Tenshi na Konamaiki (translated as “Cheeky Angel”) is a manga series written and illustrated by Hiroyuki Nishimori. It was serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday by Shogakukan from June 1999 to August 2003, with a total of 20 volumes. Viz Media acquired the series and published its English release from July 2004 to January 2008. In 2001, Cheeky Angel won the 46th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shonen category. A 50-episode anime TV series adaptation by TMS Entertainment was broadcasted on TV Tokyo from April 2002 to March 2003.

The story of Cheeky Angel mainly revolves around the adventures of a beautiful 15-year-old schoolgirl named Megumi Amatsuka who was originally a boy! Many critics praised the manga for its original and entertaining story. Some said that even though Cheeky Angel might remind readers of stories like “Ranma ½”, the story holds its own and took the issue of gender identity very seriously.

The story of Cheeky Angel started with a break-up scene. A 15-year-old delinquent student named Genzo Soga was breaking up with his girlfriend. He yelled at her for clinging onto him crying and coldly turned his back, leaving the girl on the side of the street.

Someone tapped Genzo on the shoulder and called him. He turned around to see a beautiful girl wearing a uniform from the same high school as his. She looked at Genzo with a smile like an angel and he instantly fell in love.

However, the story took an abrupt turn as the “angel” kicked Genzo in the nuts! The “angel” Amatsuka Megumi saw the cruel break-up from afar and came to the girl’s aid. It was not the first time Megumi was involved in a fight. Her best friend Miki Hanakain saw Megumi fighting with a scary guy like Genzo and hurriedly dragged her away.

Miki scolded Megumi for always picking fights while being unaware of the consequences. Miki said that it was such a shame since Megumi had a beautiful appearance with long, silky hair, soft skin and pink lips. “It’s already been 6 years since you became a girl”, Miki said. It seemed that Megumi was hiding a secret.

Megumi recalled 6 years ago, when she was only 9 years old. In Megumi’s memory, she used to be a boy.

Megumi and Miki was playing by the river bank since Megumi wanted to skip his piano lesson. Down on the river bank, Megumi spotted a strange-looking old man in a long robe. He held his toy sword and with a cheeky smile, Megumi ran down the bank to chase the old man away.

Right then, a bunch of other boys ran towards the old man, holding sticks. They yelled at him and called him a “damn wizard”. Afraid that those boys would steal his glory, Megumi came forward and fought the boys. Megumi was very loud and wild so he easily won against the boys, thus saving the strange old man.

It turned out that the man could not do any magic. In return for Megumi’s help, he gave the little boy a magic book that could grant wishes that he called “The Gift of Heaven”.

When Megumi and Miki was walking home with the book, a bigger boy showed up wanting to avenge the children that Megumi beat up earlier. This boy would later grow up to be Genzo Soga, but both of them didn’t know this.

Megumi and Genzo fought, with Megumi ended up triumphant again.

When Megumi picked up the magic book, accidently smeared a bit of blood from the fight earlier on the cover, the book gave off a peculiar glow. Inside the pages was a picture of a genie. The genie smiled and stepped out of the book, offering to grant one free wish.

Megumi didn’t think it through at all and told the genie that he wanted to become a real man, a man amongst men. As the genie uttered a few spells, Megumi’s wish was granted.

When Megumi and Miki opened their eyes, they discovered something very wrong with Megumi’s body. He now developed breast and his face turned feminine. The genie was in truth a jester named Pierrot and he tricked Megumi by doing the opposite of what he wished for.

Megumi was turned in to the most womanly of women and in order to return to normal, Megumi had to make another wish at the cost of 10 years of her life. In an angry fit, Megumi threw the magic book along with the jester into the river, thus throwing away her only chance of turning back to normal.

Megumi and Miki rushed back to Megumi’s home, where Megumi’s mother greeted them with a smile. When they told her the story, she laughed and said that Megumi had always been a girl. Megumi finally understood that the curse being put on her affected not only her gender but the memories of everyone around her. It seemed that the only ones who knew the truth were Megumi and Miki.

From that day on, Megumi resolved to find the book and the jester so that she could finally be turned back into a man!

Will Megumi be able to find the book after six long years? Will the jester agree to turn Megumi back to a man without any cost?