Angel Beats #13 — Character Rape

June 25th, 2010

 

Right up to the very end.

Impressions:

If you were hoping for an ending that had anything at all to do with Yuri or explaining all the dangling threads, tough tiddles. Instead, you’re getting a corny graduation ceremony (expected), with plenty of shots of scenery as Otonoashi recaps the story thus far, Yuri blushing and getting flustered for the first time in the show, and Kanade skipping, humming, dancing, giggling, and cowering like the writers grabbed from the wrong personality archetype pile. Oh yes, and then after everybody else has said good bye and poofed, Otonoashi confesses his undying love for Kanade and how he wants to always be with her, so, of coure, she disappears, and Otonashi breaks down in tears. Run credits. Oh yeah, and in case that wasn’t out of nowhere enough for you. Kanade was apparently Otonashi’s organ recipient, and her regret was being unable to thank him for it. I… wait… what? Was that whole thing just to make an excuse for an overblown "We share the same heart" line? I’m pretty sure it was.

Apparently he came to terms after that or something because the post-ED has a short sequence of Kanade in another world humming the same song while a stalker another Otonashi chases after her, so yeah, sure. Why not? Otonashi in anguish followed by a cheap corny reincarnation tagline is more or less appropriate given everything that’s come so far. Because this whole thing was… a touching love story between Otonashi and Kanade. I feel like I missed a memo somewhere. It wasn’t all outright horrible though. Kanade’s tofu song was cute, and despite the confession scene making absolutely zero sense, at least it had very touching music. They also did an okay job with the graduation ceremony, although like always, the bad slapstick interrupted moments about two seconds after they started getting emotional.

Final thoughts at the bottom.

Final Thoughts:

The phrase "Train wreck" comes to mind, but it’s really not accurate. Trains have momentum and direction. This does not. A better analogy would be a pack of feral chihuauas in heat. With grenades taped to their backs. Entertaining and destructive, maybe even cute and tragic at times, but ultimately a waste of explosives and snake food. I don’t think having more episodes would have helped at all either. The problem wasn’t the pacing, it was that from start to finish, the show had absolutely no idea what it wanted to do, where it was going, or what its endgame was. It would do slapstick for ten minutes, then suddenly turn deadly serious, and then it tossed in romance literally five minutes from the end. Then they would compare someone missing a fly ball to someone else having their entire family murdered like they were events of the same importance. That certainly made it interesting to talk about, but I’d say the same thing about Maburaho or Princess Lover.

Production was mostly pretty good, so if you just want to completely turn off your brain and see some people shooting guns with wildly inappropriate J Pop, or pretty sunsets, you could do worse, but there were a lot of extremely obvious lapses that even Imagin would have been embarrassed to put out. The characters were also extremely undeveloped, particularly Kanade. Only Otonashi and maybe Hinata showed any kind of growth or development, the rest of the time, flashbacks were just spit out to show that the characters had developed. The active story should never be subordinate to character background. Passive versus active. English 101, baby. Most of the characters didn’t even get that much. They were just archetypes tossed in there to fill space as gag characters. The girl who died in episode three (two? I forget) had more development, and maybe more screen time, than characters that were around for nearly the entire run.

In the end, there’s really not a whole lot to recommend here outside the visuals and the occasional funny gag between bouts of overblown melodrama. Besides, I really cannot even begin to imagine what watching multiple episodes of this in one sitting would be like. Now that it’s over (well, aside from one DVD extra episode), there’s really nothing else left to say other than to point out all the ways that the show could have developed if it had just picked one direction and stuck with it.

My only hope is that the DVD extra episode is twenty straight minutes of TK ranting.

Posted in Angel Beats! | 98 Comments »

98 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • sage says:

    Wow.

    So there are times where the “best couple end” is not the “best end”. Wow.

  • Serpit says:

    “The phrase “Train wreck” comes to mind, but it’s really not accurate. Trains have momentum and direction. This does not. A better analogy would be a pack of feral chihuauas in heat. With grenades taped to their backs. Entertaining and destructive, maybe even cute and tragic at times, but ultimately a waste of explosives and snake food.”

