13-year old Rachel awakens to find herself trapped in the basement of an abandoned building. Without
any memories, or even a clue as to where she could be, she wanders the building, lost and dizzy. In
her search, she comes across a man covered in bandages. He introduces himself as Zack and he wields a
grim-reaper like sickle.
A strange bond is struck between them, strengthened by strange, crazy promises…
These two, trapped in this strange building, don't know why fate has placed them there. But they will
work together desperately to find a way out…
Oh lookie here another edgy seasonal show. Angels of death! *Menacing* Angels of Death is about a 13 year old quiet blond girl named Rachel, who wakes up without any memories in some basement of an abandoned building. She wakes up and walks around for a bit and runs into this one interesting character. Some guy wrapped in bandages wielding a scythe named Zack. He tries to kill her, but after a series of spoilerly events they reconcile and decide to work together to escape the building they are trapped in. They are held together by 2 promises. The promise that Zack will do everything he can to help get them out of there, and that when they finally get out, Zach will kill Rachel. This is sort of confusing, because this is Rachel’s wish. Yes, she wants to die. We can check that motive off the list of edgy anime. But no, wait a minute, she only wants to die by Zack’s hands though. This is because Zack made a mindless comment on how he “swears to god” that he’ll kill her, and due to her devout belief, she takes that as a promise that she must help him keep. She's the smart one. The brains. As most of these pairs go, Zack is the muscle of the duo. But not so much muscle as a violent, unstoppable, borderline supernatural force. He’s pretty stupid and relies on Rachel to give him orders a lot of the time. Well, it's not as much as relies on her, its just that he takes what she tells him to do, and takes it as a suggestion instead of something that will get them out of there faster, easier, and without harm. From what I can see, his only motivation is killing. He’s only helping Rachel because 1. He wants to kill her, and 2. He wants to get out to kill some more. All of this is in a character design which looks like a 12 year old child of divorce would create. Bandages covering his body entire, black hoodie, bloodstains all over his body, and one of his most prominent features, his huge fucking scythe he just carries around with him for the entire show. I called him a supernatural force earlier because this fucker just won't die. Over the course of the show, he’s been stabbed, blogdended, ripped open, poisoned, fucking took the electric chair multiple times, and walked away with minimal injuries. To end it off, Zack’s voice is awful and makes ME want to take the electric chair when he laughs. Enough about him, let’s get into the wondrous story they give us in Angels of Death. As stated earlier, they’re trapped in a mysterious building, and they’re working to get out of there. They work together to solve puzzles, defeat villains, and get to higher and higher floors. On every floor there’s a villain trying to kill them and who they have to defeat to get to the next floor. These are the characters you’ll see in the poster art. These characters aren’t really notable and are just as edgy as the main characters. Mainly in the sense where they just want to kill without little motivation to do so except they like to. The protagonist also find clues to learn more about themselves and their pasts in the process. You may have read back in the previous paragraph and squinted your eyes just a little bit when I said that they solve puzzles to get out. Maybe you thought it was just some bad wording on my part, but, in fact, they are puzzles. Now you see, Angels of Death was originally a game. Not only a game, an rpg maker game. You can find and play it on steam right now. I don’t know how accurately the anime follows the game, but the fact that there are scenes in the anime that directly reference to what I assume were real puzzles in the game. At one point, with no sense or irony at all, they find a switch to open a door hidden underneath a pot. If that doesn’t scream game adaptation, I don’t know what is. The anime also has a fuck ton of these long corridors for these characters slowly walk down, which is very game like. With these unnecessarily perfect adaptations of the game, you gotta wonder what creative liberties they took with the anime in the first place. If I would’ve watched a lets play on the game, would I have the same experience as I had while watching the anime? I mean, as a game, it has a pretty interesting concept. The protagonist teams up with the first floor boss and goes through the game and watches the 2 bosses duke it out. But it just doesn’t transfer to anime I feel. The thing about the animation, is that it sucks most of the time. But, for some reason, I don’t know what, the blood splatters that come out of the body looks really good. I the art makes an impression I guess. I mean, its not pretty at all. But it mainly having to do with lots of fun and unique character designs, despite everything being edgy, they look good I must admit. They really represent their character. One more thing about this show which, in my eyes, is despicable. At the end of the anime, it's a cliffhanger, you know? Pretty shitty, but the thing is that all the rest will be revealed in the specials revealed in the blu ray release. This is incredibly scummy to me. Having the rest of the story in the specials, means that nobody will be able to finish the story without buying the actual blu ray disk. Legally at least. I guess you could buy the game, but anime onlies are going to be very angry. I give Angels of Death, a 2 out of 10. I recommend to whoever just wants to watch an terrible edgy show for the lolz. Or just likes edgy stuff.
