Yeah, I love this show, and anyone who's been on IRC at the same time I have lately has probably see me mention it or link to pictures of

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Tachibana Kanade

Tenshi.

The show is an original work by Jun Maeda, who co-created Kanon, AiR, and Clannad, and it's got the standard Key trademarks of

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people dying tragic deaths

like

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Yuri's death at the hand of thieves who killed all her siblings before killing her

and

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Iwasawa dying of a stroke due to a contusion she suffered as a kid from her abusive father breaking a bottle over her head

but you know it's by Maeda with

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Otonashi carrying his dying sister on his back through the street on Christmas day, her dying on his back, and him knowing full well it happened.

And as if fate wasn't done fucking him,

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after straightening out and studying to get into medical school, on his way there, his train derails and he dies. I'm honestly surprised they didn't go ahead and say that it took hours for him to slowly bleed out while being in blinding pain.

Well, despite all that, the show starts out from an interesting perspective:

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what you quickly realize might just be the side of the bad guys

because the villain

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sure doesn't seem that bad.

Anyway, as the show progresses

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Otonashi and Kanade get a lot closer and the way Otonashi basically confessed to Kanade in episode 07 and she essentially accepted made me cry like a little girl.

But now they have to worry about

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EVIL TENSHI!

---------- Post automerged at 02:38 ---------- Previous post was at 02:06 ----------

This is a little theory of mine, but as it might spoil a lot of things, I think it best just to put the whole thing in spoilers tags:

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I think that Tenshi is a representation of the Bodhisatva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara, a. k. a. Kannon in Japanese. The kanji for Kanon's name is 観音, and that second kanji is particularly important because it's part of a broader theme. It means "sound."

Otonashi's name in kanji is 音無 (a lack of sound), and his first name, Yuzuru, is 弦 (the string of an instrument).

Tenshi, a. k. a. Tachibana Kanade is 立花　奏 - "standing flower," and "to play an instrument," respectively. Although she doesn't have the "sound" kanji in her name, she's the one who will produce the sound, probably from Otonashi's string (heads out of the gutters!), so I foresee a pairing between the two. The "standing flower" part will also be important.

Even Otonashi's sister was named Hatsune - 初音 - "first sound."

Anyway, in episode 06, Kanade reveals that she has four different versions of her "Hand Sonic" - blades she can make appear from her arms. The last one is this ridiculous, giant lotus flower. Lotuses "stand" straight up from the mud to the surface of the water.

Now here's my crazy theory: Kannon is known as the "holder of the lotus flower" and Kanade just produced a giant lotus from her wrist. She also has a red-eyed variant of herself that might represent the "wrathful god" aspect of Kannon. She does only fight in self-defense - she never attacks, only defends, and admits as much to Otonashi in Episode 06.

Anyway, more theory: the world of the dead they're in is not a purgatory, but a representation of the Pure Land created by Amitābha Buddha. Yuri is fighting against "God" for the shitty life she lived, and she's convinced the other members of the SSS to do the same. However, I think this battle is totally pointless because the Pure Land was created by Amitābha Buddha to let you escape the distractions of the Karmic cycle and study Buddhism with all the time you need, and then attain Nirvana.

Yuri, I believe, is fighting against a Buddha who created the Pure Land for her and everyone else, but otherwise had nothing to do with her creation or her shitty life.

Anyway, those are my theories.

 

You pretty much got me with it being from Key. Although Clannad sucked (since there was practically no plot; didn't bother watching the second, though I've heard it's better), Kanon and Air were fantastic (Kanon possibly my most favourite anime).

I fully intend to check this out. Just once it's finished airing and I've finished my assessments...

 

I've been watching it, has some pretty awesome moments, if an interesting habit to kill/convert/change the antagonist every few episodes. I have no clue where this series is going. My favorite theory is that

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Yuri has become the god due to her dissatisfaction with her life, as far as I could tell her back story was the most brutal, and this afterlife is her trying to accept her death, something like that

Meh, too early to tell, still a good anime.

 

You might be right.

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There's a very real possibility that Yuri created Tenshi unconsciously to be an enemy. If I were to continue with this possibility, I would say that that is why Tenshi is so emotionless - she's not real. So when Otonashi managed to convert Tenshi into a "friend," Yuri needed another enemy and "Tenshi" is the manifestation of "an enemy."

 

Oh mah gawd! Poor Angel! Only with the power of Otonashi's love will she be saved . . .

 

I hope not, though it does seem this series is going full circle...back to antagonist angel. Also, Yuri against evil-angel was pretty awesome.

 

I loved the rocket scenes /w music. Couldnt stop cracking up xD

 

Damnit, episode nine was really good.

Otonashi is now Brotonashi for the rest of the series in my mind.

Any way the way I see it there are about 5 possible ending at the moment.

