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Gabriel DropOut (TV).


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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 11:46 am Reply with quote


Gabriel DropOut (TV)

Genres: comedy
Themes: angels, demons

Plot Summary: Gabriel White graduated at the top of the class at angel school and attends a human school on earth in pursuit of knowledge, but then gets engrossed in a web game and decides its too much trouble to go anywhere.
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Episode 1:
This was cute. We got Gabriel debuting and her fascination with games in this slice of life/fantasy series.

I've read the manga before and I think the series captures the comedy so far. Studio is by Doga Kobo so the animation style feels familiar. Satanichia's personality is amusing as well, how can anyone ignore her contagious laugh?! That lack of common sense though.

Regardless, I think the episode was funny. Hope they adapt as much as possible even if it's 1-cour. The theme song was also pretty catchy.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23779
PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 1:05 pm Reply with quote
Funny stuff. I was attracted by the premise and the execution delivered. Another one for the "really enjoying this" file.
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Treeborn



Joined: 30 Mar 2013
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 3:15 pm Reply with quote
Ah, yes, my Satanichia has finally arrived! Been waiting for this for so dang long, and couldn't stop smiling throughout. Yes, the series lacks depth and a plot, but I don't care, I'm a straight up fanboy of this series, and I can't wait to see these girls mess about with all the subtle blasphemy they bring Smile The op song was great, fun little thing blasting through my sound system, and that little context they added to how Gabriel fell felt just right. Those damn microtransactions!!! They're the work of the devil I tells ya!

So, yep, already knew I would love this Smile
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15462
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 3:17 am Reply with quote
Episode 1

This anime, where the white angels are dyed black, and the demons... are not. Theron mentioned in the preview guide that the director of this also directed Himouto Umaru-chan, Yuru Yuri, and Mitsudomoe, so this seems pretty guaranteed to be a great watch for me. And seems to be totally playing up parts like pitiful sweethearts (the demons) and little jerks (the angels). I think just setting up tone I liked Satanica’s part, how she tries to make her dark and menacing with crows, but then they turn into cute pigeons, because that is what she is.

Did not think I could be quite so humoured by a panty joke, but seeing it heavenly arrive was funny. But sadist getting Satanica to bark to mess with her, and the implication of a losing streak against the dog is also great.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15462
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 4:48 am Reply with quote
Episode 2

Among the best jokes of the episode were the dog somehow getting in to steal Satania's melon bread near the roof, and while it was wonderfully random in its own right we got the explanation that Raphiel was involved.

Extra points that Satanica came out on top at enjoying 'poisoned' food.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23779
PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 5:22 am Reply with quote
The episode illustrates a problem I'm starting to have with a lot of "gag" comedies that are episodic without having a narrative engine. Once I become familiar with the gags, I really start to become bored quickly. The show did find a new wrinkle on the "dog stealing Satania's melon bread" gag, but I'm guessing we're going to be seeing some variation on this gag in every episode to come.

I guess I prefer shows like The Devil is a Part-timer that still rely on recurring gags, but also have a story to go along with it. It makes the repetition easier to take, I guess.
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scrwbll19



Joined: 16 Jan 2006
Posts: 87
PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 7:48 am Reply with quote
So, I have been thinking about the names of the characters thus far presented.

1. I know that Gabriel seems to derive her name from the archangel Gabriel, who is an angel of judgment and a messenger and whose name means, "God is my strength." It occurs to me that her middle and last names seem to refer to her innocence and naivete when she comes to earth (an irony throughout the rest of the series).

2. Satanichia Kurumizawa McDowell's name obviously derives from the name of the devil himself and means "adversary." She seems to be almost anything but. I am not sure where her middle and last names come from though...

3. Raphiel Ainsworth Shiraha's name seems to derive from the archangel Raphael and means per Wikipedia "'It is God who heals', 'God Heals', 'God, Please Heal'." Her sadistic nature seems to show anything but that. I don't know where her middle name comes from, although this name seems to be popping up in anime a lot anymore for a reason I don't know. "Shiraha" means "white feather/wing" and perhaps adds to the irony and refers to her hair color (?).