And so it's finally over. After 17 long weeks, my edgy seasonal show has finally come to a close. Angels of Death decided to go with a really strange way of releasing its episodes, airing a full cour on TV, before releasing the final 4 episodes as specials with the Blu-ray. I'm not sure why this was seen as more streamlined or even easier than simply just releasing a 16 episode season, but who am I to judge their release methods? Maybe there was a method to their madness. Anyhow, I'm still in the process of making up my mind about how I truly feel about Angels of Death in the end. I think writing this review will really help put my thoughts in line, because there were so many issues that had nothing to do with the substance of the show, but more on the direction side of the show, but more on that was we move along. I'm just going to go ahead and say that the greatest strength of Angels of Death, visually speaking, is the character design. And yes, I may just be referring to Rachel alone. Seriously though, all of the characters are wonderfully designed, each with their own interesting color palette and unique feel to them, making them seem like they could only exist withing Angels of Death's world. In my opinion, Rachel is easily the best designed character in the show, but that's almost entirely due to her absolutely gorgeous eye design, I mean look at her: ~~~img(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/satsuriku-no-tenshi/images/b/bb/Ray_Ep_6-03.png/revision/latest?cb=20180820122815&format=original)~~~ But anyway, that's enough about her for now. On to the musical side of things, I thought they did a great job with the soundtrack. I haven't played the game yet, so I don't know what we're missing with them being unable to use the game's soundtrack, but I thought they did very well. The most memorable piece outside of the ending is easily Gray's theme, with its heavy organ usage. I sort of came to associate it simply as the Angels of Death theme for the anime, which definitely isn't a bad thing. It has a sort of creepiness and intrigue to it that really represents the anime very well. I really didn't love the opening, so I skipped it most of the time. I just thought it didn't really fit the mood of the show very well. Obviously, the ending is my favorite song in the entire show. I has a sort of creepiness and desperation to it that sort of matches Rachel and Zack's desire to escape from the building. For reference: ~~~ youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAyaZNtN1iI)~~~ __Favorite Character: __ Isaac "Zack" Foster ~~~img(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/satsuriku-no-tenshi/images/0/0f/Zack_and_Ray_Ep_3-06.png/revision/latest?cb=20180819164220&format=original)~~~ As much as I want to put Rachel down here, I have to go with my actual favorite character and that's Zack. Even though he's kinda annoying at first, Zack really cements himself as the best character in the show pretty early on, when it turns out that he's actually the most sane person there. Which is a hilarious irony, given how we're introduced to him and his portrayal throughout. As the show continues, you realize that's he's the only one with any common sense in the entire building, which is quite the achievement. Basically, I'm saying that all the other characters are off their rocker, and yes, I'm including Rachel in there, as sad as I am to admit it. I've heard a lot of people complain how annoying Rachel is because of how emotionless she is early on and how much she harps on the fact that Zack promised to kill her (Yes, we get it Ray). I totally understand that stance, even if I don't really agree with it. I thought she was pretty bearable for the most part, especially since she was really intriguing. The questions about her just piled up: Why was she so aloof? Why does she have a gun (lol)? Why is she so obsessed with dying? Some of these questions are answered more satisfyingly than others, but that's the way it goes, especially when the answers are all fairly obvious. It would have been absolutely spectacular if they had managed to surprise us with those answers to be honest. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the show isn't as deep as people want it to be. It certainly pretends it is and there are certainly moments that actually make you think, but it's truly not a difficult show to wrap your head around. I guess that's disappointing for those who are looking to analyze every episode for some meaning. I certainly don't mind anime with deep philosophizing, but for me, being without it was just fine. The main problem that Angels of Death faces is its directing. I mean, who decided on that 16 episodes was really necessary when the pacing was already too slow in many areas? The start was extremely slow and the ending was equally so. It took about 3 or so episodes for Angels of Death to display its intrigue, which is the greatest strength of the show. From there, I absolutely loved the tension and puzzles that played out until the specials, where it decided that a snail's pace was once again the right decision. As a result, the ending lost a lot of the meaning and impact that it could have had. I just like to imagine what the show could have been with a reasonably consistent pace, where they don't _slow down_ at certain moments and cause them to drag on an unnecessarily long time. There's also the problem of simple word vomit from pretty much every character at some point, but that's a little more forgivable, especially knowing that it came from a game, where text is far easier to digest than spoken words. Like I said in my first paragraph, the issues with the show have more to do with direction than substance of the show. I've heard many a time that the game is really good, so I have no doubt that the story and characters are even better therein. I also have no doubt that those things are presented in a far better manner in the game than in the anime. As it stands, I still appreciate Angels of Death for its ability to generate suspense and intrigue, but I really can't overlooked how _poorly_ paced the anime was. I usually try to stay away from buzzwords like pacing, but in this case, it fits the bill. Angels of Death suffered from extremely poor pacing. That's probably the only time you'll hear me say such a popular buzzword, but I can't deny that it fits too well here.
