Neo Angelique Abyss

This is the first installment of the spin-off of the Angelique series and is based on the Neo Angelique game. Set in Arcadia, monsters called Thanatos appear to torment the lives of people. Only the Purifiers have the ability to fight these creatures but very few of them exist.

Angelique's parents were among the victims of the Thanatos when she was a little girl. Because her father was a doctor, she vowed she would continue her father's work. One day a man named Nyx invited Angelique to help him in protecting the world from the Thanatos and to come live with him at the Hidamari Mansion. She also met Rayne whom she nursed back to health secretly at the dormitory. When a Thanatos appeared and attacked the school, Angelique used a power she has not discovered before. She learned that she is the prophesied Queen's Egg, the only female purifier in the world as well as a candidate to be the Queen of Arcadia.

She met new friends during her stay with Nyx and Rayne. It wasn't long before they made up a formidable team that challenged even the Foundation. This rivalry however created more problems outside the constant threat of the Thanatos.

Angelique

From left: Jade, Nyx, Rayne and Hyuga

This 13-episode series had some potential at first. But bad animation and a typical lead female character ruined that. The fight scenes seemed interesting. The various characters that Angelique met had potentially good back stories. There's also some intrigue between rival factions that added some color to the series.

It had the ingredients to make it an interesting series, so why am I giving it a low score?

First, the animation was bad. Although I rarely consider that even in an anime there were a lot of instances in the series that were just plain disappointment. I don't really mind low-budget animation as long as there's an attempt to be consistent and believable. I was most disturbed by the horse Angelique and the other Purifiers used in their journey. Why do they have just one horse for the carriage? If they could put a lot of attention to costume and fight scenes (the fight scenes were okay), why would they overlook the small details?

Second, the pace destroyed the story's potential to me. I spent most of my time trying to find something that would turn this series around. Good thing it was short.

Neo Angelique Abyss had an interesting story but its execution didn't live up to my expectations. It had some good moments, like the fight scenes, but it isn't a series that you would remember a few months after.

Rating: 5 out of 10