Angel Beats!

10 Best Episodes of Angel Beats! - Season 1

Angel Beats 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 God. The Battlefront fight against the student council president Angel, a girl with supernatural powers.

Written by Sophie and last updated on nov 10, 2022.

PS: The following content contains spoilers!

PPS: I will admit that parts of this page was written with the help of AI - it makes my work so much easier to not start from a blank page!

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Angel Beats! - S1E1

#13 - Departure (Season 1 - Episode 1)

Otonashi awakens in a school with no memory and encounters the sniper rifle carrying girl Yuri, who informs him that he has died and is in heaven. Yuri then proceeds in trying to recruit him into her armed struggle against God and the student council president / Angel named Tenshi.

The episode was rated 7.56 from 164 votes.

Angel Beats! - S1E4

#12 - Day Game (Season 1 - Episode 4)

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With Iwasawa gone, Yui suggests she take Iwasawa's place as the vocalist, but the other SSS members do not agree. Yuri suggests that the SSS illegally participate in the upcoming baseball tournament and any SSS team which does worse than the NPC students will receive a punishment worse than death. Hinata starts with recruiting Otonashi, followed by Yui, Shiina, and Noda after failing to get several other more athletic members that already had teams. With still four players needed, Yui gets three NPC girls, who are fans of Yui's, to join their team. During the first round of the tournament, the SSS teams beat their NPC counterparts, but soon each one falls to Angel's team made up of members of the school baseball team until only Hinata's team is left. As the game is nearing its end, Hinata recalls how he missed a fly ball in a similar baseball game in life, and Otonashi believes that Hinata will disappear if they win the game. Just as Hinata is about to catch a pop fly and win the game, however, Yui comes from behind and puts Hinata in a strangle hold, and Angel's team wins as a result.

The episode was rated 7.73 from 106 votes.

Angel Beats! - S1E2

#11 - Guild (Season 1 - Episode 2)

Yuri decides to descend to the Guild for the day to see the situation of the Guild(the guild makes supplies like guns and ammunition). While going down they see Noda who has not seen Otonashi as a companion yet. As he was about to try to kill him 1000 times(in episode 1 he kills Otonashi 100 times) the trap gets set off and Noda gets smashed to the wall. They find out that because the Angel found the place that they reactivated the traps. They fight their way to the guild(Ooyama keeps on forgetting all the traps). Takamatsu gets run over by a steel ball, Matsushita gets cut to pieces by lasers, TK gets squished by the ceiling while saving the others, Ooyama falls as the floor collapses, Hinata falls also because of groping Yuri on accident while climbing(a human ladder)(on the butt or chest (don't know)) and gets kicked and falls down also, Fujimaki drowns because he cant swim, Shiina falls down a waterfall after trying to save a cute toy dog(she doesn't realize after seeing it close(Shiina's weakness is cute things)). Yuri and Otonashi are the only ones left. While drying themselves up Yuri tells her tragic life before coming to the afterlife. They arrive at the Guild and decide to blow the place up and go to the old guild(you can make anything as long as its nonliving using your memories even out of dirt). While Yuri buys some time for them to get ready to blow the place up Otonashi saves Yuri from getting stabbed in the head by Angel. They blow the place up and Angel falls down in the explosions. They go to the old Guild and Yuri calls the others to come to the old guild quickly before Angel recovers. In the end Otonashi praises Yuri of being a great leader.

The episode was rated 8.04 from 136 votes.

Angel Beats! - S1E11

#10 - Change the World (Season 1 - Episode 11)