# [~~~**This review will contain Spoilers for the show!**~~~]()
Satsuriku no Tenshi... a decent but nowhere near good attempt at adapting a game...
##### *(I would also like to point out that this review won't include the ONA, duh...also cause I
didn't see it xd)*
[**_(SPOILER AHEAD)_ STORY:**]()
The story revolves around a girl named Rachel Gardner.
She is trapped in a building with several stories in it. Each level has its own "Boss" which presents
a puzzle to beat.
Rachel is accompanied by Zack Foster. She met him at the lowest level, at first he was trying to kill
her too but she has made him a deal which he could not refuse. She'll help him get out while he has to
kill her at the end of it.
The two make their way throughout the several levels defeating each and every character that gives
them a puzzle.
I won't be going through every and each puzzle as they are very long and complex (I suppose).
Each puzzle consists of Rachel thinking of ways to resolve the issue and Zack beating something in the
corner. Yeah if you ask me thats kind of a waste of a character, Zack out of all the characters felt
like the best one in this show. The puzzles themself aren't that interesting to be perfectly honest.
They try to shed light on their past or their actions but in such a way that it just leaves you more
confused than before, I suppose they would work better in the Source (Video Game).
To rub salt over the wound that this show created, we don't even get an ending.
We just get a cliff hanger... the rest of the stories is supposedly on the ONAs... yeah cause why not
I suppose :v
~~~img420(https://media1.tenor.com/images/1d4abf84d8ca54d810b8c49b2fa587e6/tenor.gif?itemid=13095219)~~~
[**CHARACTERS:**]()
The characters presented in the show are interesting but not that engaging.
Don't get me wrong, I think that Zack and Rachel combo was nice and there was a really nice contrast
between the two but Zack was the only one that stood out the most, not only that his VA (Nobuhiko
Okamoto) did an amazing job at delivering his lines his personality was also something to behold. A
little tsundere who had a traumatic up bringing. Rachel on the other hand... what we get from the show
is that... her parents got killed. Somehow.
It is clear that in the ONA these plot holes would get resolved but, as mentioned before, we're
focusing on this season.
The supporting cast was also quite interesting and at times creepy.
Actually scratch that, the supports were 90% of the time creepy. Especially the Doctor with the eye
fetish.
There really is not much to write about the supports. They filled in a role of an obstacle, their
personalities varied, yes. But each and every character had the same ideal, to stop the both of them.
~~~img420(https://data.whicdn.com/images/317532111/original.gif)~~~
[**ART/ANIMATION:**]()
The art of the show was not half bad, same goes for the animation.
It seems like in all of my reviews I say this but... it was watchable. Of course it wasn't anything
spectacular.
The colour pallete is quite dark, which is fitting for a...well dark show.
~~~img420(https://data.whicdn.com/images/318647874/original.gif)~~~
[**MUSIC:**]()
The music heard throughout the show was something that you'd expect from a thriller/horror show.
A soundtrack which builds up tension and anticipation. Though that being said it was nothing that
interesting.
The OP sounded really good though, the same story goes for the ED. But I feel like the ED fits the
whole show more than the OP, with it being all sad and more slow which reflects the show quite well.
The OP is much more fast paced and edgy which I suppose does sort of fit the show with it being edgy
and all but overall it doesn't do it.
~~~img420(https://66.media.tumblr.com/3d19d02efeb0208af5247bc01b076cd5/tumblr_pcrjy2jBCB1sk4ylzo1_500.gif)~~~
[**OVERALL OPINION:**]()
Angels of Death is a show which tries to adapt a puzzle based game into a show but does succeed in it.
The show is filled with many aspects which would make sense in a video game but not a show where we
don't get to play as the character displayed.
This show does try to put in the work but its futile.
My first impression is going into this anime I was expecting to finally get a good horror anime with the right amount of creepy to give you a chilling but thrilling experience all at once since it's been probably a decade last time we had some that were deserving of the genre. Like Higurashi and Shiki to mention some of the most notable which gives justice to the horror genre it deserves. Sadly Angels of Death fell flat on its face after giving us somewhat of a promising first episode. Deeper into the story, it convoluted into something terrible and spat all over the horror genre and should not by logical means even be called horror, because it was a yawn-fest and never once did get scared or had an intense moment while watching this sorry excuse of an anime. To put it very simply, it was a waste of space in the Summer of 2018 when it was airing back then.
