It's hard to say....I went with "like them both the same," but as you said, there are different qualities about each show.....
Buffy is, in general, a more upbeat show, (with a few notable exceptions) it's usually more fun to watch for me. The wit, the humor, and the chemistry of the original cast has always been a real pleasure to watch.....love those Scoobies!! And Buffy saves the world a lot, which is always fun.
Angel on the other hand, is better equipped to deal with some larger issues that I always find fascinating.....things like the nature of Evil (and Good), the nature of heroism, the road to redemption....and what exactly constitutes "humanity." Of course, Buffy touches on several of these issues as well, but I think Angel is able to deal with them more fully, because of it's darker aspect.
And Angel has a couple of my favorite quotes:
Night. Kate and Angel are sitting side by side outside in the garden court of the Hyperion.
Kate: "I feel like such an idiot."
Angel: "A lot of that going around."
Kate: "I just couldn't... - My whole life has been about being a cop. If I'm not part of the force it's like nothing I do means anything."
Angel, still looking pretty beat up: "It doesn't."
Kate: "Doesn't what?"
Angel: "Mean anything. In the greater scheme or the big picture, nothing we do matters. There's no grand plan, no big win."
Kate: "You seem kind of chipper about that."
Angel: "Well, I guess I kinda - worked it out.
If there is no great glorious end to all this, if - nothing we do matters, - then all that matters is what we do. 'cause that's all there is. What we do, now, today. - I fought for so long. For redemption, for a reward - finally just to beat the other guy, but... I never got it."
Kate: "And now you do?"
Angel: "Not all of it. All I wanna do is help. I wanna help because - I don't think people should suffer, as they do.
Because, if there is no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness - is the greatest thing in the world."
Kate: "Yikes. It sounds like you had an epiphany."
Angel: "I keep saying that. But nobody's listening."
*italics mine*
And:
It doesn’t matter where we come from, what we’ve done or suffered, or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be. - Angel
Hmmm.....guess it sounds like I'm coming out in favor of Angel after all.....but I'm really not. In terms of pure affection, it really is a coin toss.
