Charlotte was a premiere I couldn’t miss. This is the second original anime collaboration between Key and P.A. Works since the fun and offbeat Angel Beats! six years ago, and I was more than ready for another. After completing the first episode, I can say that there’s certainly a lot of promising paths this show can go.
The premise is something we’ve seen many times before: When children reach adolescence, few of them come to recognize and gain mysterious superpowers. Protagonist Otosaka Yu has the ability to possess anyone nearby for a small amount of time, and coasts through life and school by using his power. His ability becomes known to the student council of a special school for students with such abilities, and is forced to transfer to Hoshinoumi High School. What keeps it interesting is its presentation and writing.
Otosaka Yu is a near-psychopathic narcissist with almost no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He abuses his power at the expense of others — even placing people in mortal danger to achieve paltry goals. He’s a person of truly ugly character, and while there is humor based on his absurd villainous behavior and inner monologue, it’s hard to muster any sort of association or empathy for Otosaka. Perhaps that’s the point: An origin story typically isn’t much if it doesn’t involve a dramatic change in the protagonist, right?
Luckily, the supporting characters are much more agreeable than Otosaka. His younger sister Ayumi, whom Otosaka lives alone with, is a typically upbeat “imouto” archetype, but seems to be the only person in Otosaka’s life that is able to pull out his more human side. The dichotomy between the two is farcical, but such a contrast was welcome after seeing so much of Otosaka’s despicable behavior in the first half.
Also existing to balance Otosaka out is the student council president of Hoshinoumi, Tomori Nao, along with her rag-tag council that makes it their business to document and make sure those with special powers don’t abuse them, or so they say. Tomori is as bull-headed as Otosaka and seems to be the perfect foil for him, cutting his ego down to size and preventing him from abusing his powers as freely as he’s done up to this point.
Where the story goes from here is open to many possibilities, both good and bad. The entire first half of the episode was an elaborate misdirection, so one could say that the story truly hasn’t been set up yet. What will the characters find at Houshunoumi High School? What new abilities will be found there? What will end up being the central conflict? There’s much to be answered from this show to get a real idea of what the show is about.
It probably goes without saying, but I will say it anyway: the visuals and production is top notch. P.A. Works has done consistently beautiful work with their art and animation teams, and it shows through wonderfully here. It plays to their usual strengths of bright, vivid colors and a cohesive overall style that lends believability and an anchor to the more ridiculous aspects of the show.
In several ways, Charlotte mirrors Angel Beats!. Hard-headed and quirky female leader, a school of alienated students, a seemingly wide variety of characters, and a bewildering introduction. It seems thematically similar, albeit less abstract, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up as another big tearjerker. Despite the over-the-top unlikable protagonist, I’m already sucked into the premise of Charlotte, and I’m excited to see more. This is X-Men meets Mystery Men meetsAngel Beats!; how can I not be??
