Angel Beats! #09 — Wherein the Budget Runs Out

May 28th, 2010

 

And Captain Obvious takes over.

Impressions:

I’m not sure why they skipped the ED if they were just going to draw maybe about 60 new frames for the last five minutes of the episode. Maybe they just wanted to let the entire dramatic swelling music play as Otonashi came to the oh so intelligent realization that things were happening to resolve people’s inner conflicts. Wow! It’s like I’m watching episode 3 all over again. That whole realization would have had a lot more impact if it hadn’t taken him a month longer to get there than the audience and if they had done it to something other than five minutes of recycled footage and this shot. Couldn’t they show another closeup on Tenshi’s shoes? They only stretched that frame out for about four seconds. That’s nothing in the scheme of things.

At least they disposed of almost all of the humor this week, even if the drama was slightly more inane than usual. Tenshi just needed a nap and is suffering no ill effects otherwise, so most of the episode was consumed by Otonashi having another flashback picking up from his ‘death’ last time and leading to the next time he ‘dies.’ I’m already putting good money on his next flashback being him waking up in a hospital room until he succumbs to sick boy in snow disease for his third dramatic ‘death’. I can understand him maybe dying from his giant internal injury (although I don’t believe it for an instant), but I found it particularly amusing that everybody on the train was practically on death’s door after 7 days of being trapped despite apparently having quite a bit of water. Besides, we’re long past the point where death is anything but a gag in this show.

Posted in Angel Beats! | 36 Comments »

36 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • skurai says:
    May 28, 2010 at 3:37 pm

    Somehow I kind of feel disappointed

  • zerosbakainu says:
    May 28, 2010 at 8:59 pm

    I just like to say that death isn’t always something to laugh at, especially in this case.

  • Nanaya says:
    May 28, 2010 at 9:01 pm

    Wait, did they say that TK isn’t good with English? The hell? He’s the first voice since Nanoha’s staff that doesnt make my ears bleed!

  • Nanaya says:
    May 28, 2010 at 9:21 pm

    Hmm… I actually liked how this ep ended, what with Otonashi pretending to be on Yuri’s side, with Tenshi as his agent, playing the field on both sides. Apparently this is the Tenshi route! (Dear God I hope so… looking at the alternatives… :/).

    • Haesslich says:
      May 28, 2010 at 10:37 pm

      Thank god Kanade’s cock-blocking Takamatsu and Naoi. Well, as long as she’s able to do so, before Yuri does her in so that she can get her Itsuki/Kyon pairing…

      Although, this makes me think that Otonashi’s going siscon over Kanade….

  • Albedo says:
    May 28, 2010 at 11:41 pm

    And now… Otonashi leads everyone to the new world. I’m hoping he breaks out in evil laughter by the end of this series.

  • spoofle says:
    May 29, 2010 at 12:36 am

    Hate to bash Otonashi’s good intentions, but I’m pretty sure organ donation only works under certain circumstances, and dying of internal injuries isn’t one of them.

    (well, I’m not entirely sure of that, not being a doctor and having learned about the organ donation process some time ago, so take that with a grain of salt/correct me if necessary)

    • Nanaya says:
      May 29, 2010 at 12:51 am

      Japan’s system might different (based on that scene), but in general, if the person died from an injury to the liver, why waste their heart? Not sure if the organs would be of proper quality after a weeks worth of starvation, though…

      • Aroduc says:
        May 29, 2010 at 1:11 am

        I really didn’t understand that scene either and chalked it up to not understanding Japan’s organ donation laws. At the very least, I cannot imagine that all Japanese carry around a little organ donor card that they’re expected to pull out and sign as they lay there dying. It seems like something you’d want to take care of… I don’t know… before that?

    • Anonymous says:
      May 29, 2010 at 12:52 am

      If I remember correctly the only reason organs would be rejected are if the donor card was not signed or if the organs are damaged in any way by disease or injury such that they would be unuseable (i.e. it would make no sense to give a patient the heart of a patient who was shot in the heart).

      The term “internal injuries” is kind of vague and doesn’t particularly mean any of his organs are damaged (you can die just from blood loss if only a major blood vessel burst) although it is very likely some of his organs are damaged, but it is still possible that the ones he wants to donate are not.

  • Anise Punter says:
    May 29, 2010 at 2:23 am

    This episode, to me, was chock full of lame. I think on my part, knowing Jun Maeda was somehow involved with this might have ruined the series for me, because I have to be wary of “Oh, better not enjoy Otonashi / Yurippe / Tenshi / TK too much, they might get killed off”, so Otonashi’s flashback ends up just being “meh” for me. I had the same problem with After Story, which I thought brutally sucked as I knew what would happen going in.

    As for the organ donation card, you would expect someone to sign it long before they actually sign off, but in case of a train crash, it’s not impossible that the guy recently got it and hadn’t made his decision whether to sign it or not yet. None of my organs work properly anyway, so it’s not something I worry about :/

    • Aroduc says:
      May 29, 2010 at 2:48 am

      The organ donor thing was one of those things that would have been fine if it was just one person doing it, but then every single survivor suddenly taking out their own cards from their pockets and filling them out all at the same time was just… no.

