(L+CR) Charlotte

[Gundamx]

I had feeling they skipped a lot of thing because of time.

like Why didn't he jump back in time and then repeated everything again?
(To save their friends)

there is chance that enemy side had someone with counter skill for time-leap
(that why MC brother feel like losing to them at one step every time he leap back no matter what he do)

[Benigmatica]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

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.

I can agree with you honestly, and I wish Jun Maeda will just write visual novel stories instead of a 1-cour anime series.

On the other hand, at least there's redemption when Angel Beats! was adapted into a visual novel.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

*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.

I am already familiar with Romeo Tanaka considering I've played two of his VNs (Cross Channel and Yume Miru Kusuri) and watched Humanity has Declined a few years ago.

I was however also told that Little Busters was very different to the trio of Air, Kanon and Clannad... but I didn't see much of a difference at least in Little Busters proper itself (never watched Refrain because I was exhausted by the end of S1). Same usual Key style slice of life/high school antics which are hit or miss. Doesn't Rewrite have that as well?

Anyways I don't want to seem that I'm bagging Tanaka since I actually do like him to an extent but the Key label and studio 8-bit are pretty worrisome signs which is why I will stay away.

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.

Good!

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

I am already familiar with Romeo Tanaka considering I've played two of his VNs (Cross Channel and Yume Miru Kusuri) and watched Humanity has Declined a few years ago.

I was however also told that Little Busters was very different to the trio of Air, Kanon and Clannad... but I didn't see much of a difference at least in Little Busters proper itself (never watched Refrain because I was exhausted by the end of S1). Same usual Key style slice of life/high school antics which are hit or miss. Doesn't Rewrite have that as well?

That's like saying every VN are the same because they have high school antics. Learn to go deeper than that, otherwise, you are saying G senjou no Maou is the same as LB for merely having antics at school.

You should realize by now that a writer make up for the narrative along with the plot. Especially if the plot itself is completely different.

And yeah, LB can be considered as different from the other 3 because the themes were focused on adolescence and growth, whereas the other 3 have their respective themes, while having a common approach for the common route only.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

That's like saying every VN are the same because they have high school antics. Learn to go deeper than that, otherwise, you are saying G senjou no Maou is the same as LB for merely having antics at school.

This is getting offtopic but:

Spoiler for VN Talk:

I'm not going to pretend that I'm some VN nut since I definitely read a lot fewer VNs than you, but personally I found that whilst most VN has "high school" antics, let's just leave it that I'm not fond of the way Key does it. Also not all VNs that I have are set in high school nor have antics. For example, I've recently read World End Economica on steam which didn't have either. Narcissu and eden* didn't either.

You should realize by now that a writer make up for the narrative along with the plot. Especially if the plot itself is completely different.

Sure I'll give you that... but i do believe it is a flaw if you have to go through HALF of something before you get to the real meat of the VN. Granted majority of VNs fall under this trap, but they don't have the brand recognition or power that Key does (nor do they get anime adaptions at a frequent basis) I know you are using the G Senjou example because you know I read it and like it, but had me interested from the get go amongst the antics whilst the Key VNs I've read in the past all seem to seem jampack the meat towards it's latter third or so.

And yeah, LB can be considered as different from the other 3 because the themes were focused on adolescence and growth, whereas the other 3 have their respective themes, while having a common approach for the common route only.

Agreed theme wise. Disagree in terms of tone, atmosphere and execution because it feels like any other Key series minus heavy romance elements. At least up until he end of S1 since I like I said never watched Refrain.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Gundamx

like Why didn't he jump back in time and then repeated everything again?
(To save their friends)

He explained that. Because he decided that powers themselves were wrong, and he wouldn't compromise even to save Kumagami. He was going to take all the powers, period.

[Top Sergeant]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

He explained that. Because he decided that powers themselves were wrong, and he wouldn't compromise even to save Kumagami. He was going to take all the powers, period.

That's right. That's the reason he took away the healing power of that young girl in the village.


I've also noticed a trend of posts belittling the last power being courage. But they don't say that the girl still had courage even after the power was plundered. She was so frightened she was shaking, but she still stood her ground. Its a good message: you don't need to be a superhero to be brave, and you can still be brave, and face deadly adversaries, even when your so scared you just might wet your pants.