    I think I love you.

    • sage says:

      I think I love you

      Go away, he is taken.

    • amyable says:

      Seriously, Aroduc, that chihuahua analogy might have been the funniest sentence I’ve read all year. Props. And thanks for making this abortion semi-watchable.

  • sage says:

    Also…

    Besides, I really cannot even begin to imagine what watching multiple episodes of this in one sitting would be like.

    GUESS WHAT I AM ABOUT TO DO, ARODUC.

    (Joke’s on me, though. I’ll probably die of a brain aneurysm if I do that)

    • Hogart says:

      I watched eps 1-11 in one sitting, and I don’t recommend it. Like many anime the flaws are even more apparent when you don’t take it in on a weekly basis.

      But hey, I wasn’t expecting quality, so my only disappointment is that there’s really nothing of value to discuss about Angel Beats. Maybe you’ll get better mileage knowing the series’ punchline in advance :)

  • Principality says:

    Anime of the year, all years.

    • Myssa Rei says:

      No use convincing the willfully blind.

      I have to say this for the series though: it kept me entertained for thirteen weeks. However being entertaining, and being a coherent piece of writing are two different things.

  • luka says:

    if I not mistake she doesnt say she love him only she is greatful beacouse he save her life then this isnt any romance between them

  • redlupine says:

    Kanade was apparently Otonashi’s organ recipient, and her regret was being unable to thank him for it. I… wait… what?

    but… I… Kanade was… but Otonashi… *head explodes*

  • If Kanade got Otonashi’s heart as a transplant, it sure didn’t keep her alive for very long. She was in this place before he showed up, right?

    • Aroduc says:

      Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Don’t point out the holes.

      • Haesslich says:

        But that’s what holes are for, besides concealing bodies.

        Also, I’m thinking that Maeda was a fan of the Maheomatic WTF ending. At least it’s dead for good, right?

      • tylon says:

        There seems to be some reasons to back why Kanade is there before Yuzuru:
        Kanade mentioned that the heart is still beating and she wanted to thank the person that gave her the heart. (She is still alive?)
        Yuzuru mentioned that he is not suppose to appear in this world as he had fulfilled his objective. He had lost his way and his memory. (Therefore, he had reached that world later.)

      • sora says:

        i like to think of the holes like the one seen in romeo x juliet and how no one (including characters) seem to be bother or concerned about explain why the hell they are on a floating island^^ ahh, oh how I love the irony…

    • Solaris says:

      Damn, i was thining the very same thing. How come Kanade was there BEFORE Otonashi showed up there??? Maybe space and time are twisted and it’s not a plot hole at all ¬.¬ Uhm even i am not truly sure about my own writing here… -.-“

    • VK says:

      I skipped over episode 12, so I must have missed this, but someone told me that Ootonashi came later than Kanade because he was a bug/had amnesia?

      Meh, I don’t get it.

    • Aex says:

      I was expecting Kanade to have gotten Otonashi’s SISTER’S heart or something. That could’ve at least been stretched out to where it might’ve made sense, where she wanted to say “Thank You” and show her gratitude to the older brother.

    • sage says:

      It’s like L O S T, Steven. The order didn’t matter, they were all in LOL HEAVEN at the same time anyway.

      (When you think about it, it really was like LOST. It made NO FUCKING SENSE AT ALL)

    • Anise Punter says:

      Something bothered the hell out of me while watching it but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

      I believe that was what I was looking for, good sir.

      Not an all time classic, this show, not even close, probably a 7.5 or thereabouts, but the best show this season.

      • Myssa Rei says:

        I think the series merits a 7 for entertainment factor too, but for someone to say that the series was all over the place in terms of pacing and writing would be deluding themselves. :D

    • sora says:

      i like to think of the holes like the one seen in romeo x juliet and how no one (including characters) seem to be bother or concerned about explain why the hell they are on a floating island^^ ahh, oh how I love paradox??? lol

  • GreyDuck says:

    So giving up about halfway through saved me several hours of my life that I don’t have to want to ask for back.

