Sometimes we all have to do things we don't want to do....
Do I have to go to work today? Can’t I just stay home and watch anime all day? Please?
No? Fine. I will just blog about Angel Beats then. Maybe that will put me in a better mood. That and the thought of the AWESOME sci-fi movies that are going to come on later tonight. And maybe work will be quick and painless tonight. Angel Beats will give me hope.
This post will contain *shock* spoilers for episode two. Also there will be some wild theories I saw on a forum this week. So stay for the episode discussion and laugh at the crazy what ifs. XD
Wait we didn't like him anyway right?
Episode Summary: Yuri informs her troops that they are going to Guild to replenish their supplies. Otonashi is bit confused so he is given a basic rundown of what the Guild is. Guild is a place underground that some people from SSS (going with that acronym as it seems to be more widely known) live and work to make ammo and repair weapons for their counter parts on the surface. The entrance to the Guild appears to be in the gym (or some other huge building at school) and they must be careful that Tenshi doesn’t find them. When they arrive at the beginning of the underground one member, Noda, is instantly killed by a trap. Not to worry as he is not truly dead and will recover in a short time. Yuri concludes that Tenshi must be underground as the traps were supposed to be turned off for their arrival. As the troops make their way in the super long underground passage they are taken out one by one by elaborate methods. Soon the only people left are Yuri and Otonashi.
I am not sensing a romantic mood.
They stop to take a break from nearly being killed and Yuri tells the awful story of her childhood. Basically robbers broke into her house and killed every one of her siblings when she failed to find anything of value in the house. This is not how Yuri died as she explains that those who commit suicide do not end up in this world. This event however is the reason why she is waging war against an uncaring god. They end up reaching Guild only to find out that Tenshi is right above them. Yuri and the dude in charge of Guild decide that they are going to blow up the place rather than letting Tenshi get a hold of it. There is a brief fight which leads to Otonashi protecting Yuri and a huge explosion. Guild is relocated to the old building where they promise to rebuild it with dirt?! All the other members of SSS come back to life and Otonashi thinks about how great of a leader Yuri is. The end.
Yuri earns respect really fast. X_X
I don’t know what I was expecting with this second episode. Maybe a little more on the side of character development and basic plot explanation. But despite the fact that all the other characters were taken out without much fanfare it was still a pretty decent episode. I will just have to accept that Otonashi has been thrust into a face pace world of crazy people and explanations will come the moment before it’s needed, not before.
Cocky people always die.
While some people might have thought the random deaths of almost all the SSS members was pointless I found myself laughing. Then I realized how evil and crazy that sounds so now I question my humanity. But it was still funny. I think the drowning one was hilarious only because the victim made a big deal about Otonashi being next and tada he wasn’t. One scene was so taken from Resident Evil and I love that. I thought that Shiina was going to get taken out protecting Yuri so it was amusing to see her risk/lose her life over a stuff animal.
Well I think it's sweet....
But yeah, it was fairly oblivious from the start that Yuri and Otonashi were going to be the ones left standing. Part of the episode was devoted to the quick pace of killing off everyone else so Yuri could have a vulnerable moment with Otonashi. I did like the scenes with Hinata protecting Otonashi. I thought they were going to portray him as gay so I was disappointed when there were adamant NO I am straight moments. Not because I am a rabid yaoi fangirl but because Hinata was being portrayed as a normal person who happens to be gay rather than an over the top caricature who annoys everyone. I am just tired of people being so quick to explain that they are not gay because that is the worst thing in the world. Yeah I probably went off on a crazy tangent there. But on the other hand it was nice to see a man caring about another man to such extent and there not being any attraction going on. Just protecting someone because they are your friend is a positive thing too.
Oh look, a happy family. Something horrible must happen.
I was really not expecting Yuri to break out with such a sad and depressing story. When she was explaining the robbery I was like…but you look so much older now. Because I was expecting her to die or kill herself after such a horrible experience. And while it might be really unbelievable for a family to have NOTHING of value inside their house I guess it is more understandable that Yuri simply couldn’t find them. I mean, what normal parents tell the kids where the valuables are in case some buglers come over and threaten to kill them unless the cash is coughed up? What a horrible, horrible thing Yuri had to live through. Even though she lived longer than her siblings the time from the attack to the time she died must have been hell anyway. Even though her parents still had one kid left I can’t imagine they were all that functioning after losing 3 tiny kids. So living was a punishment for Yuri and even though I believe in God I can see how someone would grow up blaming him.
Would it have been better if Yuri died that day too...
I feel as if the moment was building up to something really important and she glossed over it like it meant nothing. If she was willing to talk about such a horrible moment in her life I don’t see why she couldn’t share how she died. Unless it can top that horrible story of course.
No one?! This makes me wonder...
I also felt that story was meant to bring to light the concept that people who commit suicide aren’t in this world. Which leads me to believe that Otonashi committed suicide and he will be an important key to breaking this world and their destiny. There has to be a reason why that comment was said. It has to be more than Yuri was too strong to commit suicide.
How dare you not be perfect!
The actual point of the episode, getting to Guild was kinda pointless. Because it was blown up you know. Also if the SSS arrived in the tunnels after Tenshi entered why weren’t all the traps already activated? I mean some of them appeared to be the kind that could be reset but other should have shown sides of being used. Also why was Tenshi BEHIND Yuri and Otonashi if she had a head start? Some things are not adding up.
But yeah, Yuri and her team go to Guild to resupply and they end up blowing the place without taking any weapons at all? Seems very pointless to me. I understand they had to blow the joint and that the decision was easier to make knowing there was a back up Guild. But take a few guns before everything goes up in smoke.
I am not sure how I feel about the dirt makes anything you want in this world concept. I mean, I know what a computer looks like but I don’t posses enough knowledge to make one. So I am wondering how magic this all has to be for someone to have extensive knowledge of everything they have now. But it does explain how these kids have ANYTHING in this world controlled by Tenshi. So it is give and take.
What no half naked workers?
Now on to the strange theories. Last week on a post about Angel Beats episode one I thought someone was being sarcastic in posting that SPOILER ALERT this was The Matrix. I thought that was a pretty weird thing to state but now I am wondering that myself. Tenshi doesn’t look like a typical angel and her attacks look more a computer program booting up than something magical. And don’t tell me the Guild didn’t remind you a bit of Zion! Add in the fact that Otonashi seems a little too ordinary for his own good which automatically means he is the savior and we might have the Matrix on our hands. But I don’t think Tenshi is an evil machine. I think she is there to help the students out and they will learn that during episode 13.
Why is she floating....
Yay for opening and closing theme songs! I really liked the art in the closing theme. It was very simple but I like the slow introduction of all the characters and how they are a happy bunch despite being dead and fighting god. The opening theme song would have been a little more helpful had it not had the names not been in Japanese. Help me learn about these characters!
I liked this episode. Maybe the pacing was weird and slow but it worked for me. I do wish that the “clips” for the next week episode were actually helpful so we could speculate on next week but meh. This week was fun for me so I was happy. Now…I must work. BOOOOO!
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