The Fall 2020 Manga Guide

Eniale & Dewiela

What's It About? 

When Eniale the coy angel and Dewiela the serious devil get into frivolous spats, the whole world gets caught up in their antics! Whether it's wrecking New York in a bid to nab some famous cosmetics, getting into a car chase in Paris over a clothing quarrel, or sinking Tokyo thanks to a zombie outbreak, it's the advent of an otherworldly duo who are both beautiful and obnoxious!

Eniale & Dewiela is drawn and scripted by Kamome Shirahama. Yen Press will release the digital and print versions of the manga's first volume on November 24 for $6.99 and $13.99 respectively.

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Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

If you're expecting another Witch Hat Atelier, you are about to be disappointed. Eniale & Dewiela is from the same creator, but apart from the luscious artwork, there really aren't any similarities. This is a slapstick comedy about a very ditzy angel and her BFF, who just so happens to be a less-ditzy demon. Together they go shopping in Paris, look for the mother of a lost baby, build a hot spring, and attempt to heal a girl's dying mother. It's interesting and decent fun, but definitely doesn't reach the storytelling heights of Kamome Shirahama's other manga in English.

It does, however, play mix and match with mythologies in some neat ways. The baby story, the first in the book, ends up being resolved when it turns out that God was on earth and saw a gorgeous pigeon, which ended up resulting in the baby Eniale and Dewiela found. That's a Zeus move if ever I heard of rather than the Judeo-Christian God implied by the existence of angels and demons. Later Charon pops in and the Angel of Death makes a comment about Buddhist holidays when a bunch of souls are released, and of course there are references to Noah (he runs a delivery service these days, apparently) and Adam and Eve. The implication is that all religions and gods are just different perceptions of the same supernatural/godly phenomena, and that's an interesting take on it. Also apparently hellhounds are giant poodles. If you were wondering.

The stories play fast and loose with religious iconography, but there's no sense of malice or singling out one group – everything is up for grabs as the ladies search for new clothes (every time Eniale pops out her wings, she shreds whatever she's wearing) or steal angelic horns to hijack the world's airwaves when trying to find the baby's mom. (I love that it turns out to be a dad; they never even considered that.) People assume the end times are coming, think that they're getting divine revelations, and absolutely watch the dead come back to life at least twice. It's zany and Shirahama is clearly having a blast writing and drawing it.

It's also, however, sort of exhausting to read, and Eniale's antics get stale pretty fast. It's fun to watch the way that humans interpret the ladies' interventions (and interestingly enough they never really get in trouble with their higher-ups), but apart from one character, a detective/exorcist named Adam there's very little continuity between the chapters. The art is, as I said before, exquisite and almost carries the rest of the volume, but it's no Witch Hat Atelier and a little of this book really does go a long way.

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Caitlin Moore

Rating:

If you know Kamome Shirahama from Witch Hat Atelier, don't pick this up expecting something similar. While Witch Hat Atelier is a beautiful, delicate fantasy series, Eniale & Dewiela is a goofy buddy comedy about angel and demon best friends getting into misadventures. There is no overarching plot or character development; it's just two friends squabbling, dressing up, and getting into trouble.

To be honest, the writing is really just okay. Eniale and Dewiela are angel and demon buddies in the tradition of Good Omens' Aziraphale and Crowley: longtime buddies that squabble and grouse, but still share a close connection. The comedy actually doesn't lean too hard on them being supposed opposites, since one is the embodiment of virtue and the other the embodiment of vice, and the only time they're really in disagreement is when they both respond to a little girl's summons and prayers at the same time. They have more commonalities than differences, so most of the wackiness comes from them inadvertently causing mayhem on Earth. The humor is rarely unpleasant, but it's also rarely laugh-out-loud funny.

But the art, oh the art. Shirahama's gifts as an illustrator are well-known in the US for her work as a cover artist as well as Witch Hat Atelier, but you've never seen her like this. There's the same delicate pen-and-ink work and carefully crafted detail as always, but sexier. Eniale and Dewiela love fashion, which means a lot of trying on different clothes, which also means a lot of dressing and undressing. Shirahama highlights their beauty and curves, both nude and draped with fabric, with an anatomical lushness reminiscent of old-school pinup art. I know I've said I don't care for fanservice anime, but if more of them looked like this, I'd consider changing my mind.

If you like goofy comedies, Eniale & Dewiela will probably be worth your time. If you like pretty girls, it definitely is.