Sunday, June 27, 2010

[Ended] Angel Beats: Life is Beautiful


In the early part of final episode, I actually felt cheated because all pieces of puzzles have been revealed and it seems this is a story that shouldn't have happened at first place, because, really, the whole plot is pieced together with something weren't meant to be. But just as I was letting my guard down because I thought the story is over and I've gotten all solution to the puzzles, I got hit by the last curve ball head on at full force, and the author of the story get to do what he intended to do: tears were bursting out of my eyes as I felt this sudden emotion struck me. Jun Maeda is the master in manipulating emotions. Although I've seen this kind of plot before, the way they threw it out just totally caught me by surprise. I haven't been so emotional for an anime since CLANNAD (which, coincidentally is also written by Jun Maeda).

One thing that I can't help to notice is the fact story writer is trying to pass on the message of "life is beautiful" to everybody: you don't get a second chance to live your life--while you have it, you should live it to the fullest, don't hate your own life.

Adding to all the pluses, this anime is also beautifully made, whether the character art, background art, or the music.

I'm not going to reveal any more about the plot, because if I do, I would have to bare the responsibility of cheating you out of the full emotional experience you could potential get from the anime.

Final scoreboard:

Drama: 98 (Great!)
Comedy: 100 (Brilliant!!!)
Action: 91 (Great)
Art/Animation: 94 (Cute)
Sound/Music: 95 (Beautiful)
Character: 95 (Very well developed)
Plot: 98 (Moving!!!)
Ending: 99 (Ultra Curve Ball)

Re-watch value: 80 (Less emotional, but equally fun)

Overall: 98 - Beautifully made

Recommendation: If you're not watching anything else in the first half of 2010, you ought to watch this, and I'm giving it the

Best Short Season Drama for Top Half of 2010

award.

6 comments:

yoekix said...

I couldn't agree more with your rating, this anime had quite the unexpected turn at the end, not to say i almost needed some tissues for wiping of tears.
This is also one of the few anime that had a good opening song, every time i watched an episode i always wathed the full song.

Angel Beats deserves a honorable space on my hard drive. :p

Reik said...

Angel Beats and durarara are by far my favorite animes and i agree with you that ending was rather surprising but perfect in so many ways!

And i was wondering have you watched Suzuka? i may have missed it on your list but its a sports / romance / drama show with several turning points and stuff its worth watching it

The Evil Cat said...

Yes, I have seen Suzuka. You're not finding it on my blog is because that's before I started blogging. I was quite fond of Suzuka as well, not only did I watch the anime, I also went ahead read the manga, which goes twice as long as the anime. In general, I love romance dramas, especially the ones that have twists and turns, and Suzuka is one primal example of them.

Reik said...

NICE!!!! Didn't know there was a manga i'll read it for sure! would you happen to remember a good romance drama with alot of turns and stuff? i've seen true tears / clannad / kanon / sola / air / ef /kimikiss.... well if you remember one and you are willing to share it please do!

Reik!

The Evil Cat said...

If you haven't seen Nana, then that should be the next one you watch. As far as romance drama goes, it is THE BEST.

Another one of my most highly rated romance drama is I''S Pure (There are two I''S series, make sure you're getting I''S Pure, don't need to bother with the other one, it's worthless). I've read the manga first, and the OVA followed pretty closely to the manga.

And I assume you've seen some of the recent ones such as:

Kimi ni Todoke
White Album (1+2)
Hatsukoi Limited

if not, you need to.


These are some slightly old but among my highly rated romance dramas, some of them are actually recent enough that I have reviews:

Bokura ga Ita
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien
Aishiteruze Baby
Shuffle
5 Centimeter per second
Honey and Clover
Lovely Complex
Romeo x Juliet
Peach Girl
Myself; Yourself
Paradise Kiss
Ichigo 100%
Winter Sonata(ongoing)
Da Capo
Natsuiro no Sunadokei
Lamune

Kita e ~Diamond Dust Drops~ is more than just romance drama, but is equally good.

School Days could fall into this category, but it has a more sinister feel to it.

Maria-sama ga Miteru series fits in this category in a different way, but I really liked it.

If you manage to finish all that, then take a look at my list on myanimelist.net, the link is right above "About Me" on the right column, you might be able to find more stuff there.

Reik said...

Alright! I'll start downloading :P just got a break from school so i have loooots of free time!

oh i watched school days... one of the best endings i've ever seen...tho i saw it coming

and myself, yourself is in my top 10 :P

When i finish Nana i'll give you my thoughts about it:)

Thanks Evil Cat!