WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. As usual, I found this episode to be hilarious. It was nice to have a Christmas episode, as those are often quite enjoyable in anime. The episode also did a nice job reminded us that despite not always being angelic, Raphiel and Gabriel are still angels and still embrace many of Christianity’s beliefs and traditions.
The episode also had some decent plot advancement as we are seeing the angels and demons head to Heaven and Hell respectively. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It will also be interesting to see how the show handles itself and keeps itself interesting during this plot advancement. So far, the show has been relying very heavily on interactions among the four main characters to keep things humorous and interesting. It may not be able to rely as much on these characters interacting for a while with them separated.
As for the individual sections, the Christmas section was extremely hilarious. We got to see many personalities really brought out on full display, which was quite nice. Satania was in full ‘try to be demonic but not really be evil’ mode. Raphiel was definitely using it as an opportunity to be friendly while still pranking others. Gab was largely indifferent but happy to get free food. Vignette showed her usual enthusiasm for events while being friendly when things were going well but angry at those who would mess things up. These are the personalities we have come to love from these characters, and this part did a nice job capitalizing on them.
The New Year’s celebration was also well done and very comedic. I especially enjoyed Gabriel being drunk, which was very cute and adorable. As for the journeys to Heaven and Hell, this was very humorous and enjoyable as well.
In addition to the well-done humor and the display of how much Gab has fallen, there was something else that really stuck out to me. This is that Gab is able to play the role of an angel still in good standing. It’s interesting how she changed her appearance and her personality to be clean, organized, and friendly as opposed to being a grumpy slob. It shows that Gab is able to discipline herself when she wants to, but she simply does not want to. She still has plenty of self-control up her sleeve for when it’s necessary. It will be interesting to see how often she uses it going forward.
Gabriel DropOut. Crunchyroll, 2017. Web.