Angel Beats!

Angel Beats!
Cover art of the Angel Beats! DVD compilation set released by Sentai Filmworks, featuring main characters (from left to right) Yuzuru Otonashi, Yuri Nakamura and Kanade Tachibana
Genre	Fantasy[1]
Created by	Jun Maeda
Anime television series
Directed by	Seiji Kishi
Produced by	Kenji Horikawa Hiro Maruyama Yōsuke Toba
Written by	Jun Maeda
Music by	Jun Maeda Anant-Garde Eyes
Studio	P.A. Works
Licensed by	AUS: Siren Visual NA: Aniplex of America (current) Sentai Filmworks (former) UK: Crunchyroll
Original network	CBC, BS11, MBS, RKB, TBS, TUT
Original run	April 3, 2010 – June 26, 2010
Episodes	13 (List of episodes)
Print media
Light novel Angel Beats! Track Zero Manga Angel Beats! The 4-koma: Bokura no Sensen Kōshinkyoku Angel Beats! Heaven's Door Angel Beats! The 4-koma: Osora no Shinda Sekai kara Angel Beats! The Last Operation
Original video animation
Angel Beats! Stairway to Heaven
Directed by	Seiji Kishi
Studio	P.A. Works
Licensed by	AUS: Siren Visual NA: Aniplex of America UK: Crunchyroll
Released	December 22, 2010
Runtime	24 minutes
Original video animation
Angel Beats! Hell's Kitchen
Directed by	Seiji Kishi
Studio	P.A. Works
Released	June 24, 2015
Runtime	29 minutes
Related
Angel Beats! 1st Beat (visual novel)
Anime and manga portal

Angel Beats! is a 13-episode Japanese anime television series produced by P.A. Works and Aniplex and directed by Seiji Kishi. The story was originally conceived by Jun Maeda, who also wrote the screenplay and composed the music with the group Anant-Garde Eyes, with original character design by Na-Ga; both Maeda and Na-Ga are from the visual novel brand Key, who produced such titles as Kanon, Air, and Clannad. The anime aired in Japan between April 3 and June 26, 2010, on CBC. An original video animation (OVA) episode was released in December 2010, and a second OVA was released in June 2015. The story takes place in the afterlife and focuses on Otonashi, a boy who lost his memories of his life after dying. He is enrolled into the afterlife school and meets a girl named Yuri who invites him to join the Afterlife Battlefront, an organization she leads which fights against the student council president Kanade Tachibana, a girl also known as Angel with supernatural powers.

Key worked in collaboration with Dengeki G's Magazine published by ASCII Media Works to produce the project into a media franchise. Four manga series are serialized in Dengeki G's Magazine and Dengeki G's Comic: two illustrated by Haruka Komowata and two drawn by Yuriko Asami. A series of illustrated short stories written by Maeda and illustrated by GotoP were also serialized in Dengeki G's Magazine between the November 2009 and May 2010 issues. Two Internet radio shows were produced to promote Angel Beats!. A visual novel adaptation titled Angel Beats! 1st Beat was produced by Key and released for Windows on June 26, 2015.

Angel Beats! received generally positive reviews from critics. The integration of various individual elements together, such as musical performances, humor and action, was commended in one review but panned in another, saying that the story was overloaded with too many elements. P.A. Works was praised for the animation of the action sequences and attention to detail with the weapons used. A major flaw noted by critics, however, was the length of the anime, with its short run leaving many of the characters' back-stories unexplored. The anime was selected as a recommended work by the awards jury of the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2010.