Angel in the Dark

Frontispiece to the series.

**Angel in the Dark** (くらやみの天使) is a shojo mystery work authored by **U. Mia** (Shotaro Ishinomori, Hideko Mizuno, Fujio Akatsuka). It ran in Shojo Club from October 1958 to March 1959.

## Overview

This feature in the magazine revolves around a young girl known as Chiko-chan, who one day witnesses a dispute between men in front of a supposed "haunted house". After an incident involving the murder of one of the men she'd seen in the argument, Chiko decides to thrust herself into the mystery and attempt to solve it.

Though this work was a collaborative effort between the three authors, Ishinomori was in charge of the story and lead heroes while Mizuno drew the heroines. Thus, Akatsuka only was responsible for drawing the backgrounds and some minor characters, though it is also said that their work was not divided too strictly.

## Characters

### Tomoko Fukami ("Chiko-chan")

(深海智子)

The protagonist. As her father is a policeman, her brother a news reporter, and her mother a great fan of mystery novels, it's only natural that she's inherited the curiosity to explore cases deeper.

Chiko wears a distinctive hat with two bobbles on top, as well as a fancy dress.

### Koji Fukami ("Hamu nii-san")

Chiko's adult-aged older brother, who works for the local newspaper. He carries a camera bag about as he'll never know when he might need to photograph something next. He has a characteristic fringe that tends to cover one of his eyes.

### Papa

Chiko's cop father. He has a different design in the introduction for the series, being depicted as a shorter, stout and balding man with white hair and a light mustache. However, in the actual first chapter, he is shown to be a taller, thinner man with a full head of dark hair and a just as dark mustache.

He is a stern, dutiful man dedicated to being right on the case.

### Mama

A tall, beautiful woman who is always reading an interesting sort of novel at home or up to date on the latest news articles.

### Kuro

Chiko's black-and-white dog, who is trustworthy and at her side wherever she goes.

### Shiro

Chiko's small pet mouse, who also accompanies her on cases.

### Miyo

Koji's girlfriend, and one of the characters that is visibly Akatsuka's touch.

### Yamagata-san

A suspicious-looking man with glasses and a dark suit. He is discovered to be dead the day after the argument early on in the story, shocking Chiko due to her having recognized his looks. This spurs her on to investigate the mysterious house.

### Old Man of the Mansion

A strange elderly man encountered by Chiko inside and outside the mansion. He is ambushed by an intruder intent on stealing his diamond "The Shinigami Eyes", and the burglar proceeds to kill his wife and pet dog John. The old man is found alive by Chiko and Koji, but winds up passing away from dehydration as Chiko takes too long to get him his water (due to being distracted by the sight of a mysterious mother and child).

### Woman

A dark-haired young woman seen to be one of the residents at the mansion. Her ring is the coveted "Shinigami Eyes" diamond. She has a small daughter who is abducted by the kidnapper, that Chiko and Koji have to find and save, eventually rescuing her from Yamagata-san's wife.

### Tetsuo ("Tecchan")

A little boy seen in the "Snow" story, who enjoys playing with a hula hoop. Chiko and Koji stay with his family, but wind up having to experience a mystery involving threatening oni-masked men.

### Yaeko ("Yae-chan")

Tetsuo's older sister, who accompanies Chiko and Koji along with her brother on the mystery at the ski resort.

## Serialization

The title ran with these stories, which are seen in reprints:

1. **"Angel in the Dark"** (くらやみの天使)
2. **"Find the Shinigami's Eyes"** (死神の目をさがせの巻)
3. **"Enter the Chiko Incident"** (チコ事件の中へ入る)
4. **"The Haunted Mansion"** (おばけやしき)
5. **"Curse of the Shinigami's Eyes"** (死神の目ののろい)
6. **"Solving the Shinigami's Eyes"** (死神の目をさがせの巻解決編)
7. **"The Man Who Has the 'Key'"** (『かぎ』をもっておとずれた男)
8. **"The Shinigami's Eyes are Here"** (死神の目はその中にあった)
9. **"The Story of Midori's Snow"** (みどりの雪の巻)

## Reprints

* Shogakukan: This title and "The Stars are Sad" comprise one volume in the "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" DVD-ROM collection.
* eBookJapan: "Angel in the Dark" is available as part of the Kodansha "Shotaro Ishinomori Complete Works" collection, with "And Miya Is Gone" (authored by Ishinomori and Akatsuka as **"Asuka Izumi"**) as extra content.