(L+CR) Charlotte

[Psyco Diver]

Not a bad ending, not a great one either, very meh for me. I liked the first half, but the ending was just meh, like they were writing it as safe as possible so as to not make anyone mad

[Haruyasha]

Something I wondered... if he plundered the "healing" ability, and if the powers are considered a "disease" ... does that mean he can theoretically just heal himself?

Same with his brain damage.

[BladeMancer]

Originally Posted by Haruyasha

Something I wondered... if he plundered the "healing" ability, and if the powers are considered a "disease" ... does that mean he can theoretically just heal himself?

Same with his brain damage.

He probably doesn't know if he's brain damaged

[serenade_beta]

3/10

Wow, it sucked so bad, I'm honestly shocked. The last episode went through the entire world in one episode, which obviously resulted in the protagonist suddenly going crazy, his brother finding him somehow, and him being rather fine except for lost memory in the end.
Foreign mafia? Eeevvvieell scientists? The whole world treating him as a "WANTED" list person? I don't know, those things might have... just been thrown out the window at one point?

Rather useless new characters suddenly appearing and suddenly disappearing (and sometimes even older characters), people talking about morals and whatever only to go against them in an episode later, plots holes, plot holes, the idol and megane being insignificant in the 2nd half, comedy that OHKOs with Sheer Cold, meteors...

*head explodes*
Rather, I wonder what the anime did right? Hype, maybe? Well, the question on that is who caused this monstrosity. Key? Maeda? PA?
Well, the animation was good enough(?), so that is kinda PA-ish. The story kinda smelled like Key from head to toe, so Key and Maeda?

And what is worst is that it wasn't even a funny trainwreck. It was the type that left people with this expression:

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

My friend said it was a trainwreck since Ep4, but I still had some hope at that time. I could never tell what was happening next because... the story was just that "wonderful " Man, Maeda, stop those narcissistic deep comments that you plastered on the HP a while back. It's so shallow, I'd die if I dived into it.

[mergele]

That last episode was better than I expected after the previouse one. During the main part it achieved the level of "meh". Then he got shot and it went down to "could I trade watching with vomiting?" but we must be thankful for what we get.

Overall:
If you are really bored you can watch up to episode 10, rated "dissapointing".
Ignore episodes 10+!!! (Not in a way like "The legend of the legendary heroes" where you wont listen anyway, or even the 6th iteration of the endless eigth where it's a waste of time, REALLY ignore them)

Good stuff:
Started with a promise of an interesting MC
I really liked the MC-sister interactions

Bad stuff:
Flawed internal logic
For the most part neither intersting characters, nor interesting character developement, nor intersting story and mediocre humor. MC and Nao sometimes appear that they will get interstin in the future but then just fall flat again or just dont get any more exploration in that matter.
Put simply there is like nothing good in it. It all feels like a pure setup, but if episodes 10-13 should have been the payoff, I'd rather prefer none.

PS: 1/10
PPS: I 100% agree with this getting the tag "waste of time"

[Arturia Polaris]

I sincerely just relogged into my account to mention how I feel like puking after watching the anime.

Boo. 4/10 at most.

Shokugeki No Soma had more drama.

[VTHokiePride]

Feel like they went way too quickly through the end. Wasn't he supposed to be gone for years?

[Leo_Otaku]

Wow...okay.

I don't know how to feel about all of that. It was just really messy. The biggest issue is the pacing. The concept seems like from start to finish not planned to be an anime. More like Maeda had an idea and then edited it to conform to an anime. This needed to be 26+ at least. That last episode could have been another show. As someone mentioned, it should have gotten to this point episodes ago.

With the rushed pacing, the emotions, character,and story were really short changed. I felt it in Angel Beats, but harder here. There were too many ideas getting crammed into here.

I enjoyed the show, but it was just too rushed. The music, characters, and animation were great. But I just wish the ideas were executed better. More foreshadowing and less antics. It didn't help when the cast increased midway either. I feel a bit let down by this. I'd rather have this in a VN format. This wasn't a waste of time. If you enjoyed it or had any fun, then it wasn't all a waste. There are far worse anime out there guys

I hope Maeda makes something with less convoluted for an anime in the future.

