What do you get when you put a bunch of high school students who all have eccentric personalities and led difficult and short lives together in a high school in the afterlife? A series that inspires laughter and tears, or more specifically, Angel Beats.
The setting is quite interesting. A young man known only as Otonashi wakes up in a high school without his memories. He's joined by many teenagers, who, like him, have died, but have no desire to vanish from the afterlife after having endured so much hardship while alive. Otonashi initially agrees with them, but is forced to question that as he learns more about the world and his memories return.
The cast is fairly interesting and diverse, although only those who are main characters or the focus of an episode get much development. That said, they have a good amount of chemistry together, and their interactions often make for funny and touching moments, so they're quite enjoyable to watch.
As you can expect from the setting, the characters have a fair amount of heartbreakingly tragic lives and deaths. In the end, however, the overall message is life-affirming- to live your life to the fullest in spite of how hard or short it may be.
There's a good amount of action, and the battle scenes are fast-paced and well-animated, even if there wasn't much of a climactic opponent at the end.
The music nicely fits all of the various scenes, from battles to characters disappearing from the world. The presence of an in-universe band known as Girls Dead Monster gives quite a few opportunities to hear such songs, and you can see why large numbers of students turn out to hear them in-universe. On a personal note, I started watching the anime because I enjoyed the opening theme, a decision I don't regret at all.
All in all, Angel Beats is highly enjoyable and touching. Perhaps it might have been better had it received 26 episodes instead of 13, but I found little to complain about in the show that we got, and wholeheartedly recommend it.
The time of your (after)life
What do you get when you put a bunch of high school students who all have eccentric personalities and led difficult and short lives together in a high school in the afterlife? A series that inspires laughter and tears, or more specifically, Angel Beats.
The setting is quite interesting. A young man known only as Otonashi wakes up in a high school without his memories. He's joined by many teenagers, who, like him, have died, but have no desire to vanish from the afterlife after having endured so much hardship while alive. Otonashi initially agrees with them, but is forced to question that as he learns more about the world and his memories return.
The cast is fairly interesting and diverse, although only those who are main characters or the focus of an episode get much development. That said, they have a good amount of chemistry together, and their interactions often make for funny and touching moments, so they're quite enjoyable to watch.
As you can expect from the setting, the characters have a fair amount of heartbreakingly tragic lives and deaths. In the end, however, the overall message is life-affirming- to live your life to the fullest in spite of how hard or short it may be.
There's a good amount of action, and the battle scenes are fast-paced and well-animated, even if there wasn't much of a climactic opponent at the end.
The music nicely fits all of the various scenes, from battles to characters disappearing from the world. The presence of an in-universe band known as Girls Dead Monster gives quite a few opportunities to hear such songs, and you can see why large numbers of students turn out to hear them in-universe. On a personal note, I started watching the anime because I enjoyed the opening theme, a decision I don't regret at all.
All in all, Angel Beats is highly enjoyable and touching. Perhaps it might have been better had it received 26 episodes instead of 13, but I found little to complain about in the show that we got, and wholeheartedly recommend it.