Angel's 3Piece! is a Japanese light novel series by Sagu Aoyama, illustrated by Tinkle, later adapted into manga, a television anime, drama CDs, music projects, and other media.
It was published under Dengeki Bunko from June 2012 to February 2018 in 11 volumes, and its anime adaptation aired from July to September 2017 with 12 episodes produced by Project No.9.
Angel's 3Piece! is a youth and music-themed story centered on a withdrawn high school boy and three elementary school girls who form a rock band.
The series combines school drama, recovery from emotional wounds, found-family warmth, and live music performance.
The illustrations were handled by Tinkle, and the novels were published first by ASCII Media Works and later by Kadokawa.
By February 2017, the series had reached a cumulative circulation of 340,000 copies.
The author also uploaded songs from the story online using vocal synthesizer software, giving the project an unusually direct musical connection to its fictional world.
In October 2015, a unit project and drama CD adaptation were announced at the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2015.
A crossover illustration project with Ro-Kyu-Bu!, another work by the same author, was also released through merchandise and later collected in an art book by Tinkle.
Volume 1
The story begins with Kyō Nukui, a high school boy who has become truant and self-described shut-in after a painful childhood experience.
He starts playing guitar and composing music in his spare time, uploading original songs to a video-sharing site under the name Hibiki-P.
One day, he receives an email from someone who heard one of his older songs and wants to meet the person who wrote it.
When he finally goes out to answer that invitation, he finds three fifth-grade girls waiting for him.
The girls live in an orphanage called Little Wing, where a church building next door is about to be given up as part of a downsizing plan.
They ask Kyō to help them hold a live performance there as a final memory.
At first he hesitates, but he becomes interested in their music and agrees to help.
Soon he learns that the girls avoid inviting their classmates because they are afraid of being mocked for living in an orphanage.
Seeing their loneliness, Kyō decides he has to change as well.
He returns to school, promotes the live show, and inspires the girls to take a brave step of their own.
They invite their classmates, perform successfully in the church, and create a meaningful turning point for everyone involved.
After the concert, Kyō proposes using the church as an event space so it can remain active.
With a one-month trial granted, he and the girls begin continuing their music activities together.
Volume 2
The Little Wing girls want more people to know about their band, so Kyō suggests making a promotional video.
They go on a camping trip to gather footage, and after a series of mishaps they manage to create a strong video.
When it is uploaded, it receives more attention than expected.
That success brings a serious complication.
Nozomi Momijidani is recognized by her maternal grandfather, Ryan Brunel, who realizes she is his long-lost granddaughter and comes from England.
This creates the danger of the band breaking apart.
Nozomi, Jun, and Sora struggle to express their true feelings while trying to think about what is best for each other.
As arrangements for Nozomi to move to England begin, Kyō is distracted even during a date with Kurumi Nukui, who sharply pushes him to stop holding back.
He decides to tell Nozomi how he truly feels.
Nozomi also finally speaks honestly, admitting that she has been restraining herself out of consideration for others and that she wants to stay at Little Wing.
Together with Jun and Sora, she renews the promise that they will remain together.
Volume 3
Kyō receives an invitation from an online acquaintance named Kirimu, who lives on a remote island known as Soryu Island.
The band Lien de Famille is invited to perform at a local festival as part of a regional revitalization effort.
The group accepts, though not without some suspicion.
On the island they are welcomed by kind locals and meet Yuzuha Aigae.
As preparations continue, the group becomes entangled in local troubles and gradually uncovers the darker side of the island's traditions.
The mysterious Kirimu is revealed to be an elementary school girl trapped by an old religious custom.
Kyō and the others struggle with how to confront the clash between inherited tradition and basic individual freedom.
In the end, they choose to help her.
With support from her birth mother, they free her from the shrine where she has been confined and arrange their first face-to-face meeting.
The climax is a successful live performance that combines music with live illustration.
Volume 4
After the events on the island, Koume Ogi and Yuzuha move to the same town as Kyō and the others.
Life grows even busier.
Koume decides to form a rival band to challenge Lien de Famille.
She recruits Yuzuha and then persuades Kurumi to join as well.
Kyō now finds himself supporting not one but two young bands.
He works to guide both groups toward a successful mini live show.
Volume 5
The second school term begins, and Kyō's high school starts preparing for its cultural festival.
Because he does not belong to a club, he ends up involved in his class exhibit planning.
Things quickly go badly, and Sakura Toriumi points out his lack of interpersonal experience.
