When I was in school, my brothers and I would stampede down the stairs to watch Cartoon Network’s Saturday morning lineup. It usually started out with a new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and ended with the DC cult favorite, Young Justice. As we grew up, my brothers and I revisited shows we missed as kids—shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender and Teen Titans.

That’s why Angel Studios stole my attention when they announced Gabriel and the Guardians as their first crowdfunding venture into “anime.”¹ Here was a show inspired by Old Testament stories, but not a tit-for-tat biblical adaption or allegory like most would expect from a faith-based show. It had its own world, its own mythos, its own creatures—yet it echoed the Hebrew Bible the same way ATLA² echoed Eastern culture.

Two factors had me sold before I even watched the premiere episode: the cast and the animation studio.

Remember how I said my family started off our Saturdays with The Clone Wars? Imagine my absolute ecstasy to see not one, but two Jedi in the cast list.³ Matt Lanter (Anakin Skywalker) plays the role of Nok the giantkiller, and James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) plays both the celestial being, Dionel, and the villain Malachros. It’s practically a Clone Wars reunion.

Then there’s the animation, which hearkens back to the days of Young Justice and that distinct American superhero art. It’s not a coincidence. Tiger Animation is overseeing animation production, and it’s the same studio behind shows like X-Men ’97, Castlevania, Justice League: Unlimited, and even ATLA.

The weekend Gabriel and the Guardians released to Guild members on Angel’s app, I grabbed a bag of chips and the brothers to see if it would hold up to the shows we already loved.

Though admittedly light on dialogue, the premiere episode hints at familiar biblical elements like a utopian garden, echoes of the Creation story, parallels to David and Goliath, and something that looks suspiciously like one of the Nephilim. The pilot episode teases just enough hallmarks to the Old Testament while still promising to do something new and out-of-the-box.

Gabriel, the titular hero, carries much of the episode’s theme. As an angel-like being, he possesses immense powers, yet remains a humble gardener even as his brother Michael fights in a distant, cosmic war. Gabriel’s an optimist, and when repairing a fallen column in the garden, he admits that “things break, but everything has the potential to be mended.” The statement hints at a larger theme of biblical redemption I expect future episodes to explore.

But in the mortal world of Ara, optimism is less apparent. Nok, a former cleric, carries a burdened past and a grudge against chaos giants. Namay’ah, an alchemist, naively thinks the giants are gods. Needless to say, the two don’t hit it off. Dare I say I’m already sensing chemistry?

Though much of the larger story remains a mystery, the show promises biblical themes like good triumphing over evil, rejecting false gods, and redemption. Young Justice star Danica McKeller (Miss Martian), who is slated to join the cast for future episodes, says she’s “excited to be a part” of a show that deals with “deep, important issues.”

Aside from the biblical themes, Gabriel and the Guardians also presents elaborate worldbuilding and even some ATLA-style banter during impressive action sequences. Between two large-scale fight scenes, the animators flexed their skills and showed what we can expect from the next twelve episodes.

As a twenty-something-year-old who grew up with great animation and even greater storytelling in my Saturday morning cartoons, I’m smack-dab in the middle of their target audience. Yet I’ve said it before in a semi-viral YouTube comment: Nothing—absolutely nothing—about this show looks crowdfunded. Angel Studios has achieved the mainstream look of high-budget cartoons like Young Justice, and it’s incredible. You can bet I’ll be lining up for more.

Want to watch Gabriel and the Guardians? Episode one is free to stream on Angel Studios via a shared link from Guild members.