Number of episodes: 13+OVA+Another Epilogue
What Wikipedia says: "The story was originally conceived by Jun Maeda, who also wrote the screenplay and composed the music with the group Anant-Garde Eyes, with original character design by Na-Ga; both Maeda and Na-Ga are from the visual novel brand Key, who produced such titles as Kanon, Air, and Clannad.
The story takes place in the afterlife and focuses on Otonashi, a boy who lost his memories of his life after dying. He is enrolled into the afterlife school and meets a girl named Yuri who invites him to join the Battlefront (Shinda Sekai Sensen (SSS)) — an organization she leads which fights against God for the cruel fates the SSS members experienced in life. The Battlefront fight against the student council president Angel, a girl with supernatural powers. While the injury or cause of death are gone, those in the afterlife school can still feel pain or other things as they did when they were alive, as well as dying again, only to awaken with no injuries several minutes later."
What tTPO says: This series is full of comedy, violence, imagination and love with the overall flavour inherently bittersweet. All the characters are dead, all (bar one) are in limbo because they have some baggage from their previous lives, and are all broken to some extent. Yuri (bearing more than a passing resemblance to Haruhi Suzumiya, though I didn't see this as a bad thing - some may do though) carries more than most, leading to her anger with God, often taken out on other characters, and the formation of the SSS.
It is unfortunate though, due to the short length of the series, that many of the character backstories (as well as the backstories of the truly fascinating setup of the SSS and school itself) are not explored more. Which brings me to the major flaw of the series, which was its pacing. AAARGH! Why, when you know you have only a limited number of episodes, and you have a lot of story to tell, do you waste several episodes on largely stand-alone stories, entertaining though they were? The perfect example of this was the OVA. Instead of taking the opportunity to explore one of the numerous characters (and the cast is large for such a short series) more in depth, they have a ridiculous (albeit amusing) stand-alone episode (which fits in about episode 5-6 which is where I would strongly recommend watching it).
While this may sound like we are heading down the same road as Occult Academy, the two series otherwise could not be further apart. I loved the characters of Angel Beats and their stories, and the world in which the story takes place operates by its own interesting rules and I wanted to find out more about it. Also the fact no-one can die when you are already dead means there is more than a fair share of amusing (and some not so amusing) deaths. However, because the characters feel the pain of death, dying is never a completely frivolous matter.
How about the music?: Jun Maeda's love of music shines though in this series, where not only is it moving and brilliant, it is fundamental to the series. The opening (both versions - normal and rock) and closing themes are note perfect and some of my favourite music ever to come from an anime. There are multiple songs we hear through the course of the anime from the band Girl Dead Monster (made up of 4 members of the SSS), and while these, to my ear at least, are not quite as good as the OPs and ED, one ballad in particular is very affecting. It rarely gets better than this. Thus ends the gush.
So how does it end? (Spoiler Free): The major plotline is well wrapped up (you do need to pay attention to make the chronology of this add up, but it does) and it is a shameless tearjerker. I certainly shed a few. Maybe there is a bit too much of a change in one character but I have a lot of forgiveness for this. However, in the rush for time many minor character stories are left untold.
Overall Grade: Grade A (Must see this). This is not the perfect series. But despite the MAJOR pacing issues that plague this series (and an occasional plot hole), it engages on so many levels there can only be one grade. This will likely be the most flawed show to get the top grade. And when you have done with this go and read the light novels and/or the manga to fill in some of the story that never made it to the screen. Jun Maeda, I salute you. Now I am going to go and decide whether I should wear my Kanade, or my Angel handsonic-01 t-shirt?
Angel Beats will get a recommendation from KoanMan though it
did not make it to the top of the list.
It gets a B.
What Wikipedia says: "The story was originally conceived by Jun Maeda, who also wrote the screenplay and composed the music with the group Anant-Garde Eyes, with original character design by Na-Ga; both Maeda and Na-Ga are from the visual novel brand Key, who produced such titles as Kanon, Air, and Clannad.
