No God, No Buddha, No Angels (Angel Beats! Episode 1)

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Angel Beats created a world with depth, installed a community, developed its main characters, provided a beautiful/meaningful fight scene, elicited laugher, and evoked sadness. AND that was only the first episode!

I’ve really got to hand it to Jun Maeda (Co-founder of Key) this time. He’s close to nudging out Nisio Isin (Bakemonogatari) and Ryohgo Naria (Durarara!!) as my favorite writer. It could even be as strong as a few of my favorite Gainax works, but I should probably wait a few episodes to see whether or not it falls flat on its face.

But enough with the ‘writer’s bingo, let’s talk about Angel Beats.

Plot Progression (Some Summary with a little background info mixed in)

Otonashi meets Haruhi (er… Yuri a.k.a. Yurippe) the leader of the SOS brigade (er… I mean the SSS: Shinda Sekai Sensen translation Afterlife War Front) who gives a rousing opening dialogue on his current status of deadness. Otonashi (who is voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya: Other Prominent Roles including Araragi-kun from Bakemonogatari and Nozomu Itoshiki a.k.a. Zetsubo Sensei) quickly blows the gun wielding Yuri off to go talk to the cute silver haired girl standing in the middle of a football field (whom Yuri was targeting with said sniper rifle). Hilariously enough Tenshi, or angel (the silver haired girl with the sniper rifle trained on her) is voiced by Kana Hanazawa, the girl who voiced Suou Pavlichenko from DTB Ryusei no Gemini (who wielded an oversized sniper rifle [role reversal ftw]). Otonashi’s choice of talking to Tenshi ends up being an unfortunate one as she stabs him through the heart with an Edward Elric-esque blade that extends from her arm when she mumbles Hand Sonic.

The World Explains its Rules

1. You are already dead so you cannot die again
2. You can however be erased by the angel
3. What happens upon erasure is speculated upon, but unknown
4. There are only a few real people, the rest are NPC’s
5. Acting like a normal person can lead to erasure
6. The SSS is an organization that (futilely) resists the inexorable Tenshi
7. The Principals Office (SSS headquarters) is the only safe place to talk about operations
8. Key Coffee is delicious

Tenshi’s Rules

1. The Angel Obeys the rules of this world
2. The Angel will answer questions (and prove that you cannot die again) to the best of her abilities.
3. She’s not good with people
4. Emotionless, blunt, and uses words sparingly
5. If someone doesn’t act like the model student she issues a warning
6. If you run, she follows and intercepts
7. If you attack: An eye for an eye!
8. She will not comment on the world
9. She will not act unless students are behaving out of line

Commentary and Extrapolations

What really amazed me is how natural the pacing seemed. Sure it was a little fast, but not so fast that they didn’t flesh out Otonashi’s morals, personality, and conflicts. Along those same lines they also established positions as I put above in the rules of the world. Tenshi lives to enforce the rules while the SSS lives to resist those rules. Regardless of fairness or rightness Otonashi ends up falling in with the much larger emotable SSS against the emotionless Tenshi. But unlike the rest of the SSS who have already made peace with their position Otonashi is still trying to figure out the point.

Ultimately this series is about “life” or about being “alive”. You, like me, might find that pretty funny considering all of the characters (besides Tenshi) are dead. There is no middle ground to stand on because you will either resist the rules with everything you have or submit to them. Their world of death isn’t so different from ours really except the enforcement of the rules is much more omnipotent and inflexible. Still, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Tenshi at the end of the episode as the SSS ran away leaving her all alone. Maybe my empathy glands are working overtime, but when Otonashi was summing up Tenshi’s situation with: “There really is only one enemy; just Angel. We’re only fighting against her.” I couldn’t help but feel her aloneness. She tragically stands for something (by herself) that the SSS will stop at nothing to rip apart.

When a plan of the SSS’s succeeds Tenshi fails to stop them. Unlike the SSS who can console themselves with each other (and who’s failures don’t really make that big of a difference since it’s the act of rebelling [not the success of it] that really matters), Tenshi is left alone in her failure (where results are probably more important than the act of strictly enforcing the rules). I felt this most prominently when the meal tickets were floating beautifully like golden snow and Tenshi just stood there, with a bleeding hole in her stomach, alone, while the members of the SSS ran away together laughing. It’s almost like bullying. I’m sure my position will change when I see more, but for now (despite the rare sinister shots of her) I feel sorry for her and like Otonashi, want to know more. I even feel like rooting for her :P (Yet interestingly enough I also want to root for the SSS).

I talked about the effective use of stock characters when talking about Baka to Test to Shoukanju’s first episodes, but I think it’s important to note the difference between Stock Charaters and well set up One-Dimensional ones. A stock character refers to a slightly more developed character stereotype. Basically it’s like the childhood friend stock character. We generally know their motivations are ruled by love of their male counterpart while their personality and way of showing it varies (and is generally set up early). Thus they’re really two dimensional it’s just that their second dimension is pre-developed since we all know what’s coming.

One-Dimensional characters on the other hand aren’t necessarily stock. In the first episode of Angel Beats! Yuri goes around the room introducing each character by their name and their most prominent personality trait. For instance Yuri introduces: “And this is Hinata-Kun. As you can see, he’s a slob, but every now and then he pulls through.”

