Warning: Spoilers ahead!!
This is one hell of a “you-must-watch” finale!!! The first half was fairly lighthearted. Yuri wakes up in the infirmary with everyone around her. After realizing that she has since found peace, the remaining few of them have their own graduation ceremony. These scenes, especially when they sing their departing song, ALWAYS moves me!!! >_< I think in my own final assembly in my last year of highschool, myself and all the girls around me were just crying. Watching them sing the song reminded me of Marimite when the onee-chans (Sei, Youko and Eriko) were graduating…it’s a sad scene. They all say good byes and leave one by one…with Otonashi and Kanade left. : (
BUT THEY TUG OUR HEART STRINGS EVEN MORE in the SECOND HALF!!! I thought the two would take a walk and then disappear off too. I was curious whether it will just end like that because it sounds VERY anti-climax! They definitely did not disappoint me! Otonashi asks Kanade to stay with him in this world to help and guide those who wander into this world in the future. He confesses that he loves her and wants to stay together forever. Kanade is strangely quiet and there is a reason for it. We find out why she is in this world and how she can find peace. She reveals that her life was only made possible thanks to Otonashi’s heart (reminder: he was a donor of all his organs) and she wanted to thank him so much that when she died she wandered into this world. After asking Otonashi to confess his love for her again, she wholeheartedly thanks him for making her life possible and disappears from Otonashi’s tightly held arms. He breaks down and cries. Otonashi did not want to let her thank him but the whole point of this world is to find peace and move on. With an endless stream of tears pouring out of his eyes, he accepts her gratitude. This scene was SO SO SOOOOO sad!
The anime left us with a hint of hope at the end showing “Kanade” and “Otonashi” in another life together, crossing paths…this precise closing scene is basically a replica of Kannazuki no Miko.
In my opinion, this is a must watch series. It’s not perfect but it is creative and quite unique in its storyline and I felt that for just the ending, it is worth watching. LOVE THIS SHOW!!!
Yasashii sekai... 
16 comments
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July 1, 2010 at 11:38 PM
k1y0
I think all yuri fans find the epilogue akin to Kannazuki no Miko, lol.
;__;
When the Key creators want to make us cry, they can sure do it. Series would do better with a 2-cour run and more time focus on developing the huge character cast (Shiina where?!).
July 2, 2010 at 2:33 AM
yitram
Yeah my first thought about that very last scene was of KnM lol. This was probably the best anime of the spring season, at least of the shows that I watched. And I agree with you k1y0, this should have been a 26 episode series, in order to develop the rest of the named characters, cuz I wanna know why TK was there!!!
July 2, 2010 at 3:37 AM
Smithy
Liked the ending it was very moving, sure a lot was left unexplained and far fetched … would have liked a full epilogue of sorts where we see what everyone becomes.
Certainly for Yuri since she was hammed up at first as such an important character with the biggest scar of them all but in the end she finds peace relatively easy still. We never do see how some of the others attain peace and move on.
One jarring element I’ve been thinking about is was Kanade really dead after having lived for some time with Otonashi’s heart? Or was she in some sort of coma and lingered into that world just to meet Otonashi?
Regardless of which, how come she arrived there long before Otonashi?
Plot hole maybe?
And indeed, the closing scene was 100% “Kannazuki no Miko”.
Nonetheless enjoyed this series.
July 2, 2010 at 5:07 PM
Sapphire Onee-chan
Yoshi Yoshi Nakayo. *tight hug*
Smithy- “how come she arrived there long before Otonashi?” I was just thinking about that as well! Despite much of the confusion I had over the storyline of this show it was pretty cool. It could totally have run for 26 more episodes and develop the other characters. A lot of them seemed pretty cool!
It’s amazing how love can change many things….
July 2, 2010 at 8:28 PM
k1y0
Well, I don’t believe that pple end up in the world in the order they die. The impression I get is that people from all times and eras end up in the same world after they die, so it’s possible to meet someone who died after you did.
July 3, 2010 at 8:56 PM
Nakayo
OOOOH Smithy & Sapphire Onee-chan!! How did Kanade end up in that world first!?! GOOD POINT!!! WOW!! Anyone know the answer?!
July 4, 2010 at 7:55 AM
Sapphire Onee-chan
k1y0 – that would make sense but I would think there would be a difference in clothing according to when and where that person came from. Then Kanade said she knew it was him because when she stabbed him through the chest and he had no heart. I wonder why she didn’t tell him all that in the beginning of the show and disappear.
