Angel Beats! - Episode 3 Discussion / Poll

[Azuma Denton]

Hmm, only eps 3, and already one key member, Iwasawa, says goodbye to this unknown world...
Well, this is KEY after all...


Nice episode though...

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by Komari

3rd, ma'am. And Jun Maeda is a synonym for tear jerking drama.

I'm looking at how the two pasts we've seen so far are dreadful. I hope that not every spirit spills about the screwed up boo-hoo lives they had, because it won't make sense for everyone to have ugly pasts. There's gotta be some with relatively enjoyable lives, unless those are the "NPCs" and the SSS crew is made up of spirits fighting order b/c of their bleak memories. I sure hope they aren't all following the same "God is evil" logic like Yuri.

Isn't that what they have pretty much established though - this could be seen a mile away, even more so now with Otonashi's conclusion that they fight not because of fear of reincarnation, but as an act of protest for their unfair lives. I would imagine that one who passed away with no regrets wouldn't feel the need to get in to an arms race against the god You can say it is sort of a cheap way to introduce a cast with drama dripping from every corner, but i believe this is one of the main points of the series - having a main cast that did not have happy lives, how those issues keep haunting them after death and the need to face them in order to move on.

[OkamiNoKaze]

I really liked this episode. I liked the songs the band sang better this time around, especially Alchemy. Thanks for the answer as to what that first "censored" image was, I did however pick up that the other was Howl's Castle. Iwasawa's ballad was wonderful, her past was very sad, and apparently she was able to make peace with it and move on some how, to either the real after life, or returning to real life, depending on how your view of the situation of this show, whether they are dead or in a coma like state.

On an off topic but related note, this show reminds me of a miniseries I watched on SyFy channel today, called Riverworld. It's quite similar.

[Proto]

As somehow mentioned in a CLANNAD thread sometime ago after we learned of Nishina Rie's past, you know it's a Maeda's work when even Random Bypasser B got her own sad backstory.

[Hadwell]

its like Haibane Renmei but in a school :P

and yes, i signed up for the forums just to write that :P

[SuperKnuckles]

To me, this episode was only somewhat passable. Last episode, we saw Yuri's predicament and while the girl in this episode had a sad story as well, it coming back to back just felt hamfisted to me. A bit too blunt. Then again, Yuri's episode's predicament was somewhat hamfisted too.

I think that's sorta the thing that works against this show in some way, because the premise makes it so that they reveal everything about their melancholies so directly. I can imagine it getting AWFULLY crowded with sad stories by the end.. So far, in terms of the plot progression, we just saw a few hints and bits and pieces.

This kinda reminds me of Lost now. A lot of hamfisted tearjerker moments with a ton of little hints and tips about the mystery while not even coming close to explaining it.

[milan kyuubi]

Good episode, the guy with glases was very funny

Spoiler for Screenshots:

[ac195]

Pfft... wheres the mystery in this show...

They are all clearly... childhood friends who had their souls reincarnated and are trapped in a dream where they are put into an artificial world in which they have to collect magical feathers, glowing green spheres, and a special star-shaped hair band so they can save everyone from an accident that happened during a school excursion during winter by the special tree where someone was giving birth in feudal Japan while running from religious persecuting monks . And they have to do all this while avoiding dangerous mystery breads and jams while resisting the temptations of a criminally cute Potato, an insanely hug-gable Botan, and bunches of what are clearly Starfish and not Stars...oh, and don't forget those baby chicks are clearly ultra-cute baby dinosaurs ~GAO~ ~GAO~

Too easy...

[Wrath88]

Speaking of the glasses guy, there's the case of the pot calling the kettle black.

[Ice Block]

So, purgatory was really coded in binary, and Tenshi is now using this knowledge to develop her abilities. She modeled her abilities in her PC and then applied coding logic to the world. Just for fun (I have no idea what these mean), here's some of the hex code visible on screen:

090973697a653d696d2a6a6c696d3b
0909657869743d303b
0909666f7228693d303b693c696c696d2c692b2b29
090909666f72286a3d303b6a3c6a6c696d2c6a2b2b297b
090909090976697369745b695d5b6a5d3d303b
090909090977616c6c735b695d5b6a5d3d303b

size=im*jlim;
exit=0;
for(i=0;
i<ilim,i++)
for(j=0;
j<jlim,j++){
visit[i][j]=0;
walls[i][j]=0;

0909646f7b
0909097072696e746628228f638
3548343835928312d32
35293a22293b7363616e662

do{
printf("�c�T�C�Y(1-25):");scanf

Anyway, I was supposed to say more but I guess most have been covered by others. Preview for Ep04 is up: http://www.angelbeats.jp/story2/ep03.html

Spoiler for Preview:

And it looks like Hinata's the one to go next.
Having read the prequel, Hinata certainly grew on me, so I think the "disappearances" will mean more if we had read the prequel.

