From the creator of Angel Beats!, Jun Maeda, comes another work of art which depicts the story of few adolescent boys and girls who possesses some special kind of abilities. Yuu Otosaka, who uses his ability unbeknownst to others in order to lead a satisfying school life. And then, a girl named Nao Tomori suddenly appears before him. Their encounter reveals the destiny for wielders of special abilities. Source
Please note that I’m not an expert in judging anime. It’s just mainly based on how I liked and enjoyed the story. So no hard feelings please. Plus it contains spoilers with warnings so read at your own risk.
My Ratings
Animation – 5/5
As what is expected from P.A. Works, their animation is always good. I especially like the vivid colors. There’s nothing more I can say about the animation.
Sounds – 4/5
I think the background music is good especially on the drama part. But there were moments when I feel the music-feel was off. I just can’t pin point the exact moment but it was probably during the comedic moments? And for the soundtrack of Zhiend, I thought that it was pretty good. Though Charlotte also has a band track like Angel Beats! do, I thought I like Charlotte’s Zhiend better especially the composition. It’s more close to the kind of genre that I like and I super love the vocalist’s voice.
Voice Acting – 4/5
I thought the voice acting fits perfectly with the characters. But I find Otosaka, Ayumi’s voice a bit annoying. I didn’t find it cute unlike the other lolis I know. For my preference I think it was overdone. And I espcially can’t concentrate when she says “de gozaru” since it reminds me of Morokuzu, Takehito a.k.a. Gakuto from Prison School. Dang!
Romance – 2/5 (Not counted)
Charlotte is mainly about drama and not romance so there is really no question to that. Though they did added a hint of romance on it especially between the main male and female protagonist. But the thing I wasn’t pleased with the romance is how Otosaka realizes his feelings towards Tomori and how “romance” blossomed between them. It wasn’t that special and I could say it’s pretty boring but I was at least pleased with the romance at the end.
Story – 51/60
I actually thought that the story was good but I can say it could have been better. If the story pattern would be the same from episode one, I would be totally fine with it. But then around half of its episode, the story turn into something serious. It is totally fine that the story progressed into a more interesting and deeper one. But then the screen time for the most important part of the story was shorten. I think they have wasted half of it’s episode introducing supporting characters that would be irrelevant as the story progress. They could have shorten it to three episodes and make more slot to the important part of the story. If not they could have made a second season for it. Because I think it was such a waste. I feel like the important part of the story was rushed.
And because the story was rushed thus the characters’ development too. There weren’t enough character development for this series which I find sad. I especially want to know more about the other main characters especially Takajou, Joujirou. I feel like he was totally disregarded after Ayumi’s incident, like he was just there for introduction. Even I find the lack of character development for the main male protagonist.
And again, because the story was rushed it developed several loop holes in the story. And there is this one specific thing that I was curious about regarding the Time Leap ability: What happens to the present user when he uses time leap to travel to the past? I can understand during the first scene when Otosaka, Shunsuke first uses the ability because he probably died after it. But then he uses it again and then there is that time when Yuu uses the ability too, he surely is alive back then. So what happens to the present user’s body when one uses the ability? Well, it’s probably a small issue but then it got me curious.
That’s just it. I though it’s nice but then there are actually more things that I wished happened before the story ended.
Impact – 16/30
Charlotte is a good anime but then again it could have been better. It actually didn’t gave me that much of an impact because I have already experienced similar vibes from other anime like Angel Beats! which was created by the same author of this series and for some reason Little Busters. And I find it weird because I easily cry on dramas but this series only made me make a few tears.
TOTAL – 80/100
NOW WHAT!?
I would still recommend this series to somebody even thought it didn’t gave me enough impact. The concept is actually nice. And if you love Angel Beats! then I suggest you watch this series too.