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Year: 2015
Genre: School, Superpower
Episodes: 13
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
If you have the chance in your lifetime, you should check out Halley’s Comet when it passes by the Earth. I think it rolls past Earth every 75 years, give or take a few years. It is a sight to see. I will probably be gone when it comes around again. What would happen if another comet passed Earth and spread its comet dust all over the Earth. This dust gives certain children superhuman abilities when they reach puberty. I’m talking about super speed, flight, and any comic book power you can think of. What would you like your superpower to be? Would you use it to get ahead in life? Charlotte is an anime where kids gain superhuman abilities after a comet passes Earth.
Overview
In an alternate reality, a comet called Charlotte passes near Earth every 75 years. Each time it happens, it spreads its dust onto the Earth. This causes a unique circumstance as a small percentage of the Earth’s pre-adolescents inhale the dust into their little systems. Things seem normal until the adolescents reach puberty and then all hell breaks loose. Upon puberty, the kids gain superhuman abilities.
The story follows Yuu Otosaka, a boy who obtained the ability to temporarily possess a person for five seconds. Yuu uses this ability to coast through life and school by cheating on tests and getting out of situations. Yuu’s carefree life suddenly changes when he meets Nao Tomori. Nao has her own ability to make her invisible to her specific target. She catches Yuu in the act with her handy camcorder. Nao forces Yuu to transfer to her academy and join the student council. The goal of the student council is to find people who are misusing their powers. After Yuu joins, he soon learns that something is happening in the world that needs to be stopped.
Review:
The story of Charlotte got me good. I was somewhat invested in the beginning because I thought it was going to be an anime where the main character runs around, helps people with their powers and then call it a day while at school. Damn, did it hit a turn like no other halfway through the series. I was honestly shocked that it turned from a happy-go-lucky to one where it will hit you in the feels. In the first six episodes, we see Yuu cheating at life and getting by until he is recruited by Nao into the Student Government. The episodes are funny with Yuu being put in situations for comic relief. The purpose of the first six episodes is to show different kids and their powers. That is what I thought the whole season was going to be. The anime is only 12 episodes long. What is the worst thing that could happen?
Things took a dark turn around episode 6, and I was like, WTF is going on? I had to look and see that the story was written by Jun Maeda. If you know his stuff, he was the key person who wrote Angel Beats, and the series came from Key. Like a lightbulb turning on in my head, I finally understood why the sudden change. I must applaud Maeda because I went from, “Okay, this is a pretty funny anime to damn, what is about to happen.” Same thing he did to me in Angel Beats. The second half gets dark when Yuu loses someone close and goes into a major depression. When Nao brings him out of depression, Yuu gets hope when he is recruited for a specific mission. That mission will cause you to have some tears because it is so messed up, and you will feel bad for Yuu.
The animation of this anime is straight-up amazing. I love the start of the series because bright colors are used, and the world is happy. You feel that this will be a fun anime, and it was a fun anime in the beginning. When tragedy hit, the whole color scheme of the anime drastically changed. It was dark and miserable and seemed to be connected to Yuu’s feelings. The animation made you feel what he was feeling. I love it when Nao returns; the colors and animation show brightness and hope again. The transitions were great. I also liked that the animation was crisp when it showed people’s powers. Towards the end, the animation was a highlight as it hit all the right points.
There are quite a few characters in this anime. Jun Maeda did what he did in Angel Beats by having two primary characters and a strong group of side characters. I will discuss the two main characters: Yuu Otosaka and Nao Tomori. Yuu was the male protagonist of the show. When we first meet Yuu, he is an arrogant, narcissistic prick because he can control another person’s body for five seconds. He uses this ability to the max. When he is recruited by Nao, he is still a prick, but he soon starts warming up to others. We also see that Yuu loves his little sister and would do anything for his sister. When the unthinkable happens, Yuu goes to a dark, dark place. You can see this character’s similarities to the main male character in Angel Beats. Noa is the female protagonist, and she is a badass. She is the student government president, hardworking, intelligent, and narcissistic. What is up with all these narcissistic kids? She can turn invisible, but only to one person at a time. She rolls around with a camcorder, recording everything like a creeper. Without her, Yuu would’ve definitely spiraled further into depression and the abyss.
Charlotte is a good anime with a good concept and story. If you’ve seen Angel Beats, you should expect something significant to happen, as this was written by the same person. It will hit you majorly in the feels toward the end. The animation is high quality and is the best aspect of the anime. There are many characters that you will either like or don’t like. Give this anime a chance, but watch Angel Beats first to prepare yourself for this one.
