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Angel Beats! – 13 [End]35

by 593 days ago

Didn’t get time to do episode 12, but that episode wasn’t as amazing as this one. The 13th and last episode of Angel Beats! just blew me away. My love for KEY just got refuelled, it was such a sad .. yet.. a happy and beautiful ending. It’s hard to describe with words, if you’re familiar with the works of KEY you’ll know what I mean.

I was actually constantly taking images during this episode, triggerhappy finger on the screenshot key you could say..

 


Opening
Where episode 12 left off, (no shit sherlock =p ). Everyone is gone except for those five.
Pre-gymnasium
I love how Kanade hums “My Song” by Iwasawa, she looks so happy and the crew have a surprise in store for Yuri ^__^. Grad Party! On a serious note, the colours look so vibrant and lively, not that it should be compared to Makoto Shinkai’s work but the artwork here is really rich and vivid.
Kanade Headshot
Huge picture of Kanade’s face.. for no particular reason.. =D
Gymnasium
And so the ceremony starts, they sing, play and laugh a lot. But finally get their diploma, SSS graduates, I’m so proud of them. All five, even Naoto with his man tears! This is just about 6 minutes orso into the episode and the tension between everyone is gone, they’re like best friends and the comical side of KEY really shows here. Huge personality change from Yuri and Kanade. Hiding behind Yuri..? psshh, Hand Sonic 5!
Yuri Headshot
Another headshot, this time of a blushing Yurippe for, again, no particular reason =)
Hinata Headshot
Hinata with his glasses, mustache and bald wig (bald wig?! does that even make sense?) funny though, I really wonder if Hinata and Yui will ever meet up in the other life. I feel really sad while thinking about it while I’m writing this.
Huggles
Yuri and Kanade sharing a hug, isn’t that just as sweet as sugar cubes dipped in honey?
Empty rooms
Gdemo member’s guitars stacked very neatly, both rooms vacant.. it feels so lonely.
More huggles
We finally get to hear why Kanade is in this world, remember when Otonashi died and was determined to be a donor? Well guess what, Kanade has Otonashi’s heart! I did not expect this.. at all. I skipped a heartbeat during the scene. Otonashi’s also declares his love for Kanade (which was expected to happen sooner or later). Everything happens so fast from this point onwards. Overkill on the lensflare, but it gives something dramatic to it.
No more huggles
Kanade disappears as she found love, Otonashi’s love, leaving Otonashi behind .. heartbroken.
Finding the destined one
Transitioning to another world, you can see Kanade leaning against a wall humming “My Song” once again. Coincidentally Otonashi passes by and hears the melody ~
Reaching out
This speaks pretty much for itself =). Notice the short hair and attire I wouldn’t imagine Kanade wearing that to be honest. But yeah, this is how it ends (or begins), the open endings are killing me, it just makes me want more but there is no more.
Happiness
YES, FINALLY! Kanade in that picture! When I first saw this picture I was hoping for this day, the day where Kanade would appear among the SSS members. The ending was really beautiful, something you can expect from KEY. I would’ve never thought that KEY would pull off this series with just 13 episodes, but with the last episode they’ve proven me wrong. Even though this series started slowly and steadily climbed up, it remained funny and heartbreaking, moments of sadness and moments of happiness. With the shortness I couldn’t really get attached to some characters, the backgrounds for some are really amazing but a characters needs development and with mere 13 episodes it’s impossible to do. It worked out very well for Yui, Kanade, Yuri and Otonashi; maybe even Iwasawa but that was because it was rather sad  instead of being attached to the character. Those are pretty much the main characters who left a mark and who will probably be remembered by most of the people watching the show. It’s quite a shame that the rest of the SSS didn’t get a chance to shine. The story started out quite slow too and has still left me with more questions than answers, why was Kanade in the world before Otonashi? Why aren’t more people coming to that world? What actually happens when you leave that place? Will Hinata find Yui? Will Shiina get a pile of toy puppies? Did God really create that place? What happens to the NPCs?  I don’t think we’ll ever get an answer on those questions, just leave it to your imagination. 8/10!

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Discussion

  1. Ya...

    This really, truly was one of Key’s masterpieces. Truly mindblowing with such an ending. Kudos to the people who made this. Also, 8/10? Please don’t fuck with us, this is atleast a 9.5/10.

    Reply
  2. Great Anime

    hell yeah it’s not 8/10 what are you talking about. it’s definitely 10/10

    Reply
  3. YoU

    Getting a little surprise about the end, and a little more comfort. Would really love to see Yuzuru and Kanade being together.

