Klonor
25-08-2005, 21:57
Point 1) Buffy often seems to think that Slaying is an unpleasant court-ordered assignment, vital and necessary but not something she enjoys doing. Angel works at it with a passion.
Point 2) The Angel series give an entirely new view of the demons they face. Buffy focuses entirely on their demon activities, rarely viewing them in the non-Terror inducing parts of their lives. In Angel you often see the basic (and normal) lives of the demons, including them having day jobs, going to bars, eating buffalo wings, and watcing 'the game'. It's got much more depth than Buffy's approach.
3) Angels 'crew' makes much more sense. In Buffy nobody really has any skills to bring to the show (Excepting Willow and her Uber-Magic). Xander, Willow (In the earlier seasons), Cordelia, Anya, and the rest (Excepting her occasional Vampire boyfriend or genetically improved Super-soldier) have no real skills involved with fighting demons. If you're going to go into combat you want somebody with combat experience (and skill) at your side, not a group of friends tagging along for the ride. In Angel everybody has either a history or skill with demons. Doyle is part demon himself and has visions from the Powers, Cordelia gets the visions after Doyle and eventually becomes part demon (But that does come back to bite her in the ass), Gunn has been fighting Vampires long before joining Angel and is a kick ass fighter, Wesley has a nearly unequaled knowledge of demon history, language, and physiology and eventually grows to be a really competent fighter (I'd put him just after Angel in the shows fighting roster), and Fred is just freakishly brilliant with some scary survival abilities.
4) Buffy tries to have a life first and then Slaying, Angel puts his duties as a fighter first. I'm not saying Buffy is neglectful in her Slaying duties (At least not in the latter half of the series) but she always tries to work it around her friends/job/school instead of the reverse. Angel fits his job and social responsibilities around his Do-Gooding, even so far as getting a job fighting demons.
4) Angel isn't such a pansy. Buffy's creators and script writers often tried to portray her as a normal girl forced to overcome shocking obstacles, acting like she's no better than any other women on the show (I mean physically, not 'worth'). Angels writers realize that he's stronger/faster/smarter/durabel-er (How would you say 'more durable' in a single word?) than almost anybody else on the show and use it.
5) Angel has to deal with real world issues (kinda). One episode of Buffy had her and Cordelia almost killing each other trying to win Homecomeing Queen. The most extreme thing Buffy faces (In her normal life) is being denied a bank loan and working minimum wage. Angel has to figure out how to care for a child, care for several people who are completely reliant upon him financially, and not be torn to death by lawyers. Compared to what Angel faces I think working in Burger King isn't so bad.
6) Angel kicks ass.
7) Not everything ends with a happy ending in Angel. Don't get me wrong, Buffy has had its sad points (Joyce dying, Anya and Xander breaking up, Riley leaving, etc.) but everything always seems to work out in the end. In Angel when things go bad they stay bad and they don't get better without a hell of a lot of hard work. Hell, the series ends with the entire crew either dead or about to be massacred by an unstoppable army composed of thousands upon thousands of demons (You know, I really do want to see how that battle ends). Buffy just seems so much more lighter in comparison. That series ends with only Anya dead and the rest of them giggling at how shockingly easily they just beat an army of unstoppable demons and now have an entire army of Vampire Slayers at their disposal.
8) Angel still kicks ass.
9) Wesleys transformation. Unless I missed something the entire Buffy series has none of the characters changing in the tiniest bit (personality-wise, I mean). The entire cast acts the same in the series finale as they do at the start of the show. Xanader jokes, Willow babbles, Giles lectures, etc. In Angel people change, as they do in real life. Cordelia goes from being a self-obsessed bitch to a caring person who sees the bigger picture, Wesley goes from a nerd (Even I think he's a nerd) to a self-composed and competent fighter then to an alcoholic struggling with self-worth issues then back to the second then back to the third, Fred goes from a nearly psychotic and cowering girl to a woman who is able to grasp and turn unpleasant situations in a second. Even minor characters change (Like Lilah and Lesely) and have sides of their personalities revealed that we never see once in Buffy.
