The US and 'western entertainment' is sorely lacking in its animated media. We pay hundreds of millions of dollars to see shit like Michael Bay's Transformers (he managed to transform it into utter shit - I haven't even seen the last one) a rehashes of stories that we already know the answers to: Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Turtles, (not gonna see those either) etc etc. While I like Scooby-Doo as much as the next kid you gotta admit it that there were VERY FEW animated series that had any real depth. I can think of a few that were (SURPRISE!) Japanese originals: StarBlazers (I still have a soft spot for Nova) and G-Force (RIP Casey Kasem). Even today these series hold up well and have a depth the shit on t.v. today could not touch. Plus how many of us have seen Heavy Metal? So yeah... you are already familiar with Anime... so just relax.
Angle Beats! is from 2010 and is very short (due to numerous proposed reasons... budget being the most cited) and is often cited as a top 10 series due to its artwork, animation, music (GREAT SOUNDTRACK) and story... yes, I will actually use the phrase 'the feels'.
Basically in an purgatory (not hell, mind you) like afterlife kids (most are in their teens) that lead 'unfulfilled' lives go there so they can realize their dream/become full filled/happy and pass on. So it has a very strong Buddhist foundation even though purgatory is not a Buddhist belief (that I know of). Once you 'get happy' you move on. Most of the posts I have read trying to explain the series and 'plot holes' seem to miss a lot of information... so..
SPOILERS
(Yeah, like people are gonna run out and watch it now)
First, Yuri had it all wrong. Get that into your heads. Yuri was the 'leader' but she was wrong. Wrong about Kanade/Angle, wrong about NPCs, wrong about oblivion, wrong wrong wrong. She hated God for her unfulfilled life and that warped her mind. She knew that 'passing on' was a thing... but in her own head it was about being controlled by God (be a good student, join clubs, get good grades) not about realizing peace with your past and moving on to the next life. In Episode 5 when they didn't know Angel's name to put on the test Otonashi talks to Angel and finds out her name. When Otonashi tells Yuri, she says that is her name, and that she had forgotten it. Not only that, but the first thing Angel says in the series is 'I am not an Angel'. So like 3 minutes in Yuri is already shown to have little real idea what is going on. Yuri's personality (and the others lack of leadership, other than Otonashi) allowed her to set a false narrative that really is the root cause of the 'Battlefront' and her 'war on God'. The others are just to stupid to/fearful to question her... well, except for Otonashi.
Otonashi was passive for two reasons.. his amnesia and the fact that he was there for a completely different purpose than the others. He lead a fulfilled life and died in peace, his last act was to sign the organ donor card in memory of his sister and her fate... all while on the way to take an entrance test to become a doctor.. after providing medical help to the train passengers.. so yeah.. he died knowing that his life had a purpose. He didn't hate God, or Angel (again, the first 5 minutes of Episode 1 and in Episode 6 when they are eating in the cafeteria and later in the cell). So Otonashi initially believed Yuri because he had no other way to deal with the situation and oh yeah, and just getting stabbed in the heart by Angel.. even though he literally asked for it. But once he regains his memories fully he really chills out. Also in Episode 1 he says he has nothing else to do BUT follow Yuri, for now.
Otonashi telling Kanade he loves her in Episode 13 is not surprising. Again, Episode 5, 6 and 7 (Episode 6 is a lunch date and 7 is a date to go fishing). From there on the Otonashi/Kanade bond just grows as she is an integral part of his plan to allow others to pass on (Kanade helps by taking Yui's guitar for Episode 10), and also to fight Naoi, the 'Harmonic Angels' and the Shadows. Otonashi first pities Kanada (again Episode 6) when he learns that everyone that befriends Kanade 'moves on' meaning that she has experienced great sadness while in purgatory... first the long wait for Otonashi (remember time is not linear, they never die or age) and second having all the people (humans) pass on leaves her extremely lonely. While not cannon (ie not in the Anime) Yuri HAS TO HAD PREVIOUSLY KNOWN KANADE! She knew her full name! My guess is that that Yuri, seeing Kanade helping all the other kids 'pass on' YURI gives her the 'Angel' title as Yuri believes only God can grant you the right to pass on. But God has delegated that power to Kanade/Angel and since Yuri is a big ball of crazy THAT is how the war to defeat God starts. Yuri thinks Kanade will lead her to God. And this is proven in Episode 3 when they break into Kanade/Angels room looking for God.
