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Cheeky Angel (Tenshi na Konamaiki) is a shonen manga by Hiroyuki Nishimori (who also did Kyō Kara Ore Wa!!) which ran in Shonen Sunday from 1999 to 2003 and was compiled into 20 volumes. It received a 50-episode anime adaptation that aired on TV Tokyo from 2002 to 2003.

9-year-old Megumi is a rough-and-tumble boy with poor manners who always gets into fights. One day, as he and his friend Miki are playing by the river, Megumi rescues a mysterious old man from some thugs. In return, the old man gives him a magic book with a wish-granting spirit who grants Megumi a single wish. Megumi wishes to be a big, strong, manly man. The catch: the spirit is a trickster spirit who always reverses the wishes he grants...so Megumi is transformed into a girl. In frustration, Megumi throws the book into the river. He and Miki run home, to find that everyone else's memories have been altered: only Miki and Megumi remember that Megumi was ever a boy.

Fast forward six years. Miki and Megumi are just entering High School, and Megumi has grown to be a tall, gorgeous girl with waist-length hair that Miki forbids her to cut. Megumi still vows to find the book...if she can dodge the attentions of the school bully and of the Megumi Instant Fan Club....


This series provides examples of:

  • Action Girl: Megumi, always was, Keiko, and Miki
  • Adaptation Deviation: The manga and anime both deal with Megumi's Gender Bender in different ways. The manga reveals that Megumi's transformation never happened; she was born female, and the genie implanted Fake Memories into her and Miki when it could not grant her wish. On the other hand, the anime shows the change to be legitimate.
  • Adaptation Distillation: Quite a few scenes and arcs play differently in the anime then they did in the manga in order to focus more on comedy. Almost all showings of knives, guns, and blood are removed.
    • Compressed Adaptation: Three major arcs that expanded over several manga volumes each, are compressed into three episodes each, as such a good bit of everyones Character Development and interactions with each other is left on the cutting room floor in favor of the more comedic stories.
      • Kobayashi's past is cut from the anime.
      • The worse alteration though, would be the last arc which is completely different from the manga. In the Manga it's a deadly serious arc that involves mental and physical torture but in the anime it's a ridiculous comedy, filled with robots and Ki Manipulation.
    • Adaptational Villainy: Yanagisawa and Tomo. In the manga while both start out as villains, well Yanagisawa at least, during the last arc they begin to root for Megumi and Co. to succeed at rescuing Miki and even secretly help, well Tomo at least. In the Anime both are as Bad as the big bad himself.
  • AmbiguouslyGay/BI: Kobayashi is very fond of Megumi, Genzo, and Miki. Its also revealed that his first love may have been a guy but they were kids and its vague.
    • Megumi is very fond of Miki but also likes Genzo as well as the others fanclub members. There is also the mutual attraction she gets with other females such as Reiko and Keiko.
    • Miki is very fond of Megumi but also likes Kobayashi and maybe Genzo.
    • Setsuka, Genzo'z older sister, really likes Megumi, then again so does every other girl, and in the manga she also treats Miki the same way.
    • Reiko really likes Megumi.
    • Keiko's first love is revealed to be Megumi.
  • Alpha Bitch: Keiko.
  • Arranged Marriage: Miki has one forced on her when she is eight
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: The trickster spirit invokes this for the lolz.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Miki, she knocks out Genzo with a cinder block, once in the manga backs Megumi up with a shotgun, as well as being a more than capable fighter when pushed to far
  • Bifauxnen: A few.
  • Big Damn Kiss: Between Megumi and Genzo at the end of the manga, though funnily enough, it seems to have more hurt his chances than helped, because it broke the memory lock on Megumi and Miki's past. The one they share in the anime instead hurts Megumi's chances, as while she intended the kiss she gives as a sign of thanks for helping her save Miki, the genie responsible for cursing Megumi assumes she's content with remaining female and leaves without undoing the transformation.
  • Big Fancy House: At least four of them.
  • Blunt "Yes": Megumi's answer when asked if she felt "That way" for Miki.
  • Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Genzo is often punished for the things he says.
  • Breaking the Fellowship: The big bad of the final arc tries to do this through physical and psychological torture. It failed
    • Brainwashed: They even try to get Megumi to hate Miki through hypnotism. It failed.
  • Butt-Monkey: Fujiki.
    • Throw the Dog a Bone: He gets a bit of ship tease with Keiko and Yoshimi plus a couple cool guy scenes.
  • Can't Catch Up: How Genzo, a street fighting thug, feels towards Kobayashi, a trained martial artist, and eventually admits about Megumi, also a trained martial artist whose skill surpasses Kobayashi's.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Averted for pretty much everyone, much to Megumi's embarrassment.
  • Cassandra Truth: Megumi tries this on her fan club. They've come to accept it, but only to such an extent where they still tend to hit on her at times.
  • Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends: In the anime, several pairs that were just hinted at in the manga are made real.
  • Cooking Duel: Between Megumi and Genzo.
  • Cool Big Sis: Genzo happens to have one.
  • Cross Dresser: Genzo in episode 7.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Very few of the tons of random mooks that Megumi and Co. encounter can stand for more than a hit or two.
  • Darker and Edgier: The manga compared to the anime.
  • Declaration of Protection: Deconstructed, Megumi, a highly trained martial artist, neither wants or needs it, and infact sees it as a lack of trust. Part of Genzo's development is dropping this attitude and trusting Megumi to keep herself safe. That said he never drops it completely.
    • Later when Megumi becomes the target of mishaps, the fanclub tries to protect her from the various objects that almost hit her, but, except for a rare few times, they only end up putting themselves in danger since Megumi has already instictivly dodged.
    • Miki and Megumi also declare this, mixed with an I Want My Beloved to Be Happy attitude, toward each other, neithier one is willing to back down on it.
  • Delinquents: Whole squads of them, found lurking around every street corner and at the beck and call of any of the main characters' rivals.
    • Crapsack World: A mild example but much like the Mangaka's other work Megumi and co. literally can not walk down the street without someone trying to rob, assault, and/or harass them or someone else, Megumi and co. beat up the Mooks who then go get more mooks until they're just running around town fighting people the original reason they were outside long forgotten.
  • Different for Girls: Several variations; most prone to Kick the Dog moments.
  • Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Played straight most of the time, but the first time we meet Kobayashi he yells at Megumi for yelling at then hitting Genzo.
  • Dude, She's Like in a Coma The kiss in the last episode.
  • Dude, Where's My Reward?: Megumi wishes to become a "man among men". The Genie makes her a girl instead. The finale reveals that Megumi was a girl all along: the genie made her think she was a boy because he lacked the power to actually change her gender.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: Megumi, there isn't a girl she meets that doesn't fall for her on some level, one of her classmates even talks about having sex with her. Her hair seems to be some sort of fetish point they all share.
  • Entertainingly Wrong: Fujiki thinks he has good news when he tells Megumi that Kobayashi likes Miki, he kinda thinks she'll be happy, though mostly he thinks it will somehow turn into a conversation about him and Megumi. He is utterly shocked when instead she gives him a an intensely cold stare before demading to know what gave him that idea. The later when he tells Genzo he is 100% sure that Genzo would be happy, but instead Genzo becomes angry, stating much to Fujiki's utter shock that, Miki is Mugumi's.
    • Fujiki is wrong again when he assumes Megumi's reaction is because she is jealous of Miki, cue wide-eyed "whaaaa" when it turns out it's Kobayashi she's jealous of.
  • Face Fault: Genzo about 75% of the time
  • Failure Is the Only Option: Finding the book and reversing the curse.
  • First Law of Gender Bending: By the start of the series, Megumi's spent most of her childhood as a girl and hopes to find the book that cursed her and become a boy again. It's not possible to reverse the transformation because it never happened.
    • The anime's ending is another variant of this which is more traditional. In this version of events, Megumi was indeed a boy previously, and comes incredibly close to breaking her curse come the finale. However, the genie interprets the kiss she gives Genzo as a sign that she has fully accepted being a woman and departs, seemingly making the change permanent. Needless to say, Megumi is distraught that her show of thanks towards Genzo has made her entire quest All for Nothing, although not too distraught since the ordeal is Played for Laughs mostly.
