is a Japanese manga by Koge-Donbo. It was serialized in the shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Comic Gao! between the October 1999 and August 2003 issues and was later collected into eight tankōbon volumes. The eight volumes were localized for North America by Tokyopop; Madman Entertainment used Tokyopop's translations for distribution in Australasia. The plot follows Kotarou Higuchi who becomes acquainted with the angel Misha, and the demon Shia.
Pita-Ten has spun off an anthology manga, art books, a light novel series, and an anime; the anime resulted in a radio program and audio disc releases such as soundtracks and image songs. Tokyopop's volumes of Pita-Ten ranked on ICv2's monthly top one-hundred selling graphic novels. English reviewers praised the plot and artwork, generally describing the series as cute.
Plot
Kotarou Higuchi is befriended by his neighbor Misha, an angel-in-training. He is later acquainted with Shia, a demon, who is urged by her forgotten memories to search for something. Kotarou continues his daily life until Shia absorbs his life energy and leaves town. Kotarou investigates and discovers Shia is his great-grandmother who is searching for his dying great-grandfather, Taro Higuchi. After the revelation, Shia regains her memories and mourns Taro's death before she also dies. Afterwards, Kotarou learns that Misha's test involves helping Kotarou find happiness; regardless of the result, the two will separate when the test's deadline is reached. Realizing Heaven's true intent, Kotarou asks Misha to rid him of his ability to see angels as he has to search for happiness himself; Misha passes the test and becomes the angel. The series ends with the two returning to their separate lives.
Characters
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The heroine. Misha is an angel who was friends with Kotaroh. After Kotaroh's suicide, Heaven imprisons Misha and strips her of her status because she was an indirect cause of his death. In the present, Heaven frees Misha and gives her a chance to redeem herself by having Kotarou as her test. In the anime, Kotarou is not related to Misha's test and are neighbors by coincidence; she was voiced by Yukari Tamura.
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The protagonist. Kotarou is a sixth-grade elementary school student at Misaki Seiei Private Academy. At a very young age he lost his mother after she saved him from a speeding truck. Because of this and his father's work, Kotarou is alone most of the time resulting in his stoic and independent personality. Kotarou is able to see angels, demons, and spirits because he is a descendant of Shia. He later discovers he is the reincarnation of , his grand-uncle and Shia's son. Kotaroh's family were labeled as demons by the villager. Since Misha was Kotaroh's emotional support, he committed suicide when Misha was forced to return to heaven. Kotarou was initially in love with Shia which strains his friendship with Takashi. Eventually, his feelings shift towards Misha and is reinforced when Shia is revealed to be his great-grandmother. In the anime adaptation, Kotarou's relation to Kotaroh and Shia was removed; he was voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro.
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Shia is a demon with the appearance of a frail feminine girl. Because of her nature, she needs to absorb life energy while in the human world to survive. Before the start of the series, an amnesiac Shia lived in the human world as , an adopted daughter of a merchant. She married and gave birth to Kotarou's granduncle and grandmother. Due to her demonic nature, Shia was forced to return to hell to restore her health; her demon memories overwrite her memories as Shima. Due to Taro's ailing health, Shia returns to the human world and subconsciously searches for him. She regains her memories as Shima when Kotarou reveals her past to her and attends Taro's funeral; ignoring her demonic nature to feed, Shia dies shortly after. In the anime, Shia has no relation to the Higuchi family and travels to the human world to complete her demon apprenticeship. Shia's good nature causes her to fail, and her existence is annulled; at the end of the series, Misha brings Shia back to life as a human. She was voiced by Yukana Nogami.
- is Hiroshi's younger sister. She admires her brother and attacks anyone who insults him. She develops a crush on Takashi which prioritizes her admiration for her brother. In the anime, Kaoru's story remains the same and she was voiced by Sakura Nogawa.
- is Kotarou's maternal cousin. Since her mother's death, Shino has been cared for by her and Kotarou's great-grandfather. Like Kotarou, she can see angels, demons and spirits. She moves in with Kotarou later in the series. In the anime, Shino's story remains the same, and she was voiced by Taeko Kawata.
Release
Pita-Ten is a manga series written and illustrated by Koge-Donbo. It was serialized in Dengeki Comic Gao! between the October 1999 and August 2003 issues. The individual chapters were then collected and released in eight volumes under MediaWorks' Dengeki Comics imprint between April 10, 2000, and September 27, 2003. The manga was localized in English for North America by Tokyopop and released the eight volumes between January 13, 2004, and March 8, 2005. Tokyopop released a special boxset containing the first four volumes on November 10, 2005. In 2011, Tokyopop's North American division was closed down and their licenses to manga franchises were revoked. Madman Entertainment licensed Tokyopop's translations for distribution in Australasia. The series has also been localized in other languages such as French, German, and Mandrain.
An anthology series entitled was published by MediaWorks between March 27 and September 27, 2002. The fan books were licensed and released in English by Tokyopop between November 8, 2005, and July 7, 2006.