[Sinestra]

Well i think we knew it was bond to start happening didn't think it would happen so soon though. It seems that Iwasawa found what her regret was what was needed in her heart to fulfill that promise she made to herself and as such disappeared and was probably reincarnated. I think one by one as we see their past lives and what exactly they thought was so unfair about them that have to rebel against god they will start to disappear. Later in the series i can see Yuri having difficulty as her team disappears. I truly felt bad for Iwasawa as she was destined to become to a great entertainer and was taken before her time because of her asshole father.

Another interesting fact about the episode is how Tenshi is acquiring her powers and forces Yuri to ask why she does not receive her powers from god. I think the realization of this is going to change Yuri perspective quite a bit.

Also an interesting line from Tenshi that adds to the numerous theories about her. When the students were rioting Tenshi states "they act like im the bad guy" Its obvious that how the students view Tenshi actually does bother her. Im very curious about her origins and what exactly her real role is.

I guess GirlDeMo is going to need a new lead singer.

good episode 8/10

[Kakkou]

Originally Posted by Ice Block

Spoiler for Preview:

And it looks like Hinata's the one to go next.
Having read the prequel, Hinata certainly grew on me, so I think the "disappearances" will mean more if we had read the prequel.

Spoiler for Preview of Ep4:

N-no, no, no, no, no, no, no not so soooooon!! Dammit, he and TK are the only male characters in the show I'm fond of (well, maybe Ooyama but only because I'm strangely attracted to Yumiko Kobayashi's voice) and he's far more interesting than Otonashi, who will likely be brofisting air in the ED now.

[spawnofthejudge]

Originally Posted by Skyfall

Isn't that what they have pretty much established though - this could be seen a mile away, even more so now with Otonashi's conclusion that they fight not because of fear of reincarnation, but as an act of protest for their unfair lives. I would imagine that one who passed away with no regrets wouldn't feel the need to get in to an arms race against the god You can say it is sort of a cheap way to introduce a cast with drama dripping from every corner, but i believe this is one of the main points of the series - having a main cast that did not have happy lives, how those issues keep haunting them after death and the need to face them in order to move on.

I have to agree with this. It seems that the general person can easily come to terms with themselves and death and the afterlife such that they disappear shortly after arriving in the area, and they get referred to as NPCs by the SSS since they aren't major players in the Afterworld. But they're not NPCs, in certain cases they could probably affect the conflict between the SSS and Tenshi, if there was something that they can't understand, either about themselves or about the life they'd lived.

Heavy speculation follows:

Yuri is the guide to those whose souls are chaotic when they arrive, while Tenshi is the guide to those whose souls are stable. Having the conflict helps those whose souls are chaotic, while it doesn't help those who are stable. That's why the stable ones are considered NPCs by Yuri - she wouldn't be helping them by involving them.

The questions are around Yuri and Tenshi, the two 'guides'. We know that Yuri was once human and lived. A life that would have left her chaotic unless she'd gotten over the senseless actions of the burglars... though it's pretty clear she hasn't. Tenshi is probably similar - was once human, but her life was probably an example of the failure of order. At least, that would make the most sense as to why she's in the position of Antagonist to those whose souls are in chaos and need to be in conflict to find their resolution. Maybe, though, Tenshi's soul is in the same state as all of those in the SSS... but she's experiencing her own chaos in a different way.

Which leaves Otonashi, who, for the moment, only has a soul 'in chaos' because he doesn't remember his own past. Or maybe he's not a soul at all. Maybe he's Jesus God, and he is there to let Tenshi and Yuri finally rest... and perhaps to appoint successors in the conflict that helps the chaotic finally find their place... after making sure that two particular souls who have served that purpose so well for so long are sent along to the next great adventure. If he is a soul... then maybe he brings an end to the current conflict simply because he's who he is.

The thing is, I don't see the setup as it's seen now unstable enough to end forever. I think the end of this series would be a new beginning for the world given.

[xBTAx]

Originally Posted by Arabesque

What Yuri and the SSS learned from breaking in Tenshi's room was that the way she was developing her Guard Skills was the same as they were building weapons. This doesn't prove that she was human, it simply means that even Tenshi the supposed GM of this world needs to follow the laws of the world to create weapons and isn't able to bypass them. To say that Tenshi was human when she was alive (if she was alive in the first place) means that in order to create those skills she needs to have known how to create them in real life. Now looking at what sort of Skills she had been using until now coupled with the preview of the GS:Harmonic, Tenshi's Guard Skills are simply too abstract for her to be using just human knowledge.

