D-Live!! is a shonen manga written and illustrated by Ryoji Minagawa of the Spriggan manga. It was serialized in Shogokukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine from 2002 to 2006 and compiled into 15 volumes, later being republished as eight volumes for a special edition release.
Satoru Ikaruga is an ordinary high school student who likes to eat a lot of gyudon, play billiards and do ordinary things that average high school students do when he's not in school. But unknown to his teachers and his classmates/friends, Ikaruga is actually a trained agent with the elite multinational specialist company Almighty Support Enterprises (or ASE for short) on a part-time basis. ASE is responsible for handling serious cases for clients, ranging from governments to wealthy/influential individuals and groups when they get in a bind. He's known for being able to operate any type of vehicle, land, sea or air, by just having a quick analysis on it even if he's not familiar with a certain vehicle. With the help of his comrades, Ikaruga tackles the case and finishes the job no matter what it takes.
Depending on your country or region, D-Live!! may be published completely or not in parts of Asia and Europe. The reception was good in Japan that it was on the list of recommended mangas to read at the 9th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2005.
Not to be mistaken for the Youtuber of the same name.
The series contains examples of:
- Always Gets His Man: Why ASE is known for this in the corporate world. They'll always solve the case and apprehend the culprit/s, even if it gets overwhelming for their agents.
- Crazy-Prepared/Genre Savvy: How some of the bad guys screw over law enforcement and government so badly that they request for ASE assistance. On the other hand, it's also how ASE agents operate when they're in the field.
- Fun with Acronyms: ASE for Almighty Support Enterprises.
- Multinational Team: ASE is made of up of agents and experts of various nationalities.
- Police Are Useless: One reason why law enforcement agencies seek ASE assistance. However, it's averted (partially) when an NYPD ESU operator named James Hato helps Ikaruga solve a case and escape a building rigged to explode.
- Product Placement: Shogakukan gets a mention as "Shogakukan Bank" Chapter 1: "Underground Water Supply 1".
- We Help the Helpless: ASE is the last resort clients go to when they're in a dead end.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Some of the bad guys ASE confronts in their cases do have some reason why they have to do it. In one of the early cases, one of them told ASE agents that he sabotaged a project aimed at creating a vehicle tunnel to protect nature.
