About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Pitaten

Encyclopedia : P : PI : PIT : Pitaten

|}

Pita-Ten is an anime and manga series that was originally written by Koge-Donbo, but adapted into an anime by Akemi Menda and Yasuko Kobayashi that was aired by TV Tokyo on April 7, 2002. The plot focuses primarily around Misha and her attempts to become a licensed angel and Kotarou, her neighbor. It is generally light-humored, but the endings of both the anime and the manga are concerned with dealing with the loss of loved ones.

The title 'Pita-Ten' is short for 'Pitari Tenshi', which literally means 'clinging angel' in English.

Contents

Characters

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Kotarou Higuchi
Kotarou Higuchi (樋口湖太郎 Higuchi Kotarō) is the main character of Pita-Ten. He generally looks after himself and lives alone with his dad because his mother died while saving him from being run over by a truck. In both cases, Kotarou learns new skills and becomes much happier once Misha moves in next to him, and he finally gets into the school of his choice with his friends.
* Manga — In the Manga, Kotarou starts as a reasonably intelligent child who is a little depressed. His emotional status is chiefly due to the aftereffects of his mother's death in a traumatizing road accident during his childhood. He loses self-esteem and faith in his abilities; closing his heart out to others and growing angry and pessimistic frequently. He likes to think that he's mature and responsible, but in reality he is rather recessive and has a lot of growing up to do. He falls in love with both Shia and Misha, but eventually has to give up both of them in the end. He has 1/8th of demon blood (his mother was 1/4th demon, not his father) and as such he is more than capable of seeing angels, demons and anything supernatural- although he ironically loathes this ability. His final wish from Misha is to not have this ability any more, and as such he can finally live in the real world. From all of Misha's care, devotion and love he finally learns to be truly happy, and learn to go through problems head-on, instead of hiding or growing frustrated. He is also the reincarnation of Misha's beloved 'Kotaroh', her main reason for giving him all her attention and concern.
* Anime — In the Anime, Kotarou starts out less successfully in school, and is still rather depressed. He is mature and responsible despite his young age, and keeps his feelings locked away as best he can. He sees Shia as a motherly figure, and seems to have a crush on Misha by the end of the series. He can see angels and demons, but it is not explained why (one can only presume he is only 1/16th of a demon here, although it isn't explicitly stated). By the conclusion, he has become much happier than before and as a result he copes much better at school.
Misha
Misha is an apprentice angel, and has been for some time now. She speaks like a small child, ending almost all of her sentences with "su", a shortened form of desu (which roughly translates to what do you think?), and tries her very best to make everybody around her happy; consequentially making matters worse. She moved in next door to Kotarou and has always been very hyper and outgoing around him (for example, her first line said to him in both versions is, "Will you go out with me?"). She is happy and optimistic, and has always managed to keep a smile on her face despite feeling unhappy.
* Manga — In the manga interpretation, Misha was alive long ago, as angels age at a different rate than humans. Misha holds a tragic past as well.
As hinted at from volumes prior to the semi-conclusion; Misha originally knew Kotarou's great uncle, Kotaroh. When she was an angel-in-training, she used to habitually visit him every night, speaking to Kotaroh very formally — something that irritated him to no end. Eventually, he asked Misha if she would relax a little and lose some of the formality, though Misha took his suggestion way too overboard and ended up speaking like a small child to the day she met Kotarou in the present.
At her older sister Sasha's demand, Misha was forced to agree to stop her nightly visits with Kotaroh. Kotaroh overheard this and, deciding that he couldn't live without Misha, committed suicide by jumping off the cliff and landing in the lake. When Misha discovered his body floating in the water, she panicked and tried to save him, but couldn't, as her body was transparent and would have passed through him. Kotaroh died.
Upon her return to Heaven, Misha was blamed for Kotaroh's death, and was imprisoned in a jail of thorns and forced to wear black garments for many years to come, with nothing but feelings of guilt and sadness.
Eventually, however, Kotaroh reincarnated into the present Kotarou, and Misha was granted one final pass at trying to help make his life better for him. She set up lodgings next door to him and immediately searched Kotarou out and sincerely tried to make him happy (even though Kotarou had no recollection of ever being Kotaroh, and thus did not recognize Misha).