    Reply
  5. darkout123

    man this was amazing diffently one of my favs it was beautiful and i cried my eyes out TT_TT
    and made me laugh i want more but i’m glad

    10/10! it was amazing

    Reply
  6. Niitoku

    haha, i think its gonna be half a year
    since the “hidden” episode is gonna be in the last DVD/BD
    but yes, the last episode is so sad and so happy TAT
    Damn it, Maeda why you gotta do this to us T_T
    We know you said you are going to stop writing scrips for gal games but man……
    I hate you yet I love you T3T + Orz
    and ed for episode 13 is awesome, can’t stop listening to it ……TwT

    Reply
  7. Skeith

    i love this anime but im kinda sad now that it is finish! i hope here would be a ova that show the characters after they move to the real world!. also good ending, i was surprise about kanade and definitely a 10/10 for me!! :D

    Reply
  8. Alexz

    this episode had a mixed feeling cant even state it, I really liked it in the beginning but ending was kinda sad

    Reply
  9. Furideno

    This was truly amazing. I didn’t expect this anime to be this good. At first, I wasn’t even watching this seriously, I thought this anime would be nothing special. The Synopsis didn’t appeal to me as well, but I guess this proves you can’t jugde a book by its cover! :D D

    Reply
  10. Blitz G1 Phoenix

    Man!!!!! I can Just Diiiiiiiiie now!!!!!!!!! i cried my heart out! and my sis was laughin at mi till she watch the series and she cried louder den MIIIIII. LOL

    Reply
  11. SimonSayzHigh

    well i liked the series as a whole but i think they really rushed near the end after the pink haired girl disappears 8.5 out of 10

    Reply
    • Snow

      Agreed, the final episode was really good. The series as a whole was way to rushed.
      Heh, “The pink haired girl”, seems Yui didn’t leave that much of a mark on your heart.

    • Wheelzz

      To Respond to your question about why Kanade was there before. If you remove the essence of time before reading this it kinda makes sense, so please bear with me. Otonashi said he wandered around before coming upon this world so maybe he wandered for a very long time? I know it sounds really weird but it helped me put that question at ease because when it was mentioned that Purgatory had unlimited amount of time, I thought to myself if I remove time from the mix Otonashi could of taken a really long time before coming there? and Agreed with the Yui statement though she didnt leave a mark on my heart I still cried at the end of Episode ten and felt horrible about her not really having a life when she was alive… :(

    • Snow

      Yeah, taking time out of the equation it could make sense. Still though, Otonashi must’ve wondered for a long, long time. First of all, Kanade in the real world got Otonashi’s heart which means she could’ve lived for.. 10 years? Then we have the SSS fighting Kanade before Otonashi appeared, however the SSS had grown immensely large Otonashi, all those people died too and that doesn’t happen overnight it takes time too.

      I wonder if the episode 14, where everyone is talking about, is a prequel to the series. Answering a few questions like how Kanade came into that world. 6 Months to go, yeah!

    • Brendan

      Ya but my concept of the afterlife always took into consideration the fact that the element of time may not apply the same way there (or even at all) so in the small time that Otonashi was wondering could have been the equivilant of 10 years or more in the real world. ‘Inception’ helps encourage this idea :)

    • Snow

      Haha, I’m actually going to watch Inception this Friday.
      We’ll see how this turns out ;) .
      Awesome movie, as far as I’ve heard.

    • Ongyuhann

      Then again, if you were to think of it, this was the purgatory that youths with regrets went to, so Otonashi may have wandered the “other” realms and helped people? From there, since we know that people do not get older there, it may be logical that Kanade(kawaii!) may have made it to that world first. Lets just assume, time exists as it si in that world and Otonashi, since he had amnesia, was stuck in a “purgatory” of prugatories, where he may have wandered other realms until he got his memories back and probably dissapeared at the end. Tho, I sure wonder why his sister did not make it there.

  12. fuuto.kun

    The last song that was used was called “Ichiban no Takaramono” which can be found in the GirlDeMo album “keep the Beats”.

    Reply
  13. Greyknightz

    i like that song… i find out yurippe is lil’ bit cute this time… kawaiii deshouu???

    Reply
  14. Aa-chan

    Hello!!
    Some guy said in a forum that in the Angel Beats! official site said taht would be a 14th episode!! Some kind of special i guess, does anybody about it??? I tried to check it out, but i can’t read japanese!! T.T
    It would be nice to see Yuzuru and Kanade together, and if Hinata found Yui. It would be really nice to see Iwasawa and Yui singing together, deshou???

