
Angel's Friends (2009-2012) is an animated series loosely based on a comic by Simona Ferri. It is about a trio of teen angel girls who are sent to Earth to help some Earth teens, but a trio of devils are sent to interfere. The series lasted for two seasons and a made-for-television movie entitled Angel's Friends: Between Dream and Reality.
Outside of Italy, the series can be seen in NBC and syndication in the USA, often on digital subchannels trying to meet E/I requirements. The English dub in both seasons can also be watched on YouTube.
Provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Raf and her friends, despite rarely getting into fist-to-fist combat, they use the powers from their wings to fight against enemies and/or protect themselves and others from danger.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: The characters' design in the cartoon is much more attractive than the original comic. This provides most of the show's Fanservice.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In a truly odd example, the romance between Raf and Sulfus is original to the animated series. In the comics, Sulfus does have a crush on Raf, but she loves instead an Earthly One named Raoul who was Adapted Out in the animation.
- Adapted Out: Raoul, Ang-Li, Mephisto, Putzo and other characters from the comics don't appear in the animated series.
- Adult Fear: When Cabiria and Urie get injured by creatures of limbo, Temptel is visibly frightened for them.
- Age Lift: In the cartoon, Raf is 15 stars (years) old (which is the equivalent of being a teenager). In the comics, they were younger and their ages varied with Raf being 12, Uri (or Urié) being 11, and Miki being 9. The devils were 13 (Sulfus), 11 (Cabiria), and 10 (Kabale and Gas).
- All Love Is Unrequited: In the movie, it reveals that Kabale is this towards Sulfus. Among the humans, Edward is this to Jennifer.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Well, Raf does this anyway to Sulfus, despite the fact that she's an angel, and he's a devil.
- All Just a Dream:
- Episode 2 starts with Raf returning from the academy, glad that she's earned her halo, only to find her home abandoned and her teddy bear (which has the voice and the mark of Sulfus) teasing her and saying that the reason her parents left was because they didn't love her. Raf denies this, then everything around her starts to collapse and she wakes up.
- Raf and Sulfus both have a dream where they get married.
- Almost Kiss: Sulfus tries to kiss Raf in the Caves of Obscurity but Raf stops him and reminds him of their rivalry.
- Animesque: Despite being a cartoon, most of the characters have Anime Hair and eyes.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Raf to Sulfus in episode 26. They later kiss.
- Bare Your Midriff: Only in the cartoon.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: Miki, Uri and Sweet go inside Raf's subconscious at one point and battle a chalk-monster.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Raf and Sulfus, oh boy!
- Big Bad: Queen Reina, who was once a guardian angel that fell in love with the person that she was meant to protect, thus becoming the enemy of both angels and devils. Turns out that Reina's Start of Darkness was caused by Raf's mother's disappearance, and everything in the series was manipulated by Cassidy and Kubral.
- Big Good: Angelie, Raf's mother who was a human with the powers of an Eternal. She had the power to end wars even they are beginning, which is the reason why Cassidy and Kubral kidnapped her. She serves as a liason between both of Angels and Devils.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Raf and Sulfus finally kiss in episode 26 much to the joy of Reina and fangirls. note
- Orbital Kiss: This too, in episode 27.
- Big Eater / Obsessed with Food: One of Gas' defining traits.
- Delicious Distraction: This can backfire on him.
- Butterfly of Transformation: Done literally with Sweet's butterfly familiar, Butterfly which she uses to transform into a human and back.
- Calling Your Attacks: Both and the angels and devils like doing this.
- Canon Foreigner: Sweet, Misha, Reina and many other characters from the animated series are original to it and don't appear in the comic books.
- Catchphrase:
- "Angel's friends! Together forever!"
- During transformation sequences the angels say: "To guard and protect!"
- And the devils: "To curse and confuse!"
