Angel

This article is about the species. For the classification of pins, see Angel (class).

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or character details follow.

Joshua, a (presumed) Angel.

Angels are a species above who come from the Higher Plane, a parallel plane of existence in Shibuya that is stacked above the Underground. Almost all of the information about Angels come from the Secret Reports penned by Sanae Hanekoma, an Angel himself, and the denizens of the lower planes largely do not appear to be aware of their existence. However, just as some humans of the RG have expressed thoughts about seeing certain Reapers, so have certain Reapers professed varying degrees of awareness about the existence of Angels.

According to Hanekoma, the "unification of minds" is the natural state of the Higher Plane and its denizens have a "collective consciousness," indicating the Angels are a hive mind of sorts. They are noted for their extremely high-frequency vibes, extensive capability to travel between planes and to parallel worlds, and their influence over the Underground. They appear to hold vast power over the Reapers, using them to sort out people in the afterlife. Since it would appear that the Composers are Angels (or can become Angels in their position) and it is stated that some Reapers who rise enough in ranks are allowed to join among them and become Angels themselves, at least some of them were originally humans. The Angels, while intelligent, are said to be somewhat unusual and possess eccentric personalities at least according Koki Kariya - he claims in SHI • BU • YA that everyone from the Higher Plane is "some kinda weirdo".

Angels apparently watch over humanity, monitor its developing consciousness and judge the worth of the species, but some of them are misanthropic and show a lack of faith in humans either through active contempt or apathy. When a certain "impure" space is "cleansed," the Angels refer to it as "Purification" or "cleansing," believing the complete annihilation of entire cities in the lower planes to be a good thing. Joshua Kiryu also originally believed that Shibuya and specifically its people had a corrupting and tainting influence to their surrounding areas, but he ended up changing his mind and sparing it. The Game that he initiated with his Conductor to determine the fate of Shibuya is known as Shibuya's impurification and it is stated in the Secret Reports that most of Higher Plane's denizens (specifically the "elites") oppose it and believe Shibuya deserved erasure, as it was considered "exceptionally chaotic."

Abilities

Angels have extremely high-frequency vibes. Because of this power, Angels can easily travel between Shibuya's parallel planes, like the Underground or Realground. They also have a superior level of Imagination, and in tandem with their powerful vibes can easily penetrate the membranes of parallel worlds and jump between them.

Angels are heavily restricted in the actions that they can take by Angel code. Typically, they can only do so much as observe. The Angels are able to use things such as traces of Imagination to track the true intentions of psych users or their second sight to gain insight on what is happening in places that they cannot be.

In one instance, Sanae Hanekoma, a Fallen Angel, had the ability to gather the stray Soul of Rhyme after she had been erased during the Game. He proceeded to bind her Soul to a pin, although she could only be summoned as a Noise.

Roles

The Angels created what Hanekoma calls "a web of social schema".

Composer

Joshua showing his Angel wings in Kingdom Hearts.

(Main article: Composer)

The Composer is the creator of an Underground and has complete control over that space. Being the absolute authority of the Reapers in a particular area, they are also responsible for composing the rules of the UG that all Reapers and Players must follow.

They also have some amount of influence over the Realground, as Composers have the ability to destroy it. Because of this tie to the lower planes, Composers are often associated with the Reaper ranks. To become a Composer, one must defeat the currently standing Composer.

Composers are responsible for restoring Players to life as no Reaper is capable of such a feat. Composers may be responsible for referring successful Players with sufficiently high Imagination to the Angels upon completion of a Reapers' Game. Composers may also appoint a Reaper officer to the Conductor position. The Conductor is the only Reaper that the Composer typically interacts with.

The Composer has god-like powers in the Underground, and even in the Realground, they still hold a supernatural amount of power (such as the ability to stop bullets in mid-air).

Most, if not all Composers will eventually ascend to the Higher Plane, becoming proper Angels in their own right, as being Composer is simply a means to become an Angel, just as being a Reaper is a potential means of becoming a Composer. It is implied that they must transfer their position to another before they do this, lest a particular UG be left without a Composer.

After a Composer has chosen to initiate the purification protocol in order to cleanse their UG/RG, and the corresponding Executor has carried out The Inversion to enact this desire, a Composer may be referred to as a "Purifier". The implications of this term and the ultimate effects of cleansing/purifying a district (aside from the total reset(?) of the lower planes) are unknown.

Producer

Hanekoma's Angel wings.

