Angel Heart: The First Fragrance That Captivated Every Girl

Focusing on the culture of scent, we have given form to invisible memories and feelings. The ideas born from this create trends, which begin to flourish in the limitless world of fashion.
Everyone has a first step, at every stage of life. We hope to keep creating each of those steps alongside you.

— Yoshinori Amano, Representative Director, Angel Heart Co., Ltd.

Essential Information

Established: December 4, 2001 (original company name: Amaze You Planning, Ltd.)

Founder and representative: Yoshinori Amano (Representative Director)

Official website: http://angelheart-perfume.co.jp

The Founder and the Origins of the Brand

Founded in 2001 in Taito, Tokyo

In 2001, Amaze You Planning, Ltd. was established in Misuji, Taito Ward, Tokyo, with the business purpose of planning, manufacturing, selling, mail-order retailing, importing, and exporting cosmetics and perfume. The company name “Amaze You” literally means to surprise you. True to its name, the idea of “valuing surprise” remains part of the brand’s philosophy today.

In June of the following year, 2002, sales of the Angel Heart perfume finally began. Its target audience was young women in their teens and twenties. The sweet, fruity fragrance and adorable heart-shaped bottle appealed to young Japanese consumers who were relatively unfamiliar with perfume, and its popularity quickly spread by word of mouth.

At the time, it was unusual for a Japanese brand to plan and develop its own original fragrances and distribute them nationwide in a perfume market dominated by prestigious overseas houses. An English-language profile from trading company Ueni Trading describes it as “known as a pioneer of Japanese quality fragrance brands,” reflecting this sense of pride.

Rapid Growth and Nationwide Expansion

In 2004, the company obtained a cosmetics manufacturing and marketing license. In 2005, it opened branches in Osaka and Kyushu, accelerating its nationwide expansion. In August that year, it expanded beyond perfume into bath cosmetics such as shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. That autumn, it also aired a television commercial for its bath cosmetics, a first for a Japanese perfume manufacturer. A perfume television commercial followed in October 2006, also described as the first such initiative by a Japanese perfume manufacturer. Television advertising broadened awareness even further.

In 2007, actor Tadanobu Asano was appointed the face of the brand. Wearing the unisex fragrance Lion Heart at the appointment event, Asano said: “I love that it has a scent a man cannot produce himself. I think men should wear perfume more.” Appointing a well-known actor further raised the brand’s profile.

A New Company Name and a Maturing Brand

In 2010, the company adopted its current name, Angel Heart Co., Ltd. As its flagship fragrances became widely established, aligning the company name with the brand clearly expressed its identity as a fragrance business. Its capital was ¥71,125,000.

In 2013, the headquarters moved to Shinjuku, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, where the company remains based today.

Former AKB48 member Tomomi Itano became the face of the brand in 2014. Itano said: “This is a perfume I have worn since junior high school, so I am very happy to be its face. It has a delicate fragrance, so I think it is easy to wear even for beginners.” Her comment about using the brand since junior high school was widely reported as an illustration of Angel Heart’s deep roots among teenagers.

In 2015, the company collaborated with Pilot Corporation’s popular Dr. Grip CL stationery line. The unusual products, mechanical pencils and oil-based ballpoint pens supplied with miniature heart-shaped perfumes, once again demonstrated how deeply the brand had become embedded in the culture of junior and senior high school girls.

The Brand’s Commitments

A Philosophy of “Giving Fragrance a Story”

Angel Heart’s brand concept is to “give form to excitement, stay close to people’s hearts, and continue supporting their courageous first steps.” Rather than simply selling perfumes that smell good, it aims to accompany the feelings and stories of the people who wear them.

What sets our company apart is creating a complete “story = concept” for every product, making it one of a kind. This means providing not only the fragrance itself, but also the lifestyle that comes into being when it is used.

The taglines attached to individual perfumes, such as “The guise of a devilishly alluring angel,” “For girls who are utterly adorable,” and “Cool, yet bold,” are concrete expressions of this philosophy.

The Heart-Shaped Bottle Design

Vividly colored, heart-shaped bottles are something of a brand signature. Their visual appeal reflects a policy of valuing the pleasure of appearance alongside scent when choosing a fragrance. The official website’s brand description states: “While proposing fine fragrances as scents that fit naturally into Japanese daily life, we make a point of actively adopting shapes and colors that are visually enjoyable.”