- Cerebus Syndrome: Once Reina is freed from limbo, things aren't quite so happy-go-lucky anymore.note
- Chekhov's Gun: The tears on Raf's hankerchief and the memory of sacriledge on Sulfus' glove are used to create a spider that when bitten by it can counteract the VETO, making Raf and Sulfus able to touch without hurting themselves.
- The Chosen One: Raf.
- Council of Angels: The High Spheres. The devils get the Low Spheres.
- Cut Short: The series ends with Blue freeing Reina from Limbo. This angered most of the show's fans.
- Dark Magical Girl: Cabale and Kabiria, though they're devils but are not evil. Also Blue, to a certain extant. Sulfus and Gas are male examples.
- Deadpan Snarker: Seems to be a requirement for devils.
- A Dog Named "Dog": Sweet has a Butterfly familiar named Butterfly. Also, "Reina" means "Queen" in Spanish.
- Dub-Induced Plot Hole: In one episode, Jennifer comes down with a fever. Her temperature is animated on a thermometer in Celsius but is spoken in Fahrenheit due to it being translated from Italian to American English.
- Electric Torture: In the series finale, Kubral and Cassidy does this to Raf and Sulfus in the Final Battle in an attempt to kill them. Only stopped by Arkhan and Temptel.
- Evil Overlord: Cassidy and Kubral, the true villains of the show, are the leaders of their own armies. They kickstarted the entire events of the show by instigating the Eternal War, which is stopped by VETO.
- Expy: Raf share many similarities with Bloom, the main protagonist from the Winx Club. Both girls are winged humanoids, with Raf being an angel and Bloom being a fairy; they're the Rookie Red Ranger in their respective groups, their main color is blue; with Raf's new powerup near the end of season 1, both girls have the ability to control fire; and to top it all off, both girls were at one point voiced by Liza Jaqueline, who voiced Bloom in the original 4kids dub.
- Extranormal Institute: The Golden School, where angels and devils learn how to protect and tempt.
- Facial Markings: Sulfus has his iconic red star over his eye.
- Failure Is the Only Option: While the angels do succeed in getting some of the kids to do the right thing, the show's creators have said that they will never get to finish their task. Maybe next season?
- Female Angel, Male Demon: The two main protagonists.
- For the Evulz: The devils, a lot of the time.
- Gratuitous English: Plenty, usually it's a case of Calling Your Attacks. Some examples include "Speed Fly", "Meteo Fly", "Body Fly", and plenty others. Another example is the Angel's Friends catchphrase: "Angel's Friends! Together forever!"
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Queen Reina, due to her status as the Big Bad.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Cassidy and Kubral, the two warlords that started the war between Angels and Devils, and the ones who are indirectly responsible for Reina turning evil, Angelie's disappearance, and the events that Raf and Sulfus have faced.
- Healing Hands: Sulfus gets these later in the series. He uses this power to heal his comrades.
- In the Hood: Maliki, who hides himself from people by wearing this.
- Invisible to Normals: Angels and devils can't be seen, heard or touched by humans until they take on human form. Though Raf isn't sure if this applies to dogs too...
- Ironic Echo: In episode 2, the main duo see Andrew's friend Jacob getting picked on by three bullies:Raf: What do you mean; three against one?! That's not fair!Sulfus: Let me think about it...you could slap a fine on them!
- Then later when Urie and Sweet show up to help Raf in a challenge:
Sulfus: Three against one? It's not fair!Raf: Slap a fine on me! - Jack-of-All-Trades: Maliki. Throughout the series, he is an everyman, operates a steamroller, drives a bus, flies an airplane, serves as a librarian, as a hot-dog seller and as a DJ. Not to mention that he was an alchemist able to make love potions. Really, there is no task this guy cannot perform.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sulfus is arrogant and bitter cold, but he has a softer side.
- Locked in a Room: Raf and Sulfus get trapped in the Caves of Obscurity.
- Ten Minutes in the Closet: Reina purposely pulls this to try and get them together.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Both Helen and Julia (Raf's newly assigned Earthly Ones) are upset because people only hang out with them because of their wealth.