That criticism makes him painfully aware of the emptiness left by his shut-in years.
Meanwhile, Lien de Famille learns of a kids' band festival and begins preparing for it.
Koume's rival group is equally fired up for a rematch.
As festival preparations continue, Kyō and Sakura grow closer.
They eventually realize that their feelings are mutual and can no longer avoid facing them.
Volume 6
The selection results for the kids' band festival are announced, and both Lien de Famille and Dragon ≒ Nuts fail to make the cut.
Dragon ≒ Nuts feels disappointed but quickly starts thinking about the future.
Lien de Famille has a much harder time recovering.
Because the church itself was their original motivation, the failure leaves them emotionally adrift.
Their rehearsals become distracted, and the mood inside the band worsens.
Kyō comes to understand that they need a new goal.
The desire to protect the church was enough at the beginning, but not anymore.
A Christmas event at Little Wing becomes the opportunity for them to discover a fresh purpose.
Volume 7
The seventh volume is the series' first short story collection.
It includes four stories previously published in Dengeki Bunko Magazine, plus a newly written New Year's episode that follows directly after volume 6.
That original short story also introduces Kyō and Kurumi's parents, who had not appeared before.
Main protagonist
Kyō Nukui
Voiced by Yuuki Inoue in the anime.
Kyō is the central protagonist and a first-year student in Class A of the general course at Niida West High School.
He is awkward in communication but basically sincere and gentle.
In elementary school, he was ridiculed for a poem he read aloud in language class.
Years of teasing and being called pretentious eventually led him to stop attending school in his first year of middle school.
He planned to return after entering high school, but could not take the final step.
Instead, he spent his days learning guitar and digital music production.
His online music uploads under the name Hibiki-P become the key to the story's central meeting.
His birthday is November 15, his blood type is A, and his instruments are a used Fender USA Jazzmaster and a used K.Yairi acoustic guitar.
Little Wing
Little Wing is the orphanage where the three girls live.
It has a church next to the residential building, and the chapel is used as a live venue during performances.
At the time of the story, only five people live there, including the adult caretaker.
Because of downsizing, the group was originally supposed to move out.
That changes when Kyō proposes operating the church as an event space.
Lien de Famille
Lien de Famille is the three-piece rock band formed by the elementary school girls of Little Wing.
They originally started playing as a way to thank Masayoshi Sawatari, whose love of rock music and collection of vintage instruments inspired them.
At first the band used the same name as the orphanage, Little Wing.
Later, to avoid confusion, the name was changed to Lien de Famille, a French phrase meaning family bond, inspired by text seen beneath the sign of Sakura's workplace bakery.
Jun Gotō
Voiced by Yuuko Oono.
Jun is one of the main heroines and a fifth-grade student in Class 2 at Shiromidai Elementary School.
She is the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band.
She is timid, tearful, and easily frightened, yet she can also act with surprising courage.
Her signature verbal quirk is saying "wanya."
She has an excellent ear.
She is the one who realizes that Kyō's anonymous improvisation upload and his vocal-synthesizer song upload were made by the same person, which is what leads the girls to him.
She admires both Kyō himself and the lyrics and music he creates.
Her affection is straightforward and pure, even if she often holds herself back out of consideration for Nozomi and Sakura.
Her birthday is August 8, her blood type is A, and her instrument is a Fender USA Duo-Sonic.
She ranked first in the series character popularity poll.
Nozomi Momijidani
Voiced by Yurika Endou.
Nozomi is one of the main heroines and another fifth-grade student in Class 2 at Shiromidai Elementary School.
She plays bass.
She has a strong-willed personality, though she is emotionally sensitive underneath.
Because she is half British, she is physically taller and more mature-looking than many children her age.
Her Japanese father died shortly after she was born.
Her British mother, Lisa, raised her alone, but later died from illness several years before the main story.
Her birthday is October 21, her blood type is AB, and her instrument is a Hofner 500/1 bass.
She ranked fourth in the popularity poll.
Sora Kaneshiro
Voiced by Aoi Koga.
Sora is one of the main heroines and the drummer of the group.
She is also a fifth-grade student in Class 2 at Shiromidai Elementary School.
She has a sleepy expression, a calm pace, and a verbal habit of saying "hamu."
She often remains perfectly unfazed while everyone else is in chaos.
She also has a habit of doing unexpectedly bold things, such as greeting Kyō while naked just to explain that she was in the bath.
