Magic powers are suffering.

I tend to hate Jun Maeda stories. I thought Kanon, Air, Clannad, and Little Busters were all awful. But, on the other hand, I thought Angel Beats and Charlotte were pretty great. Perhaps the difference is that those two were originally created for anime while the rest were visual novels. I do think the visual novel format doesn’t adapt itself to anime all that well, especially the part with different arcs for the different tragic girls.

Anyway, back to Charlotte. I like the characteristic Maeda combination of goofy slapstick humor with ridiculous levels of tragedy. I think I was able to buy the tragedy here and in Angel Beats a bit more since it didn’t have the characteristic arc format of the visual novels, in which it’s just ridiculous tragedy after ridiculous tragedy all in a row. With only a single sequence of related tragedies it’s easier to accept.

I felt the ending was somewhat rushed (and also a bit too silly even for Maeda). Especially the girl whose power was courage. Talk about corny.

The best part was, of course, when Imouto died. Sadly that didn’t last long…

• Storytelling – B – Goofy humor and tragedy.
• Voice – B – Quite an unusual world. Somebody really hates scientists…
• Characters – B – Disappointed the student council faded in importance in the second half. The brother’s friends were never that well developed.
• Attention Grab – B – Kept my interest.
• Production – B – Looks good.
• Overall – B

Recommendations – Angel Beats, Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi