Everyone graduates. OMG! It's a ghost! Yuri might not be the fearless leader anymore, but she's still formidable. Summary: Yuri wakes up in the infirmary being watched over by Kanade, Otonashi, Hinata, and Naoi. When Yuri acts strangely, Kanade correctly concludes that Yuri has shed her burden and this causes Yuri great embarrassment. The group of five then decide to throw a graduation ceremony for themselves at the school gym. After singing a mock school song about Mapo Tofu and handing out handmade diplomas, Otonashi gives an emotional speech thanking Yuri, Kanade and the others for the time they spent together. Graduation starts with a costume disco dance-off. Saturday Night Fever baby!! Yuri has finally succumbed to Kanade's cuteness quotient. After the ceremony, the members begin to say their goodbyes and Naoi is first to disappear. Yuri is up next and she apologizes to Kanade for their battles before passing on. Hinata is third and he gives Otonashi a couple of high fives. Now alone with Kanade, Otonashi asks Kanade to go outside. In the outdoors, Otonashi asks Kanade to stay with him to help other souls that may drift into the world and confesses that he likes Kanade. Kanade, however, asks Otonashi to stop because if he keep saying that he loves her then she'll pass on. Kanade reveals that in life she is recipient of Otonashi's heart and only wandered into this world to thank the person who gave her life. Having found Otonashi and properly thanked him, Kanade asks Otonashi to continue with his words. Otonashi is reluctant but eventually relents and tearfully hugs Kanade while saying how they'll be together forever. Kanade thanks Otonashi once more before disappearing, and Otonashi is left alone calling out Kanade's name. Bye bye. Some time later in another world, a girl who looks like Kanade hums Iwasawa's "My Song" on the streets. A guy who looks like Otonashi passes by and recognizes the tune, and as the girl walks away the guy reaches for her. Rendezvous in another life perhaps? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kanade has Otonashi's heart... so that's why they called the show "Angel Beats!". That particular detail didn't make much sense like most such things in the series, but at least the knowledge was sentimental enough to add to the ending. This episode was an okay finale (in that it didn't go down in fiery crash). It didn't explain much about how the world works or even the backgrounds of most of the characters, but the cutesy graduation ceremony and the emotional goodbyes were decent to watch and actually had a little bit of substance to it. Since most of the SSS has passed on off screen, there were only five characters to get rid of in the finale and Otonashi and Kanade received enough screen time for their send off. The epilogue at the very end was a nice touch. It's an unlikely scenario in the real world, but one can dream. Overall, Angel Beats! was... a mess. Not an entirely displeasing mess, but a mess nonetheless. It was a random show that tried to do too much in the span of 13 episodes and wasn't really focused on anything in particular. The show wandered about and didn't seem to know where it was going. The material is a eclectic mix of styles: one moment we have slapstick, the next moment guns are blazing and minutes later the show tries to pull a sob story... well, at least the show wasn't boring, but it wasn't exactly coherent either. I liked the action and slapstick (action and comedy go together just fine), but the drama parts weren't too convincing due to the heavy comedic elements. Angel Beats! also has the frustrating tendency to introduce hints and dangling threads and then not bother to cover them, although maybe the makers meant for it to be this way so there is enough stuff left for sequels/side stories. To put Angel Beats! in a good light: it has very good production values, doesn't bore, and it doesn't conform to any standard formulas (although that's not necessarily a good thing). Is it a watchable show? Certainly. Is it a good show? That's much harder to say. From the feed of A Product of Wasted Time
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