Angel Beats! - Episode 12 Discussion / Poll

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by Komari

Question: does Yuri love Kanade? I know that when Yuri said she had to destroy that dude for Kanade, the dude said Yuri's love readings were off the charts.

Ishida was talking about her love for the SSS, but I can see how his lines could be interpreted that way.

[Khu]

Originally Posted by blitz1/2

It wouldn't have made a difference had Maeda worked with KyoAni anyways. If KyoAni can only support 13 eps, you are pretty much getting the same treatment as here. And there's no telling that KyoAni may make things better, who knows, maybe worse?

I'd say worse. They haven't really done any heavy action in a while...

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by blitz1/2

It wouldn't have made a difference had Maeda worked with KyoAni anyways. If KyoAni can only support 13 eps, you are pretty much getting the same treatment as here. And there's no telling that KyoAni may make things better, who knows, maybe worse?

The director would have been better, at least.

[Sackett]

Originally Posted by Khu

I'd say worse. They haven't really done any heavy action in a while...

Grumble... thanks for reminding me that they still haven't scheduled animating the next season of Full Metal Panic.

I want my FMP Die Hard on a boat parody! With Tessa, in maid outfit, as unwilling sidekick to the McClane wannabe.

You'd think they do it as it's pretty much a guaranteed to sell merchandise too.

[blitz1/2]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

The director would have been better, at least.

but there is no guaranteed that we'll get the same budget effects. heck the OP was one of the best ones I've seen. I don't think KyoAni can pull it off.

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by blitz1/2

but there is no guaranteed that we'll get the same budget effects. heck the OP was one of the best ones I've seen. I don't think KyoAni can pull it off.

Actually, overall, Angel Beats was... how should I put it... pretty budgeted. The OP is probably one of the best looking bits of the show, but I've seen KyoAni make stuff that looks just as good if not better.

[blitz1/2]

Originally Posted by touge-n00b

I would have at least thought that KyoAni would have had a budget for at least 25 episodes. All the other Key-works did.

When it has to support K-on as well? Cut that in half again.

[SirusRiddler]

Why, hello there, Akira Ishida playing as Kaworu Nagisa-esque character.

This is going to end with a long round of "Congratulations!" from all the characters right?

Better prepare that "Fly Me to the Moon" ending theme.

In all seriousness, though, it was a generally badass episode. Wish this series wasn't so rushed though...

[Eater of All]

Originally Posted by HeadlessPony

I guess since all of the non-NPCs now know that they disappear when they come to terms with how the world sort of works and to accept themselves and appreciate their lives, they could pretty much tell when they themselves would disappear.

Yeah, more or less, I think. The thing is, most of the characters have probably already resolved their conflicts or have mitigated it enough for them to disappear long ago. They're only able to stay because their participation in the SSS continues to bind them to that world¹. If that sounds like a bad thing, blame my fail explanation, because it's not. To the characters, the days spent "fighting" together with the SSS is like an extension to their previous life, except without those conflicts haunting them day and night². The purpose of this world is to make them realize that their life, no matter how shitty it is, is still their one and only life that they have to accept³. There's also apparently other methods for them to disappear, like directly resolving their conflict, or (in the worst case scenario) simply accepting a false happiness similar to what Yuri experienced and forgetting about it all. For most of the SSS, those are already irrelevant, because they're already satisfied. The afterlife has, as such, became something akin to a dream to them, a fantasy they know they can wake up from if they choose to⁴. Yuri telling them that this is the last fight was the key that told them it is time to wake up.

At least, that's my view of how this world works, based on what was revealed this episode.


¹Chaa: "We were only able to keep going because of you guys carrying on the fight"
²What's-her-name brown-haired GDM girl: "if the short time we spent here was just for us to enjoy the youth we never had..."
³Yuri: "I have no choice but to accept this one cruel, meaningless life!"
⁴What's-her-name purple-haired GDM girl: "Though, we really knew it without being told."

[touge-n00b]

I would have at least thought that KyoAni would have had a budget for at least 25 episodes, like all the other Key works. Although there are proabably more underlying reasons why Maeda gave the okay for 13 episodes only.

[Hypernova]

Originally Posted by Eater of All

*Snip*

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by Eater of All

*snip*

If only this had been explained.

You'd think they would, given that they felt the need to explain that ANGEL ISN'T ACTUALLY AN ANGEL WHO KNEW.