    Reply
    • YoU

      I’ve heard of people saying that there will be a 14 episode but it’s included in the DVD. Don’t remember where I got this info and not sure whether it’s confirmed. Do you have a link for the site you mentioned above?

    • Wheelzz

      I think I heard about that it was gonna be released as an Unaired episode on December 22nd I know its a long wait but if Key’s making us wait so long it better be a good episode :P

    • YoU

      The unaired one could be the first date between Yuzuru and Kanade. Sweet :)

  15. nenesha

    Episode is great, Yuri is being tsun though XD
    Well, at least the end is satisfying with YuzuKana pair instead…

    Huh? eps. 14?
    I hope that episode is great if it’s available! :D

    Reply
  16. Anon

    I was completely fine with this ending. I might attribute it how everything was wrapped up before the ending.

    Can’t say the same for stuff like Toradora!, though.

    Reply
  17. MasterZero

    Hey Snow, don’t worry you will get answers to your questions as a season two of Angel Beats! was just confirmed recently! It is set to start airing in the spring of 2011, so be on the lookout. One last thing to add is that this anime is truly amazing and I believe it is a must see by everyone, even if they are not into anime at all. Just the life lessons it teaches are truly amazing and I would not expect anything less from a work done by KEY as they are truly amazing themselves. Keep up the great work guys!

    Reply
  18. ChrisShade

     My theory on why Kanade was there first was that since Otonashi had amnesia, it took him time to wonder into the world

    Reply
  19. James.

    Just got done watching all 13 episodes straight on netflix maaaaaan this was one of the best anime i have ever watched i wished it was sooo much more i have just started watching anime but i love it already 20 out of 10 easy

    Reply
  20. ALexX

    Haha, James, I just did exactly the same thing, Netflix ftw.

    The ending, in my opinion was a bit disappointing. I guess I’m one of those guys who likes “happily every after” endings… Of course Angel beats wasn’t exactly supposed to be those types of animes to begin with, overall I agree with the rating given, I myself can’t give it more than a 8/10.

    Reply
  21. Red_Demon

    The last episode made me kind of sad, especially when Yuzuru Otonashi told Kanade Tachibana he loved her. Then she revealed to him that his heart was in her. I think the saddest part during that scene was she told him to say it again, but he didn’t want to because she would disappear. Then he said it while holding her in her arms while she thanked him and disappeared. I was glad though that he met her in the next life , but I wished they would of spoken a little bit before ending that episode like that.

    by the way, I just watched this today. I would have to rate this 9.5/10 or 10/10 because throughout the characters past life, it was sad but they were able to move on. I just wished that studio KEY and writer Jun Maeda would make a final ova about the characters in the next life. Don’t you guys agree, doesn’t it satisfy you guys a little bit about Otonashi meeting Tachibana and how they become a couple.

    Reply
  22. Red_Demon

    Also I heard a rumor about how the studios KEY thinking about making a new series with a whole new cast. If they do, I wonder if it will be a squeal or a prequel. Either way I don’t think they would be able to do a sequel with the same cast, but I wished they did. If they make a sequel with the same cast then I hope the story would be good. For starters like if the important characters died again while in love and was reunited in the same world. They would need to pull off a good story in order to get good rating and not loose profits for making it. If they do make a squeal, it most likely be with a whole new cast.

    I don’t know if they are though can someone please tell me. The only source I found was this link below. I just hope someone would reply to my comment, but do not email me because I’m using a random email.

    http://worldomonation.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/angel-beats-interview-with-maeda-jun-second-season/

    I hope this helps everyone and please, leave a comment of your thoughts. I enjoy reading everyone’s comment.

    Reply
  23. Quindale

    THE BEST SHORT ROMANCE ANIME I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!!! IT WAS SO SAD TO SEE THE LAST 5 MAIN CHARACTERS STARTED LEAVING ONE BY ONE AT THE END AND WHEN IT GOT TO JUST KANADE AND OTONASHI AND OTONASHI FIND OUT THAT KANADE HAD HIS HEART AND WHEN OTONASHI TOLD KANADE HE LOVED HER AND SHE SAID IT BACK… AND WHEN SHE WAS GONE I CRIED SO HARD BECAUSE HE WAS THERE ALONE CRYING… BUT WHEN I SEEN KANADE HUMMING THAT SONG AND OTONASHI TURN AROUND I GOT SO FREAKING HAPPY… THE ENDING WAS JUST AMAZING… WHAT A GREAT ANIME!!! I GIVE IT A 11\10 :)

    Reply

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