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Originally Posted by TJR
It's designed by marketing checklist. I don't sense any substance or genuine inspiration at all, and it tries hard to be an all-round crowd pleaser by tacking on Maeda's usual melodramatic tricks (the hokey "I wanna get married" routine being the most shameless here) and goofy humor, while relying on a variety of popular hooks (The Matrix, Persona 4, Haruhi) to interest different viewers. In the process, they've attempted too much in a short timespan, allowing the manipulation and overall shallowness to show through.
That said, Angel Beats! is primed to sell like crazy, so it does seem that their attempt has paid off anyway. I have to admit that while I found Angel Beats! to be mediocre from Episode 1, it's a pleasant enough watch even if it's forgettable and poorly conceived at the end of the day.
Yeah, this implies that the scenario planning strategy banks mostly on viewer psychology and not so much the overall quality of the work. For my part, while I felt emotion, the ploy was so shameless and suddenly forced that it left a negative impression at the same time. Maybe that's why those scenes are so polarizing.....a lot of people are easily swept along (even if they may see through it) while others are immediately put off by the artificiality.
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By this point in time, I've come to feel the same way about this series. While it has been a bumpy ride, this series is easily forgettable but still not a bad show to watch. Angel Beats! is one of those animes where you watch it once and probably won't come back to it again, at least that's how I feel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TJR
Unfortunately, he's well past his writing prime. Maeda is confident in his ability to hook his audience and make them cry, but I think he recognizes that he's hit a creative brick wall.
As a game writer, Maeda already retired after Little Busters! (he wanted to just supervise from that point onward) and after finishing Angel Beats!, he went on indefinite leave. That isn't the sign of an inspired writer, despite the PR spin.
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While I agree with most of what you said, I disagree with stating that Maeda is "past his writing prime." I really feel that there is no such thing as someone being in their "prime" when it comes to writing. Naturally, there are some who hit a wall and even lose motivation (or inspiration) to write but I feel that anyone can create a well-written story at any point in time. It all depends on the inspiration and maybe that's what Maeda is looking for after finishing Angel Beats.