- Love Potion: When Reina was an angel she tried to make her human, Malachia fall in love with her using his own love potion on himself. It doesn't work...
- Magical Camera: Urie's got one of these. Turns out to be very handy when Raf's friends need to prove her innocence by going through Raf's memories.
- Missing Mom: Raf's mother was lost when she was a young kid. It was revealed that her mother was abducted by two warlords named Cassidy and Kubral, the Greater-Scope Villains of the entire series that indirectly caused Reina's Start of Darkness.
- Official Couple: Raf and Sulfus. Their love and relationship make up much of show's drama.
- Once an Episode: A kid is being tempted to do something bad. The angels and demons will have a competition to see who goes first. However, the kids don't always listen to who got to them first, which actually makes more sense in context. Another example is...
- Opening Narration: By Raf; explaining a topic either the angels and devils or the humans will go through in the episode.
- Orcus on His Throne: Cassidy and Kubral are mostly seen sitting on their thrones in the Underlair, where they keep Angelie, Raf's mother.
- Our Angels (and Devils) Are Different: And in more ways than one, much to their superiors' chagrin; as far as they're concerned, this trope especially applies to Raf and Sulfus...
- Perky Goth: Kabale is a bit more upbeat than her fellow devils.
- Pink Means Feminine: Sweet is definitely the girliest out of the group.
- Playing with Fire: Sulfus has an ability called "Fire Fly". And later Raf, with her "Enflame!"
- Rainbow Motif:The new costumes of the eight heroes at the end of season one- by adding pink and replacing indigo by turquoise.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: Sweet, of the cheery and optimistic type.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Sulfus has a snake as a familiar.
- Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: This trope is subverted and inverted with the Devils. Though the Devils are more or less Anti Heroes, they wear more modest clothes than the Angels, whose outfits are rather skimpy. However, this trope is completely inverted with Reina.
- Shipper with an Agenda: Reina is a villainous version. She wants Raf and Sulfus to kiss in order to commit the Sacrilege that will free her from her chains.
- Shout-Out:
- Raf's friends, Uri, Sweet, and Miki, control storms, illusions, and ice respectively. Basically, like the Trix from Winx Club. Also, Cabiria was redesigned to look like Stormy respectively.
- Sailor Moon can be seen during the Halloween special, as an angel, not a costume.
- Shown Their Work: Raf, Urie, and Miki, are references to Rafael, Uriel, and Micheal, biblical angels. There is also a Gabi for the more well-known Gabriel. Dolce just means "Sweet" in Italian, and is called by her translated name in the English version.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: Raf and Sulfus' relationship. Actually done literally in episode 26 when they both hit each other and then make up with a kiss.
- Star-Crossed Lovers:
- Poor Raf and Sulfus, they aren't even allowed to touch each other.
- The angel Tyco and devil Sai (Raf and Sulfus' predecessors) from the ancient past. Their first kiss brought about the end of a civilization. Oops.
- Stalker with a Crush: Blue, a Neutral from Limbo, tries to seduce Sulfus.
- Start of Darkness: The animated series' Big Bad Reina was once a guardian angel like any other, until she fell in love with the man she was meant to watch over. Just like what Cassidy and Kubral wanted.
- Stripperiffic: The main cast of angels, with the exception of Miki, wear pretty skimpy and revealing outfits that shows their belly buttons, legs, you name it.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Sulfus and Kabale have these and are notorious trickster devils.
- Tin Tyrant: Cassidy and Kubral are tyrannical warlords who are mostly seen with their medieval-like armors that enchances their abilities.
- Title Theme Tune: Although both versions are sung to the same tune, the English theme song is an example, but not the original Italian theme.
- Transformation Sequence: The angels and devils use this to turn into normal looking humans, while passing from the Path of Metamorphosis.
- Tournament Arc: The Tournament of Light and Dark.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Sweet has bright pink hair. Miki has blue hair.