I seriously can't see how Tenshi could possibly be human, unless she had died in the year 3XXX and is using her advance knowledge from the future to keep the school in check.

I'm not so sure if that's exactly what they need for creation. In my opinion, it seems like they have to have just seen something and know the basic functionality of how it works, because I doubt that so many high school students would know exactly how to create a gun- but that's just me.

Following that theory, though, Tenshi's abilities don't quite fit... They seem to rely on that this world is a little different from ours, which makes it odd to think that she could have created them based off her memories... Though, she could have made Hand Sonic based off of seeing FMA...

[Wrath88]

Originally Posted by spawnofthejudge

Which leaves Otonashi, who, for the moment, only has a soul 'in chaos' because he doesn't remember his own past.

The blank slate that is supposed to solve everything, right?

[wingman32x]

Good episode. The singer's past was unfortunate. Yuri finding out about how Tenshi gets/learns her moves was a good revelation. I loved the singer's final song. I felt a bit sad to see her disappear, even though she wasn't developed too good. Can't wait for the next episode.

I give episode 3 an 8/10.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by Sinestra

I truly felt bad for Iwasawa as she was destined to become to a great entertainer and was taken before her time because of her asshole father.

It was because of her father that she discovered music in the first place. Music is interesting, because we all hear it, usually constantly in our modern world....but it takes that special moment and that special song to really resonate with how we feel right then. Her passion was ignited, but her curse was that the same person who drove her to music is also the same one who ended it.

It's not as horrifying as Yuri's story but it fits Iwasawa's personality pretty well. I really liked the song, it was absolutely beautiful and you can really tell there was a lot of emotion put into it. That song, the little backstory and her final words all combined to make a really bittersweet moment.

I was sort of feeling it before, but this episode really gave me After School Nightmare vibes.

[spawnofthejudge]

Originally Posted by Wrath88

The blank slate that is supposed to solve everything, right?

Why mess with what works?

[Nanashiki]

Hi all, I'm new here. I am interested in Angel Beats! as it is getting to be a good show, imho.

Things that I have noticed:

- EP1 of Angel Beats! before Otonashi woke up, there was a sound. I wasn't able to pinpoint what sound is it, but my guess is the sound of air turbulence, as if something is falling through air and the position that Otonashi Woke up in, may suggest that he may have 'fallen' off some building in the real world.

Therefore, it leads me to think he is like others in SSS, just more logical and think deeper. He may also be the one who will find a solution on the conflict that both groups are facing.

- I noticed the lead singer of GirlDeMo, Iwasawa's eyes were not 'closed', but opened during the scene at the hospital, suggesting that she may not be 'dead' as suggested. Iwasawa 'disappearance' may very well suggest that she has woken up from a coma in the real world, after accepting her life as it is.

- Theory: Tenshi may be guiding people into accepting their unpleasant life experience and eventually waking up from the coma once they are able to resolve the conflicts that exist within people.

Yurippe's group may be fighting to resist themselves from waking up in the real world as it is painful for them and as long as they keep resisting, they will not have to face with reality, or could be due to herd-mentality (Being comprises of mostly baka).

I'm sorry if my theory has been mentioned before.

----

Random Tidbits:

- The 'Briefing Manager' screen was written by 'Takeyama' aka 'Christ', with patent pending and with year '0000 - 0000'.

In the 'HQ' or Principal's office, there are portraits supposedly to be the ex-principals, 3 guys, 1 female.

[Velsy]

I really liked this episode.

But the things that stood out to me was:

I really like the band. Its an element in this anime thats has stood out so far. Now when the teachers arived and put a stop to the concert. I was amazed to see students stand up and rebel against the teachers decission. They yelled out the words, "they're doing it for us!" and "There music is what keeps us going! Please!".

After hearing those yelled from the students. I dont beleive *all* of the students are npcs, infact I am leaning towards maybe most of them are real dead people thrown into this world like the rest of them. But they have had no choice to follow the school rules and live in this world of boredem and torture. The band to them means an inspiration of entertainment and enjoyment. Thus is also performed by the schools very on students, not NPCs. It was really pleasing to see the students standing up for the band as if it was there only shinning light.

As for Iwasawa dissappearing, well I havent decided if its really a good thing or bad. I mean she looked very happy as she poofed. But for the series the band lost its singer. I just really hope the band can continue on. Because its an element of the anime I have really enjoyed so far. Hopefully one of the other guitarists can continue singing or maybe they can find a new singer. I dont want the band to die. Especially after hearing how much the students love and support them. I really loved the music, I think I was about to cry during Iwasawas final song.

I was going to say some things about Tenshi, but what I was going to say is already being discussed. So I dont need to add anything ^_^

Its a shame this is only a 13 episode series <.< . 24 would of been nice for a series like this.