  • Flat-Earth Atheist: Even a magic clown coming out of a book won't convince Kobayashi that there is any such thing as magic.
  • Forgotten First Meeting: A last chapter flashback reveals that Megumi and Genzo first met (and fought) in elementary school on the day Genzo got his scar and Genzo was the one who inspired Megumi to wish to become a man among men. But there's no indication that Genzo ever recognized Megumi as the girl he fought back then.
  • Gender Bender: Megumi, who wished to be a "men among men" but got turned into a girl. The manga reveals that actually, she was always a girl. She actually wished for a genie to make her a boy, but the best he could do was give her Fake Memories of previously being male. On the flip side, Megumi's transformation is legitimate in the anime.
    • Invoked by Yasuda, who - upon being mistaken as a girl while not wearing his glasses - decides to fake being cursed by the genie in order to get closer to Megumi, who is incredibly sympathetic to such a plight. It doesn't last however, with Yasuda receiving a sufficient punishment.
  • Gender-Blender Name: Megumi at one point even states that it's a good thing she was given a girl's name. Ultimatly averted though since Megumi was indeed born a girl.
  • Groin Attack: Megumi's favorite Finishing Move; It's how she "introduced" herself to Genzo.
  • Harem Genre: "Reverse Harem" variant; the girl has many male suitors.
  • Harem Seeker: Genzo gets accused of this when he says that he assumed Megumi and Miki were a "boxed set"
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Between Megumi and Miki, Ironically, whether or not the other wants it.
  • Iron Butt Monkey: Genzo gets knocked out about three times in the first episode. Twice by Megumi, once by Miki
  • Instant Fan Club: Megumi gets one in high school. It's especially funny considering her situation, and it only slightly becomes better when she explains what she's going through.
  • If It's You, It's Okay: Averted, Genzo says he would like Megumi if she were a man, but when Megumi challenges him by telling him a kiss could break the spell, and turn her back into a man, he can't go through with it.
    • Megumi reluctantly feels this way about Kobayashi dating Miki though it's more of a "If I can't have her."
  • Jackass Genie: The Trickster Spirit reversing the wish for kicks. Subverted. It turns out the genie is actually making an honest attempt to grant wishes as properly as it can; they're getting twisted by its limited power and the fact that they're only partially-fulfilled as a result, rather than active malevolence. In the anime, where the genie actually does transform Megumi into a woman, it departs Megumi's presence when it assumes Megumi has accepted life as a woman even though she still very much intended to undo her transformation - this, in turn, keeps Megumi female permanently, much to her chagrin.
  • Jack of All Stats: Kobayashi, not as strong as Genzo and not as skilled as Megumi, but certainly not someone to underestimate.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Genzo.
  • Karma Houdini: The final Big Bad, on TWO separate occasions, despite attempted murder and rape of most of the main characters, and full ability of the main cast to exact revenge, or call the cops! Apparently he gets off clean since his main victim comes from an 'honorable house,' and honor in Japan means not protecting your granddaughter from rapists.
  • Kid Samurai: Kobayashi.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Takao Gakusan, everytime he shows up expect all comedy to stop.
  • Lady Killer In Love: Megumi is shocked to hear that Genzo had dated lots of girls in the past sometimes for as little as a day. It gets somewhat subverted in that Genzo says he only just said yes to people who asked him then broke up when he felt it wasn't working out, and that he really does feel bad for hurting anyone's feelings. though it's still played straight cause he only feels bad about it now.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: At age nine, Megumi and Miki are made to forget everything that has to do with Megumi being a girl, including the biggest reason they became friends.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: Miki, she's a pretty brutal fighter too.
  • Love Dodecahedron: Love gets complicated towards the end.
  • Long Hair Is Feminine: Funny enough, it's the Tomboy Megumi who boasts the long and flowing feminine hair in contrast to the short-haired Miki. It's stated that part of it is due to Miki threatening to stop being Megumi's best friend if she were to cut it off.
