SPOILERS BEWARE Strap in for a lengthy read since this is gonna be packed. Not only is Angel Beats my most watched anime spanning five full watches over nearly three years its also a show I found very early when I was introduced to anime so back in 2018 when I first found this. I genuinely thought I found the greatest anime of all time. Fast forward nearly three years and its not quite the greatest anime ever but damn is it still easily one of my favorites to watch since the meaning and message the show carries is so powerful and if you dont fully understand what the show is trying to portray then you may not get the full experience out of it. This was especially true for my blind watch of Angel Beats and since I was still a fresh newbie I couldnt even figure out the full story behind Angel Beats it wasnt till I rewatched the show some months later that I could fully appreciate the masterpiece that truly was Angel Beats. Its a masterpiece that I still proceeded to watch and finish three more times after my first rewatch for its characters its incredible sense of humour that has great rewatchability and of course the goddamn feels. When it comes to Angel Beats I feel like I will never become numb to the feels as they seem to get me every time in the same places most notably Yui and Kanades endings. Since Angel Beats is an original work and was released in 2010 it has managed to gather quite a huge fanbase over the years and its still a damn incredible show a decade later so this one has definitely stood the test of time very well and a show I would still highly recommend to any viewer plus its only thirteen episodes long and I guarantee you will not be disappointed by the time you get to the end. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/670745625670713353/907773643482873866/unknown.png One of the major reasons I love coming back to Angel Beats is its characters and Kanade in particular ever since first being introduced to this amazing kuudere Ive always been a fan of her character and the way she is ostracized and essentially bullied and humiliated makes me feel so guilty and become incredibly attached to her in a way to be her hero to say youre not alone even if the world rejects you I will not. Yuzuru starts filling this role over the course of the show and I really like his character for this he does what I would have loved to do in his shoes if possible and if I needed anything else to solidify Kanades place as my favorite character then it would be the ending to Angel Beats itself she had one tiny regret she only wanted to thank the donor that allowed her to live a longer life before coming to the supernatural world and that is so wholesome. Shes a kuudere so shes pretty emotionless and bad at explaining herself but my god did she get this one spot on those last few minutes of the final episode are so precious and easily some of my favorite minutes in all of anime. My blind watch of this scene completely obliterated me and it seemed like the comments section shared my feelings the very first time I stumbled across Angel Beats in my early years of anime Yuis ending broke me too but not to the level Kanades big reveal did. This one had me sobbing for a good while so I have this particular scene engraved firmly into my mind and its one of those scenes I will never forget for the rest of my life. Not only did Angel Beats introduce me to my love for drama/romance shows but it also introduced me to Kanade which I could easily call my waifu back in early 2018 since I just loved the ending so damn much and loved everything about her character. The lonely pushed aside characters I usually tend to get attached to and Kanade was certainly the reason I love Kuuderes nowadays. She is the OG of the OGs when it comes to kuuderes the cool icecold queen although she isnt mean but just very blunt and emotionless. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/670745625670713353/907772583112503306/HeadpattingKanadeGIF.gif The second episode was already a pretty good indicator as to what kind of show Angel Beats was it shifts from comedy to drama whenever it wants to and excels at both the comedy aspect is phenomenal when it comes to this anime and the emotional/drama side is implemented really well too. The second episode already gives us a glimpse at Yuris past life and why it was unfulfilled and filled with regrets its not made fully clear what her true regret was but a safe assumption would be that she failed to protect her three siblings she loved more than anything else and that is a solid enough reason to rebel against God since what she loved most was simply taken away in thirty minutes. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/670745625670713353/907770868711718962/unknown.png The following episode follows the structure that was set by the previous episode but takes it a step further as we see the very first obliteration of the anime in this case being obliterated isnt all that bad as it essentially means that youve filled the regrets you had in your life for Iwasamas sake it was singing the song she was never able to sing while alive due to her unfortunate confrontation with her father which led to her being hospitalised. This episode you really get to appreciate the OST of this show which I will touch on in greater detail at a later point but near the end of the episode Iwasama finally manages to sing the song she was unable to sing while she was alive and once she is finished she just disappears as she has no more reason to stay in this world. This is the process of obliteration and its not that hard to understand if you just simply think about it for a bit. In my blind watch I had a pretty hard time understanding what just occurred in this episode but I somewhat accepted it now while rewatching since I have the whole picture of the anime I can greatly appreciate the beauty of this episode in its full glory. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/670745625670713353/907770397368385556/unknown.png https://www..com/watch?v=VUkxwUhoOSUabchannel=AngelBeatsFanSSS Over the next three episodes is where I started getting seriously attached to Kanade since in these episodes you start seeing how much Kanade really is neglected by the main cast of the show and characters with traits like her I seriously just wanna give a huge warm hug she is all alone practically except Yuzuru who has mixed feelings about the whole situation which is a reason I really liked his character he is that one character that Kanade could turn to even if there was only one one is all she needs but at the beginning its more a fact of Yuzuru wanting to be with Kanade than vice versa when he learns that Mopu Tofu is her favorite food which he indirectly took her food ticket away due to Operation Tornado he felt guilty about taking one of her only pieces of happiness which he definitely regrets. Later he asks her to eat Mopu Tofu with him which she instantly obliges to and since this was at the time of her losing her position of student president she forgets about a rule which she ends up breaking and therefore gets locked up in practically a jail cell along with Yuzuru the jail cell scenes are really sweet since its my favorite couple of characters. I have to mention the reason Kanade loses her student president position is due to her tests being swapped with fake ones to mock the school and the replays that occur in these examsthe flying chair replays are so goddamn amazing and satisfying I can easily watch these 100 times nonstop and they would still not get boring for me as just playing sad emotional music as Hinata is flying into the ceiling in slow mode is just a piece of absolute genius that I cannot stop laughing at regardless of how many times Ive seen it. With that covered comes the conclusion of episode six which is Naois backstory its very brief as was Iwasama but again you learn more about this world and why these characters are here everyone here is because they lived regretful unsatisfied lives and Naois was definitely not a happy one losing his brother in an accident and essentially having to take over his brothers role was never going to be easy but all that Naoi really wanted was to be acknowledged by his father its a bit tricky to say whether he was acknowledged but Otonashi definitely acknowledges him for who he is at least in this world and that is what saves him which eventually leads to him joining the Battlefront. This is just another great episode showing off how well Angel Beats handles its drama genre and we havent even reached the best episodes yet either. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/670745625670713353/907769943938977823/unknown.png Episode seven shows a brief moment of Yuzurus life as he has his memories restored by Naoi and we get a glimpse of his unfulfilled life leading to his train journey to his uni entrance exam or alike and again another unfortunate accident happens as the train derails but thats all that we see in just episode seven we then have episode nine which is basically the entire chunk of the accident and how he died but was so close to making it out he literally died as the rescue team made it its so upsetting since he was such an inspiration even offering up his organs for donation since he accepted his death and this RIGHT here plays a HUGE role in this anime it was one reveal I certainly did not see coming which led to me weeping like a baby in the final moments of the anime. Also the fact that episode nine is the episode after the evil Kanades had merged with the real one and all this time Yuzuru had been laying on Kanades chest while regaining these memories he was listening to his own heartbeat as he regains his memories since Kanade was the girl that was saved by Yuzurus heart after he passed away at this point in the show you dont know this yet but after finishing the show multiple times all the factors are there and if youre paying enough attention then maybe you can piece the story together the way I think about it is that Kanade already knew he was her saviour back in episode one or had a good idea when she stabbed him and noticed he had no heart but since she is really bad at expressing herself she couldnt say it and more so if she did then it would be basically an instant obliteration since this was her one only regret. This is such a strong message given off by the show and an incredible story of how one can still be of use to others even after dying the entirety of episode nine just builds on Yuzurus character and damn does it build well he is a hero basically no matter how you see it its one thing just offering up your organs which already makes you a hero but then actually saving another humans life is priceless and he did just that he saved Kanades life for an undisputed amount of time and he is the reason why she came to this world her only regret was not being able to thank the person that prolonged her life but more on that later. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/670745625670713353/907768348970995742/unknown.png Then we have episode tenmy god episode ten is another incredible ride of emotions it starts off as you would expect going by the nature of Angel Beats but in the end the finale of this episode is so stunningly beautiful it really is the entire episode is solely dedicated to Yui and her regrets in life. All her regrets except one are involving sport and this comes as no surprise once you learn she was paralyzed at a very young age so she saw so much that she wanted to do on TV but was simply unable since she was bedridden for the majority of her life. The fact she can walk on her own in this world is already a huge step forward but its her last wish that really hits like a truck. I can SOOO clearly picture that image of Yui saying In that case Senpai would you marry me? and after a few seconds Hinata shouts Id marry you these words mean SOOO much and are so powerful that their meaning is priceless its also incredibly sweet since I ship them I see fans ship them and most importantly they probably ship themselves too so this kind of closure is incredibly heartwarming and just melts my heart. it definitely gets the waterworks going tooFor those that stick with Angel Beats and dont drop it they are rewarded with this episode but there is more Since the timing is right I have to mention the new ED which plays in the closing moments of this episode. Dear god is this OST absolutely phenomenal and truly an absolute gem the OST is just perfect for this episode and certainly emphasises the emotions to a higher level its also a song whenever I hear that instantly makes me reminiscence of Yui and her tragic past. I really cant state enough how much I love the entire OST of this anime but this ED is seriously something special also since Ive seen the show five times now it actually plays in the very first episode but the off vocal version its in this episode that we experience the full song. Six gentle minutes of an absolutely beautiful melody very fitting for Yui and her unfortunate life who was saved by Hinata with just a few words. Words really do pack an incredible meaning and they can very easily be priceless. Now Yuis closure and episode was damn incredible but there is another episode which holds a similar meaning and in my blind watch left the greatest impression I had so far experienced in all of anime. