Top 20 Reasons to Watch/Read Angel Beats
Like any narrative format, anime and manga can convey heartbreaking stories that are almost certain to bring the audience to tears. Anohana, a story of childhood sorrow, Your Lie in April, a story of inspiration infused with love and grief, A Silent Voice, a story dealing with startlingly contemporary concerns like bullying and mental health, or A Silent Voice, a story about the terrible facts of life as depicted by historical real-world occurrences, are just a few examples (Grave of the Fireflies). The mere mention of an episode—Violet Evergarden Episode 10 comes to mind and can occasionally cause individuals who have seen it to become distressed.
Here are the 20 reasons why you must watch the anime and read the manga of the series Angel Beats!
The Plot: The film Angel Beats, directed by Seiji Kishi, is set in the afterlife—which, oddly enough, resembles a high school—and follows the struggles of Otonashi, who scarcely remembers his life on earth. A girl called Yuri, who also happens to be the leader of the “Not Yet Dead Battlefront,” a team dedicated to thwarting “Angel” and disproving the existence of God, is the first person Otonashi encounters in the hereafter. Angel Beats joins the “Not Yet Dead Battlefront” and joins the team and Otonashi in their battle with Angel and God. The wonderful thing about Angel Beats is that at first glance, you might say, “Hey, not a terrible premise,” and it isn’t a horrible idea for a plot. However, the method that this anime attempts to portray that story is very underwhelming. The first five of the thirteen episodes barely advance the plot and are merely full of absurd yet amusing random incidents. After then, the tale loses virtually all of its humorous tone, and it starts to feel hurried.
Genre: The manga and anime of the series cover many genres. Angle Beats is action, drama, comedy, science fiction, adventure, fantasy, comedy-drama, and action fiction. Hence, all anime lovers and otaku out there must watch and read it.
Based on: Talking about the Angel Beats series which is a Light Novel based on the same-named light novel and manga and was created by Key Animation. The studio behind popular anime like Clannad and Air, with Funimation Entertainment producing the English version. This firm has a track record of either producing a dub that is so awful it is unlistenable or, conversely, destroying the original Japanese dub.
Characters: Let’s go to the characters. The short runtime of the series ruined what had begun so brightly, albeit not in a terrible way. Because the series was brief, as I have already stated, character development was essentially nonexistent. The personalities are intriguing in and of themselves. I’ve already said that I was eager to learn more about the characters’ pasts and how they arrived in the afterlife. Even if the character’s backstory is condensed, there are only 13 episodes, making it difficult to incorporate all 18 members. The result was that just roughly 6 characters’ backstories were displayed. The more intriguing personalities were also neglected as a result of this. Characters like Shiina, Noda or T.K. had a lot of potentials to develop into fantastic characters but were essentially cast aside.
Soundtrack: Angel Beats has wonderful music. I think the compositions of Jun Maeda are essential to a satisfying viewing experience since they properly capture the mood, whether it’s emotional, laid-back, or action-packed. My Soul, Your Beats! by Lia, the song that opens Angel Beats, is the greatest piece of music, and having a strong beginning is always a good sign for an anime. Onto the dubs now! Simply put, I consider both the English and the Japanese to be at best average, which will likely draw criticism from many. My justification is that some voices simply don’t fit their characters in any of the dubs, which is frustrating.
Art: Angel Beats’ character designs, complete with big eyes and all, are classic manga and anime tropes. The majority of the background designs are your boring, clichéd high school themes, and when they aren’t in a high school, the surroundings are just plain and uninspiring. In conclusion, the art and animation are not very noteworthy, which is rare for a Key Animation work.
Post Script: After finishing this series, I felt the need to write a little addendum since it made me aware of a potential issue with this series. In a word, it’s a bit disorganised. The series’ central concept will probably become clear to you if you see the finale. It takes up the first half of the last episode in its entirety. But as you do, you begin to consider how specific plot points may have been presented and developed a bit more effectively.
Main Protagonist: Angel Beats’ primary protagonist is Yuzuru Otonashi. Otonashi didn’t enjoy going to middle school or hanging out with his peers. He fessed up to his sister that he would rather play video games or watch TV alone than go to class and make friends. Even then, he would keep the television on only for the noise, and video games seemed worthless to him. Working to pay for food and getting manga for his younger sister were his two primary priorities in life. Otonashi had a depressing attitude toward life and occasionally considered harming himself. When his sister passed away, he gradually became a different person. He matured as a person after the passing of his sister. Despite never having attended high school, he put forth a lot of effort and study to become a doctor. He looked for universities that would pay for medical students’ tuition, but in the end, he was able to make enough money to go to medical school and help individuals like his sister. He evolved into a sagacious and considerate man. But he was involved in a railway collision. He retained his personality from before he died during his stay in the Afterlife, even though the mischief on the battlefront left him frequently perplexed.