Hinata: “Yep I—That doesn’t make me look good at all!”

Thus we know one thing about Hinata and one thing only. We may be able to infer other things about him from this personality characteristic, but all of it is done on a one dimensional basis of a slob who cares about appearances. The same follows for all of the other members of the SSS as Yuri introduces them. The difference therefore comes when we compare these one dimensional characters to the main ones: Yuri, Tenshi, and Otonashi.

Clearly Otonashi is working on more than one dimension. He’s facing an internal conflict between his new world, morality, and his lost memories. He has humor and is in reasonably good spirits, but his decisions are understandable. He’s a great lead for the viewers to project on. He’s fleshed out enough that we rationalize with his decisions and agree when he makes an objective observation about the world.

Yuri is the personification of the moral of the SSS: “No God, no Buddha, no Angels”. Even though she resists the rules of the world almost single mindedly I still can’t help but feel that there’s something deeper. Maybe it’s the way she describes Tenshi with no real anger. There’s almost an understanding and sympathy for the way Tenshi works, which just doesn’t match with my ideas of all out resistance. She lives simply and fills her life with fun though she leads with an iron palm. In other words she’s a complex character (as well she should be).

Last is Tenshi who personifies the rules of the world. As I’ve said before I find her sympathetic, but her seeming failure at performing her duty (as proven by the mere existence of the SSS) seems to prove Yuri’s words “She’s bad with people”. Ultimately this raises a lot of questions about the character herself. Why does she enforce the rules, and if someone like god did put her in charge of the world then why is she so bad at dealing with people. Despite the emotionless girl being somewhat stock, the character of Tenshi reminds me most of Yuki Nagato and the question Kyon raises: “Why did they create an observer like Nagato who has trouble fitting in when they also created Asakura who was able to deal with other humans easily”? There’s a story here and I’m really excited to watch it.

Thus we have a great setting, complex conflict, developable characters, and theme: Four necessary components in the making of a well written story.

(The other great thing about One-Dimensional characters versus Stock characters is their non-predictable development. All of the members of the SSS and the Band have potentially unique story lines branching out before us, while stock characters understandably must follow fairly (predictable) linear courses.)

Those of you who are reminded of Haruhi have every right to be as the setup is fairly similar. On the other hand unlike Haruhi I have a much better feeling about Key actually knowing the theme (and focus of its story) as that’s something they always deliver with unparalleled precision. Haruhi gets distracted the longer it goes. Sometimes I think the writer has forgotten the motto “Live Alive” which is the essence of Haruhi Suzumiya’s SOS brigade. The SSS parallels that same motto in a world where they cannot really die. The whole concept of continuing to live when you cannot really be killed fascinates me. What’s the point of the constant conflict if it reaps no results (no one is really killed)? The answer to that question is the results are realized in other forms: Such as the lifting of the meal tickets.

Execution

P.A. Works (Canaan and True Tears) are really outdoing themselves with their implementation of the story. Though the individual elements may not be as great as a KyoAni character animation, the overall scope of a P.A. Works frame has always impressed me. I think you all know what I’m talking about: The opening episode of Canaan where she twirled on a pole all the while firing into a vivacious festival. Similarly the incredible size of the concert juxtaposed with the beautiful fight between the SSS and Tenshi took my breath away. The overhead shot of the bullets veering off in different directions as they hit Tenshi’s distortion reminded me of the new Battle Star Galactica’s incredible CG space fights. The golden snow of meal tickets excited my eyes in all of the right ways. Through all of this they also remembered to show Otonashi’s sense of wonder at this new world while the rest of the characters took it for granted.

(The Cafeteria and School were also a feast for the eyes. I’m in love with their structures though Production I.G. [Eden of the East] probably does better landscapes)

P.A. works did pull some cuts that were very reminiscent of Haruhi (i.e. Yuri puts on a brigade hat as the camera does a swift pull away), but all in all they won’t be as memorable as the big scenes. I’m beginning to think that no one can compete with P.A. Works in that one department.

The sound was good too. Although I didn’t pay attention to it as much as the beautiful scenes the cut from the concert to Otonashi facing off with Tenshi alone was striking. The almost far away sound instilled that feeling of fear that he was all alone against a foe P.A. works tried very hard to make look terrifying in subsequent scenes.

My only complaint is probably the character designs. They feel a little blocky and their movements are a little stiff. Tenshi’s action scenes were pretty good, but the everyday stuff could have been better. However, this is virtually cancelled out by how much life P.A. Works injects into every scene. They animate a lot of characters doing stuff when other studios wouldn’t bother. I think we’re in for quite a treat if these production values hold steady.

Finally

I think you’re starting to understand why I gave this series the coveted EPIC!! rating in my initial reviews (If you hadn’t agreed right of the bat). It does so many things well while also carrying a deeper meaning. This might just be on par with a “Tengen Toppen Gurren Lagann”, a “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”, a “Clannad ~After Story~”, or even a “Cowboy Bebop”. Sure it may or may not be similar to one of those stories, but where it will rank in my fond memories is up for grabs. I can only hope that it will plug at my heart strings the same way.

Brilliant Execution, Brilliant Writing, Brilliant Stuff: Go Watch It!