Buffy Ships vs. Angel Ships

N

Nikkolas

Glory/Dawn Shipper.......
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So I made a post a little while ago commenting on how Buffy is half action and half-romance/drama. This got me to thinking about my run through of Angel and why, unlike Buffy, I haven't been compelled to rewatch various seasons of Angel.

I concluded that at least some of the reason is because I didn't care as much for the couples in the show as I did for BtVS.

Angel/Cordelia, Gunn/Fred and all the other couples in Angel just didn't have a lasting impression on me like Bangel, Tillow and others did.
I think this is because the two shows have such radically different...tones and atmosphere I guess you could say. Angel was a much darker, grittier show in a lot of ways and this seems to attract fans who cry "angel is the best show" while denouncing Buffy for having too much "angsty romance".

Call me a hopeless romantic but the air of constantly blooming love in Buffy is a huge plus for me and a reasonwhy I like the show and continue to rewatch it pretty often.

But yeah...enough of me. What do you all think? Buffy couples or Angel couples?
 
P
prophecygrrl
I do love me some Cangel, but Buffy couples ftw!
I love couples from both shows. I think both shows have wonderful couples. I just think that Angel doesn't focus as much on the romance as Buffy does.
 
Tome
Tome
[No message]
I have favorites from both shows, but the Buffy ships would probably outweigh the Angel ships a bit more because of Spuffy 🙂
 
I agree, the relationships on Buffy seem to have a bit more of a lasting impression than those in Angel for some reason (perhaps Darla/Angel being an exception to the rule..).
 
VisionGirl
VisionGirl
agree about Dangel
brinkster130
brinkster130
Yeah I thought Dangel was the exception
sisterofmercy said:
I agree, the relationships on Buffy seem to have a bit more of a lasting impression than those in Angel for some reason (perhaps Darla/Angel being an exception to the rule..).
Click to expand...

It's actually pretty obvious why:

1. Buffy has more characters, and therefore more opportunity for romantic entanglements. It wasn't until season 3 that Fred joined the cast, and Gunn really became a part of Angel Investigations. Before that, there were 2 guys and 1 girl. You do the math.

2. Individual episodes of Angel tend to focus more on the mystery/case of the week and less on character interaction compared to Buffy.

3. There's a lot more brooding on Angel.
 
VisionGirl
VisionGirl
Brooding karma!
It's hard to compare. I only 'ship a few relationships on AtS, so I guess in case of numbers, it's BtVS. And my top two or three 'ships are on BtVS anyway.
 
I find that the secondary romances in BtVS were better than the ones in AtS - I prefer Willow/Tara, Xander/Cordelia, Xander/Anya and probably Willow/Oz and Giles/Jenny to Gunn/Fred, Wesley/Fred and Cordelia/Doyle (though I do love Wesley/Lilah). However, I much prefer the romances Angel to those of Buffy - I despised all of Buffy's romances, but I am a huge Cordy/Angel fan and I thought Angel/Darla was fascinating (though I did hate Angel/Nina). To quickly rank them all (AtS in italics, BtVS in bold):

Angel/Cordelia
Wesley/Lilah
Xander/Anya
Willow/Tara
Xander/Cordelia
Angel/Darla
Cordelia/Doyle
Willow/Oz
Wesley/Fred
Giles/Jenny
Gunn/Fred
Willow/Kennedy
Buffy/Angel
Buffy/Spike
Angel/Nina
Buffy/Riley
Connor/Cordelia

It seems like a fair mix overall to be honest. Though I hate 4 BtVS ships as apposed to only 2 AtS, and the only two ships I properly love (my 3rd and 6th favourite ships of all any show ever), are both from AtS.
 
X
xfivebyfive
[No message]
Well, although I'm a bigger Buffy fan than Angel, I tend to like and feel closer and more attached to the Buffy ships. But I do have some faves at the Angel side. I less care what happens with them though. I really love Fred on Angel and I don't mind that bad who she's with. It bothers me less, although I really want her to be happy (well, as a character). Angel and Cordy don't bother me nor I love them powerfully. I just don't care. I see a couple on Angel, and I either feel "alrighty" or "finey". I don't die if a couple on Angel breaks up, like I would if say Spuffy, or Xanya, for example.

In conclusion, I like both series' couples, but care more for Buffy's than Angel's.
 
I think that y'all are right that there is more focus on the relationships in Buffy than on Angel. And on Buffy, the relationships are more "successful"- "successful" relationships is a relative term though, because we're talking about Josh "no one can be happy" Whedon here! I guess I mean more long-lived. Think about Xander/Anya...lasted 4 seasons. Woz lasted 2.5, Bangel was 3, Tillow was 3 (well, OK, 2.5). None of the Angel 'ships lasted very long. If we're talking in terms of romance. The Cordy/Angel friendship lasted the longest.
 
I much prefer Buffy the show to Angel, but I can't really decide on which couples I like better. However like VisionGirl said, the Buffy relationships are more successful, so I'll choose Buffy ships because I like the long lasting couples best aswell.
 
I actually prefer the Ats 'ships. The Btvs 'ships are good, but the Ats ones just seemed more complex and interesting.

It helps that I like the Ats characters more. 😉
 
X
xfivebyfive
[No message]
I think I'm 50/50. The ships in BtVS are definitely longer lasting in my memory, but the ships on AtS are so much more interesting.

And I think I agree with Wishing Oceans here, it helps that I really really really love Cangel <3
 
X
xfivebyfive
I love you!! lol Cangel <33
The differences in the shows are what make the couplings different. To me on Buffy the coupling is there you can't deny it. On Angel you are sometimes left with how you feel. Angel and Cordy for example they weren't a full on couple but people fight for them because they believe in them.

I think both shows are great, but Buffy was more about the couples than Angel.
 
I think I understand all of this. Because there are more relationships that are the center of everything on Buffy. That's what a lof of it is over the action. The characters going through these different relationships with other characters. It's all very intense. Whereas Angel is probably more about the action and all of that. I will admitt though, I haven't seen Angel yet so I can't really have a say on any of this but still.

'Ships like Buffy/Spike, Willow/Tara, Xander/Anya, Xander/Cordelia, Willow/Oz...all of them. They're intense in one way or another. There are relatable parts of them and they tug on your heartstrings making you feel something for them. That's what makes the show so great. Because there are so many great relationships to ship. There's just something about them all and you can't just ship one.

I don't know, just my opinions.
 
I totally agree, I fell in love with the couples in BTVS in ways the I never did on Angel. I enjoy both shows but I think BTVS has so much more passion in it....maybe its because the relationships didn't develop as much as they did on BTVS. Everything on Angel seemed rushed.
 
I prefer Cordy/Angel to any of the Buffy ships.

I think possibly that it's a lot to do with which show you started on. Although I watched Buffy first (S1/2) I stopped following it until midway through 7 but did follow Angel when that started.

Angel/Cordelia felt realer to me than any of the Buffy ships.
 
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