Among the three girls, she is currently the most technically skilled performer, known for her stable and accurate drumming.
In the anime's confession booth-style next-episode preview segments, she also plays a character called Butchy Musha.
Her birthday is December 1, her blood type is AB, and her instrument is a Gretsch bop kit.
She ranked third in the popularity poll.
Other residents of Little Wing
Sakura Toriumi
Voiced by Kanae Itou.
Sakura is a first-year student in the same high school class as Kyō.
Her parents died shortly after her birth, and she was placed in a facility.
She transferred into Kyō's class during middle school.
Although they did not really speak then, she liked his poetry and quietly supported him by delivering handouts during his period of school refusal.
She works part-time at the bakery Saonois.
Her hobby is fishing, and at the end of volume 3 she gives Kyō a fishing rod.
In the anime adaptation, she appears earlier than in the original novels and is present from episode 1.
Her birthday is March 8, and her blood type is O.
She ranked fifth in the popularity poll.
Masayoshi Sawatari
Voiced by Tooru Ookawa.
Masayoshi is the caretaker of the Little Wing orphanage.
He is broad-minded, easygoing, and warmly respected by the children, who call him Master.
He loves rock music and owns many instruments.
That passion is what inspires Jun and the others to start a band.
He also likes fishing.
However, his preferences clash with Sakura's because he uses lures while she favors a different style.
Dragon ≒ Nuts
Dragon ≒ Nuts is the rival band created by Koume to compete with Lien de Famille.
Its performances combine live music with Koume's illustrations projected onto a screen.
In the anime, the group appears in episode 12, but its official band name is said not to have been finalized there.
In the novels, the final name is formed by combining the name ideas suggested by the three members.
Kurumi Nukui
Voiced by Rina Hidaka.
Kurumi is Kyō's younger sister and a fifth-grade student in Class 2 at Shiromidai Elementary School.
She complains about her brother and speaks sharply to him, but she is deeply caring and constantly looks after him.
At school she serves as class representative.
At home she handles more than half the household chores.
She is very competent and also very much attached to her older brother.
She studies piano and joins Dragon ≒ Nuts as its keyboard player after being provoked by Koume.
Her birthday is November 19, her blood type is A, and the instrument she uses for lessons is a Yamaha P-95.
Like Sakura, she appears earlier in the anime than in the original novels and is present from episode 1.
She ranked second in the popularity poll.
Koume Ogi
Voiced by Kana Hanazawa.
Koume is a fifth-grade student in Class 2 at Shiromidai Elementary School.
Online, she is a popular illustrator using the handle Kirimu.
She liked Kyō's music and drew image illustrations for it.
Because of her unusual upbringing, she is self-confident and somewhat out of step with ordinary society.
She has a strong personality and calls taller girls like Jun insulting nicknames while treating them as rivals.
Koume was raised under the role of the Sacred Child of the Noble Dragon, a title worshipped on Soryu Island.
Under island custom, she could not leave the shrine grounds until her successor turned five.
With Kyō's help and the cooperation of the previous sacred child's birth mother, she is finally freed and moves to town with the others.
The author described the backstory surrounding her origins as the series' one absolutely fantastical element.
Her birthday is July 7, and her blood type is AB.
Yuzuha Aigae
Voiced by Yuka Iguchi.
Yuzuha is another fifth-grade student in Class 2 at Shiromidai Elementary School and comes from Soryu Island.
Despite her age, she has an unusually mature figure and initially pretends to be a second-year middle school student when she first meets Kyō and the others.
She comes from a family that has served the Sacred Child for generations, which is why she moves along with Koume after the island incident is resolved.
She openly talks to Kyō about dangerous romantic fantasies, including an admiration for being a lover in an illicit relationship, which keeps him on edge even after they reconcile.
Her role in the band includes lead vocals and a Fender VI baritone guitar.
Though still a beginner, she plays earnestly and helps cover guitar parts that would be difficult to reproduce with cheap digital music tools or a keyboard.
Her birthday is June 10, and her blood type is AB.
Keisuke Nukui
Keisuke is Kyō's father.
He wears glasses, has a gentle personality, and works for a pharmaceutical company.
Because of his job, he is often away from home.
Azuki Nukui
Azuki is Kyō's mother and also works for a pharmaceutical company.
People disagree on whether she resembles Kurumi in personality, but they definitely share very similar ideas and behavior.
Like Kurumi, she loves Kyō dearly.