Misha's final test on her angelic license exam was to make Kotarou happy; which she finally achieved in the eighth and final volume of Pita-Ten (it is also implied that she was accepted as an angel and finally allowed to wear white). Kotarou's last request was that she use her powers to make it so he could no longer see angels and demons.
Interesting to note that nobody actually realized she was an angel except for Kotarou, Shia, and Nya. The rest just assumed Misha's weird actions were part of her oddities.
Misha is generally innocent, but very benevolent and forgiving. She most likely knew of Shia's true identity as a demon but simply didn't mind (along with the knowledge that Shia nearly killed Kotarou on more than one occasion, but she still allowed Shia to live with her). She was also determined to become Kotarou's replacement mother upon realization that he had none.
* Anime — In the anime, Misha is an overtly-happy girl whose only mission in life is to spread joy and happiness. She isn't very good and makes a lot of mistakes, but she always manages to make something good out of a bad situation. It doesn't take long for Kotarou, Koboshi, and Ten-chan realize that she's an angel, and they try their best to help her (an interesting difference in the anime and manga versions, because in the manga Kotarou never believed she was an angel until she showed him her wings, and Koboshi and Ten-chan never found out at all).
Ultimately, Misha tries to make Shia happy (by resurrecting her) and gets deleted from the universe — until the other angels realize that there is nothing really wrong with helping a demon, and she's resurrected. At the end of the series, Misha is still an angel apprentice.
Shia
Shia is a demon (manga) or a demon apprentice (anime). She is outwardly gentle and kind-hearted, and isn't very good at being malicious or killing humans. She's generally weak all around, even moreso when her staff breaks under Misha's angelic influence.
* Manga — In the manga, Shia is older than Misha. She was friends (eventually lovers) with Taro Higuchi, Kotarou's great-grandfather, at the age six (physically). Shia was adopted by a family as a very small child when she was abandoned, and named Shima after she cried that out every night in her sleep (she was actually crying out her real name, Shia, although Taro and her adopted family still referred to her as Shima).
Shia as a child caused bad luck everywhere, and it took Taro some time to teach her that she wasn't a demon or a jinx (although, in all actuality, she was a demon). When Shia (as a child) was getting close to death she was taken from the human world by Nya, who taught her that she had to drink blood to sustain herself, and that she would need at least some human blood, as that was the most powerful (she had only been drinking animal blood as Shima). Later on, Shia departs from Nya yet again to return to Taro (who is now a young adult, while Shia still looked like a child). Shia and Taro got back together and eventually fell in love, producing two offspring, Kotaroh (Kotarou's great uncle) and Shino (Kotarou's grandmother) — that makes Shia Kotarou's great-grandmother. As Shia refused to drink human blood, she became steadily weaker until she attempted to kill Kotaroh for his blood (he never realized this was happening), so she went back to Nya and left Taro.
Eventually, in the present day, Shia returned again to the human world to find Taro and her children again — Nya now accompanied her as a black cat. She found herself living with Misha as she had nowhere else to go, and became distracted with looking after Kotarou, who she felt a connection with. She soon found herself a part-time job and almost settled down until Nya and a picture of Kotarou's late mother reminded her of her mission, and she left without warning. Kotarou and Misha managed to track her down at Kotarou's great-grandfather's house. While there, Taro died in his sleep. Shino and Kotaroh (Kotarou's grandparents on his mother's side) had already died.
Kotarou and Misha found Shia and told her of this, and Shia realized that she had a family with Kotarou, Misha, and all her new friends. Nya warned her of the consequences of leaving, but Shia refused, and Nya eventually left her. However, Shia was very weak and died before they could even get home — she was never resurrected and Nya took her body away with him. Kotarou only learned she was a demon after she had left for Taro's house. When Sasha informed him, Misha already knew but just didn't care.
Shia is very gentle, loving, and has a sort of maternal instinct, she was the one who calmed down and helped Takashi, took care of Kotarou as his own mother did before she died, and holds a place in the hearts that she helped.
