Dr. Shuichiro Kudo is walking home one night when he saves a small, winged child named Kohaku from a crow. In return for its rescue, the "child" reveals itself to be an angel, and offers to grant him one wish. However, what does a man who has everything wish for? Thus, Kohaku decides to stay with Shuichiro until he decides on a wish, as well as complete its original mission of find the missing Angel Master of Wind, Hisui.
A shoujo manga by CLAMP which ran in Mystery DX from 1995 to 1998, it was animated in a short music video as well as recorded as a drama cd.
If you were looking for the tropes involving wishes, see Make a Wish and Be Careful What You Wish For. If you're looking for the company, see here.
Tropes:
- Beauty Equals Goodness: The angels. Also Hotaru, who Kohaku marked as good for having a beautiful smile.
- Break the Cutie: Kohaku gets hit hard with this one. As punishment for abandoning heaven to return to Shuichiro, she loses all her spells and must remain in her Sleep-Mode Size for the next hundred years. And just when it seems she's about to accept this, Shuichiro drops dead in the street, right in front of her.
- Calling The Angel Master Out: When Shuichiro and Kohaku finally find Hisui in the first volume, Shuichiro demands Hisui give Kohaku a proper explanation as to why she disappeared and why she refuses to return to heaven, saying that after all the trouble Kohaku went through, Hisui owes her student at least that much. Hisui complies.
- Cats Are Mean:
- Played with in the case of Ruri and Hari; while they're Koryu's lackeys, they're technically Cat Girls and not all that mean.
- Shinju is a much straighter example than Ruri or Hari. Every time he sees Shuichiro, he tries to bite him. Because he's in love with Kohaku as well, and considers Shuichiro his rival.
- Celestial Deadline: Angels-in-training, like Kohaku, can assume an adult form during the day while on Earth, but must be in a chibi form at night, while demons-in-training, like Koryu, can only assume their adult form during the night. If they fully master all magic, they can keep their adult forms all the time. The Cat Girl twins Ruri and Hari assume the forms of cats during the day, suggesting that they are bound by this law as well.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: The Angel Master of Fire, Ryuuki, over Hisui. While he grows to accept that Hisui loves Kokuyo and wants to stay with him, he vows to hate Kokuyo forever.
- Creepy Crows: Koryu seems to have some control over them. He's the one responsible for sending that crow after Kohaku at the start of the story.
- Crossover: With fellow CLAMP mangas, Drug & Drop and Kobato..
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Kohaku is very klutzy.
- Death by Falling Over: In the last volume, Shuichiro abruptly and unceremoniously drops dead in the middle of the street. While tying his shoe.
- Deep Sleep: Kohaku enters this after Shuichiro's death, so she can safely wait out the hundred years it will take for his reincarnated soul to return to her.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Everyone is bewildered by the harshness of the punishment Kohaku is given for abandoning Heaven against God's wishes, even the demons. It's later revealed that God hadn't done this to punish Kohaku at all.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: The four Angel Masters each hold power over a specific element.
- Playing with Fire: Ryuuki.
- Making a Splash: Touki.
- Dishing Out Dirt: Ransho.
- Blow You Away: Hisui.
- Elopement: This is why Hisui disappeared; as she had eloped to Earth with none other than the son of Satan, Kokuyo.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: In the Distant Finale, Hisui wears her hair differently to show that a lot of time has passed. Surprisingly, she's the only one really affected by this trope, unless you count Shuichiro's reincarnation.
- Expy:
- It's widely speculated that Clamp loosely adapted Wish from their JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fan manga back when they drew doujinshi, since Shuichiro and Kohaku very strongly resemble Jotaro Kujo and Noriaki Kakyoin, respectively; Kohaku's hairstyle is almost identical to Kakyoin's.
- There's also Shinichiro, who has a strong resemblance to Joseph Joestar.
- Face Palm: Kokuyo did this after learning that the angel he'd just slept with was in fact one of the Angel Masters. Oops.