Originally Posted by touge-n00b

Although there are proabably more underlying reasons why Maeda gave the okay for 13 episodes only.

I doubt Maeda has enough creative control to decide the number of episodes. He's not even the director.

[Claies]

Man, they picked the worst possible path to take for the final boss. Someone we don't know and have never seen or heard of. I think he passed on as long as Yuri felt like passing on too.

So Yuri seeing her siblings thank her wasn't her real wish. She just wanted to pass time with people who she loves and who love her back (which her siblings were).

What are you doing Maeda? >_<

This is the first time we see Kanade smile, by the way, except it's not because of Yuzuru, so it's lame.

[raruku]

I wanna vote this one 100 out of 10 !!!!

[dark998]

Pretty hectic ep, full of revelations, disappearances and fighting. I particularly liked the dialogue between Yuri and the other guy (nameless?), and how she rejected the chance to become God.

One more to go, it has been one hell of a ride. However, there are many mysteries unsolved, like Kanade's past and the identity of the programmer...second season, maybe? Or Ovas?

[Archon_Wing]

Oohh, mind screwy introspection stuff and the appearance of Kaworu (Is he here to make Naoi happy and add to...?) Hah, I was thinking the only way the show could be remembered well at this point would be to have a screwy Eva-style ending. Well, maybe... *expects the last episode to be made entirely of stills and doodles. *

That was an extremely anticlimatic solution and the whole love thing was pretty cheesy but I still liked it. Shiina and Ooyama got to do some really cool things as once, and TK had an amazing whirlwind attack. To the enemies' dismay, Kanade was not only not nerfed, but she got a new Area of effect attack. Ah, screw balance.

The best scene has gotta be when Yuri's getting overwhelmed by the shadows and the budget can longer afford to let her shoot more but the remaining SSS members pull through for her as well as the last scene where she wakes up in bed.

So anyhow, she finally finds the room and a guy to explain the plot. Sadly, the guy doesn't really know either but Yuri finally comes to terms with herself. Also, lol at the Higurashi/Umineko face. She can be god! (So is this a prequel to Haruhi or what?) But nah, Yuri's no meglomaniac. Being the reasonable person, she finally accepts reality and can move on.

8/10; they made the best out of it.

[bhl88]

2 goddesses: one who didn't want to be God and one who doesn't know that she is God...

A psychotic laugh + ToT

[Larvayne]

Somehow, is it just me or is the NPC who works the Angel Player really the guy who was waiting for his love?

[Isekaijin]

Do need a VN version of this anime.

This can easily become the best anime of the year. Except that it was a bit rushed, everything else in it's execution was damn good.

Waiting for the end... sniff... Don't want this to end...

[Antiscian]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

If only this had been explained.

You'd think they would, given that they felt the need to explain that ANGEL ISN'T ACTUALLY AN ANGEL WHO KNEW.

Don't the quotes from the dialogue that Eater included show that the explanation was indeed there?


I think knowledge of the person behind all this is skewing perception too much. If this were any other show, upon coming across something that seems strange, a viewer would try to think it through in context to see how it worked, or if it had any important symbolism.
It seems to me though, that too often in this show when it does something that requires a bit of thinking to get, people simply say 'yet another plot hole or inconsistency, let's roll our eyes and add another to the count'.
I'm not targeting you specifically, apologies if it seemed so; I've seen many worse examples of the phenomenon.

...Incidentally, I did feel the mass disappearance was a bit rushed as well, but it made sense.


Regarding the episode itself, it had its highlights.
Yuri's speech in class was an impressive one. I was half-expecting her to become a full-blown NPC when she was attacked by a shadow, but I suppose that would have been a bit too heavy a twist.
Personally, I liked the idea of a program made to prevent love, and how it purposely couldn't allow it to exist within the world because it needed to be something to move on from. An unorthodox take on it that I've rarely seen in anime, but fitting in the setting.
The guy in the computer room was an interesting idea as well; I got the impression he was, as mentioned, an advanced NPC created by the culprit, or some sort of projection of the program. The fact that the original culprit is already NPC'd as a 'victim' of his own program removes the sense of him as an enemy, and it's now more like Yuri is fighting against a voiceless, thoughtless system; a real sense of 'all humans are in this together, all of us trying in our own way to fight what the universe throws at us', which to me is obviously a metaphor for living our lives.

Overall, unexpected as always, and an episode that brought up a number of interesting themes I'd be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.
I'd say 9/10.