Well ... that was something. I watched it, and the only emotions that I have left are despair and frustration. The story is very similar to all the typical cheap horror movies. A little girl gets into an unknown place for her, Strange things begin to happen around her, and a person appears who will help her throughout her journey. Simple, right? But in this Anime, they went further, and it obviously turned out badly for the story and characters. What was all this for? And what was the point of all this Story? If I needed to describe this anime in three words, it would be - ~~~"The dedication, the degeneracy, the passion."~~~ • The dedication The whole story is based on the relationship of Two Characters. There is absolutely no need to start talking about all the other characters, All other characters don't cause interest in them at all. The fact is that every character in this Anime is crazy And because of this, the whole meaning of such characters is lost. Remember any crazy character anywhere ... Think about what such characters are for? They are needed in order to stand out from the rest of the Mentally normal characters, Because unlike other characters, you cannot predict what they will do, what they will say, and what they have in mind. And in This Anime, this is done poorly, In this Anime, crazy characters, that's all ... What it has. And the craziness lies not only in the characters, but also in the plot itself, It is meaningless, meaningless in the quality of the story that is told there ... it is degenerative. • the degeneracy I’ll say a little about Rachel, because I don’t even really rate her as a character, she’s just a mentally ill girl who fell into a very bad situation and there weren’t any people around her who could help her, there were only people who wanted her own craziness to swallow her and leave nothing but emptiness. there is Zack ... And he is already more interesting, First of all, because Zack is a crazy serial killer who enjoys killing his victims. And the first thing that comes to mind to a normal person is "What an idiotic idea" Because the audience just can’t get sympathy for the serial killer. You may feel compassion for him because he is mentally ill and understands this, But nothing more than that. He is still a bad character like everyone else, because he doesn't progress, in my opinion, nothing like this happened. Instead of discussing what this Anime might be, it’s better to realize what it is, It constantly shows us the sad fate of the characters and what happens to them and nothing more, It doesn't show us how to cope with similar problems, how to be stronger and not give ourselves to things that you think are not right."It's not your fault that there are bad people in the world. But it is your fault if you let them consume you." This is the rule that I tried to respect Which helped me to watch this Anime normally ... All that This Anime does, it just shows rotting personalities, Just VERY weird relationships, and in general it’s not clear what it wants, It just exists ... • the passion I think it’s already obvious that I didn’t like this anime. Well, at least I’ll now have a song from Ending playing in my head. But, yes, seriously, if we talk about the things that I liked in this Anime, Then I can say with confidence that these are the expectations that I had from all this ... They almost all have not changed from the very beginning. I sat down, wondering what it could be, And I was ready for the fact that I would not like it. And the fact that it turned out to be predictable, I don’t think is bad. You know, I always liked to look at some stories, they could be from books, films or TV shows, and imagine how everything could come out differently. This is my personal passion for such things - not perfect stories, plots and characters. I always hated reading books to the end, watching films or TV shows to the end, I always liked coming up with my own, with my own perfect ending. This anime allows me to do this, which is why I am very happy. Would I recommend this anime to watch? Absolutely not. But if you are ready for something bad, then it’s worth a try. P.s. I really liked the ending, it really is what it should be ... Until I saw the last scene... This last scene ... It's just dumb ...