* Anime — In the anime, Shia had a considerably less complicated past. She came to earth as a demon apprentice, and Nya played the part of her mentor. Shia got a part-time job in a restaurant and cared for the children like a mother, eventually taking the place of Kotarou's mother. After helping children in a local hospital, Shia and Nya both realized that she could never be evil, and Shia was erased from the universe by the other demons. All but Misha forgot about her (as Misha is an angel), and eventually Misha resurrected her (which caused Misha to be deleted from the universe for doing so). By the end of the series, Shia was a human (she was resurrected as a human rather than as a demon apprentice), and continued to happily work her part-time job. Kotarou, Misha, Ten-chan and Koboshi all learned that Shia was a demon-in-training early in the series, when she absentmindedly told them. (Sasha already knew when she first laid eyes on Shia.)
Takashi Ayanokoji ("Ten-chan")
Takashi is an extremely intelligent, sporty and attractive "ladies man" who is the best friend of both Kotarou and Koboshi since they were six. Despite his perfect grades and popularity, he has a troubled home life. His father is bedridden in hospital, and his mother spends a lot of time taking care of the two of them and paying for the hospital fees — as such, Takashi's family doesn't have much money, consequently leading to Takashi being unable to take the exams and enter Joudai Middle School (where Kotarou and Koboshi plan to go). Both he and Kobshi both take part in fun little tasks and everyday things in the anime and manga, so although they have large roles, there is little about then that can be written.
* Manga — In the manga, Ten-chan starts his life seemingly happy and laidback. He's constantly at the top of the class and doesn't even go to cram school — despite this, he secretly has to strive very hard to keep himself at the top. He gets love letters from many girls, since he is very popular, even if he rejects every one of them.
One of Ten-chan's many problems is that, although he has the grades to go to a fantastic school in the following year, he just doesn't have enough money to pay for it. His mother works hard in her job, and even he gets a part-time job alongside Shia and eventually raises just about enough... The school rejects him outright. His second crisis is that he is in love with Shia. He is the last to see Shia before she finally leaves, and although devastated, he confessed his love to her there, pleading her to stay, but she declined and left him there in the rain.
After that, he never saw her again, as she died before they could see each other one last time. He was also in love with Koboshi prior to Shia, but gave up on her because of her own affection for Kotarou and moved on to Shia when she appeared. A slight problem along the road had been that Kotarou had a crush on Shia, too. Ultimately, Ten-chan had to cope with his misery and entered his second-choice school, away from his friends.
* Anime — In the anime, Ten-chan is more of a background character. He's happy and still in love with Shia, but he never tells her. To help his mother, he takes up a part-time job alongside Shia at Tricot. His bad home life is apparently nonexistent here.
Koboshi Uematsu
The fierce, petite blonde female friend of both Kotarou and Takashi, Koboshi is depicted as a very assertive character. She loves Kotarou very much but is too embarrassed to confess her feelings to him. She enjoys having a normal, routinely basis of her every day life; from meeting Kotarou in the morning to talking to him during the day...
That is, until Misha showed up.
Koboshi wears unique, cat-shaped ears every day, but they aren't real or actually attached to her head). She is liable to anger and very overprotective, causing her to be constantly irritated by Misha's childish antics and attachment to her "Kotarou-chan".
* Manga — In the manga, Koboshi clearly loves Kotarou a lot. She tries her very best to impress him and be close to him; from learning to cook apple pies (only to have the pie fall on his head) and confessing her feelings, but only to be rejected in the end. She's cheerful and extroverted, but eventually learns that she has a lot of growing up to do.
By the end of the manga, she is still a happy person, but has abandoned her childish cat ears and is beginning to mature into a young woman. She has also given up on Kotarou, choosing to be his friend rather than his girlfriend, and opening her eyes to other people.
* Anime — In the anime, Koboshi plays more of a comic relief part, from repeatedly shouting at Misha loudly to consistently punching Hiroshi in a comical sense. She works hard against Misha (whom she sees as a rival) to be the object of Kotarou's affections, and she has the advantage of being his childhood friend and the "girl he talks to the most".
As a child, Koboshi defended Kotarou and protected him from those who bullied him because of his lack of a mother.
Hiroshi Mitarai ("Poops/Dai-chan")
In the manga, he is nicknamed Dai-chan or "Poops" (a play on the Japanese letters of his name, which mean "bathroom"), but other than that, he is one of the few characters who is almost always consistent, storyline-wise, in both the anime and the manga. Hiroshi doesn't know that Shia is a demon and Misha is an angel; but he is strict and knowledgeable in traditional Japanese arts, so he is able to guess (often to the annoyance of the other three kids, when he attempts to exorcise Shia and clings to Misha).