- Fauxshadowing: Most of the details Kohaku learns about Shuichiro's past, and in particular his uncanny resemblance to Kokuyo, turn out to mean nothing whatsoever to the plot in the end.
- Female Angel, Male Demon: English translation only, and only for convenience of pronouns, but still present. And even then it's inconsistent at points - for instance, the Angel Master of Earth, Ransho, is given male pronouns, and the Angel Master of Fire actually bounces between the two genders on occasion. There's also Ruri and Hari, who are most definitely female demons.
- Foreshadowing: Subtly done. Hotaru says that when she realized when her beloved Shusuke was going to die, she couldn't bring herself to smile and truly be happy even when she was by his side. Later, it's revealed that God had prevented Kokuyo from telling Kohaku about Shuichiro's approaching death because He wanted his favorite angel to maintain her happiness for as long as possible.
- The cat Shinju, who previously would hiss and try to bite Shuichiro due to seeing him as a rival for Kohaku's affection, gives Shuichiro's hand a lick and looks sadly at him instead of attacking him the very night that Shuichiro dies.
- Friend to All Children: Shuichiro is a pediatrician, and very well-liked by his patients at the hospital.
- Friend to All Living Things: Kohaku. To the point of being unable to even see a dead animal (ergo human food) without passing out.
- God Is Evil: Subverted: God's punishment on Kohaku for leaving heaven is seen as amazingly harsh by all of the characters, until it is later revealed that this is to ensure his meeting with Shuichiro's reincarnation 100 years afterward. So...God Is Good, only very mysterious.
- God also seems to accept the relationship between an Angel Master and the son of the Devil, at least by the end of the story.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Downplayed with Shuichiro. He frequently goes out to pick up cigarettes, but is never seen actually smoking.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Kohaku is the purest of all angel, good and innocence incarnated and has shimmering golden hair. Hisui is a downplayed version, as he has dirt-blonde hair in a few illustrations, to show that while good, Hisui's more mature and worldwise than the naive Kohaku.
- Hand Gagging: Kokuyo does this to Koryu a few times. In the first volume, Ruri and Hari do it to each other in order to stay hidden while they spy on Shuichiro and Kohaku.
- He Is All Grown Up: In the Distant Finale, we learn that Koryu has managed to fully master his magic and is no longer bound by the Celestial Deadline, meaning he can now maintain his full-size form around the clock.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Hotaru sacrifices her life in order to bring Kohaku back to the present, after Kouryu left her behind in the past. Thanks to this, her tree died in the present as well.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: Koryu lives to make Kohaku miserable, but when God strips Kohaku of all her spells and forces her into cherubim form for the next hundred years as punishment for leaving Heaven without permission, he's enraged on her behalf.
- I Will Find You: Kohaku first came to Earth in order to find Hisui.
- I Will Wait for You: After Shuichiro dies, Kohaku decides to wait for his reincarnated soul to be reborn and return to her - even if it means she will have to wait a hundred years.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: Hari has round bangles on her jewelry, while Ruri's are rod-shaped. As cats they wear the bangles in their ears instead.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Kohaku again. His role in Heaven requires this - he sings to the Tree of Life so that new angels may be born from it. He's the only current angel with this power.
- Karma Houdini: Downplayed. Koryu's abandoning Kohaku in the past directly leads to Hotaru's death. No one directly calls him out for it, but it's implied Kokuyo later punishes him offscreen for the trouble he caused.
- Kimono Is Traditional: Hotaru. It's one of the many things that make her stand out from the rest of the characters in the story.
- Killed Off for Real:
- Hotaru dies after using the last of her power to help Kohaku return to the present time.
- Subverted with Shuichiro, whose soul reincarnates a hundred years later.
- Kissing Cousins: Koryuu was Kokuyo's lover and sort-of Stalker with a Crush, until Kokuyo met Hisui.
