha and Shia don't see each other as enemies, even if as a race, they must... but again, both are the most ineffective members of their respective groups, so...
- Love Dodecahedron
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Misha. Deconstructed in the manga. Misha's affection for Kotarou isn't because of Kotarou himself, but rather because he's the reincarnation of a boy whose death was blamed on her and caused her shame, imprisonment, and misery for decades. She's infatuated with Kotarou because she believes all her problems will go away if she makes him happy- and because if she fails to do so, she will be Unpersoned.
- Mentors: Sasha for Misha, and Nya for Shia.
- Minion with an F in Evil: Shia, who can't stop being nice. When she tries to be evil all she does is Poke the Poodle.
- Nerd Glasses: Hiroshi.
- New Transfer Student: Misha.
- Noble Demon: Nya and Shia, in a way. Shia just embodies the "noble" part, however.
- No Name Given: Nya, until the third light novel.
- Older Than They Look: Koboshi is just short.
- One-Winged Angel: Shima/Shia goes into this mode when the Great Kanto Earthquake hits and injures Taro.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Nya, until the third light novel revealed him to be named Klaus Rosenberg.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Hiroshi's attitude against Ten-chan. In exchange, Ten-chan mostly ignores Hiroshi.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Kotarou, even though he's only in 6th grade.
- Our Angels Are Different
- Our Demons Are Different
-
Overtook the Manga - Paper Fan of Doom: Koboshi's weapon of choice.
- Parental Abandonment: Kotarou lost his mother in an accident, and his father often works until late hours.
- Pensieve Flashback: The main source of Exposition in later chapters. * Post-Episode Trailer
- Really 700 Years Old: Misha, Sasha, and Shia.
- Reincarnation Romance: Manga-only.
- Sexy Santa Dress: Misha's outfit in one piece of Side-Story Bonus Art (the Pita-Ten 2001 School Calendar's December illustration, also included in the Pita-Ten Artbook).
- Sick Episode: The fancomics The Day I Caught a Cold and How to Stay Home (both included in the Pita-Ten Official Fan Book Vol. 1).
- Sitcom Archnemesis: The Mitarai siblings are this, not only to Kotarou and his friends, but to each other on occasion.
- Snow Means Death
- Spooky Photographs: At the end of the second light novel, How to Protect Those Dear to You.
- The Stoic
- Super-Deformed
- Tag Along Kid: Shino
- Tokyo Tower
- Translation Convention: To differentiate the main character 湖太郎 (Kotarou) from his ancestor 小太郎 (also Kotarou), the second is spelled Kotaroh in Tokyopop's translation.
- A Twinkle in the Sky: Hiroshi get this treatment occasionally.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Koboshi.
- Unusual Ears: Koboshi. The cat ears are really a headband, but still.
- Vacation Episode: The second light novel, How to Protect Those Dear to You.
- Verbal Tic: Misha, with "~su".
- The 'Verse: Pita-Ten shares a universe with Koge-Donbo's one-volume manga Yoki Koto Kiku. Shima, along with Nya (apparently as a normal cat), appears in chapters five and six of Yoki Koto Kiku.
- Weight Woe: Koboshi gets this in one episode in an attempt to be more feminine.
- What Have I Become?: Shima/Shia finally decides to leave for the demon world when she nearly kills her own son to take his life force.
- Whole Episode Flashback:
- The novel stories How to Make Friends, How to Laugh It Up in Heaven, How to Meet People in the Human World and How to Defeat Your Rivals (all included in the first light novel, How to Spend a Day Slightly in the Past).
- The manga chapters How to Peek Upon an Unknown Time Part 1, How to Peek Into an Unknown Time: Part 2, How to Find What You're Looking For: Part 2, How to Find What You're Looking For: Part 3 and How to Find What You're Looking For: Part 4.
- Winged Humanoid: Misha and her sister Sasha, both being angels.
- Wrecked Weapon: The top of Shia's staff gets broken during the Hot Springs Episode. In the manga she keeps it anyway; in the anime it isn't seen again.
- Yandere: Koboshi is a mild version.
- You Are Too Late: A more tragic version in the manga: Shia finally regains her memories of her time as Shima, and her promise to return to Taro, only to find that he has already died.
