AngelBeats!

AngelBeats!, another Key Animation (Clannad, Kanon and Air)

There have been quite a few people dissing AngelBeats in that Hironori Towa has made it hard to follow. It's a mixture of drama and comedy, to which i also find in other Key works.

The setting is the afterlife, teens who seemingly have lived a harsh life are given this second chance to relive it, or are present as they refuse to ascend further into the journey of life and reincarnate. They seemingly hold grudges against God for their unfair life, and are now waging War against a character they named, Tenshi (Angel). Our main character surprisingly (or not) enough happens to have amnesia and has no recollection of his previous living life and is now part of the After Life Brigade.




Originally, i had no real interest in this series, it doesn't sound great. It doesn't sound fantastic. It doesn't sound interesting. It doesn't sound mind-boggling. It doesn't sound 'woooo~~~~~'.

So why did i pick it up? I was bored.
The current passing autumn/winter season had no real series of interest. My main follows were AngelBeats!, Working! and K-On!! (funny enough now that i notice, all of them end with an exclamation mark xD )

As for the reason why i didn't drop this, was aside from the fact that it was an ok time-filler was the nice intro song.
AngelBeats, lends itself into a roughly 50/50 category of drama and comedy, neither able to be properly in one category either due to poor writing or insufficient time.
The Drama, if stand-a-lone would've been good, once you include more character relation and time dedicated to it.
OR
The comedy would have been fine, it played all parts fine.

What was slightly jarring was the shifting between the two spectrums within episodes.
However, it was deemed fair, until the final episode (13), where Yuri suddenly had a drastic character persona change.

From most people already stating the wtf? a the pace, i laughed until i saw the comming of this ep. And was actually a bit dissapointed. The transition between episode 12 and 13 is quite jarring, and... well... even the revelation of Kanade.
*sigh*

Overall, i might have been just fine with ending the series at episode 11, it would have suffice. Episode 12 however, might suit some people's taste of Yuri's new character if she floats your boat.

Recommendation: Why not. this techincally won't hurt you much, and it makes me interested in trying out Mapo Tofu, as the ones i've had aren't that spicy. Though one question remains is, how can you have such healthy teens living such.. peaceful? lives especially given Japan's promiscuity at that afterlife setting.