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Obviously most (if not all) of the SSS is going to disappear but beyond it will probably end with

1. Otonashi and Kanade both disappear together at the end.
2. Kanade is the only one left and she continues on with here duty.
3. Kanade disappears and Otonashi takes over for her.
4. Yuri is never able to get over her life and she takes Kanade's place while Kanade and Otonashi disappear.
5. This season ends with a cliffhanger and there will be a season 2 probably next spring.

I'm really enjoying this series, and I can't wait to see the last 4 episodes.

 

Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!

Otonashi is pure awesome. Also, interesting that . . .

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. . . Kanade was fully aware of what she was doing - steering people towards disappearing by letting go of their regrets.

I like that Otonashi has agreed to work with Angel, and not against her. Sweet.

I've adjusted my theory a bit though: Otonashi is Kanon, and Kanade is Amida Budha.

As for endings . . .

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Otonashi and Angel will likely end up together, but the sub-ending will be terribly tragic. The actual ending, however will be Yuzuru and Kanade meeting anew as live people with an implied happily-ever-after.

Maeda is too pussy to make you just cry. Kanon, AiR, Clannad - all of them had implied or explicit happily-ever-afters, even after ClannAIDS killed inevitably killed someone, and others die for whatever reasons.

 

From the makers of Kanon and Air? Thanks for bringing this into my notice!

 

And Clannad.

Also, Pajama!Kanade is so MOE I'm gonna die.

 

Clannad was a disappointment to me compared to Air and Kanon 2006 >_<. It had potential, but ...nothing really happened XD

 

Episode 9 was pretty awesome, glad to see the plot is starting to move forward.

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Personally, with Otonashi's past being fully revealed, I think the episode will end with Yuri and or Angel saying "Thank you".

I never watched Air or Kanon, they aren't my typical genre, but I did watch and enjoy Clannad , I'll have to check them out.

 

Looks like episode 10 was actually kind of cute. Kanade throwing the guitar up in the air and fake surprise was funny (and cute), and of course she doesn't know here own strength and threw it way too high.

 

V-Tech just kicked in, yo.

 

Well having just watched the final episode I figured I might as well post my thoughts on the final episode.

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There were some good parts and some bad parts to this episode. My favorite parts were the Otonashi/Kanade interaction at the end, the credits (which finally included Kanade and played in reverse) and the short scene after the credits. The part I didn't like so much was the graduation ceremony. Granted it wasn't horrible or anything but I feel the time they spent in the episode on the ceremony could of been spent showing the rest of the SSS members coming to terms with their lives and disappearing instead of just disappearing off screen. Still this is a minor complaint that I don't feel like ranting about like a lot of other people online right now.

The other thing I found really interesting about this episode was Otonashi's confession that he loves Kanade (she seems to love him as well, but she never actually states it so we will never know for sure) and the reveal that Kanade was the person who got Otonashi's heart after he became an organ downer. It was a nice touch as it does explain the title 'Angel Beats' and the heart monitor motif they used in the opening and half way points. It also wasn't stated, but was implied, that the only reason Otonashi showed up in the afterlife was so Kanade could thank him for giving here his heart and move on. Of course whether Otonashi is trapped in the afterlife due to having no regrets is up to interpretation, but the ending credits and the scene after the credits seem to show Otonashi also being about to fade away and end up reincarnated like everyone else.

It was also kind of nice that the reincarnated form of Kanade was humming 'My Song' which is what caused reincarnated Otonashi to reach out to her at the end. After all it was stated by Otonashi earlier in the episode that while they won't physically be able to remember each other, their memories of the time in the afterlife are engraved into their souls.

Well Angle Beats was a fun show to watch. It wasn't the greatest anime I've ever seen, but it had some nice and touching moments. I feel their was a lot of wasted potential, but that is what fanfiction is for I guess. Maybe I'll write an Angel Beats story once I at least finish the first chapter of my Tales of Vesperia story.

Edit:

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Oh and apparently their is going to be an episode 14 released with the last Angel Beats DVD/BluRay in Japan. It is probably going to be a pointless fan service episode, but I'm hoping it ends up being an extended epiloge starting from the scene after the credits. Well either that or an episode showing the pasts of the characters that disappeared off screen.

 

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I nearly had a heart attack watching the end.

"YOU CAN'T END IT THAT WAY!" I was nearly screaming at my screen. Then the very last 10 or so seconds were all the catharsis I needed. For all its faults, one thing I can definitely say about AB! is that it actually had a beginning, a middle, and an end. Far too many shows lately were turning out to be these stupid slice-of-life shit shows that had no real end or closure. This did. I let out a huge sigh of relief when Yuzuru noticed and reached out to Kanade in the end.

Almost hate to say it, but AB! might be an interesting setting for HP characters who died tragically in the canon HP universe. Well, the concept, at least.

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Hogwarts is the British "school" where the dead go. Or sum shit like that.