Ryan Brunel
Voiced by Vinay Murthy.
Ryan is Nozomi's maternal grandfather and is British.
When his daughter Lisa ran away to Japan with a Japanese man, he was furious.
Later, when Lisa sent yearly Christmas letters with photographs of young Nozomi, he calmed down and watched over her happiness from afar.
After losing contact with Lisa for several years, he searched for her and eventually discovered Nozomi by chance in an online promotional video of Lien de Famille.
He comes to Little Wing in Japan with his cousin Alice, who helps interpret.
He regrets having opposed Lisa's marriage, especially because the conflict ended with her dying in Japan.
At first he intends to take Nozomi back to England and adopt her, but he eventually accepts her wish to remain where she is.
He can speak Japanese.
In the anime's final episode, he is shown in an office in London happily looking at photos of Nozomi and the other girls on his smartphone.
Alice Stevenson
Voiced by Mirei Yamagata.
Alice is Ryan's cousin.
She is British but speaks fluent Japanese.
She is kind toward the children of Little Wing, including Nozomi.
Soryu Island residents
Sayuri Ogi
Voiced by Yoko Hikasa.
Sayuri works for the tourism association on Soryu Island and helps welcome Kyō and the others when they arrive.
She is Koume's birth mother and has long questioned the island's customs.
Kenta Ogi
Voiced by Kenta Miyake.
Kenta is Sayuri's husband.
He runs a pension on Soryu Island and is an extreme fishing enthusiast.
Other supporting characters
Yuna Motomura
Yuna is the owner of a general goods shop.
She is kind but carefree.
She started the shop on a whim, and it is not doing very well.
As a friend of Koume's mother, she takes responsibility for Koume and Yuzuha after they move.
Chikako Wako
Chikako is the owner of the bakery Saonois.
She is shy and usually communicates in writing, but that does not mean she is modest.
She barges into changing rooms, comes up with bizarre ideas, and pushes her employees around with complete shamelessness.
She understands Sakura's difficult circumstances and is willing to accommodate troublesome work shifts for her sake.
A critical study in Light Novel Frontline 2 described the work as sharing with Ro-Kyu-Bu! a healthy charm built around the earnestness of elementary school girls.
It argued that this sincerity is one of the series' strongest appeals and helps pull readers in.
At the same time, the same source suggested that the character writing can be weaker than in the author's previous work.
As an example, it pointed to eccentric speech habits such as Jun's verbal quirk, which it viewed as somewhat old-fashioned.
Light novels
The light novel series was written by Sagu Aoyama and illustrated by Tinkle.
It was published by ASCII Media Works and later Kadokawa under the Dengeki Bunko label.
The series consists of 11 volumes.
Volume 1 was released on June 10, 2012.
Volume 2, titled Angel's 3Piece! x2, was released on October 10, 2013.
Volume 3, Angel's 3Piece! x3, was released on June 10, 2014.
Volume 4, Angel's 3Piece! x4, was released on October 10, 2014.
Volume 5, Angel's 3Piece! x5, was released on February 10, 2015.
Volume 6, Angel's 3Piece! x6, was released on October 10, 2015.
Volume 7, Angel's 3Piece! x7, was released on April 9, 2016.
Volume 8, Angel's 3Piece! x8, was released on October 8, 2016.
Volume 9, Angel's 3Piece! x9, was released on March 10, 2017.
Volume 10, Angel's 3Piece! x10, was released on July 7, 2017.
Volume 11, Angel's 3Piece! x11, was released on February 10, 2018.
Manga
Main manga adaptation
A manga adaptation illustrated by Yuju Mizutani ran in Dengeki G's Comic beginning with Volume 2, corresponding to the July 2014 issue.
It is a direct comic adaptation of the original story and was collected in 8 volumes.
The volumes were released from November 10, 2014 to November 27, 2018.
Parody manga
A second manga titled Angel's 3Piece! no 3P!! was illustrated by Omiya and serialized in Dengeki Moeoh beginning with the December 2013 issue.
This version is a parody comic using the same setting background as the original.
Each chapter runs only three pages and is presented as a gag story.
It was promoted with the teasing line, "This is the kind of Angel's 3Piece! you do not want."
Although it began serialization earlier than the main manga adaptation, its collected volumes were published later.
It was completed in 2 volumes, released on July 10, 2015 and March 10, 2017.
Related books
An art book titled Tinkle Illustrations Sextet Tea Party: Angel's 3Piece! was released on March 28, 2019.
