First Look: Angel Beats!

Title: Angel Beats! Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

Summary: 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.

First Look: Angel Beats! is not as straight forward as I thought it would be. I am glad I waited to watch the third episode before writing this first look because it made a huge difference in my opinion about the series. Angel Beats! did a great job combining idiotic humor with deep psychological meaning. The first episode introduced the characters in a fashion that leaves viewers interested in the entire SSS brigade. The support characters have proven to play a vital role in story progression. In the first couple episodes, you learn that having memories of your former life isn’t always the best thing, and the main character may even consider himself lucky that he forgot what it was like when he was alive. The makers did a brilliant job creating fitting personalities for the SSS brigade members based on their lives before death. I don’t want to give too much away but the flash back storytelling shows a very twisted side to the anime. The harsh stories can be a bit of a shock after watching comedic situations for most of the episode. The series seems to be set up to have quite a few screwballs thrown at the audience, and I’m hoping that they aren’t too predictable. The art style reminds me a lot of a couple of other popular anime series, a crisp clean look that has most of its scenes taking place in dark environments. Soft, cool colors are used to create an ominous atmosphere perfect for the psychological aspect of the anime. Although the opening theme doesn’t fit the action intense anime, it is a beautiful melody that can easily becoming addicting. The ending is another slow pace song that calms down viewers with its simplicity. The story is progressing rather quickly, and only 13 episodes have been announced. I hope that they extend Angel Beats! to a second season because I’m dieing to know every character’s past.

Final statements: The anime has a lot of potential to become a high priority watch, or even a must see. I am hoping that they don’t cut the anime short, leaving under developed character and plot holes. I will definitely keep this one on watch.