    Got it. Whew. Thanks for taking that bullet, man.

  • Solaris says:

    Wow those final thoughts were heartbreaking. It just looked like reading another unusual Aroduc. This one was serious and emotional. Good job. I really want to praise you.

  • Hentai_Jp says:

    This show got too much love on ANN. I didn’t share that opinion so I searched “Angel Beats is bad” on google and this site came up. Made my day. I’ll be sticking around now :P.

    Awesome reviews Aroduc. Very entertaining.

  • arigatou says:

    I was reminded of “Tsubasa Chronicles” plot where Sakura’s feathers have an impact on a different world 300 years yet it just a few days since the group’s journey in search for her feathers have began.

    So, it takes Yuzura a lot of time in the purgatory before he ended up in that place. Kanade came their first become she suffered much pain than him, she lasted 3-10 years even getting Yuzuru’s heart.

  • john says:

    SO SO SO SO bad all i can say WTF he loves her i mean sigh ONlY thing good about this show was the art otherwise this was plain horrible i mean c mon no plot or premise such HUGE hype for this show and boom massive letdown in all aspects the guy who made this better run back to his old studio cuz if he makes another flop like this he gonna be writing comic’s on the subway lol

  • tachi says:

    “The active story should never be subordinate to character background.”

    Guess you weren’t a fan of lost.

    • lubczyk says:

      LOST sucked balls. I knew it by the end of the end of the first season. It’s basically a soap opera. Pretty much all soap operas, whether American, British, Japanese Brazilian, Iranian, or Filipino/ are meant to fill up season upon season until ratings drop, like most manga.

      I hate postmodernist culture. It’s all about ratings and meaningless titillation and not about greater meaning, characters, coherent writing and “plot.”

      I refuse to ever watch such drivel.

      Also, fuck Maeda and Angel Beats. The guy should retake one of his high school creative writing courses and actually pass this time.

    • Aroduc says:

      Survey says nyet!

  • john says:

    this show fuckin sucked balls what a waste Maeda is awful go back to your job and relearn your shit fool lol..

  • Aex says:

    Horrible ending. I’d even compare it to Magikano’s ending, and that is my all-time most hated ending ever. Not that the show wasn’t already on life-support, but this just killed it outright. They took the romantic elements of the Tsukihime anime(complete with the bitter conclusion) and threw them into an afterlife version of the Matrix. How did that ever sound like a good idea to anyone? At least it’s over… right?

  • Anonymous says:

    Great Review, this ending sounds convoluted and rushed, but then again pretty much all endings are nowadays.

    I don’t think the series as a whole is terrible, its is no where near the high standards of other KEY series. It has great art and music and an intriguing concept, though I fully agree that the series main flaw (and a big flaw it is) is that it tries to includes too many plot points which have almost nothing to do with each other. The series could have been developed in so many better ways, but it was heavily bogged down with random, confusing and illogical plot twists.

    Though I say that, I can’t believe most of you say that the show simply “sucks” when it clearly doesn’t, the fact that the show doesn’t know where its going “sucks” the reason why you people hate it just overrated (like ohh Twilight, Lost etcetc) there are shitloads of anime that are acutally a lot worse out there. While the show definitely was a let down, the funny thing is Angel Beats is pretty much one the best thing out there in this current season of anime (though that’s not saying much AT ALL).

  • Kaisos says:

    Wow. That was terrible.

    That was so terrible that I think I lost five entire IQ points. That was so terrible that I had to skip through the entire graduation scene just to stay sane.

    What the hell happened to this show? After the Naoi episode it just got worse and worse and worse…

    Oh well, at least we got TK out of it.

  • Honoo says:

    Looks like all the show manage to make me do from start to end is laugh… and I’m still laughing.

    I thought that I can’t take this show seriously, but in the end… I really can’t take it seriously.