4. I have not been able to figure out anything about Vignette April Tsukinose's name derivations or references.

So, I post the above to be informative and also ask for help on understanding the parts that I can't figure out. I could be overthinking this, but the mangaka/animators seem to have an idea about how to use their names for humorous effect. Any help is appreciated. Smile
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Treeborn



Joined: 30 Mar 2013
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 2:47 pm Reply with quote
Ah, Satanichia certainly makes this series glorious Smile admittedly, this episode was noticeably less comical than the first, but it was still pleasant enough. Could have done without the class president sequence. Also, really liked the ED! The visuals were great; loved the focus on duality they went for.
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vonPeterhof



Joined: 10 Nov 2014
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 2:58 pm Reply with quote
@scrwbll19 The names also caught my attention, though for a slightly different reason. I've mentioned that in the Preview Guide thread, but I guess I can reproduce it here:

vonPeterhof wrote:
One thing I found curious about this setting is the katakana spellings the author chose for the angels' names. Gabriel is actually ガヴリール (Gavurīru). I'm used to seeing Biblical names turn up in a variety of Japanese spellings based on English, Classical Latin, Ancient Greek or Biblical Hebrew pronunciations. The variant they used here doesn't resemble any of those though. Due to my background it immediately struck me as similar to the Russian variant (Гавриил, Gavriil), but that one in turn derives from the Byzantine Greek pronunciation, which isn't that far removed from the Koine Greek of the New Testament. In fact, if the Japanese Wikipedia is to be believed, Japanese Orthodox Christians use the vaguely similar spelling ガウリイル (Gauriiru). What puzzles me though is why the name of another archangel turned into "Raphiel" rather than "Raphaïl" or something - the closest existing variant I found to what they went with is the Arabic Isrāfīl, but even that's a bit of a stretch.


As for your questions, my best guess is that "April" and "McDowell" were chosen so that each of the main characters has one name ending in L (there's another character coming up who also has one name ending in L). What's more, even though only the two angels introduced so far have names based on actual angels, all characters have a name ending either in "-el" or "-il" soundwise (like I mentioned in the above quote, Gab's name ends with the latter in the katakana spelling), which are both possible variants of name suffixes based on the Semitic word for God/a god. So I guess that's part of the thematic naming scheme.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11362
PostPosted: Wed Jan 18, 2017 10:28 am Reply with quote
scrwbll19 wrote:
Satanichia Kurumizawa McDowell's name obviously derives from the name of the devil himself and means "adversary." She seems to be almost anything but. I am not sure where her middle and last names come from though...

MacDowell comes from the Gaelic "Dubhghall," a byname meaning "dark stranger," used among the Gaels to distinguish the darker-haired Danes from fair-haired Norwegians (ancestry.com, fwiw). So that fits her demonic role (but not her red hair). Kurumizawa... walnut swamp? lol Yeah, not much there.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23779
PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 6:21 pm Reply with quote
Episode 3

Ha ha, I really enjoyed this one. I loved the "blink and you'd miss it" shot of Satania's favourite dog carrying a melon bread in its mouth at the beginning of the eppie. Gee, I wonder who's melon bread that would be? Laughing

Very funny watching Gabriel doing her slacker bit at the coffee shop. Felt very sorry for the owner having to put up with her, but thankfully Worst Demon Evah Vignette showed up to bring a little ray of sunshine into his life.

Satania might want to invest in some martial arts lessons since Gabby is obviously quite violent.
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Treeborn



Joined: 30 Mar 2013
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:31 pm Reply with quote
"Truth be told..." Damn, that got funnier every time the shop owner said it, starting with brimming pride and ending in tears. Enjoyed the contrast between the antics and the smooth music filling the atmosphere. I used to work with coffee, so that entire scene really clicked with me.

Also, damn, Satanichia got knocked the fudge out Anime hyper They're really not holding back with that slapstick comedy, and it's great!
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15462
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 11:50 pm Reply with quote
God help a man who would hire Gabriel, because his angel sure is not. The fact she used broken speaking to openly pretend she does not understand things was funny.

Despite resting on its character traits, I think that so far there is an increasing variance in how these 4 interact to keep it enjoyable.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
Posts: 13229
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:14 am Reply with quote
How do I go about marrying Vigne? Seriously, she is perfection.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23779
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:18 am Reply with quote
Well, your first step would be to get yourself re-created as an anime character who appears in Gabriel DropOut. However, even then you'd face the insurmountable hurdle that Vigne is already MY waifu.
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