  • Love Letterlunacy: Megumi gets love letters from both sexes. Miki gets them as well, this causes a bit of angst for Megumi who had no idea.
  • Martial Pacifist: Miki is a trained martial artist, probably close to Megumi's level, but you have to push her to her near-breaking point to get her to use it on another person.
  • Megaton Punch: Often delivered to Genzo by Megumi.
  • Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty / Men Act, Women Are: A large subplot of the Manga is deconstructing these mentalities.
  • The Mind Is A Play Thing Of The Body: Several characters lampshade how well Megumi seems to function as a girl between her Different for Girls moments, but then it's revealed she always was a girl.
  • Missing Mom: Megumi's mother spends most of the story in Europe.
    • Miki's Mom and Dad died in a fire
  • Mistaken for Gay: Kobayashi, gets this from the fanclub when he tells Megumi with a straight face that he would like her boy or girl. Later, when he starts to get close to Genzo, Megumi ask Kobayashi what he thinks of him. Kobayashi blushes and looks away as he explains that he really admires Genzo, this causes Megumi to assume he has a thing for Genzo, to try and explain it as just admiration Kobayashi tells Megumi about his past. But due to the nature of the story it just cements that Kobayashi "swing both ways" in Megumi's mind. Then when Kobayashi tries to out right say he likes girls he's not able to because Genzo shows up, he blushes and Megumi runs away before Genzo can find out she's there.
  • Morality Pet: Yoshimi could be considered this for Keiko, despite Keiko's Alpha Bitch personality she cares about Yoshimi. Though since Yoshimi happily goes along with whatever plot Keiko has cooked up she's not a very good one.
  • Nice Guy: Kobayashi is this to a fault.
  • No Romantic Resolution: In the Manga. Poor, poor Genzo.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: Keiko.
  • Non-Action Guy: Yasuda, Fujiki barely averts this.
  • Not a Date: It's just fishing.
  • One Head Taller: In the last chapter, Megumi had to stand on a large piece of brick in order to kiss Genzo shoulder to shoulder.
  • Ordinary High-School Student: Fujiki, in fact - its what sets him apart from everybody else.
  • Ore Onna: Megumi still uses the incredibly masculine "ore" to refer to herself.
  • Ojou: Megumi's family is incredibly rich, given their large mansion and the various personnel working for them who do indeed refer to Megumi as "ojou-sama". Megumi herself doesn't traditionally act like one, but has no reservations putting up a front if needed.
  • Pervert Dad: Megumi's dad is occasionally fantasizing about his daughter, and building secret passages to access her room.
  • Pervert Revenge Mode: Keiko takes advantage of being pinned under Fujiki to scream and accuse him of being a pervert, in order to knock Megumi down a peg.
  • Pet the Dog: Keiko gets one of these moments near the end.
  • Quirky Household: Megumi's, and to a lesser extant Miki's
  • The Rival: Played for laughs. The manga's ending reveals that Kobayahsi's biggest rival is Megumi.
  • Sadistic Choice: Two in the last arc.
    • The first is after everyone is captured by a bad guy, Megumi and Miki are told that if they don't fight to first blood, the guys of the fanclub, who are chained up, will be beaten.
    • The second is actually a heroic version, both Megumi and Miki are falling to their deaths and Genzo has enough time to think about how he can only save one, cue CMOA.
  • Satellite Character: Miki, for a while in both the manga and the anime, is little more than Megumi's friend.
  • Second Law of Gender-Bending: Implied. While Megumi is very much a Tomboy and wants to break her curse, she seems relatively content with her life as a girl. Probably because she actually was always a girl.
    • The anime plays with this to a degree, as while Megumi lost her chances at undoing her curse in the finale, she's somewhat non-plussed about remaining female for the rest of her life. That said, she remains steadfast in calling herself a boy.
  • Scary Shiny Glasses: Yasuda likes doing this for pointless reasons or to cover up that he's taking pictures.