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/670745625670713353/907766964963913738/unknown.png https://www..com/watch?v=tm7Xf9818FMabchannel=TheAnimegirl2553 It is of course none other than episode thirteen the closure to the main cast is always going to be sad but Kanades takes it another notch the big reveal at the end of the anime that she is in fact the girl that was saved by Yuzuru after he died is huge and absolutely obliterated me as it was something I definitely didnt see coming since I was a newbie back then this episode is pretty special and even though the whole show may not be a masterpiece Angel Beats is certainly a masterpiece to me and will always be in my heart for various reasons. It also had a huge influence of why I love anime Angel Beats certainly opened up my love for anime my love for drama/romance shows which are still my favorite genre after three years my love for Kuuderes thanks to Kanade and she still takes the crown for the queen of Kuuderes for me since she inspired so much for me. The final embrace between Yuzuru and Kanade I have engraved into my mind like its my very own child since that scene is probably the most nostalgic and memorable scene in all of anime for me since it inspired so much. There are moments in other anime which I absolutely love like Clannad or Anohana to name just two but this single embrace at the end of Angel Beats is such an influential factor of why I watch anime today it definitely piqued my interest in drama/romance shows so I started digging more and still its my absolute favorite genre of anime after three lengthy years. I mentioned how Yuis closure got a new ED and well Kanades closure also uses the same song but sang by a different person and again its a song which is super nostalgic since it just screams Angel Beats to me and that alone is enough to make me start tearing up as I start reminiscing of Yui or Kanades ending episodes. Two episodes which will easily be engraved into my memory for the rest of my life since they hold so much meaning. There is also the fact that Angel Beats is an original work so it isnt adapted from anything which makes it all the more special Jun Maeda is a genius for coming up with this incredible tale now I did say I have Angel Beats to thank for many things but the greatest one is that because of this show I stumbled upon Clannad and that tale has permanently solidified itself as one of my favorite anime of all time with very good reason. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/670745625670713353/907765592193380352/unknown.png https://www..com/watch?v=o5SSGhmTvr0abchannel=RadiantMiku Now I did mention that I will touch on the OST of this show later and I again have Jun to thank for it all he is the original composer of the OST as well as writing of the show and its no surprise I love the OST since I love the OST of many of his other works like Clannad for instance both shows have absolutely godlike OST which fit the scenes and emphasise the emotions to a whole another level. The OP has easily become one of my favorites in all of anime and a huge factor is again that is just brings so much nostalgia to me but just hearing those few seconds of piano notes instantly gives it away that its the OP to this masterpiece. Next we have Girls Dead Monster GDM who is a fantastic anime band and the show only uses a fraction of their songs Alchemy Crow Song Thousand Enemies and Shine Song are just four songs you hear in the anime but Ive actually listened to all their songs and I love them all so much. GDM truly is a blessing to your ears so if you havent listened to any of their other songs then I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you check out some of their other songs since they are all bangers. I touched on why I love the ED song to episodes ten and thirteen but the first ED song is also very nostalgic sounds super peaceful and slow but you feel that pain it carries within itself since its carrying a tale of young souls that lived unfulfilled lives. The anime isnt published by Kyoto but since Jun made quite a lot of OST for Kyotos works which I absolutely love its no surprise the OST of Angel Beats is also at the highest level imaginable. Again he is a genius when it comes to story writing and composing to be honest. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/670745625670713353/907774456607428648/unknown.png https://www..com/watch?v=bPZBFU4OBQQabchannel=KanadeTachibana https://www..com/watch?v=XZBZtx3bRCcabchannel=ARMediaChannel https://www..com/watch?v=8ld4Mj1EkqUabchannel=AngelBeatsFanSSS https://www..com/watch?v=sdPwvBJiQJYabchannel=TegariDesu https://www..com/watch?v=aJl2jhDldMsabchannel=AngelBeatsFanSSS https://www..com/watch?v=wTRgMN9y1VAabchannel=xXxPandorasBox If there is anything else left for me to say is that you have to give this masterpiece a watch since its just a very beautiful tale packed with quite a lot of emotion Angel Beats is also an oddball where all its episodes are varying length most between 24 and 26 minutes but Yuis episode is even 27 minutes and is the single longest episode in the show so more watch time of a masterpiece is better in my opinion Just go and watch Angel Beats already since I assure you wont be disappointed 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/670745625670713353/907774997098033152/unknown.png Please dont forget to watch the after credit scene.