13 February 2017: The momentum behind Gabriel DropOut
So that's what Gabriel's hair looks like brushed.
Gabriel DropOut is a sort of clever "cute girls doing cute things" show and about what I expected from Doga Kobo based on my impressions of its previous shows. There are huge gaps in my familiarity here, so don't give too much weight to that assessment. The setup behind Gabriel DropOut involving a former Angel School star turned lazy deadbeat is amusing, but is basically still just one joke, so the show started losing steam well before its mid-season mark.
Shitty demon, but Best Girl.
Another recent Doga Kobo "cute girls doing cute things" show, Sansha Sanyou also relied on a "gap moé" juxtaposition (specifically, an impoverished rich girl) as its premise. However, I found Sansha Sanyou engaging the entire way through and would be eager to watch a second season, whereas I'm already losing interest in Gabriel DropOut. This is probably related to Youko's considerable charisma (and most excellent hair) supporting Sansha Sanyou, whereas the most likeable character in Gabriel DropOut to me is Satanichia Kurumizawa McDowell (Satania), a hapless demon who really ought to be the star of the show.
To be fair, brushing that hair seems like a lot of work.
Really, how I feel about Gabriel DropOut by the end of the season will rely mostly on what gets the focus of the remaining episodes, and not so much their execution. At least, I'm not expecting the quality to change much, either up or down. I could probably just glance at the manga and see what sort of stories are coming up. However, that increases the risk I might drop the series if I discover the anticipated Satania content is insufficient.
