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- BirthdayMar 4, 1990
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Jan 12, 2012
Before I begin, and before you watch this series, let me just say a bit of a brother-sister complex seems to form between the protagonists. It fades away near the end but I was squirming in my seat during a few scenes... it was strange to say the least. That said the relationship transforms beautifully into one any good older brother would be envious of. I mean imagine if your sister told you her problems! And you were able to help her with all of them! Minus the whole Otaku thing of course.
Story: 9/10
Wonderful plot, really something I wish I could see more of. Often
...
times animes will have a sibling bond flourishing during an anime after hitting a rather steep pit hole. Consider this a magnification of that relationship. Looking at it that way it seems much more satisfying than a weird (not to mention illegal) love story. The plot starts out as episodic and seems a bit scattered for the first half. The second half is more of a straight shot building itself on top of one another and utilizing the first half as foundation.
The only real problem I can see about the plot is the protagonists back stories are not all that clear. The story manages to get around that, however, by starting from scratch with their relationship.
Art: 10/10
Fantastic. I love the symmetry and high schoolers looking like high schoolers! The faces are a thing of wonder as well, defying the industry completely, the females all have differentiating faces. It's not just one girl with multiple clones who dye their hair. The scenes are well done as well and the colors are vivid. Overall I find no flaws in the art.
Sound: 10/10
The subbed voices are crisp and clear, they fit the characters very nicely in the subbed version. There was gonna be a dub but it was abandoned after someone leaked episode 2. The opening and ending themes are alright, not my style but they fit the series well.
Character: 8/10
Same failing as the story, the main characters don't have much of a back story to go off of and no flash backs are provided like maybe of a time when they were close. The story just starts from scratch which, while admirable, leaves the characters feeling a bit empty. However, the development of the cast is relatively good and easy to follow. I say 8 because it's hard to make a cast likable without providing any kind of back story but this series pulls it off quite nicely.
Enjoyment: 7/10
While very enjoyable, the afore mentioned complex just makes me way too uncomfortable to enjoy parts of it. Of course this is my personal opinion, I'm sure some people aren't quite as sensitive as I am on this topic so will enjoy it regardless. Then again if this was objective it would be called a synopsis.
Regardless, I think if you can manage to get past the weird relationship you'll come to really like the series. And like i said it sorts itself out in the end.
Also avoid the OVAs if possible, the alternate ending sucks. That's what happens when you make an OVA of the ending before the actual ending happens.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 11, 2012
Before I write this review I must say, "Angel Beats!" is a fairy tale. Sounds weird? It's true. It's not an intellectually run anime, it's kind of a shonen (but not really), the action is great but that's not the point. This anime bases itself off of what most animes tend to touch on, philosophy. It's talking about Buddhism, with a hint of Christianity mixed in, addressing what happens to people who die after living horrible lives out of their own control. Watch this anime through this lens and it will not only make more sense, you may actually come to like it (no matter
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your view on religion.)
Story: 8/10
I can't give it a 10 because it's clear there are a few parts of the story, clarifications and such that were rushed or ignored which leaves the viewer a bit confused. The anime also in my opinion spends a bit too much time in the sandbox so the story doesn't really start getting good until about halfway through. Despite that, however, the anime does a great job selling itself. It's clear the staff was having a lot of fun writing the plot for this anime. The first half, episodic plot, was a lot of fun to watch and despite them messing around most of the time they did manage to squeeze in a few very significant events that the second half of the anime built on.
Art: 12/10
They must have sacrificed having a full season for a massive art budget. Stunning visuals, honestly the concerts had me mesmerizes. Not only that but they pulled off the unthinkable, the female characters, while having huge eyes, have actual physical dissimilarities on their faces! By slight changes in eye shape and facial structure, I can actually tell them apart beyond hair style/color!
Sound: 10/10
Clear crisp voices in both the dubbed and subbed versions. If watching the dubbed version be sure to get subtitles to the songs (they're in Japanese) because they are (one is) deeply rooted in the anime. The opening and ending themes are great, I really enjoyed listening to and watching them. The soundtrack is pretty generic, but no complaints.
Character: 9/10
Well developed characters, really nice. Some are given more screen time and consequently more development, but it's pretty obvious who the main characters are and they have well developed stories. My only problem is there is a bit of mystery involving Tachibana which could have bee cleared up quite easily, but it remained leaving the viewer feeling like the anime was a bit unfinished.
Enjoyment: 10/10
Definitely an enjoyable anime. Being only half a season its pretty easy to watch and not much to think about. Go in expecting to change your life and you'll be disappointed, but go in just willing to have fun and open minded, and you'll love it.
make sure to tune in for after the ending theme, they often (not always) have a short extension to the episode.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 6, 2012
Holy Kanon! No matter how you slice it this is a remake of Kanon(2006)... same director, producer, and sound director! If you've seen Kanon just base this series on your assessment of that series. But don't get me wrong, it is definitely worth the watch. Like it's counterpart Clannad is a meaningful word from another language (Irish) meaning family and close friends.
