Pita-Ten

Pita-Ten is a manga that was written by Koge-Donbo, and was adapted into an anime by Akemi Menda and Yasuko Kobayashi that aired on TV Tokyo.[1] The title "Pita-Ten" is short for "Pitari Tenshi", which, when translated, literally means "clinging angel" in English. The plot of Pita-Ten centers primarily on the upbeat character Misha and her attempts to become a licensed angel, and Kotarou, her neighbor. It is generally light-humored, but the anime and the manga end with a serious tone. The manga has been translated into English by Tokyopop.[2]

Characters: Further information: List of Pita-Ten characters

Kotarou Higuchi (樋口湖太郎, Higuchi Kotarō?)
The main character of Pita-Ten. He looks after himself and lives with his father. It is explained during the story that his mother died while saving him from being run over when he was younger. Kotarou learns new skills and becomes happier once Misha moves in next to him. Kotarou is the reincarnation of his granduncle, Kotaroh (manga only).

Misha
An apprentice angel who speaks like a small child and tries to make everybody around her happy; consequentially making matters worse. She moved in next door to Kotarou and has 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. She becomes best friends with Shia when Shia moves into her home.

Shia
A demon (manga), or demon apprentice (anime). She is outwardly gentle and kind-hearted, can cook and clean, and is not very good at being malicious or at killing humans. She is generally weak - more so when her staff breaks under Misha's angelic influence. In volume 7 of the manga, Shia dies because she needed life from Misha-San in order to stay alive.

Takashi "Ten-chan" Ayanokoji
An extremely intelligent, sporty and attractive "ladies' man" who is the best friend of Kotarou and Koboshi since they were six. Despite his perfect grades and popularity, he has a troubled home life. He develops a crush on Shia. Although they never become a couple, they do become friends. In the manga, Ten-chan tells Shia his feelings for her, and admits to Kotarou his previous feelings for Koboshi.

Koboshi Uematsu
A fierce, petite blonde female friend of both Kotarou and Takashi, Koboshi is depicted as a very assertive character. She loves Kotarou greatly 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, until Misha showed up. Koboshi wears cat-shaped ears on her head every day, but they are not real or attached to her. She is liable to get angry and be very overprotective, causing her to be constantly irritated by Misha's childish antics and attachment to "her Kotarou-chan".

Hiroshi Mitarai
Nicknamed Dai-chan or "Poops" (a play on the Japanese characters of his name, which mean "bathroom"), is one of the few characters who is almost always consistent, storyline-wise, in both the anime and the manga. Hiroshi does not 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 cling to Misha). Despite this, Hiroshi works hard to stand up to his family name, the great Mitarai dynasty, but falls behind Ten-chan in grades.

Kaoru Mitarai
The younger sister of Hiroshi. She is very culinary-inclined with a serious infatuation with Ten-chan, who she loves a great deal — she cooks for him and plans marriage. She reacts violently to anybody who would dare to be mean to Ten-chan or Hiroshi, though she does value Ten-chan slightly more than Hiroshi. Kaoru appears reasonably regularly in the anime, but extremely rarely in the manga (she is the only character who was removed from the cast page).

Shino
Kotarou's cousin (anime). She is a small child with a free spirit, but when she gets upset, she gets upset very quickly and easily, and hates being left alone. She, like Kotarou, can see angels, demons and ghosts.

Nya
A little black cat that is always with Shia who was named by Misha (since the sound a cat makes, "nyo" or "nya" in Japanese). He insists that it is not his real name, but he never reveals it(only in the manga). Nya, who is a full demon, despises Sasha (and the feeling is mutual).

Sasha
Misha's older sister and is a fully-licensed angel. Sasha tests Misha for her final angel exam. She sometimes likes to be referred to as "Sacchun".

Taro Higuchi
Kotarou's great-grandfather.

Kotaroh Higuchi Sr.
Taro's first child and Kotarou's granduncle (manga only). Kotaroh loved Misha dearly, and asked her to go out with him. Misha (being an angel and did not know what that meant) did not understand, 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 the rules in Heaven, and she was scolded and ordered to be sent back to Heaven by Sacchan. After he overheard this, Kotaroh decided he would go to Heaven with Misha, and committed suicide by jumping off a cliff to his death.

Music
Opening theme : "Wake Up Angel ~Negaimashite ha Mugen Nari~" by Funta.
Ending theme : "Chiisa na Mahou" by Miyuki Sawashiro.