Angel Beats! - Review

Duration: 13 episodes (24 mins each)
Genre: Action,Tragedy, Comedy

Probably many of you are wondering why there's a post about angels on a night that would be commonly called Devil's Night or 'mischief' night. For those who are unaware, the day before Halloween for as long as I can remember has been associated with Devil's Night, a night when people engage in mischief and various acts of vandalism. Apparently this night has been prevalent in and in particularly made infamous by the numerous riots and happenings in downtown Detroit between the 70s and 90s. In recent years, the city of Detroit and the surrounding metro-Detroit area implemented annual city-wide watches and began coining the infamous night as Angel's Night instead to combat the ongoing problems. Not to rain on typical dark, horror, thriller, Halloween-themed posts this time of year, but a little bit of contrast can be good (plus I'm not particularly fond of dark/horror themed series).

Angel Beats! is a fairly recent anime from this past spring season. A joint project conceived by the same creators of highly popular visual novel games Clannad, Air, and Kanon. The now coupled with P.A Works and Aniplex on the anime adaptation, does Angel Beats! translate over well like Clannad or does it crash or fall on its face like Air TV?

Story

Taking place at a high school essentially acting as a purgatory, students are presented in an environment where they learn to give up any regrets, doubts or lingering angst while they were alive. While any injury or cause of death are gone, those in this world can still feel pain as if they were alive, as well as die again, only to awaken with no noticeable injuries or wounds.

The story circulates around main protagonist, Yuzuru Otonashi, one who lost the memories of his life after dying. Revived in the afterlife, he meets a girl named Yuri, the founder/leader of a guild that fights against God for the cruel fates of the other people brought to this world. Their only enemy is the student council president whom Yuri fittingly calls Angel. According to Yuri, those who follow Angel and the school's rules will eventually disappear and pass on with no resolve. Still unaware of his predicament and current situation, he eventually decides to join the guild seeking to solve the mysteries behind this afterlife as well as regain his memory.

A very interesting and original concept conceived by Jun Maeda, but set in a school setting, it doesn't necessarily set itself apart from typical slice-of-life/school-days-type of anime. The concept indeed has some incredible potential, wavering on ideas of life and death, and the possibilities of an afterlife, but ultimately falls a tad flat on its execution.

Characters

Otonashi, Yuzuru: Our main protagonist, his character is fairly bland for a good majority of the series. Though he does a few episodes to reveal his past the the cause of his death; an engrossing series of events that many will appreciate.

Nakamura, Yuri (Yurippe): Leader of the guild who fights against Angel. Her charismatic nature make her a pleasant female protagonist. Yuri gets a proper episode providing her background, justifying her reasons for fighting against the god who 'destined' her to live such an sufferable life. She reminds me of a cuter and less bitchy Haruhi Suzumiya, which is always a good in my book. Ironic that she's fighting a god, when Haruhi is God (end of digression).

Tenshi (Angel): Coincidentally the student council president, she is given the nickname Tenshi because Yuri's faction believes that she is the representative of God in their realm. Timid, shy, and calling her soft-spoken would be an overstatement--she's an incredibly moe character.

Considering the short length of the series, there are a lot of characters to keep track of. Some of them are pretty much forgettable, while others are striking enough to warrant a mental bookmark, whether it be their quirkiness or attractiveness. With a second season not yet officially announced, on its own, the main characters weren't completely fleshed out; heavily depending on already established character tropes to instantly draw in the audience.

Voice Acting/Sound

Despite the lackluster plot and lack of profound characters, the opening/ending and overall soundtrack deserves some praise. The BGM provided throughout is minimalist, non-intrusive, but sets the tone well. What is impressive about the soundtrack is its inclusion of its own band Girls Dead Monster or GirlDeMo for short (which certainly rolls of the tongue better). Watching through the first several episodes I was amazed by the music and quality of animation to go along with it; hearing at least several different tracks. Much to my delight, I was very pleased with and appreciative of the variety. As compared to an anime that SHOULD be focused around music *cough*K-On!*cough*, they put "Fuwa Fuwa Time" to shame (ducks from K-On fans).

Lia returns from her previous work with Clannad After Story as the artist for main opening "My Soul, Your Beats". A very simple yet powerful song sung by a very easy-to-listen to artist. The rock remix of the opening by LiSA offers very easy listening experience as well; showing the versatility of the track.

Taking into account that most of the characters are fairly one dimensional, the respective voice actors don't have much to work in regards to portraying a captivating character. Everyone feels right in place with no noticeable discrepancies. One of the voice actors to look out for is Michael Rivas for his role as T.K. (More about Michael and T.K below)

Loved
Mapo Tofu: Honestly, who didn't want to try it when they first saw it? Okay, I guess people who aren't fans of spicy food for one. Whether it actually is good in real-life or not is up for discussion, but it certainly looks good. Any tips on getting authentic mapo tofu in the states, please leave your comments.

T.K: No one really knows much of his past or anything about his background, but I think most would agree his presence makes it worth watching Angel Beats! altogether. Blurting out random english phrases out of context, and with that bandana over his eyes; it all adds to his mysterious persona. More T.K. please!

Hated
Abrupt End: I touched upon some of this earlier, but the thirteen episodes allotted for Angel Beats! simply wasn't enough--a typical problem of series of this length. Of course there is the original source material as well as other media to fulfill ones appetite for more Angel Beats!, but most, including myself, who commit only to the anime adaptation will feel cheated out of their time.

Shallow-minded humor: While I can argue that previous works by Key contain the same flavor of random slapstick and charm-induced humor, I wasn't particularly amused this time around, feeling that much of it was tossed in last minute without too much thought on its lasting effect. The humor did have me smiling every now and then, but detracts from the plot overall.

The Lowdown: Taking into account that the series is only 13 episodes, those with some time to kill and have watched previous anime adaptations of Key works should take a look into it. In retrospect there aren't enough positives for me to recommend whole heartedly recommend it. While the music and animation are top notch, the pacing and character development need a bit of polish; which may possibly be remedied by a second season.

Any show involving German Suplexes is okay in my book.

Notes: Watched series from beginning to end (Mazui subs).