Angel Beats!

[Kraco]

"In a world after death, angels fight for their fate and their future. Yuri, the leader of the Shinda Sekai Sensen, rebels against the god who destined her to have an unreasonable life. On the otherhand, Tenshi, the chairperson of the student council for the world after death, battles against the SSS members. SSS members utilize armed weaponry to battle it out against the angels harnessing supernatural powers." -ANN

Genres: Contemporary Fantasy, Seinen, Action

Links:
AniDB
ANN
Official
NSFW: interview with the creator Jun Maeda on Sankaku

Episode 1 HDv2 | SD - Mazui





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Somehow this ended up as a somewhat hyped series of this season, perhaps due to the fact it has connections to Key, the company behind Kanon and Clannad, which were undeniably high-class series. Perhaps also because the main character resembles somewhat one uber hyped melancholic main character of another series.

Aside from the experienced creator and the main dude voiced by Bakemonogatari's Araragi's VA, the main girl Yuri is voiced by quite a noob with only a limited number of shows. She did seem to do quite well, considering that.

Like I said, I read too much about this show and thus didn't really know what to expect. The first ep flowed nicely enough and more importantly I haven't got a clue of what's going to happen later, which is always a plus. The action wasn't bad either, though it's hard to see whether it actually leads anywhere; I suppose that would depend on the plot. The humour wasn't at least yet on a par with Kanon and Clannad, maybe due to the dude not remembering anything and thus not being in any position to make fun out of the others. Design was pleasing.

I'll keep watching, though I'm at the moment far from calling this an excellent show as such (like I'd Kanon 2006 and Clannad). Production values were perfectly ok but beyond that it will have to prove itself along the way.

[David75]

That ep was only interesting thanks to the camera movements visual effects.
Nothing else in those 23 minutes to have me want try episode 2.
Yet I will watch that second ep, just in case.

[Alhuin]

Any word that Eclipse is going to pick this up, since they did both Kanon and Clannad? I checked the fansub wiki about a week ago and they weren't listed. It just doesn't feel right =/

[Ryllharu]

Any word that Eclipse is going to pick this up, since they did both Kanon and Clannad? I checked the fansub wiki about a week ago and they weren't listed. It just doesn't feel right =/

It isn't a KEY series though, it is just Jun Maeda (from KEY) and a few other staff. Static-Subs is reportedly looking for a joint to do the project with, so I would guess from that that Eclipse was not interested.

[Archangel]

Also they already picked up maid-sama so the chances of them doing another show are pretty slim

[Alhuin]

Oh, okay. I saw KEY, so I figured it was the entire KEY staff. But after reading up on it, it still is some KEY staff, as well as the production company behind True Tears and Cannan, so I'll be picking this up regardless.

Do you guys recommend Mazui's subs, or wait for someone else.

[Archangel]

Do you guys recommend Mazui's subs, or wait for someone else.

They're good enough to watch but i wouldn't archive them

[Kraco]

It isn't a KEY series though, it is just Jun Maeda (from KEY) and a few other staff.

I think you are wrong, Ryll. Key should be among the producting companies of this show.

[Ryllharu]

I think you are wrong, Ryll. Key should be among the producting companies of this show.

AniDB only shows Jun Maeda and Ga-Na (character design) as being staff members of Key. The two of them appear to be working on this as a side project. They show only Aniplex and P.A. Works for animation and main production. I would hesitate to say that the involvement of two people infers all of Key as it does for AIR, Clannad and Kanon.

Visual Arts, however, is on for production, and they are the parent company of Key. Key also has Angel Beats listed prominently on their website.

Still...they've made an awful lot of effort to separate out Maeda and Ga-Na during the promotion of this. It is more like how they separated Hisaya Naoki for the creation of sola.

[Kraco]

ANN shows Key as well. But then again, ANN isn't the most trustworthy of sources. The interview translated on Sankaku also states Key's participation, which is a source I trust more.

Still, you could be correct. I didn't spot in the ED "Key" mentioned separately, only after the names of the dudes (I assume).

[ForteCross]

i got lost on this episode... is this anime based on a game?
and does it has a manga?

[Pandadice]

i got lost on this episode... is this anime based on a game?
and does it has a manga?

No, not based on a game. And I don't think it has a manga.

It's an original story by Jun Maede.

[animus]

Very weird setting. I had no idea what was going on, but I was quite intrigued.

[Buffalobiian]

My opinion pretty much echoes David's. The visuals are good, but other than that, nothing stands out terribly much. I didn't find any points funny or "cool" at all, but likewise I didn't find anything hatable or slow about all this neither.

Yuri gives off Haruhi vibes all over, so I suppose I'll watch for the sake of watching.

[RyougaZell]

Uh... what did I just watch? I don't understand a thing... though I did like the music number. Hopefully it won't be the last one.

[Alhuin]

Yuri gives off Haruhi vibes all over, so I suppose I'll watch for the sake of watching.

There were actually quite a bit of topics about that on Sankaku Complex.
I think the general consensus was they did it on purpose.

[Buffalobiian]

Mazui - Episode 02

[Alhuin]

The mini battle between Angel and Yuri was the highlight of this episode for me. It was a bit cliche and predictable that everyone but Yuuri and the main guy were going to "die" in those traps (as well as the predictable reaction of Yuri when telling the remaining members to climb up during the one trap). But, making the decision to abandon Guild was a pretty quick and effective decision leadership-wise. Never expected all the weapons to be made from dirt (as well as all the machinery), so I guess in a sense they can rebuild Guild as many times as they need to (which almost makes it seem pointless for Angel to even fight, considering they don't die and they can constantly create new weapons).

But I digress... Again, the highlight of this episode was the mini battle. Angel's Guard Skills are pretty nifty, and I can only imagine how many different skills she has. Seems to me though she should be pretty untouchable with just the three she has shown so far.

Lol at the craftsmen failing at creating a cannon.

[Buffalobiian]

Yeah, it never occured to me that getting caught didn't really matter.

Though perhaps it means that if the angel find out about how they're making weapons and the types they can make, it can form more effective countermeasures. After all, they mentioned the angel was heading down there, but didn't say that it knew what was down there.

[Kraco]

The human rope climbing scene was one of my favorites during this episode. I can't claim I'd have seen such scenes too many times, especially with such attention to details. But yes, Angel vs Yuri melee fight was also surprisingly entertaining. Yuri isn't the leader for nothing, for sure, based on this episode.

It's indeed a good question why they were so worried about Angel finding the guild. It doesn't seem like Anger can erase memories, which would be a huge worry, so it must be for the future like Bill suggested. If she found out what the guild is for, Angel might continuously search for the current guild location, forcing it to do nothing but relocate time after time, never having time for weapons manufacture.