Potential. That is exactly what this show was full of. Admittedly Angel Beats was indeed a good show that I really enjoyed watching. However, the show fell short of what I believe it could have achieved in a 24 episode season.
Story 6/10:
My God the story. THE reason why this show had sooo much potential. Angel Beats is about a student named Yuzuru Otonashi who finds himself with amnesia and in some sort of purgatory in shape of a high school campus. After meeting "Angel," Otonashi is convinced into joining SSS, where he and other students in purgatory fight off "Angel" to prevent obliteration. Let me tell that to you again, kids in purgatory are fighting off an angel to prevent themselves from moving on. If you aren't intrigued by that I am shocked. To top that off, there is a plot twist later on that completely changes the dynamic of the show. AND since the anime is from KEY, the makers of Clannad, Kanon, and Air, the usual addition of very strong character arcs is present as well. Now, many of you may be asking, "if it has all these things, why is the story only 'enjoyable' to you?" Well the answer in short is that it all felt very rushed. With only 13 episodes, the story progresses very rapidly and tends to skip many important events, expecting the viewer to assume they happened as they are watching. This time restriction also made the romantic element of the show seem completely out of place because the two major romances in the show seem completely random due to scarce evidence that any romance was even budding between any characters until their big confessions. I do applaud the creators though for somehow making Otonashi, Nakamura, Yui, and Iwasawa's short character arcs thrilling to watch. With only 13 episodes there are just too many glaring flaws, plot holes, and important scenes (particularly the ending) feeling more out of place than dramatic. With a 24 episode season I feel that the story could have been much more fleshed out in every aspect, making it a truly spectacular occurrence. But even with only 13 episodes it was still a joy to watch.
Art 9/10:
Wow. The animation to this show was absolutely superb. One of the greatest art from technological standpoint. The only downsides were the lack of outfits for the characters, and the lack of varied locations. However, these flaws were necessary to the show's setting. Basically this show had top of the notch animation and will wow all those who watch it.
Sound 9/10:
One of the main reasons this show stands out so much. The OP and EDs are fantastic pieces that fit the tone of the show perfectly. To add on to that, the characters in the show actually have a band named GDM that plays fantastic pieces on their own. Really the songs can even make scenes feel very emotional even though they are actually more contradictory and unecessary than emotional (particularly the ending). Like the art, Angel Beats is on another level with its music production. The voice acting isn't anything special however, not bad, but nothing really worth noting in my opinion.
Character 6/10:
I feel like some of the characters in this show have a good amount of fanboys and girls. I feel this because their designs, along with the superb animation make these characters have a very good look, although their personalities all were clearly lacking. I personally found most of the characters FAR too one dimensional. This is especially true with the very large ensemble of side characters that never seem to get any proper attention or development. With an uninteresting lead, and one dimensional characters, it usually spells trouble. However, the fantastic character arcs for four of the characters were so good that I really can't say the characters were anything worse than above average. These arcs were truly fantastic. However, because the majority of the cast was one dimensional, predictable, and lacked development, the overall score for the characters cannot really be too high.
Enjoyment 7/10:
I really liked this show. Its story was very unique and drew me in and kept me wanting more until the end. However I found some of the characters annoying, and found the plot holes, extremely random and forced romance, and poor ending pretty annoying as well. I definitely had a good time watching this show, but its issues didn't go unnoticed.
Overall 7/10:
From the first episode I was captivated by the unique storyline, and this captivation continued until the last episode. However, the show did feel very rushed to me, and the ending seemed completely outrageous to me due to the randomness of it, and how it completely contradicted an entire half of the season. The show also left too many unanswered questions that will most likely never be answered. Because of the lack of episodes I was unable to do what a truly great anime would get me to do, and that is to connect with the characters. It was able to for short powerful bursts in its small character flashbacks, but those alone were not enough for me to truly care about the characters in the long run. I know this review seems like a negative one, but I'm just trying to address these issues because I feel most people have either missed or ignored them. I did like Angel Beats a lot, but I can't help feeling that if the series were twice as long, most of its flaws would have been resolved, and it could have been brilliant, probably passing Kanon on the KEY rankings (Clannad, Kanon, Angel Beats and Air).
The Verdict:
A unique show that was undeniably good, but could have been MUCH more.
Pros:
+ Concept for the plot
+ Fantastic music
+ Beautiful animation
+ Character flashback arcs are amazing
Cons:
- Execution of plot was inconsistent
- Romance felt very forced
- One dimensional characters
- Ending is suspect
If you liked Angel Beats!, watch...
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya:
If you liked the earlier episodes of Angel Beats where they more or less just fuck around, then you will also like Haruhi Suzumiya. Both are funny and have unique concepts and are very enjoyable to watch.
Clannad:
If the latter part of the show appealed to you and were all aboard the feels train, then absolutely watch Clannad and Clannad ~After Story~ the saddest show known to mankind.
7/10 - Good
