Life is really cruel, isn’t it?

Everybody wants to live a happy life. Everyone has their resolve and purpose to live their life to the fullest. We don’t have the power to know when or how we will die. That’s why we cherish every moment that we have as much as possible. But the cruel part is, that the ones who are doing good things to others or themselves are being punished to death. When good things or opportunities come, also the unexpected unfortunate events or misfortunes. The question is, how will you do about it? How can you find the purpose of life? If anything happens, do you have any regrets?

Angel Beats! was one of those animes that impacted and caused emotional damage to me. I considered it one of my greatest nightmares, and I don’t want to take a second to rewatch it. An action-packed emotional drama anime conceived by Jun Maeda, one of the master storytellers of tearjerker emotional dramas. He was one of the co-founders of Visual Key company and is known for their notable works like Clannad, Little Busters!, Air, Kanon, Rewrite, and many more. This is his first original anime, after leaving Visual Key. I couldn’t express how I love this show, despite its emotional intentions and meaningful message for its viewers.

The story is about Otonashi. He suddenly woke up in a strange world and later called it the afterlife. The afterlife is for people who have experienced trauma or hardships in life and must overcome them before passing on and being reincarnated. He suddenly saw a girl, handling a big sniper, and said her group is at war with this girl named, “Angel”. The problem is, that Otonashi didn’t know how he died. In the first place, he didn’t know what the heck was going on. But later on, he realized his current situation, and he joined the Afterlife Battlefront to fight Angel, after its leader, Yurippe invited him. This Angel has supernatural abilities and she’s also the student council president. The reason why there’s a rebellion, it’s because of one thing, they wanted to fight “God” for their unfair circumstances in life. They saw Angel as God’s associate because of her powers. Later on, Otonashi met the members of Afterlife Battlefront, the members of Girls Dead Monster, and the co-founders of the Battlefront. The afterlife is populated by fabricated students that Yurippe called, “NPCs”.

Throughout the story, Otonashi discovers the rebellious morality of the battlefront, as well as the missions. Even the time when someone gets disappeared, like what happened to Iwasawa, as she achieves her satisfaction with music. The show is entertaining. The setting and the world-building are great and intriguing. It makes the show perfect, but the one problem with this show is the lack of exploration of the characters. Since it’s a 13-episode anime, the only exploration I saw were the backstories of the core characters like Otonashi, Yurippe, Hinata, Yui, Iwasawa, and Kanade. I like all the characters’ backstories because they are executed perfectly with some sense and realism. It depicts the dark side of living. The character developments were pretty great. Yurippe and Otonashi’s backstories were emotional and cruel.

The show wasn’t all about the thrilling action, it had the right amount of comedy, drama, and supernatural aspects. The comedy schemes were entertaining and it was very fun to watch. The punchlines were well done in their timing and I liked when they used Brave Song as the background song when Hinata flew up in the classroom in episode 5. It became memefied for some reason. The emotional drama was well done. The formula of the drama was perfectly executed for its emotional scenes. It’s not forced and it purely touched my both heart and soul. I can sympathize with the characters’ situations and desires on why they want to live. It could be better if the show had 24-26 episodes because I want to explore the setting and the characters more. But there’s a manga written by Jun Maeda himself so I’ll just go with it. Nevertheless, the story is really good and Jun Maeda’s about living inspires me a lot. Not all of us will stay together and live the same everyday life. There will be a time when everyone finds new paths for them to live separately. Even in the darkest depths of life, there will be a time that you'll find your greatest treasure. (The meaning of that song XD).

The animation was well done. I had watched many shows from PA Works, but this anime had a different touch from it. Jun Maeda was right about his decision in finding a good animation studio for this project. The animation was glorious and it impressed me a lot. It’s solid and well-detailed. The style is different from the studio’s other works. The fight choreography was well done and it looked similar to Wit’s.

The soundtrack. Oh, I love it. Jun Maeda with Anant-Garde Eyes did a great job with the soundtrack. I couldn’t believe he did all the insert songs of GDM, the OP, the ED, and the iconic song, “Ichiban no Takaramono”. The soundtrack made me one of the biggest fans of Jun Maeda, in terms of his storytelling and music. He never fails me to disappoint and even the soundtrack delivered the punchlines at its funniest potential.

Overall, this anime is one heck of a rollercoaster ride. I laughed, cried, and understand some meaningful messages that were essential in life. Despite its obvious flaws, I loved this show and enjoyed it a lot. I recommend this show to those anime fans out there who want a great show. But before watching, please prepare a box of tissues because some parts will definitely make you cry.

___Story: 9.5/10
Characters: 9.6/10
Animation: 9.9/10
Sound: 10/10
Emotional Impact: 9.9/10
Enjoyment: 9.8/10___