Himitsu no Anjiriesu, i.e., Secret Angelis (ひみつのアンジェリス) is a perfect example of a story with akogare that works. A cute, funny and fresh totally derivative manga that takes the basic rich-girl’s-school with heavy crushiness formula and manages to be fun and delightful at the same time.
Himitsu no Anjiriesu is the story of Sumire, who has transferred into a monstrously elite and restrictive Catholic girl’s school. Sumire is a free spirit, who finds herself butting heads with the uber-disciplinarian Sister Agnes over and over again. So, she goes about her day being yelled at for infractions like running, or speaking too loudly, or laughing, or breathing, and its wearing on her. In the meantime, Sumire is developing a serious crush on one of the school stars, who everyone calls “Hime.”
A tapestry of “Angelis,” an angel that will, if you whisper a prayer to him, help maidens in distress hangs in the hall in front of the auditorium. But the evil Sister Agnes (who spends the entire volume armed with a bokken and tortures the girls by closing off the TV room or the copy machine without warning or reason, and indulges in light corporal punishment for fun) tells all the girls that Angelis is an angel of Darkness and forbids them to pray to him.
One night, after specifically being warned by Sister Agnes not to be on the school grounds after 8PM, Sumire has to sneak back into the school to retrieve a notebook and is immediately caught. Sister Agnes starts to take a stick to her, when down from the trees swoops a hunky young musketeer-type person, who saves Sumire. But in the meantime, Sumire’s rescuer is put in harm’s way, so Sumire returns to rescue *her*. They escape with the help of two more musketeer-types and a widly implausible vehicle, and the four run off.
The next day, Sumire is called into the Executive Council’s room, only to discover that: 1) the Executive Council, including her beloved “Hime” are actually barking mad, and 2) They are also part of a secret organization that helps the downtrodden students knows as the “Musketeers”… No, I’m kidding – thay are known as …”Angelis”. Ta-da. And, of course, the “Angelis” Sumire saved was her Hime. Her crush goes through the roof.
Sumire and Hime continue to grow very close and save each other’s ass in incredibly daring and dashing and dare I say it, romantic, ways. In the end Sumire even tells the others in the group that they’ve confessed their love to one another. It was meant as a joke, of course…but it’s very close to the truth. I don’t hold much hope that it will go anywhere, but as we know, Yuri fandom’s hope springs eternal. :-)
Ratings:
Art – 7
Story – 8
Character -9
Yuri – 6
Overall – 7
Anyway, think Maria-sama ga Miteru meets Three Musketeers and you’ve got Himitsu no Anjiriesu. It’s absolutely hysterical, full of akogare fun and generally the most delightful Marimite clone yet.