Despite all this, Hiroshi works hard to stand up to his family name, the great Mitarai dynasty, but always falls behind Ten-chan in grades. He is a respectable character, with high aims and a strong spirit. He misses his first choice for education because of exam grades (unlike Ten-chan, who got the grades but the school just didn't want him), and consequently ends up at his elementary's middle school, Misaki Middle. In the anime version, Mitarai has an eagle called Jimmy, whom he can call with a whistle. Jimmy also shows up once in the manga to attack Kotarou during class.
Kaoru Mitarai
The younger sister of Hiroshi, Kaoru Mitarai is the culinary sibling with a serious infatuation with Ten-chan, who she loves a great deal — she often cooks for him or plans weddings and marriage. She reacts violently to anybody who would dare to be mean to Ten-chan or Hiroshi, although she does value Ten-chan slightly more than Hiroshi. Kaoru appears reasonably regularly in the anime, but extremely rarely in the manga (she is ditched from the cast page eventually, and is the only character that is).
Shino
Shino is Kotarou's cousin. She is a small child with a free spirit, but when she gets upset, she gets upset very quickly and easily, plus she hates being left alone. She, like Kotarou, can see angels, demons and ghosts.
* Manga — In the Manga, Shino plays a reasonably large part. When she first appears, she is lost in an amusement park and Shia and Misha find her (while Kotarou is searching for her)- she takes an immediate liking to Misha. However, Shino doesn't like Shia as she gets headaches around her (Kotarou too used to get headaches around Shia, reacting to her being a demon). In the Manga, Shino is 1/8th demon like Kotarou (following down the same like, Shia is also Shino's great-grandmother). It is of note that Shino and Kotarou's grandmother was also called Shino- she is seen when Kotarou goes to visit his great-grandfather's house and is also in the scenes set in the past- past Shino is portrayed as strong willed, rather like Uematsu in the present. After Shino's father is hospitalised (her mother is dead, like Kotarou's), Shino moves to live in with Kotarou. She makes fewer and fewer appearances as the series moves on and the action moves out of Kotarou's house, but she is never ditched from the cast page and appears in the last chapter.
* Anime — In the Anime, Shino hardly appears (not having a part on the introduction). She has only two episodes to herself where she is a reasonably main character; she goes to the theme park and to Kotarou's school. It is said that Shino is staying with Kotarou until her own father gets better, so it is unknown if she's actually left after these episodes (they don't say goodbye), or if she's still there. Also, Shino does not get headaches around Shia. She actually likes her, for making her happy when she was down.
Nyaa
Nyaa is the name of the little black cat that is always with Shia. In both the anime and the manga he is named Nyaa by Misha (since the sound a cat makes, "Nyo" or "Nya" in Japanese) and although he insists that it isn't his real name, he never reveals his real name, so he has become known simply as "Nyaa". In both the Manga and the Anime, Nyaa despises Sasha (the feeling is mutual), and in both versions he is a full demon. (His real name is revealed in the Pitaten novel series)
* Manga — In the Manga, Nya is a demon who seems to be quite fond of Shia or -to some extent- close to her. He often aids her from near-death situations, and tries to teach her how she can be a proper demon. Yet he gets easily frustrated by her incompetence and reluctance to kill humans. He's always depicted as an antagonist, with a long cloak and a sinister look in his eyes, but all he really ever does is protect Shia. It saddens him in the end that she would rather stay in the human world and not leave with him, which results in her death. Nyaa's human form has dirty chin-length blonde hair and cold blue eyes. He appears to have some German history, but his past is completely unknown other then the deep, unreasonable hatred he holds for mortals and his closeness to Shia. He is fairly tall and always dressed in a long black cloak -he wears a little bell where it would be around his neck as a cat- and he is clearly a very powerful and clever demon. Near the very end, he appears one last time to collect Shia's body and then disappears for good.
* Anime — In the Anime, Nyaa is only Shia's mentor. He tries to do the best for her, and although he tries to teach her how to be evil, she just can't (she's too kind and benevolent). Which makes him very frustrated and annoyed. Near the end it is revealed being evil was ultimately for her own good or else being wiped from existence and from the memories of those who knew her. After Shia is erased, it is clear that he loves her, and he works day and night in a fruitless attempt to have her resurrected (albeit Misha gets her resurrected in the end and Nyaa's potions just go to waste).
Sasha