The timeline of Kanade getting to purgatory before Otonashi, while never explained, it is FACT that Kanade is in Purgatory because she could not thank the owner of her heart (it would seem that Kanade was *ALWAYS* gonna go to purgatory.. if you have someones heart, they are pretty much dead) and the *only* way for her to pass on is to summon Otonashi to purgatory thank him, and move on. Its a minor point, as Yuri explains that time and death mean nothing in purgatory. So get over it... its not an issue.
Kanade is also a big ball of crazy. She has to have been in purgatory at least as long as Yuri (remember, Yuri knew Kanade's name from 'before') and the fact that everyone Kanade befriends passes on has got to screw her up pretty bad. Again Episode 6, as Kanade is sitting at the table they show her friends pass on... the image of Kanade get more 'distant' with each one passing on. On top of that Yuri's a fucking nut and starts shooting/fighting at Kanade because she hates God and believe that Kanade is a way to find him (remember I said its all Yuri's fault). As for Episode 13.... much feels. Kanade NEVER SAYS SHE LOVES Otonashi !!!! Every time Otonashi says he loves Kanade she replies 'I know' or 'Thank you'. She wanted to thank him for her life. Well, depending on what version you watch its either 'YOUTH' or 'LIFE'. In the English sub-titled version its LIFE in the dubbed version it's YOUTH. I think LIFE is the better translation as she died young.
The others... people complain that there was not enough character development of the background characters other than the core group of 7 (Yuri, Otonashi, Kanade, Iwasawa, Naoi, Yui, Hinata) the rest really are just background characters that add nothing to story. If anything, the only real error was making them to appealing.. although I don't understand why TK is such a favorite. In 13 episodes you could have *maybe* added two more back stories... but again, they are not main characters, just to popular for what they were there to do. Does anyone really care why one dude wants to be called 'Christ'? I don't.
My personal opinion is that the story is very good as is. It's really to good as it leaves you wanting more... much much more.. not that you don't already have a good story in 13 episodes, but you want what all good stories should leave you wanting.. more. The final minute of Episode 13 where we assume that Otonashi meets up again with Kanade in the real world (much much feels) is just the right point to leave you. Does he stop her? Does he pull his hand back? That's some power stuff to leave to your imagination.
I do think that the story jumped the shark in after Episode 3. Iwasawa moves on, becoming fulfilled and realizing that she can play her music finally, and Episode 4 is the last real mention of GDM and any real musical input into the show: a brief practice in Episode 10 and saying goodby in Episode 12. While the musical score is still very moving and helps the story immensely, I think that originally the band or music was conceived to play a much bigger role in the story. The quality of the band animation as it performed and the qaulity of the soundtrack leaves me to believe that is was *supposed* to play a bigger role, but was scaled back. That's just my wild ass guess... but the first 4 episodes really showcase the band much more that anything else.
As for who I think 'God' was? From the series the only real choice is Naoi. In Episode 12 Yuri is told that the programmer turned himself into an NPC. And as Yuri herself AND Takamatsu show us that being an NPC is not a permanent condition.. you CAN will yourself out of it. So, who fits the bill or being there a LLOONNGGG time, was an NPC, has the power to control people... Naoi. Yuri even said it herself.. she though he was an NPC when he was the Student Council Vice President. He has the power to control NPCs (Episode 6) and even humans. While we know his back story, we know nothing of his time in purgatory... and its in purgatory where he meets the girl/falls in love/go insane waiting for her to return and *WAIT FOR IT* turns himself into an NPC. Naoi confirms that he has been in purgatory for a LLOONNGGGG time when he asks how Kanade escaped from the cell 'Do you know how long it took me to build that?' (Episode 6).
So there ya go. Watch the series and have this cheat sheet handy... you can play Angle Beats! bingo.. whenever you realize that what I said is true you can cross it off.
