My last two blog posts have both tackled some heady subjects with regard to the anime series Angel Beats!. Perhaps the fact that I have elected to write a third lends some hint towards my fondness for the story, its characters and its fascinating setting. Still, after two quite heavy, theoretical posts I felt like I needed to do some clarification. Angel Beats! is currently streaming on Netflix and Crunchyroll, two of the most prominent streaming services if you're looking into anime, so it is not exactly an obscure series that I've plucked out because it is some perfectly crafted philosophical thesis disguised as a cartoon. It's funny. Really funny. Those last two posts probably make it seem like it isn't, that it's some morose depiction of Sartrean existentialism that you are required to do dense theoretical reading to fully appreciate, but that is absolutely not the case. Fundamentally, it is a cartoon with a YA demographic, and best enjoyed as such; no matter what the indulgences of a blogger might indicate.
I have to confess that my recent rewatch was plagued with fears, and I had often put off my return to this series because of them. Something that I watched so long ago, and so early in my exploration of the medium, would surely reveal itself to have been rife with crass humour, bland characters and would be nowhere near as pretty as I remembered it being. So is the case for most people, let alone someone with as notoriously poor taste as I have. Yet from that first episode I was immediately drawn back in with its frantic pacing and unique style. What brings me back to it, ten years later, is this excellency in production values. Its design and animation quality holds up, the English dub is surprisingly effective, but it is the music which is on another level entirely. Unsurprisingly, Jun Maeda, the writer for the series, is a composer first and foremost. Sequences depicting the convergence of score and animation are imbued with an artisans touch and consideration. But the soundtrack shines particularly with the 'fictional' band from the series, Girls Dead Monster, who actually, seriously rule.
A live-action performance of 'Crow Song' pushes the boundaries between fiction and reality.
Still, there was nevertheless one significant change between these viewings: me. I'm a much different consumer than I was the first time around (though I must confess that much of the same idiosyncratic taste persists). This is what motivated me to write these posts and immerse myself more into Angel Beats! as a text, and to treat it with a level of seriousness and sincerity that I just wasn't capable of all those years ago. Still, as a transmedia project, Angel Beats! proves a challenging set of texts to interrogate in this way: its story is told across multiple mediums, each providing additive information to its core setting and cast of characters, but developmental mishaps have plagued much of the production of this project.
One of the first things you'll notice is that the series itself feels rushed, often feeling like it's going to rupture under the constraints of its 13 episode run. It's commonly believed that at least twice as many episodes were originally planned. But, more than this, few of its ancillary works have actually managed to make it to the West intact. The past ten years since the initial release of Angel Beats! has been defined by fan labour: translations, fanworks, guides, DRM workarounds and pirate distribution have become the lifeblood of an ever-dwindling community. As with the most interesting fan cultures, questions of legality arise. It remains a fact that in the West you cannot read the Angel Beats! Heaven's Door prequel manga, beyond its first two volumes, by any legitimate means. Likewise, there remains an episode of the anime itself (released some time after the original series concluded), as well as an alternate ending, which find themselves not only without English dubbing, but without any Western release whatsoever.
Nor is there an English version of Angel Beats! 1st beat, the visual novel adaptation of the series. Whilst the translation from AlkaTranslations is a stellar piece of work, nigh indistinguishable from an official release, there remains a serious barrier of entry for all but the most passionate fans. Truly a shame, as the 'Iwasawa' route, whilst taking the series' inherent absurdity to new heights, drew from me an undeniably visceral, emotional reaction. In fairness, on that front even Japanese fans find themselves not much better off. The Angel Beats! visual novel project was envisioned to be a sprawling, comprehensive experience, retelling and reimagining the original series through six instalments, of which 1st beat was, unsurprisingly, the first. Since the release of that first instalment, there has been no word whatsoever on the rest of the story. No further releases, no acknowledgment of delay, not even an admission of cancellation. It just seems to have disappeared.
And yet, in spite of this, Angel Beats! has developed into a very rewarding transmedia universe. The work one has to put in is strenuous, but rewarded with real, meaningful content. Throwaway, one-dimensional characters, utilised either for single gags or to usher characters between locations in the main series are transformed into compelling storytellers in their own right. You may find that the character of Yusa, a glorified walkie-talkie in the original series, was, in fact, a misandrist serial murderer or that Chaa, no more than an underground factory worker originally, rages against an unjust afterlife which separates him from eternal paradise with his wife. I often found myself looking forward to scenes and stories concerning Fujimaki, a character whose presence in the series accounts for little more than a couple of lines, or the supporting members of the in-universe band, Girls Dead Monster, who couldn't even manage that. Surrounding these expanded character stories are also further explorations into the nuances and details of the setting: how long can characters exist in it, how long has it already existed for, what is the difference between a full character and an 'NPC', or, more pertinently, is there a meaningful distinction at all?
What I'm saying is, if there was ever a time for a grand 10th anniversary event then it is now. Announce a comprehensive physical media re-release, announce the completion and translation of the visual novel, the translation and release of its manga prequel. Hell, announce a whole series reboot. And maybe that's all a pipe dream and maybe no one in their right mind would sink so much money into a franchise that has mostly lay dormant for a decade. A franchise so messy and incomplete. Yet still Angel Beats! is one of those rare worlds of originality which can simultaneously feed the critical soul and provide a true escapist joy: Angel Beats! makes me wish I was dead.
No comments:
Post a Comment