AN ANGELIC NEET
Creative Staff
Story: Ukami
Art: Ukami
Translation: Caleb Cook
What they say
A fallen angel with falling grades! Gabriel White Tenma has descended from heaven to attend high school and guide humanity, but a newly found video game addiction might say otherwise.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
In this world of satire, where stories are meant to be funny and contain meta tropes that subvert stereotypes and cliches as though it was more natural than breathing, Gabriel Dropout is a series that manages to be both funny and a bit clichéd.
Our story begins with Gabriel. She’s an angel. Obviously. She also graduated from an academy in Heaven as the valedictorian. Naturally. And like all good angels, Gabriel is traveling down to Earth after graduation in order to study, guide, and help humans. Of course, seeing how this is a shounen manga, it is only natural that she attend a human high school because, well, that’s just what happens in shounen manga.
I wouldn’t call Gabriel Dropout an original series, or even necessarily one that is unique. It uses a number of stereotypes and tropes. For example, you’ve got the main character, Gabriel, who after graduating from Heaven with top honors, comes down to Earth and becomes a NEET—Not in Education Employment or Training—after discovering the joys of Japanese entertainment. If you’re a fan of comedy anime and manga, then you’ve seen this done before. Umaru-chan did it. Recently, Recovery of an MMO Junkie did it. There are several others. The point is, it’s been done.
What makes Gabriel Dropout funny isn’t in the originality of the story but the uniqueness of its characters and the new dynamics created by the supernatural aspect. First, Gabriel is an angel. As an angel, she has several unique powers, such as the ability to teleport herself to any location. During the first chapter, Gabriel decides to do this after her friend, Vignette, scares her into going by pointing out that her superiors might recall her back to Heaven if she doesn’t attend school. Of course, the teleportation spell fails. Instead of teleporting herself, all that gets teleported are her panties.
It’s funnier in the manga than it is for me to tell you about it.
Oh, right. For those who are curious, Vignette, otherwise known as Vigne, is a demon from hell. Of course, being the demon that she is, Vigne is kind, helpful, and always looks out for others. She’s everything that Gabriel is not but should be. The irony is not lost on me. It’s actually this sort of irony that helps push the character dynamics forward. Aside from Gabriel and Vigne, the two other main characters are Satanichia McDowell Kurumizawa and Raphiel Ainsword Shiraha. I’m sure you’ve figured out the naming scheme by now.
Satanichia—Satanya—is a Chuunibyo who often proclaims herself to be the future Queen of the Demon World. She can often be found committing terrible atrocities… such as throwing away a bottle without separating the bottlecap. Yes, they are that awful. Meanwhile, Raphiel is a sadistic angel with stalker tendencies. Her hobbies are stalking, teasing Satanichia, and causing chaos for her own entertainment.
They sound like quite the pair.
Gabriel Dropout is an episodic manga series. Since this is a slice-of-life/comedy, there isn’t much of a story, and instead of following some overarching plot, it just follows the comedic, everyday life of Gabriel and her companions as they deal with mundane high school problems. Of course, these are angels and demons, so their problems tend to get blown out of proportion, but don’t worry. It all works out in the end.
In Summary
I would have to say that in terms of humor, this anime is easily an A, if not an A+. That said, the artwork, while nice, doesn’t really stand out, and I’ve seen cute, moe characters illustrated better. Likewise, while the comedy is on point, seeing how this doesn’t have a story in the traditional sense, it will lose some appeal to anyone who wants to read something with a linear story. That said, I can’t find it in myself to complain much. The characters are cute, the humor had me laughing, and sometimes that’s all I need in my manga.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: C+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Releasrighted By: Yen Press
Release Date: October 31, 2017
MSRP: $12.99