10) Did I mention Angel kicks ass?
Thank you, and I apologize for wasting so much of your time.
Point 2) The Angel series give an entirely new view of the demons they face. Buffy focuses entirely on their demon activities, rarely viewing them in the non-Terror inducing parts of their lives. In Angel you often see the basic (and normal) lives of the demons, including them having day jobs, going to bars, eating buffalo wings, and watcing 'the game'. It's got much more depth than Buffy's approach.
3) Angels 'crew' makes much more sense. In Buffy nobody really has any skills to bring to the show (Excepting Willow and her Uber-Magic). Xander, Willow (In the earlier seasons), Cordelia, Anya, and the rest (Excepting her occasional Vampire boyfriend or genetically improved Super-soldier) have no real skills involved with fighting demons. If you're going to go into combat you want somebody with combat experience (and skill) at your side, not a group of friends tagging along for the ride. In Angel everybody has either a history or skill with demons. Doyle is part demon himself and has visions from the Powers, Cordelia gets the visions after Doyle and eventually becomes part demon (But that does come back to bite her in the ass), Gunn has been fighting Vampires long before joining Angel and is a kick ass fighter, Wesley has a nearly unequaled knowledge of demon history, language, and physiology and eventually grows to be a really competent fighter (I'd put him just after Angel in the shows fighting roster), and Fred is just freakishly brilliant with some scary survival abilities.
4) Buffy tries to have a life first and then Slaying, Angel puts his duties as a fighter first. I'm not saying Buffy is neglectful in her Slaying duties (At least not in the latter half of the series) but she always tries to work it around her friends/job/school instead of the reverse. Angel fits his job and social responsibilities around his Do-Gooding, even so far as getting a job fighting demons.
4) Angel isn't such a pansy. Buffy's creators and script writers often tried to portray her as a normal girl forced to overcome shocking obstacles, acting like she's no better than any other women on the show (I mean physically, not 'worth'). Angels writers realize that he's stronger/faster/smarter/durabel-er (How would you say 'more durable' in a single word?) than almost anybody else on the show and use it.
5) Angel has to deal with real world issues (kinda). One episode of Buffy had her and Cordelia almost killing each other trying to win Homecomeing Queen. The most extreme thing Buffy faces (In her normal life) is being denied a bank loan and working minimum wage. Angel has to figure out how to care for a child, care for several people who are completely reliant upon him financially, and not be torn to death by lawyers. Compared to what Angel faces I think working in Burger King isn't so bad.
6) Angel kicks ass.
7) Not everything ends with a happy ending in Angel. Don't get me wrong, Buffy has had its sad points (Joyce dying, Anya and Xander breaking up, Riley leaving, etc.) but everything always seems to work out in the end. In Angel when things go bad they stay bad and they don't get better without a hell of a lot of hard work. Hell, the series ends with the entire crew either dead or about to be massacred by an unstoppable army composed of thousands upon thousands of demons (You know, I really do want to see how that battle ends). Buffy just seems so much more lighter in comparison. That series ends with only Anya dead and the rest of them giggling at how shockingly easily they just beat an army of unstoppable demons and now have an entire army of Vampire Slayers at their disposal.
8) Angel still kicks ass.
9) Wesleys transformation. Unless I missed something the entire Buffy series has none of the characters changing in the tiniest bit (personality-wise, I mean). The entire cast acts the same in the series finale as they do at the start of the show. Xanader jokes, Willow babbles, Giles lectures, etc. In Angel people change, as they do in real life. Cordelia goes from being a self-obsessed bitch to a caring person who sees the bigger picture, Wesley goes from a nerd (Even I think he's a nerd) to a self-composed and competent fighter then to an alcoholic struggling with self-worth issues then back to the second then back to the third, Fred goes from a nearly psychotic and cowering girl to a woman who is able to grasp and turn unpleasant situations in a second. Even minor characters change (Like Lilah and Lesely) and have sides of their personalities revealed that we never see once in Buffy.
10) Did I mention Angel kicks ass?
Thank you, and I apologize for wasting so much of your time.