  • "Shaggy Dog" Story: The anime ends with this as Megumi loses her last chance at being able to turn back into a boy.
  • She Is All Grown Up: A freshly-transformed Megumi looked similar to her male self with short hair and all, outside of her new anatomy. By the time she's grown up, she's aged quite well and become more feminine.
  • Shipper on Deck: In probably the strangest example of the trope, Genzo full on ships Megumi, his Love Interest, with Miki, her best friend.
    • Though fair is fair since Miki is a Megumi X Genzo shipper, but only to a point.
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: When things get bad during the womanly tournament Keiko and Fujiki are lost in the city.
  • The Short Guy with Glasses: Yasuda.
  • Slap-Slap-Kiss: Genzo and Megumi all day long, but not much kiss.
  • Snapback: What Kobayashi hears during the Yamato Nadeshiko Cup.
  • Stay in the Kitchen: Genzo and Kobayashi both have rather old ideas about how a woman should act. Ironically, so does Megumi.
  • Stepford Smiler: Miki, who uses a smile and teasing to hide her true feelings.
  • Stock Shoujo Bullying Tactics: Inverted. Keiko tries to alienate Megumi from the other girls by having her minions steal every girl's Inside Shoes except Megumi's to put her in an awkward situation.
  • Third Law of Gender-Bending: In the six years Megumi spent as a woman, she's adapted to it rather well given how prone she is to acting girly and adapting to a more feminine aesthetic between her looks and wardrobe.
  • Threesome Subtext: Genzo, Megumi, and Miki. Later Kobayashi can be added.
  • Title Confusion: Megumi is the "cheeky angel," not the genie.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Childhood friends Megumi and Miki share this dynamic; Megumi as the tomboy given that she used to be a boy, still identifies as one and is insistent on becoming one again, and Miki as the girly girl who has helped (and at times outright forced) Megumi to act more feminine.
  • Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Megumi still identifies as a boy (down to her use of ore), has spent almost an entire decade searching for a way to turn back into one, and is unabashedly rough and masculine attitude-wise. However, her entire look, from the wavy long hair she has to her very feminine wardrobe, shows that she's very much adapted to being a woman rather well, not to mention the many instances of her acting naturally feminine.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Fujiki goes from being a sheep to being able to hold his own in a fight. He's still outclassed by everyone but Yasuda though.
    • Genzo gets this after he starts training with Kobayashi.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: Megumi was never male. The genie didn't change reality to her being a girl, leaving only her and Miki's memories, the two's memories were the only thing that did changed.
  • The Trickster: The cause of Megumi's problem and source of the plot.
  • True Companions: Grown out of the Instant Fan Club. Megumi is aware of how it was formed mostly out of her status as a Dude Magnet and isn't above weaponizing it to get what she wants (not that the guys have any reservations of doing so), and while she is adamant in refusing their advances, they come to view each other as very close friends.
  • Tsundere: Megumi is a big one, but Genzo is also this way towards Kobayashi
  • A Twinkle in the Sky: A frequent fate of Genzo and some other male characters when they step out of line.
  • Two-Teacher School: The "zero teachers" variant.
  • Unwanted Harem: Very unwanted at first.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: Genzo, while far below Kobayashi, Megumi and Miki in skill, is by far the physically strongest fighter of the show.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: There's even a "Yamato Nadeshiko Cup" at one point. Amusingly, not one of the contestants fits the trope, with the closest being Miki.
  • Weak, but Skilled: Megumi and Miki's fighting style involves quick and precise attacks to their opponents' weak points, Miki more than Megumi. Megumi also shows a high level of awareness in being able to read opponents and dodging even unseen objects or attacks.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Kimura was a member of the Fanclub, but became intimidated by, among other things, Megumi's high social status, and left the club. Later, during the school trip to Kyoto, it's revealed that he has a girlfriend and is perfectly happy.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Used to show how evil and often hypocritical the villains are.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: None of the main characters ever even try to hit a woman, though Keiko does try to get Megumi to fight her, Megumi is unwilling to do so physically.

Alternative Title(s): Tenshi Na Konamaiki

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