  • Anonymous says:

    At least the pacing here makes me appreciate Asura Cryin’ more.

    Angel Beats couldn’t sell the bittersweet end it tried to set up and it just didn’t earn a good ending. Almost the entire cast disappeared off-screen between two episodes, so it’s not like moving on to whatever the next part of the afterlife is is a big deal, and having Otonashi and Kanade meet up again in the post-afterlife right after she disappeared in his arms is just… strange. It would have made more sense if they’d just gone straight to the post-afterlife.

  • BWK says:

    you want an anime with holes? I give the name of one, a tiny and almost did not succeed, evangelion …
    ya want more, go and see Haruhi, history and full of unnecessary things, but the basic idea of the series was very successful …
    in my honest opinion, angel beats only sinned in one point, an extremely important point that ends up covering several other points:

    1) Size of the series, angel beats would be much better if it was done with 25 episodes. Deepening the history of the characters, a better use of adjuvant (judo boy, TK, halberd …) and better development of the story (6th episode for the 7th episode, the guy made a massacre … suddenly becomes all buddy!) .

    Anyway the series was good. had the potential to at least a 10 or a 9, but it will take 8 for this failure …
    ps:sorry for my english…

    • Kaisos says:

      Evangelion has years and years of additional material devoted to explaining it, and one thing it has over Angel Beats is consistent characterization. That and the most kick-ass, Tang-filled ending of all time.

      …Does anyone else feel that Angel Beats would have been better if it had more people turning into Tang?

      • BWK says:

        Evangelion good ending? lol!
        the final episodes of Evangelion were very deep … much that no one saw them at the bottom of the dark tunnel … The end of Evangelion was very ornate, has a false image of intellectual appeal … speaks, speaks, speaks, and not say anything at all …
        the world simply ends, or re-start … nobody knows …
        (Even with addition, several holes are still there, perhaps with upcoming movies maybe…)

        Angel beats, like I said before, has a good basic idea, but the series has worked with a very fast rhythm … that detail nearly kills the idea, however, even with this flaw, the series deserves to be seen, much more than things like …
        maybe … J-off

        Gainax…Good ending…(Tengen toppa guren lagan)

      • Kaisos says:

        I said “kick-ass” and “Tang-filled”, not “good”.

        Even so, when your ending has a giant naked angel with a vagina eye on her forehead, Tang EVERYWHERE, a ripoff of Hey, Jude, and kimochiwarui, you’re doing it right.

        There was nothing fun or entertaining about the last episode of Angel Beats. In fact, it was very, very painful. Therefore, it will never be as enjoyable as End of Eva.

  • Sil says:

    They should have made Otonashi the final villain where he was the “Mysterious NPC” character who created this world while waiting for Kanade. Well, it would have been more interesting then this ending.

    • Kaisos says:

      Anyone being a villain at all would have been more interesting than this ending.

    • rushuna says:

      True…The afterlife world is a loop about kanade and otonashi relationship….and the extra episode title will be Neon Genesis Angel Beats!

  • Anonymous says:

    You people are a bunch of unimaginitive drones.

    You expected it to be X and it turned out to be Y, which you then feel it failed. Perhaps it was you who expected the wrong thing.

    You missed everything this anime was building up for and the ending flew straight over your head. I don’t even see why you’d continue watching this series if you got into such a hissy fit from the beginning. Do you really like ranting about characterization and plot you don’t even try to understand? I don’t think your opinion is invalid but christ, do us all a favor and don’t blog about a series if you clearly dislike it. You paint it as some kind of terrible monstrosity to your blind masses while it’s been called one of the best of the season. I won’t bother arguing about specific plot points or details because clearly, nothing will satisfy your desire to paint Angel Beats as some kind of horrific mess. And I pity you for that.

    Oh, and remember to try not to be as tasteless in public after you delete this k? Hope you turn into an even bigger tool one day.

    • Maeda, is that you?

    • Kaisos says:

      I expected it to be good. I was disappointed.

      Was I wrong to at least expect that?

