As some of you may recall from earlier in the year, I was harshly critical of the first episode of Angel Beats! in my anime season overview. It was awkward, hurried, unstable, and a few other derogatory adjectives. I was almost certain that the series would start at the apex of this down-facing rubbish heap and continue to ride down the path of melancholy. Well, I suppose it's time for me to step up to the buffet line and get served a large, steaming plate of crow. My enjoyment of the series has significantly improved since that abysmal pilot. Mmm… that's good crow!

To me, the first episode can be compared to the first comic of Calvin & Hobbes. Sure, it sort of started things off and gave an initial, albeit awkward, explanation of events, but after going through the rest of the content and connecting with the characters and story, I found it to be completely superfluous.

It's not a perfect series by any measure, of course. Three of the other series I'm watching this season still beat it out, but it has gotten better. Each episode or two seems to turn its focus toward one of the characters, their issue with death, and why they insist on killing God(s). There's nothing wrong with this approach, in principle; however, they seem oddly focused on completely unimportant characters. It's entertaining, but it still feels weird when so few of the main characters get fleshed out. I'm most interested in hearing the story behind the smack-talking TK421. Why on earth does he only seem to speak in David Bowie lyrics?

Probably the best move Key could've done was shift the focus half-way through to the silent superpower Kanade Angel Tenshi Tachibana III, Esq.  I'm always drawn to this character archetype, so the change earned the series several bonus points. Knowing Key, though, they'll probably have her contract some kind of illness or kill her off near the end. Key doesn't mess around.

Now that I have finished my plate of crow and collected my serving of humble pie, I can say to everyone that, in my opinion, Angel Beats! has graduated from  "abattoir refuse" quality to the rather crowded "average" level. If this continuing slope of improvement continues, I might actually see a decent ending coming out of this, but I'm certainly not counting on it. I was disappointed too many times before. Still, maybe it will give birth to another one of these posts. How does Angel Beats! Revolutions sound?