[hyl]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

This is getting offtopic but:

Spoiler for VN Talk:

I'm not going to pretend that I'm some VN nut since I definitely read a lot fewer VNs than you, but personally I found that whilst most VN has "high school" antics, let's just leave it that I'm not fond of the way Key does it. Also not all VNs that I have are set in high school nor have antics. For example, I've recently read World End Economica on steam which didn't have either. Narcissu and eden* didn't either.

Which is incorrect because likely 90 or even 95% of all visual novels have a school setting (sometimes to a lesser extend but still).

[Nachtwandler]

Originally Posted by hyl

Which is incorrect because likely 90 or even 95% of all visual novels have a school setting (sometimes to a lesser extend but still).

What's not the point. The point is about how SoL and comedy part is handled. IMHO it's really different in ReWrite from other Key works.

[hyl]

Originally Posted by Nachtwandler

What's not the point. The point is about how SoL and comedy part is handled. IMHO it's really different in ReWrite from other Key works.

Well that is different in pretty much most cases of Visual novels when the writer has changed. That's why "brand" is not so much important for the story than the writers

Like for example Sagaplanets' Hatsuyuki Sakura is completely different than Sagaplanet's later 2 works , Karumaruka Circle and Hanasaki Workspring, because Niijima Yuu left Sagaplanets 3 years ago

[Arkard]

We still never did get to find out why Nao was beat up by the gang of girls or why they resented her did we?

[Vaans]

That girl with the 'Courage' ability is so cute. She should have been included in the main cast. Oh well.

The ending was good. I like it as it is.

[cyth]

I honestly didn't think the courage gimmick was that problematic. The girl reminded me of someone, perhaps the main girl from Angel Beats, not sure. But it's like whenever they introduce a character and she's shining like she was part of the main cast, it raises a bit of an unintended question of "why now?"

[silvercover]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

He explained that. Because he decided that powers themselves were wrong, and he wouldn't compromise even to save Kumagami. He was going to take all the powers, period.

and he could still do those things after saving kumagami.

so much irony and hypocrisy with yuu. kumagami was the one who led him back to his brother in order for him to get the time travel to save his sister in the first place.

introducing time travel was a mistake, as it really amounted to pretty much nothing in the end. shouldnt have killed ayumi in the first place and just have kumagami die later on if thats what they want.

it was also in the first timeline where yuuXnao really looked well and plausible to happen, with yuu being really impressed and grateful to nao watching over him and nao seeing him as a great guy thanks to yuu bringing in sala for nao's brother to recover.
and they still become a couple like this, even though nao didnt have that much time bond with and appreciate yuu in this timeline.



the courage girl would have been better somewhere in the middle of the episode where yuu starts to give up but thanks to her "ability" he keeps on going.

[Triple_R]

My reply to silvercover is in spoiler space below, as it is long.

Spoiler for Reply to silvercover:

Originally Posted by silvercover

huh, how can this ending be "better than expected"?

I didn't mean "better than expected" in a "happier than I expected" way. I mainly just found this ending more entertaining than I thought it would be. Yuu's globe-hopping to steal tens of thousands of powers was honestly more of a fun romp than I expected it to be. A fun romp in the same sense as, say, a sloppy action blockbuster movie is.

I have to say - Some people hold Key and/or Maeda in overly high esteem and it causes them to have overly high expectations that's just setting themselves up for serious disappointment.

If I had to sum up Key in just three words, do you know what they would be?

"Feelz over realz"

So I wonder why people would expect tight plotting from Key. Key is about emotional impact, not intellectual satisfaction. We're talking about a content creator that views Deus ex Machina as a feature, not a bug. So it seems silly to me to approach a Key-made and/or Maeda-wrote story the same way I would, say, hard sci-fi.

Did the story have good emotional impact? Did it entertain? Did it have any noteworthy themes that were conveyed well? How strong was the lead character? How good was the main cast?

These are the five main questions I have for any Key work. On these questions, Charlotte is disappointing on the last one (yes, some of the main cast is shortchanged) but I'm honestly satisfied with the first four. Maybe not supremely pleased, but satisfied.

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 think that the theme of "the world is better off without super-powers" builds up slowly over the full show. The final note of this is Yuu eventually deciding to reject super-power use even when such use could be of personal benefit to him and/or his loved ones. If Yuu used a superpower to save a friend in the very last episode then that would clash with the "the world is better off without super-powers" theme that I'm seeing here. A theme doesn't necessarily need to be reinforced with every action that a main character takes throughout the entire show. But it probably should be reinforced by the main character's actions in the closing act or last chapter or final episode.

