The Angel’s Beat

Alright, I can handle how good Angle Beats! is now.

I guess this means I won’t spontaneously burst forth with terrible rhymes (I’m sure some of you are relived). That said, I feel it’s fair now to turn back and look at the amazing additions in the second episode, namely the OP.

Originally I didn’t feel the desire to post any serious analysis on the second episode of Angel Beats! because honestly: Sometimes explaining that magical feeling ruins it (hence the heavily sedated couplets). What could I really add in writing that P.A. Works didn’t make you feel with that inspired selection of songs combined with that amazing imagery?

That’s why I’m here today to tell you sometimes it’s better to just feel the anime and not analyze it. However, despite this, somethings (and some people) do beg to be partially explained and I would like to do the honor of giving P.A. Works credit where credit is due. I’ll still try hard not to break the magic for those of you who are still enjoying it (I’ve only watched it on repeat about 30 times now over the past week so the magic wasn’t quite there when I turned on the third episode).

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The Juxtaposition of the non-expressive Tenshi with the incredibly expressive way in which she plays the piano

There’s cheap doxycycline not much more to say in this regard. This is just so different from any other light we see her in. When someone plays the piano like that they’re not just hitting the correct notes, they’re a part of the music. It’s what many people would call the soul of the music. In this OP Tenshi evolved from a seemingly soulless individual into something beyond our emotional understanding: Someone who feels more deeply than I could have possibly imagined.

The Constantly Changing Background

They started Tenshi out on the top of the hill and integrated her playing the piano into every part of the world. It made her almost omnipotent: I included the words “Play the cast to life” in my own little tidbit, but that’s honestly what it felt like. It made her omnipresent, as if she was in the very air of the world. She is everything. Her music beat the flow of life. It filled everything and her key strokes matched the intensity of the characters. She was everybody and nobody at the same time (everything and nothing).

Yuri and Tenshi

P.A. Works embodied the conflict between these two so perfectly. Yuri is the person full of action, looking for a way to fight and change the world, while Tenshi is the unnoticing (uncaring) universe. The shot of Yuri cocking the gun followed by a close up of her and Tenshi facing opposite direction was the conflict given a concrete image. Two people looking at life from different viewpoints. That’s what imagery is.

The Opening of the Eyes

I’m a big fan of this symbol and Otonashi provides. As humans we rely on our sight so much that we even compare it to seeing inside of a person, or “I’m seeing clearly for the first time”. Thus when Nunnally opens her eyes for the first time in Code Geass to look at her brother (in the final episode) it online buy Ampicillin wasn’t just to show us her overcoming the geass: It was showing her seeing her brother honestly for the first time. That shot is extremely powerful, and when I saw Otonashi opening his eyes it expresses his own ability to see things objectively; to see the world for how it is and “to see with eyes unclouded by hate” (thank you Princess Mononoke). Honestly he is that character able to look at things with an unbiased perspective. He’s the only one who can’t remember how fair or unfair his life was.

The Rising Balls of Light

I said in the first episode that this show was going to be about life and the balls of light symbolize life in their own right. There’s a reason we compare it to flames (as it burns vivaciously then burns itself out). Shakugan no Shana’s torches felt natural since we associate life with fire anyways. When we see the lights fill the scene as Tenshi plays it makes me feel like I did when watching Fantasia’s the sorcerer’s apprentice. Tenshi’s playing enchants the world to breathe and burn and not only that, the world is full of life. Of course, looking at lots of lights is also just really pretty. I mean Christmas lights and going to a far away mountain to look down on the lights of a city are two of my favorite things (but surprisingly enough cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels are not).

The Intrigue

Everything else can be attributed to the beautiful song. The way it intensified as we went into the images that would later be played in the episode. The shots moved faster as the song picked up, it’s just a great way to capture emotion and move us with the music. P. A. Works knows their stuff and they certainly made me feel this throughout the entire episode. The editing and intent is just fantastic.

That said I’d like to turn to a comment left by Mr. Jason moofang:

While this show doubtlessly purchase cheap pharm stays on my watchlist like glue, I’m a lot more mixed about what I feel about it. The one major thing I disagree with you about is P.A. Works. I think.. they are doing a somewhat sub-par job, with shockingly bad production values in the first ep (thank heavens it’s better this ep) and overall lack of interesting directing. It also feels like we’re not milking some of the going-ons enough, like we’re walking through everything somewhat linearly without deliberating on or lingering with some of the more interesting elements. I do admit that I’m pinning them up against KyoAni and Shaft right from the get-go but that’s only natural given the nature of the show no?

The OP and ED are surprisingly good though as you noted. The material itself is definitely intriguing stuff. I just cannot shake the feeling that it could all have been a lot better with a solid budget and a really strong animator behind the show.

Doubtlessly what Jason says is correct. However, though KyoAni can deliver some strong production values I think it would be unfair to credit them with the ability level at which P.A. Works has delivered this story. The pure imagination behind the OP and how well it reflected the values of the show are proof of that. Kyoto is good, but I just don’t see them as THAT good anymore. I do however think P.A. Works shot themselves in the foot by trying to stick so closely to the original, blocky, character designs. It the diet pills just makes a lot of the animation awkward.

Despite all of this I’m mainly interested in how an anime company interprets their source material and whether or not they bring more to the table than even the original had to offer. I didn’t read the original source material, but P.A. Works definitely brings the whole place to life and is able to cover a surprisingly large amount of plot without making me feel like they’re butchering it with a fast plot. I still like watching Bebop despite its dated style and would watch the whole series again in a heartbeat. Should I point out the production values of Dance in the Vampire Bund… I don’t know about you, but I found them absolutely abysmal, their action scenes made me want to puke. At least P.A. Works in this regard makes it look fluid and brings a natural blur to the whole thing that I haven’t really scene before. Shaft did good with Bakemonogatari, but that story was really good for their form or storytelling. I’m pretty sure they would have wrecked Angel Beats. P.A. Works does a pretty good job of showing the enormity of everything.

I think you were mainly just trying to point out that I was giving them too much credit and I probably was, but you’ve gotta admit, it’s damn good (and that’s not only the writer at work).

P.S. Lol Jason is your gravatar Yuri with “Root” written at the bottom. I can’t help but feel this is in response to my poll and I want to let you know, you made my day .