It’s summer vacation! But of course, first is exams. And then, unfortunately, summer break comes to a close, so you want to get in at least one more fun activity before school starts again. But that isn’t easy when all of your friends minions and rivals are too busy to hang out with you!
While I described this as a summer vacation volume — and most of it is dedicated to the girls visiting a festival — this is really about everyone facing off against their greatest opponent. Gabriel versus hard work. Teacher versus grading. Taplis versus Satanya. Mei versus crowds. Even Raphael, who has normally been the series’ trollmaster, finally finds herself completely off-balance. As a result of all of these personal battles, readers are rewarded with a delightful volume of Gabriel Dropout.
It helps that while about three-fourths of the manga is dedicated to the festival, the girls find themselves separated into pairs for most of it. That means we get to enjoy all the different types of relationships among this odd group: close friends despite being opposites (Gabriel and Vigne), enemies (Satanya and Taplis), and acquaintances (Raphael and Mei). So while everyone hanging out in a group is fun, it’s kind of nice to see their eccentricities bounce off one other instead of a whole crowd encouraging or diffusing a situation. I especially want to see more Raphael-Mei interaction, as it’s about time Raphael met her match. Plus the angel is less-than-thrilled about the new nickname Mei gives her as a sign of appreciation!
Other chapters involve the yakuza-looking teacher grading Satanya’s math test, a busy day at work for Gabriel, and Satanya not wanting to have spent her entire summer vacation alone (minus the festival). Out of those, man, I wish we could have seen all of Satanya’s test answers. I know there’s a lot of articles and videos about funny test answers, and hers would totally go viral. And while the demon in question is her overly confident self here and when facing off against Taplis, the final chapter gives a glimpse of her loneliness that she buries deep, deep, deep inside. But most of all, she’s still the haughty idiot everyone loves…and that gives teachers heartburn.
Now, is Gabriel Dropout volume 9 the funniest of the series? Maybe not. Not everything (particularly the coffee shop episode) is going to make readers chuckle. But it’s a volume where it’s going to elicit smiles. When I start off seeing a test sheet submitted by “Satanichia Kurumizawa of the Darkness”, I knew I was going to have a good time — and I’m glad that feeling wasn’t misplaced!