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Angel Beats! is a Japanese mixed media project originally conceived by Jun Maeda with original character design by Na-Ga; both Maeda and Na-Ga are from the visual novel brand Key known for producing such titles as Kanon, Air, and Clannad. Key is working in collaboration with ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Magazine to produce the project. An Angel Beats! anime series will be produced by P.A. Works and Aniplex into 13 episodes directed by Seiji Kishi and will begin airing in Japan on April 3, 2010. Two manga series and a series of illustrated short stories are serialized in Dengeki G's Magazine.
Plot
Angel Beats! takes place in the afterlife, and follows the main protagonist Otonashi, a boy who lost his memories of his life after dying. He is enrolled into the afterlife school, which exists as a middle ground between heaven and earth, where students learn to give up any lingering attachments they still have from life before finally going to heaven. While the injuries or cause of death is gone, those in the afterlife school still can feel pain or other things as they did when they were alive. Otonashi meets a girl named Yuri who invites him to join the SSS—Shinda Sekai Sensen (死んだ世界戦線?, lit. Afterlife War Front)—an organization she leads which fights against God. The student council at the school, led by the student council president and angel Tenshi, is in charge of keeping the status quo and serve to fight against the SSS.
Characters
Main characters
- Otonashi (音無?)
- Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya
- Otonashi is the main protagonist of Angel Beats!. After dying, he lost his memories while he was still alive. He becomes involved with the SSS and their fight against God.
- Yuri (ゆり?)
- Voiced by: Harumi Sakurai
- Yuri, also known as Yurippe (ゆりっぺ?), is a girl with a determined personality who is attending the afterlife school, where she meets Otonashi and invites him to join the SSS—Shinda Sekai Sensen (死んだ世界戦線?, lit. Afterlife War Front)—an organization she leads which fights against God. She carries a silver Beretta 92.
- Tenshi (天使?, lit. Angel)
- Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa
- Tenshi is an angel girl who is the student council president at the afterlife school. It is difficult to understand what she is thinking due to her rarely showing any outward emotion. She fights against the SSS as a servant of God.
SSS members
- Hinata (日向?)
- Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura
- Hinata is a boy with a bright, dependable personality.
- Yui (ユイ?)
- Voiced by: Eri Kitamura
- Yui is an assistant to Girls Dead Monster, which she is also a big fan of. She enjoys playing guitar and singing on the street.
- Takamatsu (高松?)
- Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima
- Takamatsu is an honor student at the afterlife school who has a polite personality and wears glasses. He contributes to SSS with mainly intelligence gathering and other affairs, but does not actively go out and fight.
- Noda (野田?)
- Voiced by: Shun Takagi
- Noda is a self-reliant boy who executes the strategies formed by the SSS, and fights with a long spear and attached axe named Halbert (ハルバート, Harubāto?). He does not listen to anyone other than Yuri, whom he has adoration for, and is antagonistic to most everyone else.
- Shiina (椎名?)
- Voiced by: Fūko Saitō
- Shiina is a female ninja who fights with duel-wielding kodachi.
- Yusa (遊佐?)
- Voiced by: Yui Makino
- Yusa is an operator in SSS who conveys the state of the battlefield to Yuri, and has a calm personality.
- Fujimaki (藤巻?)
- Voiced by: Yūki Masuda
- Fujimaki is a delinquent who fights with a long bokken.
- TK
- Voiced by: Michael Rivas
- TK is a mysterious character who wears a large bandanna over his eyes.
- Matsushita (松下?)
- Voiced by: Eiichirō Tokumoto
- Matsushita, also known as "Matsusha 5-dan", has a large build and is a master at judo.
- Ōyama (大山?)
- Voiced by: Yumiko Kobayashi
- Ōyama is an ordinary boy with no special talents.
Girls Dead Monster
Girls Dead Monster is a four-girl musical band whose objective in SSS is to cause a diversion from other activities SSS is engaged in, while on the surface appearing to be a normal all female band.
- Iwasawa (岩沢?)
- Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro
- Iwasawa is the leader of Girls Dead Monster who is in charge of the vocals and is the rhythm guitarist. She also writes the lyrics and composes the music for the band's songs. While usually a quiet girl, she is about to fascinate listeners via her striving to create music that speaks her thoughts.
- Hisako (ひさ子?)
- Voiced by: Chie Matsuura
- Hisako is second in command of Girls Dead Monster who plays as lead guitarist. She has a candid personality and likes to play mahjong, which she has incredible luck with.
- Irie (入江?)
- Voiced by: Kana Asumi
- Irie is the drummer of Girls Dead Monster who, despite being dead herself, is bad with hearing stories about ghosts or spirits, which Sekine likes to take advantage of.
- Sekine (関根?)