(Main article: Producer)

The Producer watches over the Reapers' Game and the UG at large, ensuring Reapers and Players follow the rules of the Game. He can also create and deliver items to the Composer or Conductor, an example being the request for the O-Pins in Shiki, Day 1's Secret Report or the upgrade to Joshua's phone camera on Joshua, Day 3.

Producers are not permitted to directly interfere in the running of the Game, however some Producers might still meddle from behind the scenes in some instances. Producers are given the benefit of being able to talk to any entity, Player or Reaper, in the UG, provided they absolutely do not reveal their identity/role in the Game, a strict limitation placed upon them by the Higher Plane. The Producer may only reveal his position in regards to the Game to the Composer.

The Secret Reports imply that Producers usually stay in the Higher Plane during Games, but the specific circumstances of the long Game in The World Ends with You required Hanekoma to descend to the UG to observe the Game from a closer perspective. And as a result of his interference in The World Ends With You, he was barred from leaving the Higher Plane in NEO: The World Ends With You, thus limited to simply producing the Secret Reports.

Executor

(Main article: Executor)

Some Angels, called Executors, are tasked with cleansing a district by the district's Composer. Often by infiltrating the ranks of those such as the Reapers in order to complete their mission. While they are forbidden from directly harming Players, they may interact with and manipulate them socially to assist in their objective. The only known example of this is with Tanzo Kubo who was known to create Noise from Dissonance in order to serve as a catalyst for an Inversion. The cleansing of a district is ultimately a means of causing said district's purification, which the Angels regard as an ideal state for any area of the lower planes.

Fallen Angels

The Angels are bound to a strict code, which is not ever fully detailed but it restricts the actions in which an Angel may take. When an Angel oversteps this boundary, they may either be Exorcised or become a Fallen Angel.

Sanae Hanekoma, the current Producer of Shibuya, is the only known Fallen Angel. His crime was revealing the secrets of Taboo Noise refinery to the Game Master, Sho Minamimoto. Hanekoma reports the alert of a Fallen Angel was handed down on Joshua, Day 2's Secret Report, but refers to the Fallen Angel in the third person until Secret Report 21, This Day Ends with You!'s Secret Report. In gameplay, this is also the last Secret Report the player can collect discounting the addenda for A New Day, so Hanekoma's secret is withheld from the player until the very end of The World Ends with You's post-game. He saw Minamimoto as a "back-up plan" to impede the Composer's plans to destroy Shibuya, unwilling to lose the unique city. He accepts the severe stigma of a Fallen Angel as he saw saving Shibuya necessary over the sanctity of the code.

It is unknown if there are any biological changes that occur when becoming a Fallen Angel. However, a Fallen Angel can be detected by an alternate version of themselves and may report their Fallen counterpart.

List of Angels

• Sanae Hanekoma (Producer)
• Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu (Composer)
• Hazuki Mikagi (Composer)
• Tanzo Kubo (Executor)

Trivia

• All known Angels except for Kubo have birthdays with repeating numbers. In numerology, a repeating series of digits are called "angel numbers".
  • Joshua's birthday is 11/1.
  • Haz's birthday is 5/5.
  • Hanekoma's birthday is 3/3.
  • The only other character with a repeating birthday is Tsugumi whose birthday is 1/1.
• One could consider Angels to be a sort of counterpart to Reapers, but more powerful as a force and more benevolent than the Reapers.
• In The World Ends With You, Composers were stated to essentially be in a league of their own - while not referred to as Reapers, they were also categorized as separate beings than Angels. Futhermore, the reports note they cannot pick up on the vibes of any Angels beside the Producer, and Hanekoma believed Joshua became stuck in a parallel world, something which cannot happen to Angels as they are made to jump between worlds. This made Composers exist in a weird space between Reapers and Angels. In NEO: The World Ends With You, Composers are now explicitly referred to as Angels in the official guidebook, thus generating confusion over whether Composers have been Angels all along or if Composers can become Angels during their time in office - although the original Secret Reports implied a Composer Ascending involved leaving their position to join the Higher Plane - or whether the labelling in the guidebook was simply an error. Adding to this, the Psychic Ranks in NEO continue to classify the two as separate, with Composers being a rank below Angels.
  • Inside the Room of Reckoning, there are two stone slabs depicting an Angel and the Grim Reaper respectively, with the Throne of Shibuya sitting in the middle. As this is the Composer's seat, it could further symbolize their "in-between" state of existence implied in the first game.

Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.