The Dark Side of Fascination: Hiwatari from D.N. Angel Character Analysis
- Nga Nguyen
- Oct 25
- 9 min read
At first glance, Hiwatari Satoshi appears to be a cool-looking character with a handsome appearance. Just like storytelling experts, there is more of underlying story behind a character's face. In Episode 1, Niwa in his Dark form (he transforms into Dark based on his feelings for his crush, Risa) meets his classmate Hiwatari while on a mission to capture the Holy Maiden artifact. He immediately tries to capture and corner Dark without any second thought. This impulsive action conveys that mostly likely he was already fascinated about capturing as well as targeting Dark since he is considered is a wanted criminal. Because his alter ego (or form) is Krad, who is Dark Mousy's polar opposite but also direct enemy to his plans. At the end of Episode 1, he says, "I guess it wouldn't be interesting if it didn't turn out like this." I interfere that he knows something is familiar with this new version of Dark Mousy like he has the feeling he knows him from somewhere, implicting that he knows that it is Niwa Daisuke from his class. Even though his relationship with his Dad is not on good terms, he understands and listens to him about capturing Dark is the goal he shall never forget. I can imagine how high of expectations his Dad puts on him, adding on to the strong of an interest he puts in Dark Mousy for himself. Fascination without setting healthy boundaries leads to inputting so much energy in their passions and impacting your mental health in risk-taking behaviors and actions.
Mental Discpline of Instinct
There are small moments here and there where Hiwatari readjust himself, especially when his plans change. Whenever Krad pressures him to let him out, we see him struggling to restraint him back from holding onto his shirt with his hand to feeling pain coming from his eye. Psychological restraint is a form of mental discipline As the name says, it is the act of putting psychological pressure that is also non-physical onto themselves so that they do not do the thing they do not desire. Since Krad is his alter ego driven by his internal madness and murderous aura towards Dark Mousy, he goes his way to suppress his Krad's instincts to get rid of Dark as much as he can endure. The more fascinated he gets; the more intense his focus becomes on Niwa Daisuke. Which explains why he keeps a sharp eye on his every move, making sure he is in his field of sight.
I personally think it is interesting that Hiwatari is more of a detached character, not wanting external attention, such as rejecting all the girls who confessed their love to him and wanted to give him some Valentine's chocolates. From the very beginning, he is a silent individual who works in the shadows without letting anyone knowing his true intentions. The moment when Hiwatari became a hundred percent certain of Niwa Daisuke shares the same body as Dark Mousy, his impulse control has been a bit conflicted. In Episode 4, he is seen sitting upwards on his bed and there are scenes where the computer mouse is hanging and books scattered all over the floor in a messy way, suggesting that he has stayed up all night last night doing research on something. He looks at his hands in the shining light from his bedroom windows. This illustrates how physically exhausted he is. According to many sources, a young adult who is dealing with psychological restraint has a higher risk for developing Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder, along with high coristol levels heighten emotional regulation and fatigue.
Even though Niwa is already aware of the fact that Hiwatari is his enemy, he still cares about him. From the manga panel up above, he asks him, "We're friends, aren't we?"
There is a plentiful of times where Hiwatari saves Niwa's life. I think the reason is not because he needs to live, so that he can capture Dark Mousy. But rather he could not bring himself to hate him. From a bird's eye view, he always seen how kind and caring he is towards the people he genuinely cares about, seeing him as a gentle person with a diligent heart.
Despite knowing Krad is his alter ego that lives in Hiwatari, Niwa accepts him as who he truly is and continues talking to him as if he is his friend.
I like how Hiwatari does not hide the truth from him, saying that "I will one day...unquestionably...destroy you." He no longer cares if Niwa knows his plans because he already seen Krad before several times in different encounters. Here's a sidenote: Since he has been trying to detach from everyone who is not involved in the Satoshi family feud, now everyone is involved with the situation between the fight between darkness and light. One example is in Episode 24, when Risa sees Dark in danger, she runs into Krad's spell and is trapped until Riku tells him to stop it right this instant. Krad recognizes her eyes filled with bold courage, and hates her looking at him back that he tries to destroy her on the spot. With the remaining strength Dark has, he carries her with his arms to safety. Meanwhile, Risa yells out Hiwatari's name to stop this, awakening him back to his senses and to make Krad sleep inside him. This important scene undeniably shows they are now so deeply intertwined with both Niwa and Hiwatari's lives that they undoubtedly feel an obligation to be there on the sidelines, trying to protect them from being destroyed by their alter egos.
Dark Empaths
https://dnangel.fandom.com/wiki/Satoshi_Hiwatari ~From Episode 4~
Hiwatari is considered a dark empath because he does have the ability to feel other people's emotions EXCEPT he uses cognitive-possessed empathy instead. In my opinion, cognitive-possessed empathy is a type of category of empathy where an individual uses feelings of others or knowing of others' emotions and twists their true intentions underneath their emotional intelligence. In Episode 4, Niwa runs into Hiwatari, accidentally making him drop some of the storage trays he was carrying because he was so upset about hearing from Risa that the one she has feelings for is not him, but Dark-san. Since Niwa is an emotional empath, he propose to take half of the storage trays in order to make up for the accident. They walk into the storage room, trying to organize the storage trays. Suddenly, the door lock is activated and they cannot get out while the room temperature is significantly dropping. Hiwatari shows interest when seeing Niwa struggling to get them both out, meaning that he is the one responsible for messing with the door lock mechanism.
