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Angel
The word angel comes from the Greek angelos, messenger. Generally, angels come from traditional beliefs that above man are spiritual beings.
They can be found popularly represented as guardians.
In the manga and film Ah! My Goddess, the goddesses receive angel companions when they reach a certain level. These personal angels are intimately tied to their goddess, as seen when a goddess is sick
so is their angel. Holy Bell is Belldandy's angel, World of Elegance is with Urd, Noble Scarlet with Skuld, Glorious Rose with Peorth, and Cool Mint and Spear Mint were with Rind.
Some symbols associated with angels are scepters, lilies, and
flaming swords. In Wedding Peach, the angel heroines work for the benefit of humans. Fin (an angel) assists Maron in Kaitou Jeanne,
and Access Time (a dark angel) assists her rival, Sindbad. In Evangelion, they are attacking Earth and the Evas are sent to
fight them.
Usually, in anime, angel imagery is found in the form of wings on characters. In the Wedding Peach OAV, the heroines have wings. In the
last season of Cardcaptor Sakura, Sakura is given wings with the Fly Card, showing her growth in powers since she doesn't need the Sealing
Wand transformed in order to fly.
Seraphim are of the highest order of angels. Wings and feathers are popular images with females in anime, this can denote an association with purity or goodness or be a spiritual
essence of the feminine. With Seraphim Call this seems to be the case; the female seraph in the opening credits is a symbol for all the girls and women whose stories will play out over
the course of the series.
The image of an angel and feather come up again in ep. 4 of Seraphim Call. A young artist needs a model for her angel painting and is convinced the image she seeks is Hatsumi. Hatsumi
does not see her own beauty, and was teased for it most of her life (she considers herself rather a tomboy) and does not want to model for the painting. In the end, it is only after the young woman is persistent and tricks Hatsumi into seeing her true reflection
before a mirror on emerging from a pool that Hatsumi realizes herself what this woman has been seeing in her. Just as it does at the episode's beginning, Hatsumi looks into the finished
painting and a seraphic feather passes over her face at the story's close.
The following are the angels from the TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion:
Adam: First Angel. Adam can mean "man". Adam was made from the dust from across the Earth, the first man God created
according to Genesis. According to the Talmud, Adam was the exact image of God and androgynous.
Ritsuko narrates in ep. 23: "Man found God, and they tried to pick him up. For that Man was punished! That happened fifteen years ago,
and the God they found disappeared. Then Man tried to resurrect God with his own hands and that's how Adam was created. From Adam,
Man created what resembles God, Himself. That is Eva!"
Lilith: Second Angel. Wife of Adam and mother of all souls. (from Jaime Lindig
Sachiel: (ep. 1-2) Third Angel. Name means "covering of God". A cherubim angel.
Shamshiel: (ep. 3) Fourth Angel. From Enoch I, an evil archangel.
Ramiel: (ep. 5) Fifth Angel. Presides over true visions, and a chief of thunder.
Gaghiel: (ep. 8) Sixth Angel. One of angelic guards of the sixth Heaven.
Israfel: (ep. 9) Seventh Angel. The Angel to sound the trumpet on the day of Judgement.
Sandalphon: (ep. 10) Eighth Angel. Name means "co-brother". According to cabalists he is important for the sex of the embryo.
Matariel: (ep. 11) Ninth Angel. Angel of rain.
Sahaqiel: (ep. 12) Tenth Angel. Angel of the sky.
Ireul: (ep. 13) Eleventh Angel.
Leliel: (ep. 16) Twelfth Angel. Name derived from word for "night".
Bardiel: (ep. 18) Thirteenth Angel. Angel of hail.
Zeruel: (ep. 19) Fourteenth Angel. Name means "arm of God".
Arael: (ep. 22) Fifteenth Angel. An angel of birds.
Amisael: (ep. 23) Sixteenth Angel. Angel of the fifth hour.
Tabris: (ep. 24) Seventeenth Angel. Angel of free will. Kaoru who was discovered to be the last Angel, gave Shinji a choice
in the end over his own and humanity's fate.
*Information on Angels from:
A Dictionary of Angels by Gustav Davidsom
New York: The Free Press, 1967.