*sigh* Too much thinking so early in the morning.
I’ll just go with –
Kanade is half android half human from the future (this explains her super powers in that world) who passed through some time warp dimension after suffering from a coma and landed herself in that world earlier than him in order to thank him for donating his heart (which was kept preserved for about 200 years). By miraculous intervention from that world, she wakes up from her coma and walks outside for the first time in 5 years.
Because of her love for books, she spots a vintage Marimite novel and begins to read it outside the bookstore. The grumble of her tummy tells her it’s time for lunch. As Kanade treks away, she feels a tightening in her heart and a few seconds later she is lightly tapped on the shoulder of future reincarnated Otonashi. They fall in love at first sight and everything happens like Clannad After Story but with a much happier ending. “tiiing” goes the jingling of the angel bell Otonashi gave Kanade to signify the end of the story.*Nods*
July 5, 2010 at 9:02 PM
Nakayo
O_O x 9999999999999
hahahahha Good imagination girl!!! 5 stars for creativity!!!
July 3, 2010 at 1:02 PM
Sai
Actually I was thinking back to episode 12 when that programmer black haired weird dude was talking about a programmer who made himself into an NPC to wait for a girl he loved and passed on. What if he was wrong and that Otonashi was actually already in that world as an NPC waiting for the person someone to thank him? And then after he found out kanade entered that world thats when he flashes back into the world as a human.
Maybe thinking too much but could also be that his sister moved on before Otonashi which triggered him becoming an NPC. I think its just a combination of how smart Otonashi is, the story of the programmer making himself an NPC to wait for someone, the convenient timing of Kanade finding out that Yuzuru was her organ donor in the first episode, that in Angel beats track zero kanade was only there for a few days before otonashi ‘appeared’ and that Jun Maeda is really good at subtly adding clues so what you think is usually what you get *just thinking of kanon and clannad xD*.
Other than that maybe I’m thinking too much, all in all I enjoyed it too possible plot hole and all xD.
July 16, 2010 at 10:40 AM
Parismoon
oh good point!
i just finished this anime and i teared soooo soo much!
i thought it was ironic of the whole situation but u kinda cleared it up.
January 3, 2014 at 11:56 PM
ContrazVII
Otonashi were sent to Afterlife to fullfill Kanade’s last regret or if not Kanade will wanders in Afterlife forever
July 2, 2010 at 10:02 AM
Katherine
I really enjoyed Angel Beats’ finale also. :-) K-ON!! is good for fun, lighthearted comedy, while Angel Beats was good for heart-tugging drama this past season.
July 2, 2010 at 4:11 PM
karkar
I dunno if it’s just me but the height difference between kanade and otonashi is too big that the scene where they hug looks more like a brother x sister hug… i’m trying hard to ignore the lollicon alert ringing…. but anyway it’s really sad seeing them leave one by one… BUT I WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPEN TO THE OTHERS!!!! where’s Shiina and her puppies???
July 4, 2010 at 9:50 AM
Mr. Bored
boring…
August 4, 2011 at 10:41 PM
vyanni krace
well of course it was boring to u coz ur name explains it all ‘mr.bored’ suits you well. no wonder it was boring to u. personally i loved angel beats, though i am a bit curious and confused about a few aspects of it and i wish they could have continued it (a.k.a explain how everyone is now they moved on, develop the whole yuixhinata thing and prove that kanade and yuzuru do get together in the real life, or at least develop the purgatory world and reveal more about otonashi’s future there. it would be very interesting to watch, especially if another group like yurippe’s came along and misunderstood otonashi’s intentions coz i can see how easy that would be *even if he is doing a fabulous job, no matter how good the person is at it there would still be some sort of mistunderstanding at some point or it just wouldnt be realistic*) i dont cry often, infact i rarely show any emotion at all *coz i just struggle with showing emotion on my face for no apparent reason* but the ending really brought on the water-works for me. *not the type normal ppl do, my version is more: ‘stares silently at screen smiling slightly coz overly emotional scenes are very awkward for me thus making me smile awkwardly while tears stream down my face making it hard for me to see which makes me slightly frustrated and embarrassed at the fact that i keep having to wipe my eyes to see clearly’ this usually lasts until a little after the scene ends until i finally pull myself together and then the only signs that i cried are from the tear tracks on my face which has gone back to blank again. you see? my version of ‘really bringing on the water works is weird.
April 20, 2012 at 3:00 PM
Kkarel4
Who didn’t cry at this anime seriously…
grow some feelings…