Arisa (manga)

Arisa
Cover of the first volume
アリサ
Genre	Romance, mystery
Manga
Written by	Natsumi Ando
Published by	Kodansha
English publisher	Kodansha Comics USA
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Nakayoshi
Original run	December 29, 2008 – ongoing
Volumes	9

Arisa (アリサ) is a shōjo manga series by Natsumi Ando. It debuted on December 29, 2008 in the February 2009 issue of Nakayoshi magazine, where it is still serialized.

North American publisher Del Rey announced in September 2009 to have licensed the series for North America. Del Rey released the first volume, but shortly after Kodansha announced that they would be taking over from Del Rey on a case to case basis. On December 12, 2010, Kodansha Comics officially announced that they would be continuing Arisa in North America starting in May 2011.

Story

The manga revolves around Sonoda Arisa and Uehara Tsubasa, twin sisters separated by their parents' divorce who promise to send letters to each other to keep in touch. They finally meet again for the first time after three years. Tsubasa is envious, but proud, of her sweet, popular sister, in comparison to her own school life where she if often referred to as "The Demon Princess" and Arisa suggests they switch places for a day. After this, Tsubasa goes on about how she envies Arisa, to which Arisa responds, "You don't know their (Arisa's class, 2B) secret, and you don't know my secret!" and attempts suicide by jumping out of the window. She stays in a coma, and Tsubasa poses as her and goes to her school to find out why she did so. She finds out class 2B sends wishes on their cellphones to a person called "KING" each Friday. The KING only grants one wish weekly, resulting mostly in violence. Tsubasa tries to stop the KING and find out who he is to save Arisa, as he may be the reason of her attempted death.

Characters

Tsubasa Uehara (上原 つばさ, Uehara Tsubasa)

A 14-year-old delinquent who is called "demon princess" in her school. Although the title character is her twin sister, Arisa, she is the main character. She attends school in her sister's place in order to find out why Arisa tried to commit suicide. She has purple eyes and wavy blonde hair (although she is shown to have the same straight, darkish pink hair as Arisa in the flashback).

Arisa Sonoda (園田 ありさ, Sonoda Arisa)

Tsubasa's twin sister. Arisa is described as a sweet and kind girl. She was known as the class representative. She was the former KING but was replaced by an unknown person after falling into a coma when she tried to commit suicide.

Akira Manabe (真鍋 明良, Manabe Akira)

A mysterious boy in Arisa's class. Manabe is the only boy who doesn't get along with his classmates. He has purple eyes and blondish tan hair. He eventually finds out that Tsubasa had pretended to be Arisa to find out why she attempted to commit suicide and assists her in finding out who the new KING is. His password is 8001, and gave his account to Tsubasa so she could help figure out who the new KING is. It may seem that he has feelings for Arisa.

Takeru (健)

Tsubasa's close friend who helps her as she tries to figure out the mystery behind her sister's attempted suicide and the sinister things going on at the school.

Mariko Takagi (高木 毬子, Takagi Mariko)

Arisa's best friend. Normally cheerful and easy going, she also has a sinister and dark side. Mariko had never been noticed by others until Arisa had become her friend and had done as KING told her to in order to get her Arisa back. She eventually transfers schools because she believes she is a nuisance to the class but Tsubasa tells her that she will always remember her as a special friend, believing this is what the real Arisa will say. Her password is 2571.

Midori Yamashita (山下 緑, Yamashita Midori)

Arisa's boyfriend. His is very kind and gentle to Arisa. However, he doesn't know that "Arisa" is in fact Tsubasa in disguise. His password is 4632.In chapter 28 it was shown that he was the king.

Kudou Rei (玖堂 レイ, Kudō Rei)

A mysterious transfer student. His mom is from Portugal and he transferred due to his father's job. He likes to hang out on the roof because it's "closer to heaven". He had a heart surgery when he was little and has a scar from it. His password is 7426. He appears to be the king that replaced Arisa when she is in a coma.

Shizuka Mochidzuki (望月 静華, Mochizuki Shizuka)

A mysterious girl who comes later in the story. She and Manabe are childhood friends, and she is currently getting help from Manabe to fulfill her wishes. Her wish is to get revenge on Arisa. She was the KING's first victim. Due to a failed suicide attempt as a result of a 'traitor letter,' she lost the ability to move her legs. Her password is 3903.