In other words, he purposely wanted Niwa to go with him to the storage room and catch him transforming into Dark Mousy. He appeared to be considerate and apperciative towards Niwa's kind gesture from the outside. But, on the inside, he was very much a cognitive-empathetic manipulator. A consistent nonverbal body language cue he used was his dark smile after his plans succeed in confronting Niwa or Dark, revealing his true intentions stem from intense fascination. He gave a suggestion to Niwa. Which was to transform into Dark because he is not going to last any longer in cold temperatures of the room. Once again, cognitive manipulation here.
An unexpected problem arises when Hiwatari's alter ego starts pressuring him to let him out - specifically, it is Krad. Niwa sees him in pain, and tries to help him until he directly makes it clear that they are not friends at all. In dark empaths, there will come a day where the dark empath shows their true colors to the people (does not matter if it is family members, friends, work employees, and etc) around them. Usually, these people are victims of the damage the dark empath has caused for them. Once Krad appears in front of Dark, everything goes for the worse. The fighting. The conflict between them intensifies because of the clash between their perspectives on light and darkness. Eventually, they were found by Risa and Riku, seeing them both with injuries. Near the end of the episode, he invites Niwa to a little chat. He wanted to make it clear that the indicident at the storage room was a refrigator malfunction.
This lie establishes Hiwatari's manipulative tactic of twisting the truth of what really happened in the storage room to outsiders, so that he does not appear supicious. But, I think what he is really concerned is he does not want any outsiders involved in his mission to capture Dark Mousy. One trait of dark empaths is their manipulation. According to the Summit Wellness Group, dark empaths uses cognitive-possessed empathy which helps them understand and feel other people's emotions without actually investing in emotional connections. That is why these type of people who manipulate others is possible because they are quick decision-makers. I think one of other reasons why he is fascinated with Dark is it has always been his purpose in life: To capture Dark Mousy and turn him in before Krad gets the chance to destroy him in addition to, he works with the Azumano Police Department which allows him to access more files about Dark's whereabouts and crimes.
Balancing Light in Darkness
I do believe that Hiwatari strongly believes in self-control, rather it is more like "control over what you can control of one's self, while letting go of what you cannot control". He understands how dangerous Krad can be triggered by his amount of fascination he puts into capturing Dark Mousy as well as Niwa Daisuke. Which explains why he keeps his distance from people, even his Father included. Because even an ounce of Dark's influence and calling him "his other half", it can lead to heavy resistance between him and Krad. In other words, they are both at heads with each other, wanting to control their body and mind from being astrayed by the other's. In fact, Hiwatari successfully shuts out Krad when he has the chance to do so. Referring back to Episode 24, also known as its title "Snow Falls in the Heart", Risa calls out to him to come back to his senses and stop his alter ego, Krad, from destroying her. She succeeds and he goes back to himself. It does not show in the episode visually. But, I infer that he called someone to take her home where she can rest. In the meantime, he is trying to find Dark Mousy and give him a helping hand in finding lost Niwa.
Dark obviously freaks out, telling him, "What? You still want fight?" Hiwatari responds back, "Don't try to act tough. I know you're in pain right now." Telling him he is not here to fight him, but rather help him find Niwa. He gets out his painting toolkit, starting out with putting white paint on the wooden palette. He informs, "I'm opening an entrance to that world. The world of this painting (that Niwa is stuck in)."
As part of the Satoshi family, his lineage runs deep in the world of artists. He is able to copy a complex painting from scratch using both his natural skills and magic powers inherited by Krad. He tells him that his ancestors created a time monster, and he is willing to do the job to recreate the world of this painting in order for Dark to save Niwa from being permanently trapped in. This bold action reveals his progress of his relationship with Niwa Daisuke. He is beginning to see him as a friend, not as a detached rival/ enemy. Adding with the small detail of him assuring Dark that Niwa will be fine as long as he hurries to find and get both of them out of this painting before time runs out.
So, not all fascination is inherently "bad". I would argue that fascination can be a beautiful thing, especially in investing time and effort (of course, love as well) in relationships that we personally care about. If Hiwatari was never fascinated by Niwa Daisuke, he would never even thought of saving his life or caring about him at all. A big indicator of a deep friendship is having a feeling of engagement and sharing joy between two people.
Like Hiwatari and Niwa's relationship, I personally have the same relationship with a friend of mine. Her name is Mei. She was a sweet, loving person to me during my Instagram days. We both share a strong bond over two celebrities we deeply admire and care about through our own ways of art. She was a watercolor painter, while I was a creative writer and digital artist. We both exchange our passions through several DM messages on Instagram, showing our love for those two Chinese celebrities. I wish her the best whereever she is right now and her dreams to come true.
I recommend watching D.N. Angel 1000% if you are interested. It has been 19 years since I watched the anime. Maybe in the future, I might read the manga because this story is a part of my childhood roots.
---> Link to D.N. Angel English dub: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZiBJv7fq00gFGYXtlab1BlGw8iv7ib1k