- Ladykiller in Love: Kokuyo appears to have had had quite the reputation as a player before meeting Hisui. They get together several times over several bridge meetings, and he never even bothers to ask for her name until after they make love.
- Life Will Kill You: Shuichiro ends up collapsing and dying, presumably from a disease.
- Love at First Sight: Kokuyo and Hisui merely glanced at each other for a few minutes at the Bridge, and it was enough for them to fall in love.
- Loving Bully: Koryu to Kohaku. Ruri and Hari even point this out, much to Koryu's annoyance.
- Meaningful Name: The name Kohaku gives to Sango the cat's Split Personality is Shinju, because he's beautiful and white like a pearl. Both names qualify for the Rock Theme Naming listed below, as well, as Sango means "coral".
- Naïve Newcomer: It's heavily implied that Hisui had only recently become an Angel Master when she met Kokuyo, and she didn't immediately see anything wrong with having slept with him.
- No Biological Sex: The angels. See Pronoun Trouble.
- Omake: Each manga volume has specific bonus chapters giving insight in the characters, and letting CLAMP show off how much they like the booze.
- Only One Name: Everyone except Shuichiro, in virtue of being a bunch of supernatural beings.
- Opposites Attract: Hisui, an Angel Master and Kokuyo, the prince of hell. Also the Perpetual Frowner and borderline Lack of Empathy Touki is in love with Keet and kinda Cloud Cuckoolander Ransho.
- Our Angels Are Different: The four Angel Masters are all higher-power angels who report directly to God, and each one has control over one of the four elements of nature. Kohaku's role in heaven is basically that of a mother - nurturing the tree of life so that new angels may be born from it.
- Our Demons Are Different: Demons get their energy by feeding on human souls, and because of this they can sense when a human is near death. Also, even though Kokuyo is the son of Satan and the Prince of Hell, he's nowhere near as cruel and horrible as someone in that position might normally be depicted. His cousin Koryu is more like a typical Jerkass prankster who loves to target Kohaku, but as the story progresses his character develops to the point where he genuinely shows sympathy for her.
- Our Fairies Are Different: Hotaru. Though she can assume a human form, she's very delicate and can't even walk on her own.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Shinichiro, Shuichiro's grandfather. He lampshades this in his final appearance while mourning the fact that he's outlived his grandson as well.
- Perky Female Minions: Koryu has two of them, and they completely adore him.
- Poor Communication Kills: Played with. Though Kokuyo tries so hard to avert this by making repeat attempts to tell someone that Shuichiro is destined to die very soon, he's interrupted every time. God was directly intervening in his attempts to reveal this information, which could not be reversed or changed, so that Kohaku could maintain her happiness for as long as possible.
- Prone to Tears: It doesn't take much to make Kohaku cry, much to Koryu's delight.
- Pronoun Trouble: While CLAMP followed the general rule of 'angels are genderless', Tokyopop chose to give all angels female pronouns, leading to some
Les Yay moments. - Red String of Fate: This motif first showed when Hotaru rejects Shuichiro declaring she's not the person attached to the other side of his string. Later appears again when Shuichiro confesses his love for Kohaku, declaring her the person attached to his string.
- Reincarnation Romance: God tries to avoid it by forbidding angels to fall for humans. When it happens anyway, he makes Kohaku sleep while bound to a tree so he can meet up with Shuichiro's reincarnation.
- Revised Ending: CLAMP originally had a less than happy ending planned, but changed it into a happier one.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Ushagi-san, the little bunny with wings who acts as God's messenger.
- Rock Theme Naming: Many of the characters in the story are named after gemstones: Kohaku = amber, Hisui = jade, and Koryu = garnet, just to name a few.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: When things start to get heated between Kokuyo and Hisui on the bridge, it fades away to some scenery for a couple of panels, then cuts back to them after the deed is done.
