Angel Heart is a seinen manga series by Tsukasa Hojo that ran from 2001 throughout 2017, initially serialized in Weekly Comic Bunch up until 2010, when it moved to Monthly Comic Zenon and continued under the title of Angel Heart: 2nd Season for the rest of its run. It was adapted into a 50-episode anime series during 2005 through 2006. The series is an alternate history of City Hunternote , in which Kaori dies in a car accident and her heart is transplanted into the heroine of this series, a professional assassin who killed herself. Brought back to life with Kaori's heart, "Glass Heart" soon discovers she has Kaori's memories as well. She escapes the organization that trained her and goes in search of Kaori's life, including Chivalrous Pervert Ryo Saeba (the hero of City Hunter).
After the inevitable problems are resolved, Ryo Saeba becomes the former assassin's informal adoptive father (she's only fifteen at the story's beginning) and she takes the name "Xiang-Ying". Soon, she's assisting him in the cases he takes on as a private detective and vigilante, as Kaori did, although in a rather more active role because of her training.
No relation to the 1987 horror movie of the same name
This series displays examples of:
- Alternate Continuity: While it starts out seeming like a Sequel Series, differences in character backstories gradually emerge to make it clear that this is just similar to City Hunter. Notably, Hideyuki is portrayed as having been the original City Hunter, and was murdered by a Serial Killer obsessed with Saeko instead of a Union Teope Giant Mook.
- Badass Adorable: Ryo is still the immature, horny and kind-hearted goofball that we fell in love with twenty years ago. Xiang-Ying, beautiful though she may be, is far too mature and creepy to qualify for this trope.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In chapter 72, Xiang-Ying tells Xin-Hong that "This hair color doesn't suit you. You should change it. I'm sure the readers agree."
- Butt-Monkey: Xin-Hong: just look up one entry. ^
- Cheerful Child: Miki-chan. She can make Umibozu's heart melt. Though to be fair, it isn't that hard to melt Umibozu's heart....
- Child Soldiers: Xiang-Ying and the other assassins, who were raised from early childhood to be killers.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Ryo Saeba.
- Contract on the Hitman: Glass Heart's final job from the Organization that trained her was to kill a hitman, and once she goes missing, there's a contract out on her. Several cases in later volumes have to do with this theme as well.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Xiang-Ying is unaware of Xin-Hong's crush on her. Or at least, she acts that way most of the time.
- The Heart: Kaori, who is Xiang-Ying's heart literally and figuratively.
- Hitman with a Heart: Xiang-Ying is this (it's why she kills herself; she can no longer bear her line of work) and is it even more once she has Kaori's heart inside her. Ryo is also this, of course, and several other characters.
- Hyperspace Mallet: Xiang-Ying inherits the ability to whack Ryo over the head with one from Kaori — somewhat to her confusion, initially, but she gets used to it. Later in the manga Kaori's sister turns up—and she also has the ability. Poor Ryo.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Everyone. Almost no Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy skills. That's including blind-as-a-bat Umibozu and the enemy's regular soldiers.
- Lady of War: Fang-Yu Ya; leader of Black Panthers. She claims that she hates Saeba.
- Literal Change of Heart: Pretty much the premise.
- Neighbourhood-Friendly Gangsters: The Syndicate is full with this; even most of their special operatives turn out to be quite nice guys.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Umibozu's hobby is taking care of flowers. In the old days, he tried to hide this from his comrade soldiers; fearing that others will look down on him. When they found out, they couldn't care less, even taking turns to tend them when he was injured in the field.
- Sharing a Body: Xiang-Ying and Kaori.
- The Triads and the Tongs: The Syndicate that trained Xiang-Ying is a Chinese organized-crime syndicate from Taiwan, which is also the nationality of Xiang-Ying and Xin-Hong.
- War for Fun and Profit: But most of the time, their idea of fun is "helping people in need" or "making a flower field".
- We Help the Helpless: The City Hunter team. Partially subverted with Ryo who only helps women, since he's always keen on mixing lechery with work.
- Though apparently this trope is the hobby of every mercenary involved with him.
