(Ed: As part of our process of bringing on new reviewers, we’re highlighting their first offerings so that readers can see who is new, their style and offer up commentary from your point of view for the reviewer and for us. Remember, politeness counts!)
Bye bye, X-Men. Hello, super-powered teenage drama.
What They Say:
The story centers around the special abilities that occur among a small percentage of boys and girls in puberty. Yu Otosaka uses his power without others knowing, and lives a fairly normal, average school life. Before him suddenly appears a girl, Nao Tomori. Due to his meeting with her, the fate of special power-users will be exposed.
The Review:
Content: (warning as portions of this review may contain spoilers)
Going into Charlotte, I was both extremely skeptical and immensely excited. After all, this is only the second original work that the talented Jun Maeda and his team at Key have created after the excellent (and a personal favorite) anime, Angel Beats! From the opening scene, Charlotte opts for a very thought-provoking and philosophical tone about one’s identity, a stark contrast to the rest of the episode’s light-hearted tone. Visually, Charlotte looks great with good character designs and animations, particularly noticeable in an action-packed chase scene midway through the episode. The main protagonist, Yu Otosaka, quickly shows us that this is not your typical melodramatic superhero show. Yu has the unique power of being able to take control over someone else’s body for a short amount of time. However, there are drawbacks to this power, as it strangely only lasts five seconds at a time, he must see the person before him, and his own body is empty and, therefore, vulnerable during the duration of the body jump.
With his special ability, found only in teenage youth for a brief period of their life, Yu takes total advantage of people and situations for his own selfish gain. Instead of doing something heroic, such as use his power to stop someone from getting hurt, he commits hilarious antics like body jumping to a woman for the sole purpose of looking at her chest. In fact, the one time he actually saves someone (more on later), it is entirely out of selfish desires. The animation studio, P.A. Works (Progressive Animation Works), wastes no time at all giving a look at how real, flawed teenagers would handle the responsibility of superpowers.
Despite Yu’s apparent lack of morality, there is, unfortunately, no denying his intelligence. He goes to extreme lengths to study his fellow classmates to find the smartest students, so during tests he can jump to their body and steal their correct answers. Because of this, he is easily admitted to the most prestigious high school in the nation as the top student of the class. This, paired with his good looks, make him the star of the school, leading to girls even confessing their love to him. With the majority of the episode focusing solely on Yu, it is a positive that he is enjoyable to watch. Amidst the swarms of cliche, heroic anime protagonists, it is nice to see a more realistic anti-hero character.
This sentiment, however, does not extend to the supporting cast. Yumi, Yu’s crush whom he saves from an accident that he purposely causes, does nothing to stand out. Clingy, boring, and average in every way, I found myself constantly wondering why Yu picked her when there were surely dozens of far more interesting girls at his school. Sure, the show paints Yumi as the girl with few friends and never liking guys, but the whole “hard to get” reasoning doesn’t at all redeem the effort that Yu has to go through to get her to like him. Even worse than Yumi, though, is Yu’s younger sister, Ayumi. Seemingly there purely for moe fan service, Ayumi is instantly unlikeable. Normally, I simply ignore her type of character, but she especially sticks out with her weird tendency to speak in the third person and unnaturally high-pitched, five-year-old sounding voice. Her inherent refusal to acknowledge her and Yu’s abandonment by their own mother in one scene highlights just how frustrating her character is.
The only remotely interesting supporting character is Nao Tomori, the student council president of another high school comprised of current and potential super-powered students. Her and her partner attempt to recruit Yu, due to his special abilities. Despite her brief appearance in the episode, she is set up as a good foil to Yu. Her dislike of him and tough personality make me excited to see more of her. I’m also excited to see more of where the overall story is going, as the first episode is mostly designed to introduce the cast and set up the world. But with hints at a darker undertone and possible forgotten memories, Charlotte has done a good job of piquing my interest.
In Summary:
From the creators of perhaps one of the greatest animes of all-time, Angel Beats!, comes this highly entertaining and refreshing look at superpowers and the misuse of them. The unique and likable protagonist, Yu Otosaka, makes up for a less interesting cast introduced while proving that super powers doesn’t have to mean spandex and melodrama, but can be realistic and light-hearted. Despite the lack of overall plot, Charlotte accomplishes what it set out to do, building an alternate, super-powered version of our world and piquing my interest in what comes next in this great-looking animation.
Grade: B+
