Angel Beats! is an original anime with the concept by the ones behind Clannad (i.e. Key). It was then later adapted into a visual novel. It is thirteen episodes long with two OVAs, and a short 3 minute clip that shows off an alternate ending. The premise might not be what you expected. Even after the first two episodes, it still takes a while for your head to wrap around and the rules that govern it. Otonashi Yuzuru wakes up and he is informed that he is in the afterlife. It takes on the form of a typical Japanese high school and Otonashi has no memories of before. He’s told that he cannot die and that they as a group are here to fight off something called Angel. It turns out that Angel is the Student Council President and when Otonashi questions the “cannot die” part, he gets stabbed, faints and wakes up in the infirmary. The significance of what happens is clearer as while he cannot die, he still feels the pain.
Otonashi meets up with the leader of the group, Nakamura Yuri. She explains the situation where they are all currently dead but there are other “students” in the high school. They are suitably labeled as NPCs since they act as if nothing has happened. Otonashi can choose to obliterate himself by living a normal school life and reincarnate as another living being (with no guarantee that he will reincarnate as a human), or he can stay, rebel and join their fight against Angel. Angel targets them, finding their headquarters and attempting to destroy it. She has access to special abilities and the whole world seems to take on a digital tinge, as the characters are able to create weapons by morphing materials into other materials.
The anime has a very slow start. It has a typical structure where each early episode focuses on one of the characters. The episode will then proceed to show off the backstory of that character. In particular, we will learn about the circumstances of their death, which is supposed to elicit some sympathy out of the viewer. However, what holds it back is you still probably wouldn’t have figured out the objectives of the group in this world and just what the rules governing them are, or even the point of everything. Events feel random and you pretty much can’t take the story that seriously. It tries very hard with its gags but some of them are corny.
Naturally, there is more to the situation than at first glance. Angel, being the student council president, is not some emotionless being with higher power. Naturally, it is Otonashi who discovers this and befriends her. However, the anime doesn’t turn this into its advantage. It instead opts to go along the well worn path that it itself had already gone on multiple times. It continues to give up sad backstories and being able to befriend everyone to join the group.
The key theme among the members is that each one struggled during the lives. Most of their unhappiness stemmed from familial bonds, which is a recurring theme with Key related works. This doesn’t make it a bad bad but it does make it predictable. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have good enough character development to pull off the type of things that it tries to do. As a result, you don’t really have much feeling when something significant happens to a character.
It takes the majority of the season before it finally reveals the purpose of this “afterlife”. It’s nothing spectacular and does feel anticlimactic. The highly exaggerated responses of the characters don’t help. It is actually a pretty decent premise but it squanders all potential by picking the most generic route in approach it, so it results in a mediocre storytelling attempt. The only saving grace is the excellent
The second half of the season felt rushed and messy in how it wanted to tell its story. Therefore it is a far cry from the heights that it had wanted to reach. However, it still manages to pack in an emotional punch at the end, where you’re sad and happy for the characters in terms of what they have achieved and how they are moving on. After the ending, there are two OVAs, which take place in the earlier part of the season. Both OVAs are sillier than the other episodes, with a lot of exaggerated acting. It does clash with the rest of the anime. The OVAs are bloated and not very interesting, especially since it adds nothing to the lore of the world.
Overall, Angel Beats! is a mediocre anime. It never manages to pick up its feet and whatever potential it had with its concept, it squanders it almost immediately. It’s got episodes where it feels like it is wasting time and dragging out things too much, while others feel too rushed and doesn’t really explain much about the situation at all.
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