Angels, and Daemons, and Dogs! Oh My! Gabriel DropOut

To start off, this show is an interesting and hilarious show that I got hooked on and burned through in one session. Regardless of religion, beliefs, or ideology many of us have an understanding of angels and daemons. (Note, I am a Warhammer fan and spell demon typically as the British spelling “daemon” and its pronounced the same.) Typically imagined are the winged beauties dressed in robes with halos glistening above their heads. Alternatively, the images of a typical daemon are those of horned monstrosities that will make your (after)life literally hell. Additionally, when you think of a valedictorian you imagine someone who excels at their particular studies and has an outstanding future in their field whether it be a lawyer, doctor, or engineer at the top of their class.

Finally, we all know irony and how hilarious it can be. Such is the formula of Gabriel DropOut, where you take a story of angels vs daemons, douse it in copious amounts of irony and garnish with high school. What you get at the end is a great comedy about a “faillen” angel, her psychopathic angelic colleague and the most lovable and dorky daemons you’d ever meet. First is the titular Gabriel White Tenma, top Angel and perfect example of good and kindness. Until she discovers gaming and becomes a slothful lazy and awful otaku gamer (gulp). Next is Vignette April Tsukinose, the perfect example of good and kindness. Except for the fact that she’s a daemon straight from the depths of hell (makes sinning look like a good idea if that’s what I get as “punishment”). After that, we have Raphiel, the most manipulative, evil, and sadistic monster you’ll ever meet. From heaven. Last up on the docket is someone who isn’t at all ironic and by all means clearly a daemon. Satanichia McDowell Kurumizawa, self-proclaimed future queen of hell and you’d believe her for all the times she proclaims it if it weren’t for the fact that her “daemonic deeds” include and ARE limited to: not doing homework, recycling a plastic bottle with a cap on it, and being an awful cook (more on that later).

This wild and lovable cast come into a very unique cycle of interacting with Raphi being insane and manipulating Satania (and using a melon-bread stealing dog to torture the poor hell spawn) and Gab and Vigne being awful in their respective roles, Gab being the living embodiment of the sin of sloth and Vigne being all but a literal angel. Another aspect I love about this show is that the ecchi genre is consistently mocked, with the “nudity” being censored by inexplicable bars of holy/divine energy a.k.a. how anime creators get people to buy their Blu-Rays.

One of my favorite scenes includes Gab, Vigne, and Satania cooking in Home Ec. The objective was fish with miso on steamed vegetables. Gab being lazy wanted curry and bought potatoes, onions, and carrots. Satania being well, Satania brought a hellspawn fish that looked like a daemon’s version of an angler fish. Vigne managed to kind of round it together by playing the straight man but the entire thing was what I imagined Hell’s Kitchen must be like in an anime universe.

The main cast aside, there’s a number of amazing side interactions with the secondary characters from “Master” the lovable coffee shop owner to the melon bread stealing dog that plagues Satania, to the Class President, to Gab and Raphi’s Kouhai from angel school, Tapris. Master lives to brew his very particular house brew made of 5 separate beans he selects by hand. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of hiring the lazy Gab, who flat out refuses to work but he allows to be a terrible employee because he thinks she’s a foreigner. After a comical interaction with Satania he all but loses the will to live until the angel daemon Vigne comes in and restores his morale and keeps him going by ordering and enjoying his special coffee. The dog that steals bread from Satania is essentially the greatest dog interaction since Nichijou, constantly stalking her to steal her precious Melon Bread. The Class President is a beautiful character in that she’s just a normal individual. Of course, when she beings to overhear Gab and Vigne discuss angel/daemon surveys, she’s understandably confused. This leads to a number of conclusions being drawn ranging in insanity from questioning why there’s a survey to turn in to heaven, her thinking Gab is husband hungry, that Vigne is “disappearing” single men somehow and my personal favorite, how Gab wants to announce the end of days, especially after she dies in an MMO. Last on my list of side chicks, is Tapris, who upon meeting the new Gab thinks she’s a thug who’s holding her up. When Raphi finds this out she of course absolutely loses her shit. Finally, Vigne meets her and restores her faith in humanity (angelity?) which is subsequently broken when it is revealed Vigne is a daemon. All in all, I find this to be a refreshing anime and it’s got a great hook and keeps you reeled in. My best recommendation is to try the first episode and if it doesn’t have you in stitches, get yourself checked out because you’re probably dead. But at least then when you see a lazy otaku gamer angel or best girl daemon in front of you at least you’ll be able to get some laughs.