~~~~~~THE REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS~~~~~~ I already watched the full anime and a gameplay which contains the same story. In my oppinion the anime had a clear structure but the characters could have been more detailed or more detailed. The concept of the story is very good but as the story went further, the potential of the character weren't fully used. ~!!Lets go in more detail for some points: # 1. Story The main character: Rachel Gardner is being trapped in a building. On each floor there is a story and a puzzle to solve. Each "mastermind" of the floor will try stopping Rachel from going up to the next floor. The battle betweeen the "mastermind" and Rachel always end up being bloody. The whole story ends up in a cliffhanger. img220(https://p.favim.com/orig/2018/07/15/rachel-gardner-anime-satsuriku-no-tenshi-Favim.com-6002660.jpg) I think the concept is very interesting. We can learn about each floors background as well as Rachels information. Since she lost her memories about her past, she tries to find more about what is going on. After she passed the first floor, she gains her first companion, Isaac Foster. img220(https://cdn.anisearch.de/images/character/screen/75/75815/full/442137.jpg) Without Isaac, Rachel is only a poor girl which cannot fight on her own but she uses her brain to get up the floors. At first I thought, Rachel is just someone who ended up in the building as an outsider. But as the story continued, it was clear that she actually belongs to the building herself. Why she ended up on the first floor and why she lost her memory is very blurry. The story could be much more detailed about that. # 2. Characters Rachel Gardner: a cute and innocent girl (first setting). Her blue eyes always look so dead and she doesn't really care about her life. She wants to die by Isaac Fosters hands and tries to get through the floors to find the way out. Isaac Foster: the man with the scythe. He reminds me of a grim reaper. His face and body is covered with bandages. I think that fact could be explained more deeper why he actually has that appearience. Isaac doesn't really use his brain and smashes everything with his raw strength. That is why he accepted Rachels request in killing her when she finds the way out of the building. Side characters: There are many side characters which I call "masterminds" since they all own a floor. I'm a little bit disappointed that many characters didn't have that much screen time and their background story weren't really explained. It would be more interesting to know what actually happened to them too. That would have helped to get a rough situation of the building. # 3. Soundtrack Persoanlly, I think the sounds were actually pretty decent. Sometimes it was a bit loud which could be explained by the fact that the characters are using guns. The soundactors were choosen well. My favorite one is probably the voice from Isaac. For the Openings/Endings I liked the Ending song the most. # 4. Art / Animation I like the art of this anime. Isaacs Character looks very nice with the bandages and the scyth. I personally love scyth on characters. Rachel is a bit easier to draw I think. She is drew not as detailed as Isaac which makes her a bit bland. The art of the different floors could have been improved a bit, but all in all I have nothing bad to say. # 5. Conclusion The title of the anime "Angels of death" is a bit irritating for the story. They tried to put a puzzle in a horror adventure which is very interesting and fun to watch. For the puzzle part, it is more fun to actually play the game instead of watching the anime. Story and Characters could have been more detailed and the ending was a bit weird too. We don't know what actually happened since Isaac is supposed to have died, so Rachel killed herself in the end? This is why I give the anime a 6/10 since I liked the art and the concept. They lost 4 points for the undetailed parts of the story and characters. Worth watching if you have free time!~
Let me break this down. Main girl is trapped in a tower. Main girl runs around for a bit, before meeting this scythe-wielding lunatic, who has a fixation for seeing people smile before he kills them. Main girl's expression is blank. They join forces with the promise that scythe guy is going to kill her after they escape. The two scurry around a bit and meet bosses on each level of the tower, who all want to kill the girl. They try to find a way out. That's it. That's the plot. __Pros:__ - The animation. God - no, I swear not like that - the animation. Everything about it was spellbinding, but not because it was super dynamic or had some insane anime fights. The imagery was really pretty, and even though you can probably find a dozen reviews calling it out on the wrong religious Bible themes, the animation still gives you a vibe. The church was one of my favorites to see, and the representations of different types of gases... There's a lot of gore, so be wary if you have fragile eyes, but the way they used "pure" colors like white in contrast was really nice. If you want a taste of the animation style, watch the opening. - The antagonists. Okay, so they weren't the most dynamic, or didn't have too much backstory (at least in the anime), but the antagonists really hit. They were all yanderes minus the romance, and yeah, I found that cool to watch. Eddie's design with the potato sack, the reporter girl with her sick tendencies, and the doctor gave me serious chills. I'm never looking at the word "peepers" the same way. - The plot. It was decent - your standard: let's escape from here. Still, though, if you want to watch children suffering, there's a better way than watching _Angels of Death_. - The voice acting. Both English and Japanese. A little quiet on Rachel for English, but she really pulled off a soft voice that made me uncomfortable. Zack's is...it felt in-character, let's just say that. In Japanese, it's just your typical quiet anime girl's voice (which is perfectly fine) and Bakugou Katsuki. Take what you will from that. __Cons:__ A lot. *credits roll* Okay, okay. (Mild Spoilers) - The dynamic between main girl, Rachel, and the scythe guy, Zack. One thing is for certain in this anime, it was trying *way* too hard to be edgy. I get that it exists in the real world, but Rachel wanting to die - but *only* through Zack's doing was way too on-the-nose. Keep in mind that Zack is a scythe-wielding psychopath, who Rachel just met, like, two hours ago. Wanting-to-die-from-them at first sight, much? Then later, after a few episodes, Rachel's downright obsessed with Zack, calling him a God. This is something I just don't get. In the beginning of this anime, their relationship screamed "abuser-victim." Then in the middle, I started to get vibes of two mentally-unstable siblings. At the end? How do you go from please-kill-me to you're-my-God? Seriously, the first part of it was already weird and unbelievable enough, but toss in the latter? The metaphor doesn't even work because practically no one asks their God to kill