Sasha is Misha's big sister, a full angel. In both the Manga and the Anime, Sasha tests Misha for her final angel exam.
* Manga — In the Manga, Sasha is a very strict and harsh character- who first appears in the third volume after Misha begins testing for her Angel Licensing Examination. She is a stern and up-right character who bullies Misha excessively into studying or concentrating on her studies instead of on Kotarou. It is later shown that the reason to this is because she knows very well what will happen to Misha if she fails her Angel Examination again. Sasha also holds a grudge against Kotarou for indirectly ruining Misha's reputation and chance to pass the Angel Examinations as well as imprisoning her for years. After that incident, Sasha repeatedly tries -in vain- to keep Misha away from Kotarou, as she knows that Misha is focused only on Kotarou, and consequently gets distracted from her studies. In an attempt to sabotage their friendship she forces Kotarou into a dreamlike state where he becomes Kotaroh (the first) temporarily and witnesses all the tragic events that lead to his death, and Misha's downfall. Even though Sasha did not fully manage to break their bond together; she creates disruption in their friendship and doubts, but also indirectly causes them to be reunited again. Eventually though Sasha's plan works out, and Misha does well on her Examination. (It is presumed that she passes because in the conclusion she is seen wearing white).
* Anime — In the Anime version, "Sacchan" (a shortened version of Sasha-chan, which she prefers to be called in this series) is a lot more similar to Misha. She works hard to get Misha to concentrate on her studies, but ultimately fails (badly). In the end, Sacchan is the one who has Misha resurrected for reviving a demon.
Taro (manga only)
Taro is the name of Kotarou's great-grandfather. He is a stubborn man and very down-to-earth, determined and bold from child to elder. As a child, he met a young girl called Shima (who was Shia)- who he tried hard to convince that she wasn't bad luck or different, and eventually succeeded in making her happy and becoming her friend. One day, Shima disappeared with Nya, and he was most upset. Several years later, Taro -a young adult- meets Shima again in Tokyo, where he was working and engaged. Although Shima looks physically 7 or 8 years old but she was mentally an adult; he married her and they had two children- Kotaroh and Shino. Even if they had unhappy moments and sad times, both of them tried to live together peacefully although in the end Shia -unable to control her demon instincts- nearly killed Kotaroh in her desperation and left with Nya, unable to bear it any longer. Before she left, Taro promised Shima that he would wait for her by the old apple tree no matter what. In spite, Nya erased Shima's memories and left with her. Though Shia was still haunted by the desire to see him and her family again for years to come she came far to late to meet her beloved Taro as he died. Taro for all those years waited in that house until he died for her to come back.
Kotaroh (manga only)
Kotaroh was Misha's friend when she was a little girl, and also Taro's son. He was half demon, so he had visions of people's death. Yet when he tried to tell them of the approaching death - just to be helpful- they branded him as a demon who was causing the deaths, not predicting them. He was bullied terribly afterwards, and although his sister Shino stood up for him (she had rocks thrown at her for it), he found himself shunned and outcast. In spite of the treatment, Kotaroh still made a friend. Who happened to be the angel trainee named Misha, who he met by chance. She talked to him in formal Japanese, which annoyed him no end, so eventually she started to talk to him in a childish manner (which made him laugh, so she continued to do so). Kotaroh loved Misha dearly, and asked her to go out with him. However, Misha -being an angel, did not know what that meant- so Kotaroh explained that he wanted to be with her forever (this is why Misha asked Kotarou to go out with her in the present time on their first meeting). But what Misha was doing (visiting Kotaroh) was against all the rules in Heaven and she was scolded and ordered to be sent back to Heaven. After hearing so, he decided he would go to heaven with Misha, and suicided by jumping off a cliff to his death. Unfortunately, this caused Misha to be imprisoned in a tangle of vines for many years in repentance, for being with him and for driving him to kill himself for her. Misha lived many years in the prison with grief and upon hearing of Kotaroh's reincarnation, was sent down to finally make him happy.
Spoilers end here.

International distribution

Pitaten is dubbed into Spanish by Animax Latin America and Portuguese by Álamo.

Music

Opening theme
Ending theme
  • "Chiisa na Mahou" by Miyuki Sawashiro

    • External links

     

    From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
    All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

    Search Titles
    0123456789
    ABCDEFGHIJ
    KLMNOPQRST
    UVWXYZ?

    E-mail this article to:

    Personal Message: