About
Angel Beats! (Japanese:エンジェルビーツ! Enjeru Bītsu!) is a light novel that has had many adaptions due to popularity. The series is about a boy named Yuzuru Otonashi who gains amnesia about his life after dying. After being enrolled into the afterlife school, he is recruited into the Afterlife Battlefront, an organization made to defeat the student council president, Angel, for supposedly working for God, who they blame their negative experiences in life on[1]. It is well known throughout the anime fandom, and also known for its sad ending.
The Afterlife Battlefront (Shinda Sekai Sensen, SSS) insignia.
History
Angel Beats! first started as a oneshot light novel written by Jun Maeda and published by ASCII Media Works in November 2009 titled “Angel Beats! Track Zero”. During its run, in December 2009, a 4-volume manga titled “Angel Beats!: The 4-koma: Bokura no Sensen Kōshinkyoku” was released, written and published by the same people and ran until October of 2013. The anime was released in April 2009 and ran until June. Another manga currently ongoing titled “Angel Beats! Heaven’s Door” started in May 2010. The final manga to date, titled “Angel Beats! The 4-koma: Osora no Shinda Sekai kara”, was released in December 2013 and is ongoing, as well. There is also a game scheduled for May 2015.
Reception
Angel Beats! has gained many positive reviews ever since its release, especially the anime. People praise the series for its characters, creative plot, and emotional scenes.
Fandom
Angel Beats! has an above average fanbase so far, and it still grows today. On websites like Tumblr, DeviantArt, and Reddit, Angel Beats! quite is popular, with numerous threads having been posted about it. There is also plenty of fan art of it, similar to many popular series.
As of April 2015, Angel Beats! has accumulated an estimated 800 fanfictions on both fanfiction.net[2] and Archive of Our Own[3].
Many fans also show off merchandise of it such as posters, figures, or even cosplay uniforms. A figurine of Angel is shown below.
External Links
[1]Wikipedia- Angel Beats!
[2]Fanfiction.net- Angel Beats! Fanfiction Archive
[3]Archive of Our Own- Angel Beats! Fanfiction Archive