[Contemplation] Charlotte
*major spoiler alert*
Woah. That was one heck of an anime. When I first heard about Charlotte, I didn’t know what to think. It was a recommendation from a mutual friend yet I let it stuck on my hard drive for awhile. I was only able to notice it when I accidentally watched the first few minutes while looking for a next target. It became part of my no-kdrama vacation and Charlotte made one of the reasons why taking that vacation was totally worth it.
Here is the synopsis of the anime:
While on the surface Yuu Otosaka appears to be just another charming and intelligent teenager, he has a secret—he has the ability to slip into people's minds and fully control their body for five seconds at a time. Yuu has been using this skill for years to gain the highest grades, which allowed him to enter a prestigious high school. When the enigmatic Nao Tomori catches Yuu using his power, she coerces him and his sister Ayumi into transferring to Hoshinoumi Academy, a school for students with supernatural abilities. The student council of the school, led by Nao, is tasked with secretly tracking down adolescents who abuse their powers. Yuu is forced to join the student council and together, they face formidable challenges that bring him closer to the shocking truth that his own, seemingly incomplete ability, might be more powerful than he could have ever imagined.
After watching Charlotte, it instantly became my favorite. I was rather excited in the beginning, and the premise had a decent bit to do with that excitement. It has an interesting execution of comedy and fun and the characters were lively, had great personalities, did great interactions and interesting powers that made them shine. Not only that, it also shows varieties of genre: A solid slice of life, hilarious gags, super fun time with hilarious powers with limitations, you name it. This show was interesting and entertaining throughout, and it kept me engaged as I was watching the show.
And that's not the best part. The best part was when all the cuteness were gone and the real scheme emerged. It was a twist I didn't expect. Because I indulged in the fun, I didn't know Charlotte planned to surprise me sometime. It gave hint when our main character Yuu's little sister died so it hit me that this anime didn't plan on being all fluffy till the end and then until that concert. Charlotte had a significant change of tone, into a spiral of despair that changed the entire show while being absolutely amazing and breathtaking, if a bit short. It feels almost as if you’re watching a different show with different rules.
Unfortunately, Charlotte feels like it should be a much longer anime. With more in terms of run time, there could have been a more prominent undercurrent of the danger they are all facing in the first half preparing the viewer and making the tonal shift feel more natural. The first part was rather slow-paced while the ending went too fast. The happenings on Episode 13 was too much to be in just one episode. But the good thing is, even if it was short, they were able to compress the ending in an effective manner. And that ending gave me all the feels - as expected from the creators on Clannad.
My Rating:
Plot: 8.9/10
Characters & Dialogue : 9.4/10
Structure & Pacing: 7.5/10
Theme: 8.0/10
Style & Tone: 9.0/10
OVERALL RATING: 8.6