[larethian]

Calling it now. OVA will either be a date or a group outing. If the later, Nao will get some private time with Yuu, and at the end of the episode, his memories about her will come back. There might even be a Zhiend concert again.

[Vegard Aune]

Hmmm... Well that sure was an episode that felt like it would have been better spread out over an entire season. I don't necessarily have a problem with the ideas presented in this episode but... all crammed together in 20 minutes like this, it really didn't leave much of an impact. Which really, I think basically sums up the show as a whole; Some nice ideas, but executed in the most rushed and unimpressive manner possible, leaving the overall experience just kinda forgettable. Although I did like the final scene. And it is nice to see that, even after the show shamelessly retconned out the biggest source of drama in the show, at least they still committed to having some sense of actual loss at the end. It would have been so easy for them to just have Yuu miraculously remember everything at the last second, but nope, the damage had been done, and we're just left to assume that he'll just have to live with the fact that he's basically forgotten his entire life up till this point.

All in all, not a terrible show, but... yeah Maeda should just stick to writing visual novels. And perhaps manga, as I'd say Hibiki's Magic is also considerably better than this... Point being, he seems to write a lot better when he doesn't have to confine himself to telling the entire story in 12 episodes. Though even within those confines... Angel Beats was a better show. And I say that as someone who thought Angel Beats was preposterously overrated.

[~Yami~]

Originally Posted by larethian

Calling it now. OVA will either be a date or a group outing. If the later, Nao will get some private time with Yuu, and at the end of the episode, his memories about her will come back. There might even be a Zhiend concert again.

this OVA might save the anime a little at least for me

I consider Angel Beats is better than Charlotte because of that "feels" struck in the last episode..
Charlotte needs to do something similar like that to save the anime

[Kanon]

"The very last ability was... courage."

BRAVO MAEDA

This show turned out to be an even bigger disaster than Angel Beats. WAY bigger. I actually had high hopes for it after the awesome first episode, but I should have known better than to trust Maeda's words. He learned absolutely nothing from Angel Beats and still has no idea how to write a half decent single cour anime. However, unlike Angel Beats, I don't think more episodes would have helped here. If they had stretched this terrible story over two cours, it would have been even worse. Besides, if Maeda can't pace a strory properly, it's his own damn fault. Let's not forget he wasted half the series on pointless MoTW episodes. Tons of writers over the years have done just fine with only 13 episodes.

4/10 with two extra points for the animation and the fun premise (ultimately ruined by Maeda's compulsion to write drama).

[.:Jason:.]

Honestly I don’t feel like Charlotte was disappointing. Yes there were pacing issues but I don’t think they show’d up until the end of episode 6 at the earliest and even then I’d say the pacing didn’t really become a problem until the end of episode 9.

That said I enjoyed the anime. The first five episodes were a nice way to introduce us to the cast and let us get to know them as was the beginning of the plot. I only really started having problems once Yuu regained his memories and saved Ayumi and even then my issues were more with the pacing than the plot itself.

Solid 8/10. It’s not the best anime out there but I wouldn’t say it’s bad either.

[Eater of All]

Decent last ep. Arguably it has enough content to last an entire cour, but I see it more as an epilogue; the details of his journey around the world are not very important at this point in the story. The Nao scene at the hospital was pretty good, though I would've preferred a more bittersweet ending. Or a more dramatic one, such as Yuu spiralling down in madness until Nao saves him again just like she did in the pre-time-leap universe (then again, this might be too much for one episode).

Anyhow, as a whole Charlotte was entertaining. The plot development was a bit clumsy at times, but Nao makes up for everything.

7/10

[cyth]

Originally Posted by .:Jason:.

That said I enjoyed the anime. The first five episodes were a nice way to introduce us to the cast and let us get to know them as was the beginning of the plot. I only really started having problems once Yuu regained his memories and saved Ayumi and even then my issues were more with the pacing than the plot itself.

You mean the cast, half of which they completely ignored in the second half?