The colors and shapes of each line’s bottles are designed in harmony with the image of the fragrance. For example, the red heart-shaped bottle of Angel Heart Eau de Toilette expresses “innocent playfulness and hidden passion,” while Pink Pink’s pale pink bottle evokes “a cherry-blossom-pink chiffon skirt.” Lion Heart Beauty & Beast uses black to suggest “a sexy, mature woman.” Meticulous attention to designs that lift the spirits simply by being owned is a consistent commitment of the brand.

A Commitment to Fragrance Materials from France

Some lines employ French perfumers in pursuit of accomplished fragrance-making. The product description for Chamberí Eau de Toilette states: “A French perfumer imagined the soft, delicate beauty of Japanese women, creating a new signature fragrance that can remain a comforting companion over many years, from girlhood to sophisticated womanhood.” Product introductions also refer to “the Angel Heart series, committed to French fragrance for approximately 20 years since Angel Heart’s launch,” conveying pride in French fragrance materials. The Stick Perfume Angel Heart series also offers wax-based fragrances made with French perfume oils.

Accessible Pricing

Among the many higher-priced imported perfumes, Angel Heart has consistently maintained accessible prices. With 10 ml sizes starting in the upper ¥1,000 range and 50 ml and 100 ml sizes around ¥5,000, it aims for pricing that does not discourage a first venture into perfume. As a Japanese brand, it can avoid import costs and reflect those savings in its prices, which can be regarded as a strength.

The Fragrance Lineup

The Two Signature Series: Angel Heart and Lion Heart

The two major series at the center of the brand are Angel Heart and Lion Heart.

• Angel Heart Eau de Toilette (red heart-shaped bottle): Fresh top notes of apricot, mandarin, pineapple, and grapefruit develop into a heart of peach and freesia before settling into white musk and ambergris. With the tagline “The guise of a devilishly alluring angel,” this emblematic fragrance expresses the duality of sweetness and purity.
• Lion Heart Eau de Toilette (blue heart-shaped bottle): A unisex fragrance opening with refreshing marine notes, bergamot, and cardamom, followed by a heart of apricot and cedar and a finish of amber and musk. Carrying the message “Cool, yet bold,” it is also intended to be shared by male-female couples.

Tadanobu Asano also praised the unisex character of Lion Heart and actively introduced it at events.

Variations on Angel Heart

Variations within the Angel Heart line include:
Pink Pink (tropical fruit and musk, in a pale pink bottle);
Chamberí (apple-peach tea created by a French perfumer, with tricolor styling);
Crazy for You (a sweet oriental combining tropical fruit and vanilla cream, in a metallic gold bottle);
and Verona (a citrus fragrance of iced orange tea, in a heart-shaped bottle with a ribbon).

Variations on Lion Heart

Lion Heart comes in several variations.
Beauty & Beast, in a stylish black bottle, is a sensual fragrance that opens with green cassis and lychee and develops into a spicy heart of Darjeeling tea and cardamom.
Black Beach is an aquatic series incorporating the salty scent of sea salt.
Berserk is a citrus-green fragrance inspired by the warriors of Norse mythology, with striking metallic silver packaging.

Angel Honey

Positioned as a separate line, Angel Honey offers a composed, mature fragrance centered on Assam tea and apple. Its message is “shine beautifully, with restraint,” and it comes in a chic nude-orange bottle.

The Romantic Drops Series

Distinguished by flower-shaped packaging, the Romantic Drops series focuses on sweet, confectionery-like scents. With a world built around “a fragrance that goes straight to love,” this fruity-floral collection layers bergamot, raspberry, and musk.

By Angel Heart

In the 2020s, the new By Angel Heart series was launched in collaboration with Don Quijote, with a more specific focus on teenagers. It directly incorporates the views of Generation Z and Generation Alpha and is designed around even lower prices. In 2025, a three-way collaboration with nicola magazine and Don Quijote produced six “Youthful Emo Fragrances.” Drawing on a survey of more than 1,200 people in their teens and twenties, this ambitious project was developed from a young person’s perspective, from fragrance selection to bottle design.