      • Aroduc says:

        Yes. How dare you!

      • Aex says:

        Why yes, because apparently “imaginative” people choke down whatever gets thrown at them and come up with reasons why it was good, even if it wasn’t really.

      • rushuna says:

        agreed, this show has potential
        I-I-it’s just that….never mind

      • no hype for me says:

        as i missed most of the hype i never really had any other expectations so all i can say is that as a standalone show i enjoyed it. though as many have mentioned it could have followed any number of paths given its premise and initial setting.

    • Solaris says:

      It’s kind of true the direction spinned all around like carried by the wind. Where’s no direction, is likely people don’t even know what to expect from it.

      And Oh yes, this serie was indeed among the best of the season, compared with the VOID pestering this year’s production value.

    • sora says:

      -Insert Sarcasm Here- bravo…

    • sora says:

      -Insert Sarcasm Here- bravo… Yes of course it was the best… compared to all the crappy crap that they put out last season… you are absolutely 100% correct my dear… way ta go…

    • Albedo says:

      I did not realize I was a part of the “blind masses” until now…

  • Evan says:

    what i find weird is how Kanade had Otonashi’s Heart implanted-died and reincarnated, and still somehow arrived in the afterlife long enough to have developed an arch enemy sort of relationship with Yuri – before Otonashi got there himself…weird? i think it is!

    • Yue says:

      Remember the latest Star Trek movie? How Spock ended up in the same parallel universe but much later than the villains due to a moody wormhole~thingy…

      Impossible to do the math in that show, impossible to do math in this show.

  • The Phantom says:

    And the show looked promising… in fact everything looked promising: nice visuals, above average music, good character designs. What a way to fuck up everything.

  • FlameStrike says:

    Hahahaha this is an excellent sum up of the various problems Angel Beats had. When you look at it from an objective stand point an analyze it, the problems Aroduc explains are clearly there.

    Not that any of them stopped me from enjoying the hell out of this series. Angel Beats also has numerous plus points (Obviously from the hordes of people that love it, like me.) but they don’t appeal to everyone. People are just too different from each other for one thing to please everyone. Well, in the case of AB the flaws are universally recognizable, but I’m too busy going FUCK YEAH KANADE!!(Other people are like this too I bet.) to bother to care much. Overall a good and enjoyable series for me. It was the best show I’ve seen this season despite the numerous glaring flaws. Kanade x Yuzuru end = idc about the rest heh. I mean they’ve been building up to this the whole damn series. I’d have been heck disappointed if nothing happened, but they delivered.

    I’m looking forward to the blue ray extra ep. Here’s to more TK rapping and spazzing out!

  • X-3 says:

    Otonashi’s heart was so terrible that it somehow made Kanade die before him.

    I really wonder if this show would have improved if it had more episodes. Regardless, I think Aroduc’s final thoughts are quite accurate. Also more entertaining than the final episode.

    I loved how they just had everyone else pass on before the episode started. No real final words, just “they’re gone”. Real nice.

  • hi2u says:

    Anno understood what made the things he borrowed from good, and used them as proper inspiration.
    Maeda took pieces he liked from other works and patched them together without understanding why they were good in the first place, resulting in… AB.

  • 高校 says:

    結局疑點太多

  • Anonymous says:

    [quote]My only hope is that the DVD extra episode is twenty straight minutes of TK ranting.[/quote]

    That episode alone could redeem this entire show.

  • Yue says:

    noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…

    It ENDs!!????? damn it, damn it… After crying so much like a waterfall, why does it feel like there’s HOLE in my heart!? *teardrips* *teardrips*

    We can’t let it end this way without something to potentially replace this show with!!

    [DYNAMICALLY PUSHES RESET BUTTON REPEATEDLY WITH ADVERSE FUTILITY] XD

  • MisaoFan says:

    The bad end is similar to School Days.
    Tomorrow began the first preview episode of the Highschool of the Dead anime and tonight first preview episode of Denyuden !

