Angel Beats!

(c) mooche

When I checked my first impression for Angel Beats! , I couldn't believe that most of us didn't have anything nice to say about this show. Even I was skeptical. I compared it with porn for fuck sake but I didn’t outright hate it. I said that it was a decent show but definitely not the best one for Spring 2010. Well, I was wrong and I stand corrected. Angel Beats! ended up among the few shows that I look forward to every week for this season.

I guess I have to thank Monroe for this. He was pretty adamant that I watch this series so he has someone he can talk to. I wasn't keen at first, especially when everyone says that this series is trying to imitate The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. As a fan of Haruhi, I obviously have my reservations. Thank goodness, though it has similarities, it is not an exact copy.

Angel Beats! is about a bunch of teenagers who found themselves dead and are living in the afterlife. Most of the students are the NPC while a small portion of the students fight to keep their personality and memories from their previous life. In other words, they have regrets. This small portion of students formed a brigade and they are lead by Yuri (this is where the similarities with Haruhi end). They believe that they have to fight the Angel/Kanade in order not to disappear. This is where normal ends and cue supernatural. They are able to make guns out of clay and so on. It kind of over the top but done with subtlety that you barely notice. The story took a different turn halfway through and that is where you will start to be very appreciative of this show. It throws something different in almost every episode though there is still something to link the plot together.

The involvement of Maeda Jun has been discussed a lot. I have a hate-love relationship with his previous works. I love the beginning for both Clannad (the first season, I hate the ending too much to bother with second season) and Kanon but totally hate the ending. I was afraid that he will do the same thing to Angel Beats! Guess what? He did although it is not as chronic as those two series I mentioned earlier. He has the knack of pairing the male lead with a female that I like the least (read: borderline hate). Having said that, I love the roller-coaster journey from total happiness to sorrow, all which is done in one episode. You'll laugh your ass off only to feel extremely touched afterward, all in a blink of an eye. Some people may not like the abrupt transition but I for one love it.

Reason number 23962 of why I like Angel Beats! is because of the brigade members. They have different personalities and most of the times, they are the reason why Angel Beats! turned out to be so great. Their antics are endless and it will keep you guessing. What next? So yeah, you'll be thoroughly entertained. This is guaranteed.

(c) hizuno

Otonashi started out as a blah character. He was so ordinary compared to the other more colorful characters in the brigade. He was completely developed till the very end. The other brigade members received the same treatment although half of them were left out (though they deserved to be developed further). The only other character that gets a lot of development is Kanade. She changed from a stoic emotionless girl to someone who hums song and has springs in her footsteps. Everyone's character development has something to do with Otonashi though so basically the other characters are evolved around him.

But let's talk about my favorite characters. Hinata started out as the gay partner for Otonashi, then Yui's arc enemy (or seemingly so) before becoming one of the most gentlemanly characters in anime history. I knew he's special the first time I laid my eyes on him. It was love at first sight. Besides Hinata, I also like the English-speaking, nonsensical TK. He is unique and needs no introduction. He is definitely one of the most memorable characters in anime fandom because of that. You can either hate or love TK. No in between. Who could forget episode 8 when he does that lookout dance. He's so random like that. As for female character, it has to be Yuri. Funny though because at first I really don't like her that much but as the story comes to an end, I found myself rooting for her. I guess I must have been attracted to her qualities and personality: she is strong and don't pull the "I'm the damsel in distress" bullshit. That's my kind of girl.

If you read my episodic review, you will notice that I don't like Kanade much. I have only one problem with her. I was fine with her when she has almost zero personality. Once Otonashi got attached to her, she changed. This was when I started to dislike Otonashi too. I guess you guys would call it character development. I called it interference. Sure it has something to do with the whole plot, the way it developed around their friendship but it bothers me to no end. This is all Maeda's doing...

So anyway, if someone asked me if I want a season 2 of Angel Beats! I would have said yes just so that I can see what Hinata, TK and Yuri are up to. After all, we didn't get the chance to send TK off =(

Music and sound. They are one of this show strongest points (how many strong points does this show have?!). They timed and chose the background music for certain moments perfectly which is a big help in setting up the emotional scenes as well as the funny parts. The OP and ED are good and the songs from Girls Dead Monster becomes talk of the anime fandom. K-ON! can learn a thing or two from both the song choice and animations during the performance. My song sang by Iwasawa imo is pretty haunting and memorable on its own.



The seiyuu too did an excellent job. I have high hopes for Otonashi when I found out that Kamiya Hiroshi does his voice. However Otonashi as a character at the end of the show ruined it for me. This doesn't mean that the seiyuus are at fault. If anything, they did a great job for invoking such reaction from me. They gave everything they have to put personality and attitude to the characters which give them life of their own. Kudos.

The art and animation however are decent. I've seen better. It was because of the arts that I initially compared it to hentai. I believe P.A Works could have done a better job. I mean, I adore the animation and the arts in True Tears so it is not like they aren't capable to do so. Besides Aniplex is one of the producers. They have plenty of resources, I am sure. Or maybe Angel Beats! is such a success because of the lack in this department. For example, I thought in some of the episodes, the quality of the animation was top notch, especially when there is blood involved.

Well, I guess it is obvious that I enjoy Angel Beats! At least up to episode 9 I did. Maybe the reason I was able to enjoy it is because I have learned to watch it at face value without questioning the facts and logics. Granted that the ending was a phailed attempt for tear fest, the other episodes easily make up for that. I managed to complete it on time, didn't I? That definitely accounted for something.

Angel Beats! is a show that you truly have to get to know to fall in love with it. If you judge it from the first episode alone, you'll be missing a lot. My initial rating for it was 7 out of 10. After 13 episodes, I changed my mind slightly.

Arts & Animation 8/10
Sound 10/10
Story 8/10
Characters 9/10
Enjoyment 9/10
Overall 8/10

For a longer additional read, you can check out Guy's review. He dedicated a paragraph for TK :P

Also of Guignol's post about the ending of the episode. He speaks my language.

Posted in: action, akira ishida, angel beats, aniplex, comedy, hiroshi kamiya, kana hanazawa, P.A Works, review, sentai filmworks, shun takagi, supernatural, takahiro mizushima, tomokazu seki, yuuki Masuda