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,

Courage seems like a legitimate ability to me. There's things that limitless courage will enable a person to do that they probably won't be able to do without such courage. Maybe you shouldn't want to be doing those things anyway (fear does have its practical uses at times), but then many superpowers are like that. Many superpowers can backfire nastily if not used well.

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.

The only way the final episode wasn't going to be rushed is if Yuu changed his mind and/or failed early on. Power-stealing on a global-scale in one episode clearly meant it was going to be rushed, period.

You know what else was rushed? Madoka Magica Episode 10.

It's generally better not to be rushed, but there's far worse things than being rushed. I'll certainly take rushed over the opposite of "too slow, lost interest".

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.

What's the big deal about doing the global saving like this? It's not actually that important to see the whole thing play out in careful detail (since the only truly important character involved is Yuu himself). Look, sometimes just getting the highlights of something is fine. We were shown what we needed to be shown.

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.

You're right here. This is a legit criticism to raise against Charlotte. But this show was clearly Yuu's story from start to finish. So I don't have as much an issue with short-changed important characters here as I would in a show that wasn't firmly focused on a lead character from start to finish.

except there was little foreshadowing how abilities were that bad to the world,

The very first episode showed Yuu abusing his powers. Episode 7 showed him doing it again. IIRC, the one-shot power user in Episode 2 was using his ability to get photos of teenage girls in their underwear and then sell them, without the consent of the girls in question. That also strikes me as an abuse of power.

Sure, this wasn't earth-shattering stuff, but I didn't find it hard to see how it could escalate in ways that could cause a lot of damage and hurt a lot of people.

I fail to see how yuu is any more ambitious than otonashi.

Otonashi never played the villain, to the best of my recollection. He never quite went into the same sort of darkness as Yuu did. In Yuu's story, I see a powerful character arc of a guy struggling against a darker inner nature in order to do what he felt was right.

Altruism arose from Otonashi's personality more cleanly and smoothly than it arose from Yuu. Which does make Otonashi more likable to me, but it also means that his character doesn't have to change as much as Yuu's does. Yuu's character has to undergo a lot of change (which is where I see a lot of ambition), and on the whole, I think Maeda handled Yuu well. Not perfectly, but well. Contrast Yuu with Guilty Crown's Shu, and you might see what I mean here.

[moodie]

you either get Key or u dont. i for one found this anime to be good...not the best but def better than little busters lol.

[Fairy Water]

What a let down ending
So much potential when Yuu's memory gone and his personality starting to shift I was like 'Yes! Drama shit is coming once and again!!! ' but then BUMP!!! A helicopter from no where pick him up THIS IS SUCK!!!

I should not expected too much from Key after all the moe shit art, force romance, dense characters.

Rate: 8/10

Originally Posted by silvercover

the courage girl would have been better somewhere in the middle of the episode where yuu starts to give up but thanks to her "ability" he keeps on going.

Yeah, that's would be more meaningful of this ability.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by moodie

you either get Key or u dont. i for one found this anime to be good...not the best but def better than little busters lol.

I get the impression that some people think that Key is just all-around great.

I like Key, but no, they're not all-around great.

There's some specific things they're usually great at. Emotional impact. Likable characters. Thematic resonance.

Plots that stand up well under careful critical examination? Not really. That's not Key's strong suit, imo.

When it comes to that, there's plenty of holes I could pick with Clannad or Kanon or Little Busters if I wanted to. Those are shows I love, but not because of airtight plots.

[cyth]

Originally Posted by moodie

you either get Key or u dont. i for one found this anime to be good...not the best but def better than little busters lol.

I honestly wonder how many people found this anime to be Key-like. I didn't think Angel Beats! was particularly Key-like either. If feels is everything that characterizes Key stories, then we can label a whole lot of stories to be Key-like. The truth is they're not. Even more so, Key anime themselves aren't uniform either. Maybe the execution of comedy found in KyoAni's Kanon and Clannad are similar. Thematically, if there's anything common to them at all, it's the mystical town motif found in Kanon, Air, Clannad.

Either way, I didn't "get" this show and I consider myself to be a fan of Key's older stories. Charlotte was just Maeda Jun probably in a cuckold position, his name being used for advertising purposes.

[Sheba]

To give Charlotte proper credit, its "default heroine" is much better characterized and more compelling than those like Ayu from Kanon.

EDIT: To compare with Angel Beats, I never liked Yuripe who struck me as insufferable, whereas Tenshi is someone I did feel sorry for.