Angel Beats!

After my friends and I got out of our Full Metal Alchemist and Fruits Basket obsessions, we needed a new anime show to watch. So while I was on Netflix searching the anime section, I came across a show called Angel Beats!. I turned it on, thinking it looked okay, and was immediately sucked in. The story had lovable characters and a good storyline and it was perfect. After watching the first three episodes, I noticed that there was only 13 episodes in the entire series! I thought, 'This sure isn't long enough to finish this story!' But continued to watch anyway. And after the 9th episode, the story almost completely changed and I was left confused. They got it back together in time for the final episode, but I still think that the story ended too quickly. It was a perfect ending though, if you're willing to stick through the entire episode. And don't forget your tissue box, it'll come in handy through the whole series! And I'm normally really tough and don't cry easy, but there were tears rushing down my face the entire last episode, especially the final sequence before the credits. I still think that I could have lasted longer, like Full Metal Alchemist or had a fuller and more clear storyline like Fruits Basket, but it was good in its own way.

I don't want to see a "SPOILERS BELOW" tag here so I'll just keep things from a general review.

The series hits all the beats it needs to make you love characters, to enjoy the ride they go through and to root for things. Its heart wrenching in places and it doesn't pull any punches.

And does all this while pretending to be a shounen battle military anime.

Amazing show and one of my favourites of the early 10's

Angel Beats! is a story about the afterlife in which unruly girl, Yurippe, starts a rebel group to fight against an army of people trying to delete them forever led by Angel.

This series is a ten for many reasons. The first being that it's a short series, spanning 13 episodes. This is important since many T.V. shows, especially Anime, are too long. Even Death Note, which was amazing, was stretched out a little much. Angel Beats doesn't falter like this. Also the story has a lot of clever writing up until the very end, which sucks you in.

Additionally the characters are clever in every way and for the most part we get to know each unique personality quickly and in depth. I would like to know some characters a little more but I'm satisfied.

Most importantly there is something thing that makes this Anime a "resistance fighter" as I like to call it. Angel Beats! has little to no Ecchi or Fanservice and thank God. It has no Moe (younger than teen characters with annoying voices and sexual suggestiveness).

Beats! has all the great Anime traits and hit's a home run with them. Similar to how Paprika is like Inception. Angel Beats! is similar to Lost. So if you like Lost and Anime you will like this.

Angel Beats! conquers and soars. Showing what a great Anime can do, and be with ease.

(NOTE: this review is for the Subtitled version not the Dub which is much worst and could be different).

Angel Beats is my favorite anime of all time. It has everything that makes a great story. I'd definitely recommend watching a subtitled version as opposed to the dubbed version, as the dub has all sorts of mistakes and the voices do get on your nerves.

Otonashi Yuzuru wakes up in the afterlife with no recollection of how he died. He can barely remember his own name. He meets Nakamura Yuri, the leader of the Afterlife Battlefront, a group of young people in the afterlife who are rebelling against God for giving them cruelly unfair lives. Their main target is "Angel," a girl who they believe is, as the name suggests, an angel created by God to watch over and enforce the rules of the afterlife (which takes the form of a huge boarding school). Abiding by the rules results in disappearing, supposedly due to being erased by Angel and/or God. Otonashi joins the Battlefront, and so the story begins.

Several flashbacks are placed throughout the series to give some of the characters' backstories. Each flashback is very emotional, very real, and, most importantly, human. You can relate to each character incredibly well, because they are presented as human beings, and this sucks you completely into the story.

The musical performances by the fictional band in the anime, Girls Dead Monster, are really exceptional. The animation is spot-on (they even go so far as to match the actual chords that are being played) and the songs are very catchy, even if you don't speak Japanese. They provide a very nice soundtrack to some scenes.

My only problem with this series is that it should've been twice as long. It was originally intended to be 26 episodes, but for some reason was cut down to only 13. They could have done so much more with another 13 episodes. However, the episodes that were made are still more than enough.

Angel Beats makes us ask ourselves, "What do you want to do with your life?" Everyone wants to die without any regrets. Angel Beats explores this theme with a story that is hilarious, emotional, action-packed, tearjerking, human, and, ultimately, beautiful. I've watched it several times, and it never gets old, because the themes are timeless and universal. I highly recommend this anime to anyone.

Angel Beats! is my definition of a sleeper hit of a series. When I first set eyes on in it, I knew nothing about it, and did not expect anything either. I never heard of any merit about for this series, so I dismissed it as mediocre before I even saw it. Boy, was I wrong. This show exemplifies non-mediocrity in every fiber of its being. Heading things off is the premise, which is wonderfully unique and is so abstract and alien that it will take most of the series to get used to it. I do not wish to spoil anything, but it takes a refreshingly unique and non- religious view on an afterlife scenario. This leads to a style of storytelling that is rarely, if ever, found in anime. The characters are also well made. The main group is a very quirky, funny group of people who still, despite all humor, are the definition of friendship and companionship. This leads me into another facet of Angel Beats that I thoroughly enjoyed, which is how serious sections transition directly into absolutely hilarious one in mere seconds. Not only is there a huge and sudden contrast between these two feelings, but the serious is truly serious with emotional and epic moments, and the funny is uproariously hysterical. In the end, the show is bizarre, unique, and has a feeling that is anomalous to anything I've ever seen. This does not however mean that standard emotions are left out this. In fact, the ending, if viewed properly, is one of the saddest and most beautiful scenes I've ever seen. All this emotion, humor, and story is helped by a stunning soundtrack that is mind-blowing in how much emotion is in itself, let the series as a whole. The only pity about the series is it's length. Angel Beats! is a 13 episode series of 20 min. episodes. Still, in retrospect, the sweetness of the series comes out of how as soon as you settle in to enjoy, it's over, just still lasting in impression. All in all, this helps to create an incredible "Life is Good" vibe that I have never seen like this anywhere else.

Definitely watch this series if you are looking for a unique, short series with wonderful humor, yet beautiful and bittersweet ending to it.