- She's a Man in Japan: In the sequel Drug & Drop, Hisui is living life as a gay human man. Could hint at the fact that, while not having a biological gender, Hisui views herself/himself as a man which would play this trope straight...in a way.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Downplayed, but Hisui and Kokuyo have no issue with open displays of affection, no matter who's close by. In the Drama CD, Ruri and Hari even refered to them as "a newly wed couple".
- Smells of Death: Shuichiro unknowingly carries this scent throughout the series. The smell is unsurprisingly pleasant to demons. Kokuyo recognizes the scent and tries to get answers about it, but he’s obstructed each time. Koryu is unfamiliar with the scent however and so when he smells it on Shuichiro he mistakes his reaction to the scent as attraction.
- Split Personality: The sweet cat Sango has a vicious one in Shinju...but it turns out Shinju has a crush on Kohaku and sees Shuichiro as a rival.
- Storm in a Teacup: Angels are running around terrified of what God thinks of their romantic entanglements. Turns out, God isn't as Smitey as characterized.
- Supernaturally Delicious and Nutritious: Demons feed on human souls, but they consider the soul of a human with a pure and kind heart to be particularly tasty. This explains why Koryu, Ruri and Hari are so attached to Shuichiro — since he's unknowingly nearing death, they can feel his soul leaking from his body.
- The Stoic: Shuichiro and Kokuyo.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Both Kudo and Kokuyo, as well as Koryu when he's not in chibi-form.
- Tender Tears: In virtue of being so innocent and naive, Kohaku is very easily brought to tears; either by fear, happiness or when he just screwed something up for being so clumsy.
- Their First Time: Kokuyo and Hisui had sex at the Truce Zone. This made them unable to return to Heaven or Hell.
- Time Travel: There's a spell that allows for travel back into the past, but it's a complicated ritual that requires teamwork. In the second volume Koryu offers to help Kohaku with it so she can find what happened to Shuichiro's mom...and when she succeeds in getting the information she needs, he promptly abandons her there and dissipates the portal.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Milk and honey for Kohaku. Though it's not so much a favorite food as it is the only food he can consume, since all angels are forbidden to eat anything that once had life.
- Tragic Keepsake: In the third volume Kohaku is forced to return to heaven, and Shuichiro is left behind with only one of the angel's earrings. He keeps it with him at all times after this, and is buried with it after he dies. Years later, a very similar looking young man comes to the house...and the earring is pinned to his tie.
- Truce Zone: The bridge between Heaven and Hell. Aside from Earth, this is the only place where angels and demons can coexist.
- Unfazed Everyman: Shuichiro is a pretty ordinary man who happened to run into a chibi angel. At first he thinks he's dreaming, but when the angel proves himself to be real, and more angels and even demons start to appear (and some, to live) in his house, he pretty much just accepts it. After all, his own father married a tree fairy, on whom he himself got a crush, so he just needed to remember that the supernatural indeed existed.
- Unishment:
- Hisui is stripped of her title as an Angel Master and banished to Earth. Since she and Kokuyo had eloped to Earth anyway, she's quite okay with this.
- Strangely enough, Kohaku being stripped of all her powers turns out to be this as well - being powerless for the next hundred years means she will be able to spend that time sleeping, while waiting for Shuichiro's reincarnated soul to return.
- Wham Line: In volume four. "He's not...breathing..."
- What Is This Feeling?:
- Kohaku doesn't understand why it hurts to see Shuichiro and Hotaru together, or why it hurts so much to be apart from him.
- Kouryu also had this reaction when he evaluated his unbridled glee at seeing Kohaku cry from his teasing.
- Whole Episode Flashback: The final two chapters of the third volume give more detail to the fateful first meeting between Kokuyo and Hisui.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Hisui. She wasn't voiced by Kikuko Inoue for nothing. After awakening, Kohaku tries to become one to help Hisui in homemaking.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Shuichiro, though he doesn't know it. Kokuyo does know, but divine intervention prevents him from telling anyone until after it's happened.