Interesting Antagonist: The anime series’ primary adversaries are The Shadows. They are trained to transform people into NPCs in the Afterlife by absorbing their souls and enveloping the victim before gently dragging them into the ground. Takamatsu was the first victim to be altered, despite the first apparition emanating from Naoi’s shadow. The target will behave as an NPC and attend classes the next time they are encountered. Additionally, the victim won’t recall anything that occurred to them or anybody they knew in the past.
Reflection of the Anime: An anime’s conclusion invariably has a significant impact on one’s experience with and perception of the entire series when one looks back on it. Except for Violet Evergarden, all of the aforementioned anime provide the audience with a satisfying, though not always total, feeling of closure. However, the Angel Beats! the series’ conclusion is not only extremely unclear and leaves many viewers in need of Kleenex, but it also raises several concerns regarding the past, present, and future.
Romance: This series features a large cast of characters, yet some of them have endearing relationships with one another. For instance, Otonashi and Yuri have a tight connection right now, and she frequently calls him Otonashi-san rather than Otonashi-Kun. Since they first met in the afterlife, he has had a very strong faith in Yuri, largely because of her intuition.
Twist of Plot: The opening of the anime is funny, nearly to the point of being absurd. The audience may find varied moments of joy and amusement in even the most depressing anime. To prevent a purely gloomy watching experience, this is crucial. However, Angel Beats is a little deceptive because it initially comes off as an action-comedy. But once the gang realises the real way out of purgatory, the plot suddenly changes and drives home how miserable each character feels about their much too brief and meaningless life. There is also the subsequent surprise that occurs when viewers understand the entire significance of the show’s title. It stands out from many others because of these abrupt emotional changes that let you know you’re in for a challenging encounter right away.
Ironies: Ironically, Angel Beats doesn’t provide viewers or its protagonist a complete feeling of closure even though the show’s whole premise is upon achieving closure and the ability to accept change. Just a few points worth discussing are How could Otonashi get to purgatory before Kanade if he died before her? What is the intended meaning of the last scene, in which two young people who remarkably resemble Otonashi and Kanade are going to cross paths in real life? Does Otonashi leave purgatory in the alternate ending where he continues aiding lost souls to leave for the afterlife? And what exactly happens to the members of the cast who did go on?
Theories of Anime and Manga: There are many other theories, ranging from the traditional belief that anime is the reason to heaven, reincarnation, in-depth explanations of a temporal paradox, and many more topics. Angel Beats may, however, leave viewers with a lingering emptiness and a longing for more plot on top of the sadness that intensifies with each episode since so much is left open and unresolved. This impact highlights its comparable excellent memorability while setting it apart from its equally poignant contemporaries.
Enjoyable: The degree to which I’m loving a show is extremely evident. Every hour, I check for developments since I’m impatient. I want more of what I see. Even just the concert sequences are entertaining. Overall, I’m delighted I got to spend time with Angel Beats and will miss it. However, it hurts me to consider how much more effective it would have been if the programme hadn’t been so hurried and the authors had given the climax a little more thought.
Overall: Angel Beats is often entertaining to watch, despite its shortcomings. When it wants to be funny, it is funny, and the majority of the time, the tale is engaging. also the start. adore it But it was disappointing because the plot felt hurried and lacked consistency in how it balanced its humour and advanced the plot. It was disheartening that many of the characters received little history or character development. The sound at least musically compensated for the lacklustre pictures. Overall, Angel Beats is a good film that will amuse the majority of viewers. It is neither excellent nor terrible.
Final Consensus: With action and comedic aspects, Angel Beats tackles a topic that is unusual for an anime series. This series combines humour and emotional impact. Angel Beats offers a breath of new air to devoted slice-of-life viewers in a world where anime and manga titles and genres can all tend to merge due to their similarities.
Classic Anime and Manga: Angel Beats has won its spot as an anime classic ten years later. While part of its drama underwhelms, it excels in fusing various themes into a sombre story to create something that is both happy and poignant.
Intriguing Plot: Angel Beats viewers may find themselves reflecting on their own life as they establish connections between themselves and the characters. Because the tales of the major characters can be true, even if this novel is made up, the feelings it depicts feel authentic.
Similar Anime: The second season of the famous romantic anime Clannad: After Story is the one that most closely resembles Angel Beats in terms of how it makes use of supernatural aspects.