      Like stealing towels from hotels. One person is easy. The entire guest registry… no.

      • Anise Punter says:
        May 29, 2010 at 2:58 am

        That was the writing staff wanting us to feel sad. I feel like they failed.

  • Kotemi says:
    May 29, 2010 at 4:41 am

    After watching an interview of Jun Maeda about the production of angel beats, I felt quite reluctant that this series going to be successful. As Maeda stated that he didn’t have idea at all until he decided to try something new.

  • Wes says:
    May 29, 2010 at 6:29 am

    I actually liked this episode a lot. I’m a sucker for sad scenes.

    Anyway, I can ignore the fact that everyone had unsigned donor cards in their wallets, but the real question is — what was that guy going to do with the water he stole? Stand in the open and drink it all? It’s not like he was running towards the end he hadn’t seen… he was running for the dead end 50m in front of him. There wasn’t even anywhere to hide!

  • Son Gohan says:
    May 29, 2010 at 6:34 am

    “Quite a bit of water”, Aroduc? Really?
    They said they had 5-6 bottles of water and at least one of them was spilled by the guy who paniced. This isn’t near enough to sustain 9-10 people for a week!!!
    I know you enjoy hating on this series but at least get your facts straight…

    • Bateman says:
      May 29, 2010 at 8:24 am

      Wow guy, you need to chill.

      If you haven’t noticed, the author makes sarcastic comments about EVERY series.

    • Aroduc says:
      May 29, 2010 at 12:09 pm

      At regular temperatures, humans can survive just under a week with zero water, so yeah, 5-6 bottles is well more than enough to stretch that out a few extra days, and even that’s assuming that they have absolutely no other sources of it anywhere (ground, condensation, food, etc).

      • karasu says:
        May 30, 2010 at 10:53 am

        maybe the Japanese are weaker.

        And that donor card thing; I’m quite sure it’s either on the back of the insurance or ID card, that’s why everyone has one, I think.

      • Anonymous says:
        May 30, 2010 at 1:14 pm

        Standard answer for death by lack of fluid is 3 days, not 7. Climate and body size will vary that number

        In a talk between Otonashi and Igarashi, the estimate was sufficient water for 3 days. Both of them share 1 water ration, which is why they were in the worst condition compared to the other survivors

        The japanese have a medical insurance card that is exactly as you see in the anime. The back is where you circle the organs you want to donate.

        Before trying to point out points that lack realism, please do check the facts

      • Aroduc says:
        May 30, 2010 at 1:17 pm

        Bzzt. The rule of three was popularized as an easy mnemonic (3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food, 3 months without hope), but it’s nowhere even close to correct.

      • Nanaya says:
        May 31, 2010 at 1:13 am

        I love it when someone does that smug “please check your facts” line, and then turns out to be completely wrong in the first place. It’s the most refreshing kind of hypocrisy.

      • Random Pedestrian says:
        June 25, 2010 at 9:41 pm

        Btw just as a comment but wouldn’t they be screwed in that situation after around 7-11 days…leaning more towards the 7 because of the severe lack of water…so they could have really been close to their limit depending on the temperature…though considering the timing for exams one could maybe expect them to be able to survive for possibly a little longer…well i guess there are too many variables in the situation…plus it seemed more like everyone felt like crap rather than actually dying…this seems correct considering at that point really in any standards you would start having various problems(that would take a while to fix afterwards) with you body and possibly hallucinations……and 5-6 bottles of water for that many people isn’t really that significant(and btw food requires water for digestion…especially the plethora of snacks that dominated their stock)..more like if they had a quart each for that week then there would be like an extra day of survival? I’m not too sure but I’m pretty sure what I’m saying is at least somewhat correct…and i knew this anime would be time screwed from the moment i saw its episode limitation…maeda cant fit his work correctly into that…well time and budget limits screwing up everything isn’t exactly new…and don’t blame the forced pacing that came from trying to cram in too much…when someone has to limit their work to such time constraints its really quite annoying…and many people just try to squeeze in as much of their ideal as possible so really….btw i feel that too many of your reviews are opinions with a few review-like aspects rather than a concrete review… (btw i also feel that you write off many good story techniques as pointless too often – along with impatience that goes with the common American(and i guess the world in a lesser extent) “lack of attention span”, which is getting quite severe according to many studies…oh and ihave already taken stats so i made sure at least some of the are not bs) – (it kinda effects me though too, to be honest)
        -oh and reading more source material will probably be more useful to understanding the faults for many series

        well whatever i still think Angel Beats was pretty good when you consider how it seems pretty forcefully crunched…that can even be noted from some of his comments…

        the first part counts as check your facts i guess…but by you weren’t too off…it just seems like the conclusion was cause they were, by your standard, at deaths door in possibly a day or less because “that much” water doesn’t seem to be that effective…cause that is maybe 2-ish? liters for around 10 people. that’s .2 liters per person…this is far from the amount need to survive even one more day…well still i guess the variation in time is enough to cover for the water part though? well whatever this is getting too long so…

    • Sloppy says:
      May 29, 2010 at 12:29 pm

      Pssst, that old woman who was found under the rubbles in Haiti one month after the earthquake would like to have a talk with you.