The story takes place in the afterlife and focuses on Otonashi, a boy who lost his memories of his life after dying. He is enrolled into the afterlife school and meets a girl named Yuri who invites him to join the Battlefront (Shinda Sekai Sensen (SSS)) — an organization she leads which fights against God for the cruel fates the SSS members experienced in life. The Battlefront fight against the student council president Angel, a girl with supernatural powers. While the injury or cause of death are gone, those in the afterlife school can still feel pain or other things as they did when they were alive, as well as dying again, only to awaken with no injuries several minutes later."
What tTPO says: This series is full of comedy, violence, imagination and love with the overall flavour inherently bittersweet. All the characters are dead, all (bar one) are in limbo because they have some baggage from their previous lives, and are all broken to some extent. Yuri (bearing more than a passing resemblance to Haruhi Suzumiya, though I didn't see this as a bad thing - some may do though) carries more than most, leading to her anger with God, often taken out on other characters, and the formation of the SSS.
It is unfortunate though, due to the short length of the series, that many of the character backstories (as well as the backstories of the truly fascinating setup of the SSS and school itself) are not explored more. Which brings me to the major flaw of the series, which was its pacing. AAARGH! Why, when you know you have only a limited number of episodes, and you have a lot of story to tell, do you waste several episodes on largely stand-alone stories, entertaining though they were? The perfect example of this was the OVA. Instead of taking the opportunity to explore one of the numerous characters (and the cast is large for such a short series) more in depth, they have a ridiculous (albeit amusing) stand-alone episode (which fits in about episode 5-6 which is where I would strongly recommend watching it).
While this may sound like we are heading down the same road as Occult Academy, the two series otherwise could not be further apart. I loved the characters of Angel Beats and their stories, and the world in which the story takes place operates by its own interesting rules and I wanted to find out more about it. Also the fact no-one can die when you are already dead means there is more than a fair share of amusing (and some not so amusing) deaths. However, because the characters feel the pain of death, dying is never a completely frivolous matter.
How about the music?: Jun Maeda's love of music shines though in this series, where not only is it moving and brilliant, it is fundamental to the series. The opening (both versions - normal and rock) and closing themes are note perfect and some of my favourite music ever to come from an anime. There are multiple songs we hear through the course of the anime from the band Girl Dead Monster (made up of 4 members of the SSS), and while these, to my ear at least, are not quite as good as the OPs and ED, one ballad in particular is very affecting. It rarely gets better than this. Thus ends the gush.
So how does it end? (Spoiler Free): The major plotline is well wrapped up (you do need to pay attention to make the chronology of this add up, but it does) and it is a shameless tearjerker. I certainly shed a few. Maybe there is a bit too much of a change in one character but I have a lot of forgiveness for this. However, in the rush for time many minor character stories are left untold.
Overall Grade: Grade A (Must see this). This is not the perfect series. But despite the MAJOR pacing issues that plague this series (and an occasional plot hole), it engages on so many levels there can only be one grade. This will likely be the most flawed show to get the top grade. And when you have done with this go and read the light novels and/or the manga to fill in some of the story that never made it to the screen. Jun Maeda, I salute you. Now I am going to go and decide whether I should wear my Kanade, or my Angel handsonic-01 t-shirt?
Addendum by Koan Man: Angel Beats is and interesting if quirky concept, involving
a transcendental journey of self-discovery for the characters stuck between
life and death. The mood is up-beat (no
pun intended) with the over the top violence providing some dark humour
throughout. While I found pace
irregular, I did enjoy learning something new about the Angel Beats world or
the characters in almost every episode. The characters are surprisingly well
drawn, with vastly different personalities that somehow manage to mostly stay
together in one big dysfunctional family. It is a complex world with much that
goes unexplored in the time-frame, but a little of my own imagination in connecting
the dots here seemed to make the story as a whole even more interesting. Until
the end that is. While the conclusion
seems inevitable in hind-sight, it left me feeling like I had just missed out
on something, and did not live up to the rest of the story.
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