Honestly, there's a limit to how bad a show can get. I feel like Maeda wasn't solely responsible for this mess. I'm almost inclined to say he got strongarmed into writing a plot halfway through that he himself didn't want to write. Guess we'll never know.

[ookamigirl]

Looks like a lot changed since I last watched this.
Sipped a few episodes & now I'm pleasantly surprised.
This anime evolved quite a bit from the its beginning.
There was quite a load on Yu's shoulders.
His abilities were impressive, but his mission was practically an impossible one.
Intense final episode. Nice ending.

[silvercover]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Charlotte certainly isn't without its issues.

That being said, this ending is honestly better than I thought it would be.

I'm glad that Maeda didn't pull off another twist, such as having Yuu heal his eye to jump back in time and save Pooh. Such a twist may well have made sense, but it was probably better to stick firmly to the narrative and thematic ideas that I'm seeing here.

Charlotte ends as a world-wide romp of Yuu stealing tens of thousands of powers. He becomes a celebrity figure, and encounters some interesting situations due to his exploits. His mind breaks down in a variety of ways, including a temporary relapse into megalomaniacal villainy.

Honestly, I found it a very gripping and highly entertaining final episode. Going into the finale, I was worried that we'd get one last cheap twist, and/or that the "steal every powers" ending would feel anti-climatic (partly due to how ridiculously over-powered Yuu would get). I can definitely say it didn't feel anti-climatic to me. Rushed, maybe, but given time constraints, I think the final episode did a good job of capturing the full scale of what was going on here - both at a global level, and also within Yuu's own psyche.

And the critics can call it cheap moe pandering if they want to - honestly, I don't even think I could blame them for doing that - but nonetheless that one-shot courageous girl truly won me over in her one short, cute scene.


Charlotte's plot was really, really convenient. It was way too cute. And yet... it often made me smile, it did entertain me, and it didn't upset me quite like a more haphazard off-the-seat-of-the-pants plot typically would. Don't get me wrong, there are questionable aspects to this plot, but I have little doubt that Meada had the whole thing planned out from the start (the amazing convenience of it all makes that pretty clear to me). And I like how there's signs of plot-planning here. I like being able to perceive a clear "full story" plan on the part of the writer, because it does create a greater sense of wholeness to the narrative, at least in my view.

I also perceive some real thematic strength here.

For example - "The world is better off without super-powers".

That definitely seems to be a strongly-delivered theme when you consider the plot as a whole. And given the popularity of superhero movies, and given the stance that fiction often takes on people wielding superpowers (consider X-Men, the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, s-Cry-ed, etc...), I do appreciate this rarer and arguably bolder approach, even if I'm more personally inclined to think that superpowers are cool and should be embraced.


I wouldn't put Charlotte with my favorite Key anime. Charlotte's full character cast just isn't as strong as Clannad's or Kanon's or Little Buster's. Yes, some characters did get shortchanged here.

However, I think I like Charlotte more than Angel Beats! Charlotte doesn't leave me scratching my head like Angel Beats! did. And I see a certain ambition in Yuu's character arc that I didn't see with any character in Angel Beats!

huh, how can this ending be "better than expected"? like, how exactly can this ending, which is very bitter, be something better than another kind of ending? or are you telling me, that you were expecting some ending where yuu fails in getting everyone or he dies before making it back to nao?

also I fail to see how saving pooh breaks the theme of the show, heck id argue "not saving" him breaks the theme more. they turned back time to save ayumi, who may I remind you is doing completely happy and fine. if you're really saying that they had that kind of theme, then ayumi should remain dead or be miserable.