them. And the last scene... The goddamn last scene. What was that? This whole time I knew Rachel's sole and only motive: to be killed by Zack. I knew Zack's sole and only motive: to get out of the tower and kill to make himself feel good. But I knew there was a dynamic change in these two characters - how did the last scene just end up bringing us back to the first episode? Seriously, did I spend sixteen episodes for *nothing*? (Yes, yes, you did.) - The...rest of the plot. I suffered through sixteen episodes about two psychopaths (plus their psychopathic bosses) in a tower trying to get out, full of Christian allegories, and yet...I don't even get a clear answer on anything. The world these two were in was built on the basis of metaphorical *toothpicks*. Worldbuilding, never heard of her. At first, I thought this was some sort of hell, and Rachel had died from suicide (there was a brief shadow hanging, which I was sure was Rachel, in the opening. The suicide would also explain why she was unwilling to take her own life again). But the plot was so topsy-turvy that I felt so confused on what I was watching. I still have no idea what that tower was. Was there some sort of magic that gave everyone serious wound-immunity? How did Rachel get into the tower? I have no idea who did the target audience this show was out to hit, and I genuinely do not care about finding out. At times, it had creepy psychological aspects, then fun video-game levels, then weird God metaphors, then sad background stories™, then "O Zack, O Zack, please kill me." On a more serious note, I find it so weird how Rachel is pretty much tortured the entire time - this thirteen-year-old girl hasn't caught a break _once_ . Let that sink in. - The plot twist that never came. I expected a plot twist, and I seriously didn't get one. I got a music box, sewing, a _Maze Runner_-esque escape, a therapist lady, and an open ending. Are you kidding me? I think the whole lead-in to Rachel killing her abusive father was way too dramatized. When did Rachel lie about it? I think practically everyone who watched _Angels of Death_ knew Rachel wasn't innocent, and she probably had blood on her hands pre-Tower Era. Even though the sewing part was really interesting, it didn't fit in the anime - it felt like the background story of another anime character, because _Angels of Death_ doesn't get the chance to flesh out its characters in the beginning, so there's really no point in throwing in a half-written background story as a "twist." If that open ending was a twist, you must be out of your mind - that open ending was hardly even open. __Final Thoughts__ This anime wasn't horrible. Do I regret every second I spent on it? Well, um, yes. Do I wish I could've smacked my past self at wasting my time? Yes. Am I sure there's someone out there who'll enjoy it? Yes. Will most Christians enjoy it? ...Er, no, but you guys should check it out for an _r/mildlyinfuriating_ substitute. Still, I liked it. It was pretty and superficial and skin-deep, but maybe that's the beauty of it. It was like one of those unfinished, half-done drafts that I'd never recommend because not only is it bad, but it doesn't feel _complete_. If you want to enjoy this anime - watch all the way until Catherine's arc, then headcanon the rest. Trust me, you'll save time and energy spent on a lackluster, edgy, it's-not-a-phase-Mom anime.
__My review consists of 3 threads, characters, stories and opinions.__ __(I decided to write this review after rewatching for a year.)__ From the beginning, I am looking for a horror movie with a thread of love for the murderer through a girl, terrible transitions and a good scene. At first I did not expect this horror to reach my heart and appreciation, a lot has changed with the development of the episodes __Short Story__ At the beginning, you can see a 13-year-old girl who woke up in the basement of an unknown building. The main character, Rachel Gardner, wakes up from her sleep, decides to visit the building, unaware that a killer named Zack is lurking inside. Unaware of anything, the girl follows the corridors and passages, meeting a wounded bird, after a while the killer reveals himself behind the walls and starts running after her. Our character ran to the closed place, where she was left alone with the tormentor. Rachel was a girl who wanted death, she asked killer to kill her, unfortunately or luckily she didn't know anything about him. Zack loved to kill, but unfortunately he couldn't afford it when his victim didn't look sad. Rachel stood stone-faced to kill her, the killer didn't have the strength to do so. They agreed that they would make a pact under which Zack would escape from the building with the girl. If the heroine helps him, she will be murdered. (Zack did not mention Ray that there are people on different levels and that you are not allowed to enter those levels.) Over time, the characters got to know each other more and more. Ray (Named by Zack) - Rachel Gardner Zack - Isaac Foster __Short content of main characters__ __Rachel Gardner, Ray __ img220(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/6c/67/8c/6c678ced9150ecb5324168cf908fddd6.jpg) A 13-year-old girl who did not know herself and her past. She was a quiet girl who doesn't show many emotions, has blond hair, beautifiul blue eyes, was a secretive person who has mental problems. She believed that there is a god in the world, and after a while her god was Zack. (My one of the favourites characters of all time) __Isaac Foster, Zack __ img220(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/37/c8/c1/37c8c179bc8d2ad7b359bf5c28ca3143.jpg) He is a serial killer. Probably an adult person who had a difficult future behind him. Isaac was tall, had black hair and 2 different eye colors golden and black. it also had numerous marks on the body. He was very chaotic and nervous. When he got mad, he couldn't contain his emotions and was unpredictable. __In my opinion__ If you don't like vibes like that, please don't watch this anime. There are many underestimations and disappointments. I am a different person and I like it, I like the atmosphere of horror, criminal and killers with a twist of love between the murderer and the victim, and I really enjoyed the show. But also, in my opinion, it should be more elaborate and better made graphically and scenographically. More than the show, I just fell in love (?) with the characters and their stories. __Overall__ Story: 6/10 (But I developed this show in my head for 10/10..) Characters: 7/10 (There should be more stories about them, remember that this applies to all characters at all levels. NOT ONLY FOR ZACK AND RAY. ) Scenography: 4/10 __Overall: 10/10__ (Let me remind you once again that I am a different person and I do not necessarily always look at the whole shape. I was intrigued by the characters and their relationships and for the fact that there were criminal things.) I think that my rating is also high because I can have similar issues, if you have similar, you may like it. Or you are just different like me.