  • M says:

    Meh. I agree it’s not the best cup of coffee, but at least it kept me entertained for 13 weeks with its pretty Key-style artwork. Obviously this is one of those animes that I’m going to forget in the next few da…………….what anime was I talking about again? w/e going on.

  • Silentbrick says:

    Okay, the one reason I can see Kanade being there before him is the comments that he got lost and wandered in by mistake, so there’s no telling how long he was actually lost. Perhaps eventually he could have been drawn there. However he’s precluded from being the NPC/Programmer since he never her in life or had any reason to love her before.

    There plot hole is closed and I can safely ignore this like so many other forgettable anime. Cept for TK. He should come back in something else;)

  • […] THAT was controversial! Some people like it and some people really hate it. (All these links are full of spoilers of […]

  • Anonymous says:

    61 Comments in this topic. Is this a record for a season finale?

    • Yue says:

      Doubt it. This is just pure coincidence. After all, this blog is the Bermuda Triangle of the internets which people stumble upon, never getting out.

      Blame the Dark Lord.

      • Anise Punter says:

        Even when you’re seemingly a semi-regular commenter here, you just do a google search for an anime, click the link without looking closely, and it’s like “WTF, how did I end up at Tenka Seiha again?!”

        Note: this totally did not just happen re: looking up info on nanoha strikerS

      • rushuna says:

        ALL HAIL Aroduc!!

  • anon says:

    Peidei pra esse final podre.

    PEIDEI FEDIDO.

  • Albedo says:

    I had more fun reading these comments than I had watching the show, TK included.

    I don’t think I need to go into why I didn’t enjoy it (Aroduc and half the internet seem to have done that for me) but this show was the only one that managed to disappoint me. Overall I think a single dropped series isn’t bad for a season… even if I was only watching two shows :P

  • chad001 says:

    This might’ve been a lot better/bearable if they bothered showing how Otonashi would fail attempt to pick-up Kanade… lulz…

  • aya natsume says:

    and i was so excited last week for the remaining episode…and then…the ending…i’m disappointed…and i’m not really happy with the twist there…

    oh well…

  • NightShadow2239 says:

    I know this is a little off topic… but wow! Over 70 comments. A new high?

    • Aroduc says:

      Pretty sure. Not that it really is much of a milestone. Since I post regularly, stuff gets shuffled off the front page quickly and comments will not naturally accrue or posts turn into bizarre little message boards like you see with a lot of more irregular blogs.

  • Anonymous says:

    Was wondering… if Kanade currently has Otonashi’s Heart, then how is he alive in the living world right next to Kanade…? He has no heart.

    • Eirias says:

      We already have LVADs and temporary TA hearts in real life. Perhaps miraculous advances in artificial heart technology will have been made.

      Hey look! Angel wings!
      /runs away

  • Thayli says:

    At least it had one of the most epic bromances in anime.

  • shio says:

    I decided to give this show a shot because of all the attention it got. The whole package feels more or less like a Sony marketing routine. It really is hard to swallow that a character whose first instinct was to stab Otonashi, secretly harbored gratitude towards him. I will give the writers credit for at least some plausible development of Otonashi, and keeping the other characters from falling into standard anime tropes.

  • varriable height syndrome says:

    so did anyone notice how kanade’s height kept changing throughout, i realised it a while after watching the episode but even near the end when otonashi and kanade are having their heart to heart at one point she is shorter than his shoulders then she reaches his chin… or am i just vertically blind and thats not the case?

    • Anonymous says:

      I noticed it after the blog author pointed it out. Could it be a mere production error?

  • charizardpal says:

    Honestly discussing this show on the web has been more interesting for me than the show itself.

    If you ask me, Jun has been going downhill since Clannad. In Little Busters he relied on other authors and many people were disappointed with Saya the gunslinger’s lackluster arc.

    • Kaisos says:

      He relied on other authors in Clannad, too.

      I think the whole Angel Beats fiasco was more due to a) him not knowing how to write for a TV show and b) executive meddling.

