In a brand-new high school of only first-years, Midori, a girl who gives her all, runs for a spot on the student council alongside Akira, a guy who sees things through. Once elected, they start a new legacy at the school while also falling in love.

Midori has had a crush on Akira ever since she saw him rescue an abandoned cat. She hopes to become closer to him now that they're working together on the student council, but his heart may belong to someone else…

I’m No Angel has a story and art by Ai Yazawa. English translation is done by Andria McKnight and lettering by Inori Fukuda Trant. Published by Viz Media (June 2, 2026). Rated T.

Caitlin Moore
Rating:

Viz's publication of I’m No Angel marks the first time all of Ai Yazawa's major works have been available in English. It feels like a historical moment, especially with how long it took for such a revered artist. Unfortunately, I’m No Angel is the kind of story that is more interesting for its historical significance than it is in its own right.

Midori may be no angel, but this sure is an I’m No Angel manga. Aimed at an audience of elementary school girls with no actual romantic experience, everything and everyone is cute, and every emotion is heightened. Midori bubbles over with joy but weeps with anxiety, sometimes within the same page. Akira is the perfect romantic lead, a delinquent with a heart of gold who rescues abandoned kittens in the rain. Yes, really. That cliché so hoary that Lovely Complex made fun of it 20 years ago is presented without a trace of irony here. I couldn't help but chortle when I saw it.

It all just feels a bit like a first draft of Neighborhood Story. Yazawa's skill as an artist and storyteller was clearly still nascent, and she hadn't yet developed a strong voice. Her art is as beautiful and expressive as it ever has been, but her distinctive style has yet to crystallize. Midori and Akira come together awfully quickly, with little in common other than being on the student council together and general proximity. They don't have much in the way of chemistry; it's strange to compare it to the sizzling sparks that fly throughout Paradise Kiss, NANA, or even Neighborhood Story. I liked Midori at the start, with her slight mischievous tendencies, but my enthusiasm had waned considerably by the end of the volume.

The rest of the council is just kind of there, offering a secondary love triangle but little in the way of the fun ensemble dynamics that light up her later works. I have little interest in the kind of conflicts based on a lack of communication that permeate the latter half of the volume. The Wikipedia article for the series tells the story of a young artist who, lacking a clear direction, took her editor's advice on what to do next, and it shows. I’m No Angel has its charms, but it doesn't stand on its own as particularly exciting or interesting.

Kevin Cormack
Rating:

I'm a late convert to the manga of superstar creator Ai Yazawa. Ever since I reviewed her excellent Last Quarter and NANA for previous manga guides, I've scrambled to snap up every single volume of her works that I possibly can. Thankfully, Viz recently printed a lovely four-volume collection of Neighborhood Story and is in the process of reprinting NANA as chunky omnibus volumes. All of these now take pride of place on my shelves.

I’m No Angel was originally collected in eight volumes, following its serialization in girls' manga anthology Ribon thirty-five years ago, much closer to the beginning of Yazawa's career than anything published in English so far. It's no surprise, then, that it's obviously significantly less accomplished than her later, more famous manga. The art is still recognizably hers, yet it's both simpler and more cartoony, and at least to begin with, the story is less dramatic.

I'll admit I struggled initially to care all that much about the main character, Midori Saejima, who takes great pains to appear like an angelic, perfect girl to all of those around her. Perpetually smiling and helpful, she pines after the handsome, pompadour-sporting Akira Sudo. Their tentative steps towards what eventually becomes a romantic relationship are sweet, but the story feels insubstantial. All that kept me reading in the early chapters was Yazawa's goofy humor and funny facial expressions.

Yet past the volume's halfway mark, something starts to click. Midori's hang-ups and worries about Akira's relationship with a mystery woman make her more interesting. Akira himself, something of a closed book in the early chapters, begins to open up, and their relationship starts to develop the kind of complexities more in line with Yazawa's later stories.

I can't help wondering if Yazawa's intent to write Midori as such a perfectly sweet, angelic girl in the initial chapters works against capturing the reader's attention. Without much in the way of drama or narrative hooks, I’m No Angel takes too long to reach lift-off. Yet by this volume's end, I found myself eager to find out what happens to these characters next. I'll be sure to pick up later volumes to add them to my burgeoning Ai Yazawa shelf.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

This is, in many ways, Ai Yazawa before she became the Ai Yazawa most English-language fans know. (France, Italy, and other European countries got translations of these earlier works long before English-speaking ones.) That means a few things, one of which is that this first volume won't be nearly as subversive as even Neighborhood Story. Also, the art on the cover isn't a great indication of the art inside, which feels much more like Ribon house art than the style we associate with Yazawa today. I don't mean to scare you off from this series, though – just to temper your expectations, because despite the order in which Viz has released her works, this is Yazawa's first long series, dating to the early 90s.

The basic plot is, admittedly, a little pedestrian. It follows Midori, an energetic high school girl, as she crushes on sort-of-bad-boy Akira, whose claims to that classification are the fact that he wears his hair in a pompadour and rides a motorcycle. They attend a brand new high school, meaning that they, as members of the student council, get to decide all the school traditions and establish norms. Midori wasn't even going to run for student council, but two of her friends nominated her when she was out sick, and once she realizes that Akira is also running, she suddenly really wants to do it…and despite (because of?) a fall on stage that shows off her red gingham undies to all and sundry, she manages to get elected alongside him.

There's a bubbliness to both Midori and this story that's very appealing. Midori's not irrepressibly perky, and she often goes from jolly to crying in the blink of an eye. She feels things deeply and then isn't entirely sure she should, and she ends up feeling a bit like a prototype of Miwako from Neighborhood Story. Akira gives the appearance of being stoic, but he's just like any other teenage boy underneath, albeit with a bit more self-awareness. He figures Midori out quickly, and once he's comfortable with her, he has no problem just telling her things that other similar series would turn into volumes-long angst, such as his relationship with two mysterious Hirokos. They're a good couple, bringing out the best in each other even while Akira tries to help Midori navigate all of her big emotions.

In the fourth chapter, things start to get a little darker. With the advent of the first new class, tensions among the student council members begin to simmer, and one new girl seems set to cause trouble, particularly between Takigawa and Mamirin. You can really see Yazawa working towards the sort of manga creator she wants to become, and that alone is worth the price of this book. It's neat to see – and a good story, too, even if it might not be quite what you're expecting.