Gabriel DropOut

Episode 5

This week, Gabriel DropOut delivers its first episode-length story and introduces Tapris Sugarbell Chisaki, Gabriel and Raphiel's safety-conscious underclassman from angel school. The jokes and comic timing remain sharp for the most part, even though certain sequences give off the impression of padding. Although these characters certainly seem up to carrying longer-form stories, the types of plotlines this series aims for are seldom strong enough to eat up entire episodes, and I can easily see Tapris's introduction being covered in half the runtime without losing much.

Shortly after arriving in the human world, the perpetually on-guard Tapris has her world turned upside down, when she discovers what her beloved upperclassman Gabriel has become. Intent on finding answers, she takes Raphiel's advice and confronts Satania, who happily claims full responsibility for Gabriel's transformation. In the hope of freeing Gabriel from Satania's evil, Tapris challenges the headstrong demon to a game of Old Maid, only to find herself outwitted by the show's least intelligent character. While recovering from her loss, Tapris has the good fortune to run into Vigne, who helps boost the fledgling angel's spirits and restores her sense of hope. Even after discovering that Vigne's a demon, Tapris is still (cautiously) interested in carrying on their friendship. Unfortunately, all the optimism Vigne filled her with is lost when Tapris visits Gabriel's apartment and witnesses her “faillen angel” lifestyle firsthand.

Although Tapris's introduction does an okay job of shaking up the familiar formula, none of episode 5's humor is particularly original, and it feels like we've seen many of the featured jokes before. As soon as Tapris' adoration of Gabriel is established—within seconds of removing her protective helmet—her shock at Gabriel's downfall is a foregone conclusion. Similarly, the surprise she exhibits after discovering that Vigne is a demon barely registers a chuckle in light of how many times we've seen the disparity between the character's personality and her demonic heritage mined for comedy. Tapris reacts precisely as predicted to every member of the main cast, although it is somewhat refreshing to see Satania have the upper hand over someone more gullible. Her interactions with Raphiel are fairly brief, but given how easy she is to fool, the devious prankster doesn't need to do much coercing. Even though she occasionally works her magic on other victims, it was interesting to see Raphiel step back and let someone else do the teasing for a change. While Satania may be her default punching bag, she's clearly not opposed to having fun watching Satania gleefully lord over other gullible innocents.

Tapris's intense germophobia could be interesting to explore, but this particular trait seems to vanish after she arrives at the school and never gets commented on again. (If she's so afraid of the human world's germs, how is she not terrified of Gabriel's pigsty apartment?) Since Tapris appears to be on track to become a recurring character, it would be nice to see this quirk given more attention in future appearances.

This week's Gabriel DropOut is solidly entertaining in spite of feeling disjointed and predictable in spots. Tapris has the potential to become a more compelling character, but she basically functions as the naïve straight-man in her introductory outing. Still, with a little more development, she'll likely be able to make a less redundant addition to the main cast.

Rating: B

Gabriel DropOut is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Amy is an author who has loved anime for over two decades.