I promise so but so so much the game is better than the anime, the final skipped the answers to the biggest questions Spoilers Ahead The main problem in this, is the exageration of characters and how the final didn't comply with the game's final. It leaves behind things, that should have been explained. I was surprised when I searched content about my favorite character of this title and spoiled myself things that were never told in the anime, then after playing the game those important things I saw where there all the while, it's one of the most criticized things how anime-watchers didn't understand and were left confused about important things at the end of the show. First question unanswered, 'How did they all enter the tower?' Second question, 'How did Rachel end up in the first floor?' And second peeve of this anime, flanderization of the main antagonist 'Daniel Dickens' the eye obssesed doctor. Noticeable ups are the memorable character designs, they are simple yet you can easily remember these characters. And while if the other characters besides Rachel and Zack didn't sit enough good to you, you can always check the author Youtube channel, where Catherine is a fun VTuber and there's also 1. Angels of Death Manga (it has extra content and information about the characters, a beautiful artstyle and panels too) and 2. Official colored comics of this show, fan content is great too and on top of all you can see, the game, a second extra game about Eddie Manson, the gravekeeper boy and Angels of Death Zero, a manga about the things that happened before all this. Now, about 'Daniel Dickens' I guess people can see how putting a character with a long tongue can turn into different results if you animate it, but nonetheless, The doctor is much more calm and he isn't downright a psychopath, it's seen how he still has feelings, and can cry. His introduction may be the worst part, while you're playing the game, he never turns weird, just mentions the word 'peepers' instead of eyes as a trait. And you can slowly but clearly notice how can that be too important of a word to be repeating, Until he reveals his true colors when Rachel tries leaving, but the anime? Danny weirdo speedrun 0.2% only sec Maybe it doesn't sound very different from anime if you just write it, but he indeed has a raging tone and angrier facial expressions in anime, original sprites are agonizing and in despair while on his last moments. To summary it, Danny in anime is angry and staring at the priest with yandere eyes, screaming to him, while in the game, he's instead frustrated and talking out of desperation and sadness, not hatred words. And then, when the priestess demostrates he genuinely thinks Danny's at least a beautiful human, Danny accepts his fate and Gray's words. Being at least happy he's worth to someone (consider Danny's main reason is having wanted to love and to be loved due his hard childhood) and so, Gray nods too. But in anime he just dismisses it still frustrated and says 'this is not useful at all' and proceed to freaking die. And also, his backstory and mentions about his reasons to be here, are what makes him very human and more likeable. But this wasn't mentioned neither talked about, just a brief flash of Danny's mother hanged, I feel like Gray's and Danny's big impact was almost not touched, at all. When they are the most important characters in the story. I think this all made it seem like Danny doesn't care about Rachel, and just randomly liked her eyes instead of an interesting story that wasn't enough adapted.