- Voiced by: Emiri Katō
- Sekine is the bassist of Girls Dead Monster who likes to play pranks on those around her to see the surprised faces of her victims. She also likes to abruptly improvise during performances, which makes Hisako get mad at her.
Others
- Chaa (チャー?)
- Voiced by: Hiroki Tōchi
- Chaa supplies the weapons that SSS uses. Despite looking much older, he is about the same age as Otonashi and the others attending the afterlife school.
Media
Internet radio shows
An Internet radio show to promote Angel Beats! called Jun Maeda's Brutal Radio (麻枝准の殺伐ラジオ, Maeda Jun no Satsubatsu Rajio?) had its first broadcast on May 30, 2009, and will run for four episodes. The show is hosted by Jun Maeda, though guests do make appearances, such as Hironori Toba, the producer for Angel Beats!. One month after each regular broadcast, an additional shorter broadcast called Postwar Disposition (戦後処理, Sengo Shori?) is released.[1] Another Internet radio show to promote the series titled Angel Beats! SSS Radio had a pre-broadcast on March 18, 2010, and will begin regular weekly broadcasting on April 1, 2010. Hosted by Hibiki Radio Station, the show is hosted by Harumi Sakurai (the voice of Yuri), Kana Hanazawa (the voice of Tenshi) and Eri Kitamura (the voice of Yui).[2]
Books and publications
A series of illustrated short stories written by Jun Maeda and drawn by GotoP entitled Angel Beats! Track Zero began serialization in the November 2009 issue of ASCII Media Works's Dengeki G's Magazine.[3] The main character of the stories is Hinata, and is a prequel to Angel Beats!, which tells the story of how the SSS was formed. The chapter titles for the stories are taken from song titles from various musical artists.
Manga
A four-panel comic strip manga entitled Angel Beats! The 4-koma (Angel Beats! The4コマ?) began serialization in the December 2009 issue of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Magazine. The manga is based on Jun Maeda's original concept and is illustrated by Haruka Komowata. Komowata is also in charge of illustrating a manga showcasing the progress of the Angel Beats! project, which made its first appearance in the September 2009 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine.[4] Another manga titled Angel Beats! Official Comic, to be illustrated by Yuriko Asami, will begin serialization in Dengeki G's Magazine in the May 2010 issue.
Anime
A 13-episode anime TV series of Angel Beats! directed by Seiji Kishi and produced by P.A. Works and Aniplex[5][6] will begin airing in Japan on April 3, 2010 on the CBC television network.[7] The first episode will be previewed on March 22, 2010 to a selected number of people who participated in a lottery held that earlier that month.[8] The screenplay is written by Jun Maeda, who originally conceived the series. Katsuzō Hirata bases the character design used in the anime on Na-Ga's original designs. Music direction is headed by Satoki Iida.[9][10] The opening theme is "My Soul, Your Beats!" sung by Lia and the ending theme is "Brave Song" sung by Aoi Tada.
References
- ^ "麻枝准の殺伐RADIO [Jun Maeda's Brutal Radio]" (in Japanese). Aniplex. http://www.angelbeats.jp/radio/. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
- ^ "響 - HiBiKi Radio Station -「ANGEL BEATS! SSS(死んだ 世界 戦線)RADIO」番組詳細 [Hibiki - Hibiki Radio Station - "Angel Beats! SSS (Shinda Sekai Sensen) Radio" Program Details]" (in Japanese). Hibiki Radio Station. http://hibiki-radio.jp/description/ab_sss.html. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- ^ "コラボレーションイラスト [Collaboration Illustration]" (in Japanese). Aniplex. http://www.angelbeats.jp/illust/. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
- ^ "スペシャル [Special]" (in Japanese). Aniplex. http://www.angelbeats.jp/special/. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
- ^ "Key's Angel Beats! Project Gets TV Anime Green-Lit". Anime News Network. May 27, 2009. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-05-27/key-angel-beats-project-get-tv-anime-green-lit. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
- ^ "Key's Angel Beats! Anime Promo Videos Streamed". Anime News Network. May 30, 2009. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-05-30/key-angel-beats-anime-promo-videos-streamed. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
- ^ "放送情報 [Broadcast Information]" (in Japanese). Aniplex. http://www.angelbeats.jp/onair/. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
- ^ "Notification of an Application for a Preview Party of Angel Beats! for Those Wanting to See it Quickly" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. March 8, 2010. http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/244/244259/. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
- ^ "スタッフ [Staff]" (in Japanese). Aniplex. http://www.angelbeats.jp/staff/. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
- ^ "Angel Beats!, Randys Promo Videos Streamed". Anime News Network. September 30, 2009. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-09-30/angel-beats-randys-promo-videos-streamed. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
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