Tenshi Nanka ja Nai

Tenshi Nanka ja Nai (天使なんかじゃない) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Ribon from 1991 to 1994, with its chapters collected in eight  volumes. An original video animation (OVA), animated by Group TAC and directed by Hiroko Tokita, was released in 1994.

Synopsis
Midori Saejima is a first-year student at the newly established Hijiri Gakuen. Midori is persuaded by her classmates to run for student council. Midori is reluctant but realizes that Akira Sudō is also running for student council, she becomes eager to win the election. Ever since Midori had seen Akira during the beginning of the school year, she had felt an intense attraction to him. Akira and Midori are elected president and vice-president respectively for the student council. Thus begins their story that centers on their relationship and the many adventures of high school with their friends.

Midori and Akira quickly become close, and Midori eagerly seeks the opportunity to become Akira's girlfriend. Although Akira seems to have similar feelings for Midori, Midori eventually finds out about Akira's feelings toward Hiroko, who is Midori's favorite art teacher at their school. Akira explains his past with Hiroko and how he considers her to be an important person in his life. Midori is somewhat comforted by Akira's honesty and his explanation that his relationship with Hiroko is strictly platonic. Akira eventually comes to reciprocate Midori's feelings.

However, their relationship is troubled by Midori's increasing jealousy toward Hiroko and Akira's strong connection. They break up after months of awkwardness. Midori finds comfort in her long-time friend Ken Nakagawa, who has secretly loved Midori for years. Once Akira abruptly leaves the country to find Masashi Sakamoto, Hiroko's lover and Akira's half-brother, Midori realizes that she cannot be with anyone except Akira.

Midori and Akira rekindle their relationship after Akira comes back. The story ends with their graduation from high school.

Characters

 * Midori Saejima (冴島 翠)
 * The protagonist of the story. She is always happy and has many friends at school. Likes to draw and sing. She falls in love with Akira.
 * The protagonist of the story. She is always happy and has many friends at school. Likes to draw and sing. She falls in love with Akira.


 * Akira Sudō (須藤 晃)
 * A main character in the story. The guy who Midori falls in love with. He has a troubled past with an unhappy childhood, but eventually opens up to Midori. He always wears the ducktail hairstyle, and we can rarely see him without it.
 * A main character in the story. The guy who Midori falls in love with. He has a troubled past with an unhappy childhood, but eventually opens up to Midori. He always wears the ducktail hairstyle, and we can rarely see him without it.


 * Ken Nakagawa (中川 ケン)
 * Midori's friend from junior-high. Ken is a musician who dreams of becoming a star. He first appears in volume 3, when Midori meets up with some of her old friends on her birthday. He is often mentioned in another of Yazawa's works, Neighborhood Story, as the character Tsutomu bears an uncanny resemblance to him.


 * Bunta Kōno (河野 文太)
 * The secretary of the student council. His nickname is "Bun" (文ちゃん). He is from class D.
 * The secretary of the student council. His nickname is "Bun" (文ちゃん). He is from class D.


 * Tomoko Kawakami (川上 友子)
 * A student of class A. Her nickname is "Tonko" (トン子).
 * A student of class A. Her nickname is "Tonko" (トン子).


 * Kayo (カヨ)
 * A student of class A. She is calm and takes pride in her soft skin.
 * A student of class A. She is calm and takes pride in her soft skin.


 * Hiroko Maki (牧 博子)
 * Art teacher at Midori's school. She is popular among her students due to her beauty and kind personality. She is in a long-distance relationship with Masashi Sakamoto. Not seeing the love of her life makes her reach her limit but the couple finally gets married in the 4th volume.
 * Art teacher at Midori's school. She is popular among her students due to her beauty and kind personality. She is in a long-distance relationship with Masashi Sakamoto. Not seeing the love of her life makes her reach her limit but the couple finally gets married in the 4th volume.


 * Masashi Sakamoto (坂本 将志)
 * Akira's tutor before high school. An avid artist, he leaves Hiroko in Japan and travels around the world (mostly France) for his art. It is revealed in the story that Masashi is Akira's half-brother.


 * Yuuko Mamiya (麻宮 裕子)
 * She joined student council and was elected secretary with Bunta Kōno. She became Midori's best friend. She longs to be Shūichi's girlfriend ever since they went to junior high together. At first glance she looks like a stuck up or cold person because of her attitude. But she really is nice. Midori likes to call her "Mamirin". The nickname sounds like "Marilyn" because Mamiya is pretty and has mole that looks like Marilyn Monroe's.
 * She joined student council and was elected secretary with Bunta Kōno. She became Midori's best friend. She longs to be Shūichi's girlfriend ever since they went to junior high together. At first glance she looks like a stuck up or cold person because of her attitude. But she really is nice. Midori likes to call her "Mamirin". The nickname sounds like "Marilyn" because Mamiya is pretty and has mole that looks like Marilyn Monroe's.


 * Shūichi Takigawa (瀧川 秀一)
 * He joined the student council at the beginning of the manga and was elected treasurer. He became Akira's best friend. He is very popular among the girls in his school because of his good looks.
 * He joined the student council at the beginning of the manga and was elected treasurer. He became Akira's best friend. He is very popular among the girls in his school because of his good looks.


 * Shino Harada (原田 志乃)
 * She was Shūichi's girlfriend and Mamiya's rival. She is seen as an idol by the boys in Hijiri. She is jealous of Mamiya and doubts about Shūichi's fidelity. This will cause them to break up.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa, Tenshi Nanka ja Nai was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Ribon from the September 1991 to the November 1994 issues. Shueisha collected its chapters in eight volumes, released from May 15, 1992, to March 15, 1995. The series was republished in a four-volume edition in 2000, and a six-volume  edition from 2008 to 2009. A five-volume "reorganized" version was released in 2019.

Original video animation
A 30-minute original video animation (OVA) was released on September 21, 1994. It was animated by Group TAC and directed by Hiroko Tokita, with script by Tomoko Konparu, character designs by Yasuomi Umetsu, and music composed by Fujio Takano.

Reception
By June 2019, the manga had over 10 million copies in circulation. The series ranked fifth in a survey conducted by Oricon on the top ten manga series.