Angel Beats!
Some time ago I watched
Princess Lover, which I thought was a creative hedging of bets. It was a title spread over many genres so as to appeal to as many demographics as possible, and it failed dismally. So now how do I approach
Angel Beats? Certainly it follows a similar strategy, being a mash-up of high school comedy, action adventure and spiritual introspection. The difference is that the mixture is a cohesive one, with none of the cynicism found in Princess Lover.
In short, it’s good.
No, scratch that, it is brilliant. It’s wonderfully animated to the point where I could scarcely believe I was watching a television production. For instance, in a scene where the rock band performs, the lead guitarist can be seen strumming each individual note of her song instead of repeating a set animation cycle over and over again. Likewise, the drummer can be seen using her entire drum kit during the song. I especially liked how she had to stretch over to hit her snares. (Yes, I am that easily impressed!) Elsewhere, movements remain fluid: you really are getting the full 24 frames per second here. Couple this with intricately detailed backgrounds, and in terms of animation you’re on to a winner.
The producers don’t skimp on the music either. Music plays its part well in highlighting the perils and the ecstasy of battles fought by those who cannot die. It also complements the sense of loss and sadness of those forced to come to terms with their otherworldly experience in their quest for understanding and, ultimately, closure. Then there’s the staying power of the songs. I’m still humming the opening bars of the opening theme, “My Soul, Your Beats!” to myself. Listening to “Ichiban no Takaramono” still makes me mist up. “Crow Song” with its rocking beat still gets me tapping my toes.
Finally we have the quality writing, which has fun with the characters and the setting while never forgetting their tragic underpinnings. Better still, whether the show was in high comedy mode of heart-rending drama mode, or even action-packed mode, none felt out of place and all were equally effective in their tasks. Put all this together, and it possesses that "just one more episode" appeal all the way to the saddest happy ending I’ve ever encountered.
The only criticism I have here has nothing to do with the series itself; it has to do with the way Sentai sells it. The back of the blu-ray cover reads as follows:
It sucks being dead. It sucks even more to be trapped in a surreal afterlife where you're caught between the living and the dead - where a mysterious, violent Angel is trying to pull you over to... somewhere. What do you do? Well, if you're this group of rough-and-tumble teens, you grab every weapon you can get your hands on and give Heaven hell!
The wording makes this out to be some irreverent action comedy. Fair enough, I suppose, but where’s the mention of the bittersweet drama in all of this? Why do Sentai feel compelled to omit this very important aspect of the show from its product description? Do they feel that the average anime collector would be intimidated by it and move on to a more action-orientated anime that isn’t “bogged down” by such sentimental nonsense? Do they really think I’m that shallow?
Not that any of that affects the overall quality of the show. In the end, watching this — nay,
experiencing this — was a joy, an unequivocal, unmitigated joy. So I guess then that I liked it.
A worthy
10 / 10.