Angel Beats is one of the more praised shows I have heard of. With half a million people on MAL and said to have one of the best soundtracks and emotional moments out of all the anime seen. So going into this I was very excited to see where all the praise came from. And sadly, I couldn't find it.
Angel Beats is about Otanashi, a regular 17 year old who is mysteriously transported to a place he hasn't been to, meeting people he hasn't meet. He learns that he has arrived in the afterlife, but without any of his memories. This concept gave me mixed feelings at first. Many of the comedic scenes used the fact that they couldn't die, which was really fun. It felt like it made fun of many anime that had came out at that point in time. But I was also scared that I wouldn't care about the characters fates, since none of them could die.
But as I continued watching the show, these statements would falsely represent my feelings. The introduction of obnoxiously loud characters and badly timed jokes made the comedy a lot worse. I have never really been a fan of comedy in anime. There are exceptions to that "rule", but for the most part, the comedy doesn't work for me. And I think it's this show that made me realize why that is. Obnoxious characters annoy the sh*t out of me. Examples would be Yui and Yuri from this show, Misa from Death Note and Kaori from Your Lie in April. A lot of it's comedy is just a character crying really loudly or screaming. The show is a subject of "dramas with unfitting comedy", with anime like Your Lie in April and March Comes in like a Lion (S1). There are many serious moments where they put in a joke that just feel jarring.
Another aspect that was very praised was the music. And while I really liked the soundtrack by itself, the usage of them really annoyed. It felt like they used the same two songs over and over again. That wouldn't have been a problem if it was kept unnoticed. But every time they played either "Decisive Battle", "Toy of Spring" or "Critical Point" (Could be other songs too) I remember that this song was played 100 times before. It took me out of the show is what I'm saying. Still, really unique and pretty good overall.
But what surprised me the most was how much I didn't care. If you go to any "what anime made you cry", I assure you that Angel Beats will show up at some point. Every single one. But unfortunately, that never happened to me. I never really attached myself to any of the characters, or at least enough to cry for them. There were moments where I felt sad. I guess the end made me a little sad. But it was rarely more than knowing that it was supposed to be emotional.
Eh, as you can tell I was a little disappointed in the show. It is fine of course if you love it, I can understand why it is so loved. But personally, it never got to me. A 6.2 from me, so still positive.
Angel Beats is about Otanashi, a regular 17 year old who is mysteriously transported to a place he hasn't been to, meeting people he hasn't meet. He learns that he has arrived in the afterlife, but without any of his memories. This concept gave me mixed feelings at first. Many of the comedic scenes used the fact that they couldn't die, which was really fun. It felt like it made fun of many anime that had came out at that point in time. But I was also scared that I wouldn't care about the characters fates, since none of them could die.
But as I continued watching the show, these statements would falsely represent my feelings. The introduction of obnoxiously loud characters and badly timed jokes made the comedy a lot worse. I have never really been a fan of comedy in anime. There are exceptions to that "rule", but for the most part, the comedy doesn't work for me. And I think it's this show that made me realize why that is. Obnoxious characters annoy the sh*t out of me. Examples would be Yui and Yuri from this show, Misa from Death Note and Kaori from Your Lie in April. A lot of it's comedy is just a character crying really loudly or screaming. The show is a subject of "dramas with unfitting comedy", with anime like Your Lie in April and March Comes in like a Lion (S1). There are many serious moments where they put in a joke that just feel jarring.
Another aspect that was very praised was the music. And while I really liked the soundtrack by itself, the usage of them really annoyed. It felt like they used the same two songs over and over again. That wouldn't have been a problem if it was kept unnoticed. But every time they played either "Decisive Battle", "Toy of Spring" or "Critical Point" (Could be other songs too) I remember that this song was played 100 times before. It took me out of the show is what I'm saying. Still, really unique and pretty good overall.
But what surprised me the most was how much I didn't care. If you go to any "what anime made you cry", I assure you that Angel Beats will show up at some point. Every single one. But unfortunately, that never happened to me. I never really attached myself to any of the characters, or at least enough to cry for them. There were moments where I felt sad. I guess the end made me a little sad. But it was rarely more than knowing that it was supposed to be emotional.
Eh, as you can tell I was a little disappointed in the show. It is fine of course if you love it, I can understand why it is so loved. But personally, it never got to me. A 6.2 from me, so still positive.