Most people don’t exactly start up Crunchyroll or Funimation looking for a faith-based anime. That’s probably why Gabriel & The Guardians slipped under the radar for most people. Created by Jason Moody and brought to life by Colossul Studios with animation from Tiger Animation, the show looks nothing like the watered-down Sunday School cartoons we’re used to. This isn’t Superbook. It’s more like “what if He-Man was a biblical character who wrestled fallen angels before the Great Flood.” And yes, it’s just as good as you’re imagining.
Yes, technically, Gabriel & The Guardians is not an anime (i.e. not produced in Japan), but it is “anime-inspired”. Just look at the animation style and the beautifully created worlds here. The animation is 2D hand-drawn in the anime aesthetic, with expressive eyes, clean line art, and dramatic shading. And it’s stunning.
The premise kicks off in a heavenly realm called the Garden of Paradim, a clear nod to Eden, except this one floats above a ruined Earth. Gabriel, voiced by Power Rangers’ Johnny Yong Bosch, isn’t exactly Heaven’s star player. He’s stuck tending plants, quietly sidelined from the Watchers (those higher-ranking angels busy waging war against darkness). When a colossal intruder smashes his paradise and nabs one of the Eternal Seeds, Gabriel is forced to step down from gardening duty and into battle. His fall lands him in the mortal world, where giants roam, and humans barely survive. From there, the story takes on a sweeping, almost Tolkien-esque fantasy vibe, with Gabriel reluctantly becoming humanity’s unlikely defender.
And honestly, it shares a lot of similarities with The Lord of the Rings. The mythology dives deep into biblical lore. We’re talking Nephilim, Watchers, the line of Cain, and echoes of the Book of Enoch. That might sound like heavy theology, but the series smartly translates it into an action-fantasy format younger audiences or anime fans can latch onto. It’s not trying to replace the Bible or adapt it. It’s reimagining familiar metaphors into a modern story language. For example, Gabriel’s fractured relationship with the archangel Michael hints at past failures, while Nok, a giant hunter who joins his quest, feels like a hybrid of Enoch and Noah rolled into one. These tweaks keep the show accessible without stripping away its biblical backbone or becoming too preachy.
The production pedigree is solid, too. Beyond Bosch, the cast includes Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, and Cristina Milizia—voices you’ve heard in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Final Fantasy, and Helluva Boss. The trailer even racked up 350,000 views on YouTube, proving there’s an audience hungry for this mix of scripture and spectacle. Yet despite critical nods and an IMDb score of 8.1, it still hasn’t broken into the mainstream conversation.
So why aren’t more people talking about it? Partly because anime fans don’t expect angels and Nephilim to share screen space with anime-style battles. But strip away the faith-based angle, and what you’ve got is an indie animated adventure with the same pulpy charm as ’90s cult hits like He-Man or ThunderCats.
Gabriel & The Guardians deserves that same chance to stand on its own, because whether you’re here for the angel lore or just the sword-swinging action, this is an anime-inspired series worth your time. The first episode is available to watch for free online. Oh, and did I mention it’s from the team who made X-Men ’97, Invincible, and Castlevania?
0 Comments