After seeing more 3's and 2's than I see in a basketball game, I decided to write my very first review. Bear with me if it's trash.
In all honesty, I thought Charlotte wasn't too bad, unlike how the reviews suggested. The best way I can sum up how I feel about Charlotte is that it had potential, but didn't take that potential and do anything. But still, it was an enjoyable show. Here's why.
The story wasn't necessarily something revolutionary or anything, but it wasn't bad. Imperfect people get imperfect superpowers, and they must live with them. Not bad. My biggest problem with the storyline was that it was...fragmented. Or maybe rushed is the better word. There were a hundred ideas and backstories to cover but it wasn't done well in 13 episodes, and they didn't quite connect well. The first several episodes were almost like fillers, where each person with a superpower gets briefly introduced and then never seen again. And then, when the plot really starts to take off around halfway through the show, there are only 7 or so episodes remaining to cover what was the more interesting part of the show. And the ending (I won't say anything don't worry) was really something that should have been a second season. The concept behind the ending was spectacular in my opinion, but they covered a huge amount of substance in only one episode. Disappointing. But when the show really started to go somewhere halfway through, I was hooked. I loved what was going on, and I wanted to see more. All in all, a story with potential that isn't realized.
The art is pretty good. I'm a sucker for sexy artwork and Charlotte does a fine job. The sound is good too, nothing super memorable but still good. These aspects of Charlotte don't really affect my opinion of Charlotte all that much.
The characters. I get some mixed feelings here. I'm going to start by saying this: I wasn't really attached to them. Sure, they were likable, and sure, they were somewhat amusing. But they just didn't quite seem real, and it's not just because they weren't as developed as I would have liked. The main character Otosaka's personality unrealistically switches between polar opposites. Tomori's personality is just strange and clunky. The characters never felt realistic or relatable. I didn't get their motives, or their feelings. So when tragedy or romance struck, I wasn't really all that moved. It wasn't genuine. Another problem with the characters was that not all of them really were well focused on. It's understandable if some characters just don't get development. That's to be expected. But there were so many characters that seemed interesting, but only were relevant for one or two episodes. Too much for a small anime. But the characters were interesting enough to pique my curiosity, even though the ones I was curious about never got really developed. Again, there was some potential that wasn't realized.
I can say that I enjoyed this show. I enjoyed it enough to get curious about the characters and the story, and to get interested in the world of Charlotte. But the show never answered by questions, nor did it really absorb me. It was rushed, clunky. The characters didn't really get fleshed out, and neither did the storyline. And the ending episode, with so much potential to be an entirely new series, was crammed into one episode.
So much potential, and so much of it lost.
A 7 for mediocrity.
Some of the questions left unanswered...
*dont read past this if you haven't seen the anime yet. they aren't really spoilers but still dont do it*
.
.
..
...
why is otonashi (otosaka?) actually kinda OP, even though one of the premises that the beginning of the story focused on is that no one is truly OP.
also why are the otosaka siblings so strong? what makes them special?
why invest in a vaccine when you need a solution? you have 75 years to make a vaccine...
why didn't they approach otosaka faster? why even send him to the school?
how did he regain his memories? is ZHIED like some magic memory stimulator?
how does the government not realize there's a school of superkids
why is it just superkids and not adults? well this is kinda briefly explained but I call BS
can i say 1/10 for romance?
what was the point of joujirou or the idol girl? they literally got no backstory and served no purpose
how does otosaka not realize his op-ness
why pizza sauce?
he can stop bullets but not a crossbow?
isn't the power of courage kinda dumb? and more to the point, what determines what power you get?
*END