Story: 9/10
Outstanding plot, great story, it's been written beautifully. Though it may seem like a harem, this is a genuine love story, but by no means sappy... well maybe a little. There is no ecchi here so if you're looking for a harem go
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elsewhere. Unlike Kanon, Clannad puts much more emphasis into it's characters back stories. All characters who have an arc have their very own set of flashbacks. This however doesn't take away from their development within the episodes.
The only problem I have with the story is that it seems to attempt to become rather dark at times, very dark, but it fails to. While the concurrent story is touching and a little depressing it doesn't give enough time for the sadness to sink in before shifting unflatteringly to happiness.
Art: 7/10
While I have never been a fan of the eclipsing stare O_O, I don't judge the art based on that preference. The temporal transitions within episodes are cheasy at best and make the show appear like a slide show, it's rather annoying. Another problem I have with the art is the female characters are all identical... the only way to tell them apart is by hair style. Seriously, the eyes are so large on these girls that there is no room for individual identity.
However, aside from that the visuals are stunning, the heads and bodies have a good symmetry, and the color is marvelous.
Sound: 10/10
Voices are outstanding in both English and Japanese. The opening theme is not my style but it fits the show well and is choreographed quite well. The sound track is the same as Kanon's so it's good and fits the theme of the show. Never too obtrusive but noticeable and sets the mood perfectly.
Character: 10/10
Nothing to complain about here, the cast is well thought out and the characters develop at different paces as the story comes long. Some take the entire series to develop as they change through the series, while others change during an arc and remain constant afterwards. However even the ones that remain constant get richer still as the story continues. Truly an excellent cast.
Enjoyment: 10/10
Wonderfully done, while it was just like Kanon, there was enough of a difference that it is it's own show. True to it's name the show emphasizes the value of family and close friends by showing how such things affect its cast in sometimes negative, but ultimately positive ways. Believe me you will really enjoy this whether you're a fan of romance or not, Tomoya's often dry and sarcastic style of humor will keep you entertained regardless.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 4, 2012
Beware of spoilers from season 1.
In my opinion, this anime absolutely is not for everyone. If you like mechas it's not for you, if you like political battles its not for you, if you like intelligent dialogue it's not for you, if you can stand to have all of those things in small quantities sprinkled throughout the anime you'll love this. My point is don't come into this expecting to see a whole lot of one thing, there's plenty there, but if you're in it just for one thing, you likely won't enjoy it. Also you'll have to be ok with plenty of near-ecchi scenes,
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and more cliches than you care to count.
Story: 10/10
Take this with a grain of salt, as I said before while many consider this anime to be mainstream, it's difficult to stand the countless cliches employed by the anime. Some of those are so underused that they can't really be called cliches anymore. However, if you manage to hang on throughout the story it'll blow you away. Like a gifted speaker lowering his voice, this anime draws you to near boredom with a predictable story, and just before you're ready to stamp it with a big FAIL, it'll blow you away with a twist you never saw coming. In that sense it is better than the first season. There is a very dark undertone to the anime, but it's not all dark, it sows both sides of the coin through Lelouch and Suzaku
Art: 10/10
Outstanding visuals, and effects, great art work.
Art Style: 5/10
This is a much more personal opinion rather than a view on the anime itself.
-Big heads and little bodies it's reminiscent of "Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni" or "Gundam Seed".
-Huge eyes for all but the older men... high schoolers could be mistaken for elementary kids.
-Massive breasts on all the woman except for a couple... its pretty annoying... and an obvious cry for attention, the plot was good enough but looks like they were desperate to be mainstream.
-women are constantly put in random uncalled for sexual situations, like Kallen sits on a friggen wooden horse in her Guren.
-in order to pilot knightmares women have to dress like sluts...it just is...men don't have to though...just women, oh and cameras in revealing places are a must!
[basically I'm saying much of the art is dedicated to the objectification of women. If you can stand it, it's all good.]
Sound: 10/10
great voice actors in both original and English. Nunnally's voice is a little annoying in both. I think the opening and ending themes are bearable, nothing amazing, though I did enjoy listening to the opening. Sound effects were appropriate, and fit well. Background music was appropriate and well suited to the scene it shadowed.
Character: 10/10
Truly a marvelous and well developed cast of characters. There seems to be a bit of mystery behind some of the supporting cast but it is well played and satisfying. The main characters are well developed and well expressed. I really enjoy the undertone this anime uses with Lelouch, most animes employ losers as protagonists for this purpose, just because you're cool and popular doesn't mean you can't be better. The anime plays this point brilliantly.
Enjoyment: 9/10
I really dislike all of the uncalled for near-ecchi and truly ecchi situations the cast is put through. It's insulting to think that I have to be brought into a watching a good show because I'm attracted to the cast, rather than simply recognizing it for its good points. However, that anger only lasts for so long as the show truly is a work of art.
Overall I think if you can get used to not getting exactly what you want you will really grow to appreciate this anime. As I said before it has a little bit of everything but switches around with them within an episode. A political battle escalates to a mecha battle and ends in a romance gone wrong which leads to a mystery and so on within a single episode. If you can grow to like this fast paced style with an easy paced plot I think you'll like it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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