I dont think people had any real problems with a cute little girl showing up to defend yuu... the problem lay on the girl having some retarded power called COURAGE. of all things they could have slapped for a last ability, its one that can hardly be an ability at all, not to mention naming it in the first place is useless since yuu was already done. this COURAGE ability could have been relevant at least if they put her somewhere in the middle of the episode where yuu starts to give up and then have this as a confidence boost. as it stands, going out of their way to do this was a waste of time, that could have been useful for making the episode less rushed as it is.

maeda totally didnt have things planned out. maybe yuu's bro, timetravel and memories was planned, but clearly if they were planning to go down this global saving storyline, then a ton of early episodes could have been cut or shortened. like, aside from nao, the rest of the main cast might as well just been side characters/one off characters with how little they amounted in the ending. yusa and misa could have just been for one episode in her arc before they just end up as background character for the MC to loot at some point in the future. the speedguy could have been still relevant as constant support/bro, like hinata in angel beats, but he's pretty much as irrelevant as yusa/misa in the 2nd half.

except there was little foreshadowing how abilities were that bad to the world, the main issue was they could be captured and experimented on. until the last ep, no one has really used their powers to do bad or risky things... besides yuu of course. fly dude was trying to keep his a secret, telekinesis baseball was subtle and the nude photographer was just making some cash and could just have been excused as "a good photo editor". it was only in the ending where the morality of users were questioned.

I fail to see how yuu is any more ambitious than otonashi. at best, yuu makes some more objections but thats it. he might as literally be a slave to other people just as much as otonashi did what he was ordered. yuu makes complaints, but still ends up doing what everyone else tells him to do. he went mad and solo after ayumi's death, but thats just on the same level as otonashi siding with kanade over the guild in the middle. yuu is also literally just influenced by everyone else and doesnt have his own ideal, except in the first episode.

[Benigmatica]

Episode 13:
Well it seems that Yuu didn't hulk it out against the world if it wasn't for Nao's flash cards.

A good ending for Charlotte, but it's better for Jun Maeda to work on visual novels instead of writing an anime series!

[Pocari_Sweat]

Well... at least it was better than Glasslip. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

And that's purely because of Nao. Poor girl deserves a better series and some better development.

But that's about where the praise ends, because I can't even begin to point out what was wrong with the series. If we are talking about the last episode purely, then LOLCOURAGE... you must be kidding me? That was lamer than the ending of Soul Eater but that series was a shonen so it had somewhat an excuse, whilst this does not.

This series did have a little bit of potential. The first half despite being power of the week episodes was generally fun and I did enjoy some of the antics from Nao, Yuu and co, though some jokes were just repetitive and boring (e.g. speedbro guy). Then edgelord Yuu episode aired and I was pretty entertained though the ending of that episode was pretty balls. But after... every episode seemed to outdo itself in terms of asspulls. We go from time leaping to terrorist subplots to the kitchen sink. It was outdoing each episode in the lolasspull factor. By the end it was even worse than Angel Beats in terms of narrative, plot, pacing, audio usage, drama and everything else minus visuals. It was on the same level of lolbad as Aldonoah Zero, Valverave, Guilty Crown, SAO S1 and all those other "subpar" blockbuster trainwrecks. I don't know what they meant by trying to "fix" Angel Beats but they surely didn't fix anything, just made it worse minus adding a good female heroine for once.

I hope Key and PA works never team up ever again. Or if they do, never with a Maeda story ever again. Actually screw it, never with Key again since I have yet to like their involvement since Clannad and Clannad After days and that series had a lot of problems too. Seriously PAW, just stop - you either suck at making Key-based animes or Key just sucks at making anime in general.. so it's a lose-lose situation.

Hell, I thought i would never say this but can PAW get back to making Okada melodramas instead again? I'll take that any day of the week over Angel Beats and Charlotte and any future Key works.

I'll spare myself the pain and not go near Rewrite anime with a 10foot pole. Too many times I've been lenient with Key series and every time they seem to just make me shake my head despite potential here and there.

P.S. If Charlotte outsells Shirobako in Bluray/DVD Sales, I am going to be very very annoyed.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

I'll spare myself the pain and not go near Rewrite anime with a 10foot pole. Too many times I've been lenient with Key series and every time they seem to just make me shake my head despite potential here and there.

*sigh* Rewrite is probably the least "key-like" series simply because the main writer is Tanaka.
Confusing a writer and the company as a whole is questionable at best.

P.S. If Charlotte outsells Shirobako in Bluray/DVD Sales, I am going to be very very annoyed.

Not a single chance considering the series isn't exactly well received in Japan either. OTOH, Shirobako's popularity is really high. They aren't on the same league at all.