Angels of Death is a series I have revisited over the years to varying degrees of enjoyment, catching things I didn't before, and even understanding things better as I've grown older. It has always been a comfort series for me to rewatch and just enjoy. But as of the fourth time watching this, and after playing the RPG Maker game it was based on, I do believe that it does not utilize its medium of anime rather than video game to the fullest potential it could have had. Nonetheless, it still improves vastly in all sorts of other ways, having its own memorable soundtrack, stellar voice acting, and good direction. img220(https://c4.wallpaperflare.com/wallpaper/275/643/738/anime-satsuriku-no-tenshi-angels-of-death-isaac-foster-wallpaper-preview.jpg) The story and characters are extremely unique to anything else anime has to offer. A cast of entirely killers, psychopaths, and lunatics in a world where the worst sides of humans are highlighted to the extreme. A death game in a sense, but with such a varied cast of characters all with fantastic designs and floors that makes it seem less like a death game and more like a set of completely independent obstacles. I also appreciate the very spared use of any backstory or flashback, only being shown when a character themselves are seeing it, and with this approach, many of the characters don't get one, shrouding their origin in mystery and we're left with only the assumption of what their life was like that led them to seeing the world and people the way they do (please go play Angels of Death: Episode Eddie, I swear its very good). img220(https://images.kinguin.net/g/carousel-main-mobile/media/images/products/62dfb5ab3d12b500012bff13_613231bbd3f2ea1458dd73b8bc325736.jpg) I also believe that the anime suffers from not being able to explain things properly sometimes. I understand that the way they explain most of the character's mental states changing from an analogy of red and blue and always revolving around the moon, but what do the colors and moon represent? What's their significance? I'm not too sure myself, and in doing so, specifically Rachel becomes a mess of contradictions that the show acknowledges that she doesn't make any logical sense, and Rachel herself agrees to this sentiment. In most cases, this is a huge red flag for me to say, "saying you know it makes no sense doesn't alleviate you of the problem." However, Angels of Death is aware that the characters are genuinely mentally not there. Being obsessive to the point of lunacy and completely shifting their world views to something most people would find alien. Zack makes the perfect example of why the contradictions exist, "Unlike you and Danny, I don't waste time running and thinking about pointless shit!" While everyone in the show has something that they obsess over, Zack is, funnily enough, the insight we have as an audience as he is "simple and pure." To us as well as him, the things the others say and do, he finds both completely insane but downright stupid. With this, my point is that I don't have too much of an issue with how Angels of Death uses its character motivations in a way that seems unconventional due to the fact that every character is openly blind to their own very flawed and self-serving motivations. img220(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UJyJqeTmq5s/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEhCK4FEIIDSFryq4qpAxMIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJD&rs=AOn4CLA441-TXVbIrfLviIjqMu6Z9HrfKg) And to conclude the review, I'd like to discuss the ending very in depth and on a personal level. So if you haven't watched it already or played the game, spoilers ahead. The ending of Angels of Death this fourth go around felt a lot more powerful towards the overall feel that this series and world has, and that falls in the fact that Rachel is the most severe case of someone who needs mental support, so of course she's sent to one of those mental hospitals where she spends months there. As someone who's been in one before, the melancholy and false sense of normalcy is clear as day. Towering walls with barbed fencing, the counseling sessions where they ask basic and by-the-book questions that have no real meaning to them, all while the issue of having to deal with other patients. Not being able to do anything, obeying everything someone says because you have no choice, as there is zero trust between the two parties. It felt very realistic, and I didn't give this segment of the show enough credit for how the setting of a mental hospital doesn't feel much better than any other kind of prison. Then there's the last scene. Originally, I was contempt with the fact that Zack came back and they finish their promise. Then the interpretation changed to Rachel was either hallucinating or dreaming, ending her own life by cutting through the bars with the knife Zack gave her. But there's a huge problem with both of these interpretations. In the first, Zack comes back with his scythe, but in the second to last episode, he discards of it after it breaks, and it most certainly wouldn't have survived the wreckage, let alone had stayed there. Meaning Zack is probably not actually there. Plus, he wouldn't have known where she was all this time in the first place. And in the second, how would Rachel had kept the knife is close to impossible, especially when she was there for months on end (we see the seasons change from fall to winter). Therefore, both of these interpretations have very clear flaws to them. Yet, I still push myself to lean towards the latter, as the way Zack is shown, is more like a angel than a human, floating and with his death scythe. With that, I do believe is that Rachel hallucinates Zack after learning he was sentenced to death, where the only way he's avoided death up to this point was because he had someone else there to save him or patch him up. And in doing so, she ironically does what she never wanted to in the first place, commit suicide. img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/eaec7668efbd9f372d25e8cdd139473e/tumblr_ph84vjZn7M1wsajfio2_540.gif) Those are my thoughts on the end, I find these open-ended endings fun, as it leaves the viewer to make up their own interpretation while still being a complete package of a story. Angels of Death is a series that I hold in high regard despite its flaws due to its colorful and engaging cast, the fantastic soundtrack, the original story, and the legacy of an RPG Maker game.