      • Aroduc says:

        I’m a fan of blaming the director. Not that I think highly of Maeda, but the director has one success to his name (Hanayome) and a litany of things so bad that they have been linked to cancer in lab rats.

    • Anon says:

      >In Little Busters he relied on other authors
      The fuck am I reading? Do you expect one single person to write 4MB of text? Well, it’s been done before, sure, but in general long visual novels are written by several people. It’s like you’ve never read a visual novel before.
      >many people were disappointed with Saya the gunslinger’s lackluster arc.
      Who the hell are these people? It’s pretty much considered the best non-Refrain route, but I’m inclined to believe you have no idea what you’re talking about after that first sentence.

  • Solaris says:

    Why does kanade was “there” before Otonashi died?
    One possible explanation is the same as Shigofumi’s main char: Theyr’re Ikiryo, souls that got separade from their ill body and wander around as ghosts.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikiry%C5%8D

  • Whaat? says:

    Alright i can force myself to believe that Otonashi somehow got lost on his way to the afterlife… But he arrives without his heart, even though he died with his heart still in his chest. Does that mean anything that happens to your corpse affects you in the AB afterlife? What if they like took his eyes… And why is Yui able to walk if preexisting conditions from the living world carry over to the afterlife??? I’m so friggin confused

    • Albedo says:

      You’re asking an ANIME to make sense. Realize the flaw in your thinking before you hurt your brain.

  • Serial Colour says:

    I think I was being very stupid, because I completely didn’t get the “Kanade got Otonashi’s heart” thing while I was watching it. I somehow instead came up with the conclusion that Kanade was Otonashi’s SISTER Hatsune.

    I figured the “I have your heart” thing was metaphorical of Otonashi visiting her in hospital and sneaking her out for Christmas and generally cheering her up and all that. Then she died (first, giving her enough time to become Angel), and she was never able to properly thank Otonashi for being with her all those years. That’s her regret – perhaps deep down she thought Otonashi was just visiting her out of obligation, rather than actual love, which is why hearing him say he loved her was her vanishing point.

    The drawbacks are the different name/appearance, why Otonashi keeps calling her Kanade after finding out who she really was, and the slightly-too-strong “I love you” vibe between them.

    So yeah, maybe I was stupid for coming to that conclusion. Maybe not, though. I thought mine was a better interpretation – the “she got his heart” business is rubbish in comparison. But perhaps that’d be a bit too much like Clannad (not that that’s a bad thing).

  • Crimson Hunter says:

    Ok this anime was just awful..otanashi was there because he died correct? however, right before he died in the train accident, he donated his organs to someone he didnt know, and he was wondering why he was in the afterlife, When he regained his memories and realized tht he helped someone live (obviously not long) before he died, then he didnt belong and he should have disappeared. And what is more confusing is tht if the girl tht got his heart was Kanade..how did she arrive before him and have enough time to have such a hatred war with yuri and enough time for yuri to build an army and change the name several times…the plot is fucking twisting like a tornado,his heart must have killed her right away and he must have lived off some artificlal heart for this to all happen. And basically i wasnt aware i was watching the entire season just so i can find out it was about kanade and otanashi..i sat through mindless gun shooting, pointless but funny arguments, little character development and horrible music, just so i can see a love confession and find out everything was for nothing and that i sat through 13 episodes trying to keep my sanity just for that one moment..and then we see them in another world to have all this happen again!? Obviously since he recognized the humming he still has his memories from the afterlife place so what now? how will they all disappear? will they disappear? is otanashi the only one who has his memory? will we ever know? i hope not because i cannot sit through any more..

  • Jay Agan says:

    Though I disagree with some of your comments on this anime, I like your writing style. “Feral chihuahuas in
    heat with grenades taped to their backs”? Love it!

    Ep 13 actually got me watching the series a second time.

    I think the shows’ very disjointedness & quirkiness might get it a cult following.

    My “take” on the show here:
    jaysteevee.blogspot.com/2010/10/not-haruhi-clone.html