PinkuBentoBox

For those playing at home, AnimeHaven finally finished subbing Galaxy Angel X (Galaxy Angel S4). Now, this update is kind of late since the series finished in Japan at the end of 2004, so if this is old hat to you then my apologies. For those that were watching it subbed, though, the end has finally come. Commencing misty-eyed chatter about how much I’m going to miss it.

Galaxy Angel’s characters are pretty well known among anime circles. Chances are even if you don’t know who they are, you will have encountered them somewhere. Created by Broccoli, who are probably best known for DiGi Charat, the original Galaxy Angel was a game. It was serious, and it was kind of dodgy. Then the planets aligned, and they realised what had to be done. The Galaxy Angel is wacky, random comedy delivered in 12-minute episodes.

The Angel-tai are quite possibly the best single set of characters ever created. Each of them is hillarious in their own right, but it’s when they are thrown together that things truly get going. Basically every episode is self-contained, so they can do whatever the hell they want and reset things for the next one. As a result we’ve been treated to 122 episodes and a few specials. Admittedly, the first season was kind of slow, once the creative team got their heads around the characters, the gag-per-minute ratio approached a level which in my opinion has only been surpassed by 2×2=Shinobuden.

Usually Galaxy Angel discussions devolve into nerds arguing about which of the characters is the best. This is simply foolish, they are all awesome. I personally can’t pick between them easily at all. Milfeulle’s airheaded stupidity and innocent charm make her extremely popular among the moe crowd. I find her a bit bland, but the way that the others bounce off her personality produces some absolute gems. Originally Ranpha was my favourite, but I have often vascillated between Vanilla with her deadpan lines, Forte with her over-the-top reactions and penchant for shooting things, and Mint’s greedy, selfish, sadistic personality that is so much at odds with her cute loli appearance. And of course there’s the side characters. Volcott is absolutely hillarious when he appears, and Normad’s bizzare laugh… Galaxy Angel X added Chitose, and I have to say I was quite disappointed that she wasn’t used more. Chitose is an excellent character that fits in with the other Angels perfectly. Plus I love her voice. (note: the less said about Cocomo and Malibu the better ok).

It’s been four years now since I first watched Galaxy Angel. I regret nothing, but I wish it wasn’t happening. Galaxy Angel is such an excellent series, and I really don’t know how I can get my comedy kick without it. It’s not being continued though - it seems that they decided that they’d had enough. There is more Galaxy Angel coming though - Galaxy Angel II. This will have a completely new set of characters. It also looks like it may sacrifice its comedy goodness and go back to the serious roots of the game, a recipe for disaster IMO. That said, it may still be comedy (we just don’t know) and one of the characters is Milfy’s little sister Apricot, so it’s possible we may see cameos from the original Angel-tai. I sure hope so.