Neo-Angelique Abyss is the latest series in a franchise of reverse-harem fantasies centred around a sweet teenage girl who is the future Queen of the Universe and has the power to sweep away evil in a burst of bright light.I know of two other Angelique series and three OVAs, and this is the best I have seen. Some of the staff from Corda D'Oro has come in to refresh the franchise. The bishounen guardians who surround Angelique are really bishounen, and Ange herself is lovely. The show is set in an analog of 18th century Europe, and is full of bishounen fanservice, as well as the fanservice of Ange's rather loli-goth outfits, beautiful rooms in beautiful castles, etc.As in all the other shows in the franchise, the voice-acting is excellent. This time, we have up-and-coming Endou Aya in the title role, as well as such lovely male voices as Takahashi Hiroki, Ohkawa Toru, Onosaka Masaya, Ono Daisuke, Hirakawa Daisuke, Nakamura Yuuichi, Irino Miyu, and others.To help me keep all these voices straight, and to keep the many characters straight, I have made a page with pictures of each main character and their VA, as well as a bit of info about the VA. Click here or on the image to go to the full page:Now, I admit that you might not want to know what some of the voice actors actually look like, after hearing their beautiful voices. But in the interests of greater knowledge....Even the presence of monsters -- something that usually makes a show hard for me to watch -- cannot dampen my affection for this show. Most episodes involve the group finding a monster -- part of the evil Thanatos -- and the guardians first weakening it, then Ange summoning her power and flushing it away in a burst of light.But Ange's doubts and determination, and her relationships with the various guardians, and the guardians' various personalities, add a lot of interest. If you haven't seen an Angelique show before -- and especially if you have -- give this series a try. It raises the Angelique franchise to a new level, at least through five episodes.The show is directed by first-time director Katagai Shin, who did storyboards and episode direction on Corda D'Oro, the fine reverse-harem show from a couple of years ago. Character design adaptation is by Fujiota Maki, who was character designer and animation director of Corda. And the lead writer is Yamada Yuka, who was lead writer on Tide-Line Blue, and did script work on Suzuka, Petopeto-san, Bokura ga Ita, Hataraki Man, Mushiuta, etc.
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