      As for the general disappoint expressed by some of the posters here. Meh, y’know it’s not really that bad of a writing. It’s not Oscar quality, but it’s not as bad as you think. It’s just a little something called apathy that us folks in North America are afflicted with. You guys ought to recognize that.

      Although this is hypocrisy on my part though, I admit it. I’d have a good laugh watching the lot of you guys slowly starve to death and die from thirst too.

  • Megamet says:
    May 29, 2010 at 9:39 am

    Nothing ever satisfies you, eh?

  • selg says:
    May 29, 2010 at 12:48 pm

    if anyone wonders, the donation card everyone seem to have is the national insurance for health card. it maybe the health system they have in japan. but sad to say, otonashi might not get his organ donated other than his skin, unless they get him to a hospital quick to salvage the organs.

    • Nanaya says:
      May 29, 2010 at 6:19 pm

      I have a feeling Tenshi decided to gloss over that aspect when giving Otonashi her reassuring talk about his life/death’s worth. Figures, NOW she shows tact, 8 episodes after stabbing him through because he asked her to prove that he couldn’t die…

  • FlameStrike says:
    May 30, 2010 at 3:33 am

    From the looks of it I don’t think EVERYONE was on death’s door after 4 days without food and water. They were most likely just lying down because being deprived of food and water for 4 days makes you feel like SHIT. No seriously, sure the human body can survive extended periods of time without nourishment, but for someone used to 3 meals a day I’m sure fasting for 4 days in a row is enough to get them to lie down and rest when there’s nothing else to do. If you recall, the only people that died was the heavily injured guy and Otonashi. I’m less likely to believe that rescuing people from a major train crash would take a whole 7 days, but even for that I can think of a ton of reasons for it. Personally I thought this was a pretty good episode. The flash backs to Otonashi’s life are a good show of his character and how he came to be as he is currently. It’s also relevant to the future direction of the plot. At least for this flash back it’s not a “LOL SHOW IT FOR TEARS THEN FORGET” moment. Also for once the events were shown to us instead of told in an exposition heavy style. It seemed very well done to me.

  • Arizth says:
    May 30, 2010 at 1:59 pm

    I’m gonna go with FlameStrike, here.

    Honestly, I really feel for Otonashi. I mean, Every-fucking-one of the cast has had a crappy end. Yuri stabbed by robbers after watching her younger siblings die, Whasherface from GirlDeMo, brain damage due to application of beer bottle to head, Hinata who got brained by a flyball…

    Well, not literally, but It’s funny to imagine Hinata getting brained by a flyball. Anyway.

    Otonashi, as far as I’m concerned, has the most “God is a dick” death.

    His moe imouto dies, but instead of giving up hope and offing himself, he studies like hellfire, and is on his way to accomplishing his dream, being a doctor, when the train suddenly crashes. And, rather then a merciful death by, say, a long spike of wood or metal to the occipital lobe at 100 kmph, he get’s to babysit a dozen sick and injured while SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY INTERNALLY BLEEDING TO DEATH.

    Tho’, I DO think he’s a bit of an idiot with the whole, “Oshit, when I’m done helping the battlefront, Will I disappear too?” thing.

    No, asshole. There’s ALWAYS going to be another batch to minister to. Stay with fucking Kanade. Or I will stab you.

    • Nanaya says:
      May 31, 2010 at 1:22 am

      @Arizth

      His moe imouto dies

      No, I’m pretty sure she got better (although I might be wrong, I skimmed that ep). He was apparently a borderline sociopath, and his only enjoyment in life was focusing himself on taking care of her, which he would have lost after she got better. Which kind of makes it worse, because he was about to be a doctor so he could do the one thing that made him feel like a person when he died.

      So yeah, that place is like his haven. And is there anyone who ISN’T on Tenshi’s side?

      • Arizth says:
        May 31, 2010 at 10:35 am

        No, no. She died. In that ep, He promised to take her out into the city of xmas, but the doctors refused him, citing that her condition was getting progressively worse.

        So, he snuck her out. Soon after, she died.

        Tho’, I feel that calling him a borderline sociopath is a bit much. I got the feeling, from his lifeflashback, that he was a 20-something truant living on his own with no real attachment to his life, and no idea what he would want to do with it if he had any.

        Losing his imouto made him realize how much he enjoyed taking care of people, and it was cemented when he saw the kid thanking his doc after being released from the hospital.

        But, yeah. Also, Heaven, not Haven, unless you actually meant “a safe place to hide out”…wait. Damnitall, that makes sense.

        Also also, how could anyone NOT like Kanade?

  • Dual says:
    June 1, 2010 at 4:56 am

    Damn good show.

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