Charlotte is a show that somehow defied all odds and somehow came out on top as one of my favorite anime of all time. There will 100% be spoilers for this review so if you're looking for something that tells you if you should watch the show or not, this is not the place. This is purely a showing of appreciation of an anime that showed me that the 3 episode rule is not always absolute.
Story: 10/10
Now, to give a story like Charlotte's a 10 is a bit controversial because even myself would say it isn't perfect but, that however, doesn't change the
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amount of enjoyment I got out of it. It's first 6 episodes are about a high school boy who develops supernatural eye powers and is taken to a school that researches how to stop the powers from developing. The place where I find this show's masterful writing is at the midpoint where everything you knew takes a grinding halt. This show says that they didn't feel like playing it safe by killing off the main character's sister which triggers one of the greatest character development episodes I've ever seen in my life. You see this carefree anime which used to be just another school supernatural show turn into this gut-wrenching story of loss. You see the cheeky but sympathetic main character turns into a hopeless wreck as he loses all will to live in a world where his most beloved family member who's still alive, isn't. Following this episode, the second half of the story is like a machine gun of plot shooting new ideas into the audience every few minutes and still having them feel tangible. It almost feels like the show reforms itself and completely recreates the anime from scratch starting in episode 6. I will admit, the story does not end perfectly by all means, but in a binged watching of the show, the amount of depth I pulled from this anime is immense.
Art: 7/10
The art is pretty solid as it hits you with some very cool sights that show the supernatural powers pretty well while also showing tiny details that matter the most like facial expressions and set pieces that describe the situation on their own. The art is solid with this anime but I don't think it's the main thing people look at when watching it.
Sound: 7/10
The sound is much like the art where it doesn't overstep it's bounded as it does all its really required to do. The sound is also not something that most people will notice when watching this show. This doesn't necessarily mean the sound is bad, it just means the sound wasn't outlandishly good. It achieves the goal of being at least quality sound effects and nothing more. Nothing feels cheap but nothing feels like it came out of a movie either.
Character: 8/10
This category is especially important for me as characters are usually a make it or break it for me. Charlotte introduces you to some characters that are made to be hated such as the main character or some that were made to be loved like the main character's sister or Nao. This ties in to story where it is absolutely brilliant how they transform your perception of a few characters in just a single episode. After the MC's sister die, instead of feeling annoyed for the main character, you question if you feel sympathetic to him, or even empathetic if you've gone through a similar fate in real life. Somehow they manage to convey such strong feelings that grow you towards this main character in a way that shouldn't even be possible. It's my belief that the writers of charlotte purposefully made characters to be loved or hated so that when something happens to them in the future, it hits just that much harder. The introduction of characters doesn't feel awkward either as they ease you into the real main characters in the first 6 episodes. The last 7 episodes are a little confusing as they show characters you haven't met yet and then reveal their identity and importance in a later episode. Much can be said about the development of characters in this show as I've really only scratched the surface of how well they crafted these characters.
Enjoyment: 10/10
From start to the midway point, I found this show simply amusing. From the midpoint to the end, I found charlotte to be both beautiful and captivating to the point where I couldn't wrap my brain around what I had just watched the night after watching it. For a long time, I had this show pegged as my #1 most enjoyed show even if I knew it wasn't a perfect show. Charlotte did something for me that I thought I'd never see in my days of not skipping anime I found just ok. Charlotte showed me that any anime can be a masterpiece and things like the three-episode rule can be fickle. Shows that transform themselves in such a cut-throat manner are pretty rare and the most popular anime's that attempt it, is usually hated after said transformation. This show took me from somewhat interested to instantly hooked in the matter of one mid-anime episode. I've never seen something make such an impact on my perception of anime as Charlotte did.
Overall: 9/10
Charlotte is, in my opinion, an underrated show that deserves a little more attention to detail as I see many people don't give this show's best features any thought. I can understand why some may not like this show but Charlotte altered the way I see unknown anime and nothing can discredit that. It is, as I've said a few times now, not perfect, but it doesn't need to be a perfect anime completely change the way I experience the medium.
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Jan 22, 2020
Charlotte is a show that somehow defied all odds and somehow came out on top as one of my favorite anime of all time. There will 100% be spoilers for this review so if you're looking for something that tells you if you should watch the show or not, this is not the place. This is purely a showing of appreciation of an anime that showed me that the 3 episode rule is not always absolute.
Story: 10/10 Now, to give a story like Charlotte's a 10 is a bit controversial because even myself would say it isn't perfect but, that however, doesn't change the ... |