Production and broadcast
A television anime adaptation was announced at the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2016.
It aired from July to September 2017 on Tokyo MX and other stations, for a total of 12 episodes.
The anime was directed by Shinryo Yanagi.
Series composition and scripts were handled by Go Zappa.
Character design was by Takayuki Noguchi, music was composed by Akito Matsuda, and animation was produced by Project No.9.
The production committee was named Little Wing.
Performance scenes used motion capture.
Former LoVendoR member Yuki Uozumi participated in the guitar performance reference work.
Staff
Original work was by Sagu Aoyama, with original character designs by Tinkle.
The assistant director was Kazuya Iwata.
Prop design was by Keiko Kitayama, Akane Yano, and Yoshiko Okuda.
Instrument design was by Reiichiro Ofuji.
Art direction was handled by Hiroko Tanabe.
Art setting was by Takeo Narita and Takashi Watanabe.
Color design was by Yoko Suzuki.
The CGI line director was Makoto Endo.
Photography direction was by Tetsuya Kawada.
Editing was by Akinori Mishima.
Sound direction was by Ryosuke Naya.
Music production was by Lantis, and the music producer was Yohei Kisaragi.
The project was produced by Tetsuro Satomi.
Other producers included Hitoshi Kawamura, Atsushi Wada, Koji Hyakutake, Mika Shimizu, Shiki Yamazaki, Yohei Kisaragi, Soji Miyagi, and Takema Okamura.
Animation production support was handled by Barnum Studio, and the animation producer was Satoshi Kojiya.
Theme songs and insert songs
The opening theme is Wingbeat Birthday, performed by Baby's Breath, the unit formed by Jun, Nozomi, and Sora.
It was used as the opening from episode 2 through episode 8, and again in episodes 10 and 11.
In episode 12, it was used as the ending theme.
The ending theme is Wedge, also performed by Baby's Breath.
It was used in episodes 1 through 3, 7, 8, 10, and 11.
Even in episodes where it was not used as the ending sequence, it still appeared in the ending credits.
The insert songs include Deep Sea Prisoner, Howling, I Can Hear What Matters, Innocent Blue, and First Take.
Several songs also appear in vocal-synthesizer versions sung by a vocal software voice based on Yui Ogura.
Episode 10 additionally features Cherry Blossom Blooming Future Love Dream, sung by Yuzuha, and the classic rock track Feel It Knight by Lazy.
Episode list
The 12 episode titles are as follows.
Episode 1: A Shock from Elementary School Girls!
Episode 2: The Feeling of Wanting to Do It Together
Episode 3: The Decline and Escape of a Stagnant Boy, and the Girls Who Came from the Church
Episode 4: This World Is All Rock and Roll
Episode 5: It Is Fun to Film You, Because You Are Very Cute and Completely Unaware of It
Episode 6: Do Not Take Away Our Bassist!
Episode 7: A Surprising Invitation
Episode 8: The Beautiful Girl in the Mural
Episode 9: The Elementary School Girls Who Might Not Have Saved the Drowning God If They Had Arrived Any Later
Episode 10: A Complete Date
Episode 11: Battle of the Bands and Melody
Episode 12: Impossible Not to Love Music
Broadcast and streaming
The anime aired on AT-X, Tokyo MX, Sun TV, KBS Kyoto, TV Kanagawa, and BS Fuji in Japan.
It was also streamed on AbemaTV and a wide range of digital platforms including GYAO!, Bandai Channel, Hikari TV, J:COM On Demand, Video Pass, D Anime Store, Amazon Video, Rakuten TV, DMM, Video Market, Happy Video, Movie Full Plus, and PlayStation Video.
Outside Japan, it was streamed on Bilibili in mainland China with Simplified Chinese subtitles.
Home video release
The anime was released on Blu-ray and DVD in six volumes.
These were issued from October 3, 2017 to March 2, 2018, with each volume containing two episodes.
A web show titled Angel's 3Piece! Live Stream Activity Diary began streaming on Nico Nico Live on May 3, 2017.
It was broadcast once a month.
The regular hosts were Yuuko Oono, Yurika Endou, and Aoi Koga, the voice actresses for Jun, Nozomi, and Sora.
Episode 3 featured Yuuki Inoue as a guest.
In the arcade game Sangokushi Taisen by Sega Interactive, a character based on Jun Gotō appeared from October 2018 onward as Cao Jie.
The voice role was again performed by Yuuko Oono.
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