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Now, if you're a fan of Angel Beats!, please just hear me out. For one, on my rating scale, a six out of ten is still a good score, and means that I still recommend watching it. HOWEVER, that being said, I must say that Angel Beats! is without a doubt one of the most disappointing if not THE most disappointing anime viewing experience I've ever had.

Let me be frank, I REALLY wanted Angel Beats! to be amazing, it had the potential to be one of the best anime series I've ever seen. It had everything going for it, a wonderful cast of characters, a ... fantastic soundtrack, awesome animation, and a thought provoking premise. Sadly, I had to watch as this potential was squandered right before my eyes.

If I had to pick Angel Beats! biggest downfall it would definitely be it's run time. It became abundantly apparent to me about half way through the series that they would not be able to accomplish the ultimate vision of the series in only thirteen episodes, it just wasn't going to happen. There were too many characters, too much plot content, and not enough time. This series needed to be at lest twice as long, in my opinion, to accomplish it's overall vision. Angel Beats! seemingly dangles interesting character back stories and plot points in front of your face before quickly pulling them away, as if to say, "Sorry I bet you wanted to see more, but...we're kind of on a tight schedule, tough luck," and it is in this regard I felt cheated. In my defense I would also like to say that I really doubt that this was planned. There are two character arcs at the beginning of the series that are very heartfelt and interesting, ( if a bit rushed) and the show begins to allude to a string of character arcs for the series's colorful cast of supporting characters that correlates with the overall plot and theme of the series. However, when I saw this happening I remember looking at the run time of the series and thinking, "How are they going to pull this off in six episodes?" and now after having finished Angel Beats! I can say answer that question: They didn't.

The real saving graces for this series are definitely it's animation and soundtrack, there is a strong emphasis on musical themes, particularly near the beginning of the series, and Angel Beats! definitely delivers in the sound department, though it should be mentioned that this series has quite possibly one of the worst English dubs I've ever heard, but Sentai Filmworks definitely struggles in that department so I do suggest watching the Japanese version.
The other good point Angel Beats! has that needs to be mentioned is the animation, it is very fluid and beautiful at points and features some very aesthetically pleasing visuals and lighting. A fine example, would be concert sequences, this is where the animation and the soundtrack really shined and came together, as the character's voices matched their mouths very well with the singing and the overall presentation was fantastic.

In closing I would like to mention, that near the end I felt as though the series was like a student trying to finish an essay the day before it was due, and the sense of urgency to finish the story becomes apparent in the nonsensical and unbelievable romance that ensues between two of the main characters, and a new antagonist that seemingly comes out of nowhere forcing the plot to wrap up quickly. Overall Angel Beats! is not a bad anime by any means, and I still recommend watching it, but it must be said that it did have the potential to be so much better than it actually was and that is why I leave Angel Beats! with a final score of 6/10. If I found out that this series was going to be remade I would be ecstatic, because the vision of Angel Beats! deserves a better anime than the one it got.