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Hinata and Naoi argue about who should help Otonashi when a shadow monster suddenly attacks Naoi, but Otonashi and Hinata are able to destroy it in time. Yuri calls Kanade to a meeting to figure out if she is involved with the shadows, but the meeting is cut short when a group of shadows attack Noda, TK and Shiina. Yuri and the others jump in and everyone is safe, but Yuri notices during the battle that one of the NPCs transformed into a shadow. Fujimaki appears to relay that Takamatsu got devoured by one of the shadows as Ōyama helplessly looked on as Takamatsu was absorbed into the ground. Takamatsu later reappears, but is now an NPC whose soul has been eaten. Yuri calls an emergency meeting with all of the other SSS members, Yuri reveals she knew about Otonashi's plan of helping members pass on, and she tells everyone to think about passing on, lest they be eaten by the shadows. Yuri later reveals that Kanade is a human to Otonashi, Hinata and Naoi before going off by herself to discover the source of the shadows. Yuri deduces that someone must be turning NPCs into shadows and she heads to the computer room in the library, as it is the only viable place to do such an operation. She finds a man programming a computer who tells her someone keeps stealing computers and he was programming a new one. After the man leaves, Yuri searches for the method the thief used to take the computers and discovers a hidden passage that leads back into the Guild.

The episode was rated 8.08 from 93 votes.

Angel Beats! - S1E6

#9 - Family Affair (Season 1 - Episode 6)

After the SSS members are removed from the reflection room, Yuri suggests everyone try to create disturbances in class to see how far they can go without Naoi interfering, but Naoi comes after them anyway. Otonashi convinces Angel to accompany him to the cafeteria to eat the spicy mapo doufu, but Naoi arrives and throws them in a more secure reflection room for eating when it was not lunch. Shortly after, the SSS begin a battle between Naoi, who uses the NPCs as shields to prevent the SSS from attacking him or the NPCs, whom Naoi had hypnotized to make them cooperate. Yuri tells Otonashi via a walkie-talkie that she saw Naoi beating up NPCs, and that he is actually human. Angel agrees to break out of the room, but by the time she and Otonashi arrive at the battlefield, the SSS members have been massacred. After attempting to hypnotize Yuri, however, Otonashi attacks Naoi, who has a flashback about his unfair life. Naoi had to take his older twin brother's place after his death and became his father's apprentice in pottery, but eventually his father also died. Otonashi also discovers that whoever befriends Angel, disappears.

The episode was rated 8.08 from 93 votes.

Angel Beats! - S1E5

#8 - Favorite Flavor (Season 1 - Episode 5)

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During the exam period, Yuri wants to make Angel fail all her tests so as to make her lose her status in the school. For the plan to be a success, Otonashi manages to find out that Angel's real name is Kanade Tachibana. The SSS members create distractions to get Angel's and the NPCs attention so as to switch their fake answers with Angel's. When the results come out, Angel loses her position as student council president and is replaced by the vice president, Naoi. During another instance of "Operation Tornado", the SSS members observe Angel going to buy a meal ticket while ignoring Girls Dead Monster and the rest of the crowd in the cafeteria. Angel loses the ticket due to the operation's success and Otonashi coincidentally finds and uses it. Otonashi wonders if Angel could join the SSS now, but this receives negative responses by everyone else. Moments later, the new student council president arrives with a group of NPCs and tells the SSS they will be punished for their constant disobedience.

The episode was rated 8.21 from 104 votes.

Angel Beats! - S1E3

#7 - My Song (Season 1 - Episode 3)

Yuri decides to have Girls Dead Monster distract Angel long enough to sneak into her room and crack the password on her computer, but Yuri does not think the new ballad called "My Song" the band's vocalist and guitarist Iwasawa wrote would be useful for the operation. While taking a break from shooting practice, Otonashi hears Girls Dead Monster playing and talks with Iwasawa while the band is taking a break. Iwasawa tells Otonashi how her parents used to always fight and music was her only escape. After she graduated high school and left home, Iwasawa began to follow her dream of making music and soon showed promise. Unknown to her, an old head injury caused during her parents fighting developed into a stroke and subsequently her death. When Yuri's operation begins, Girls Dead Monster starts playing in the auditorium while the others, with the aide of the hacker Takeyama (who likes to be referred to by his username "Christ"), break into Angel's room and hack her computer. Girls Dead Monster are soon subdued by several teachers, but Iwasawa breaks free and begins playing "My Song", but disappears after she is finished. This indicates that one does not necessarily have to obey Angel in order to disappear. The SSS learn that Angel is not getting her powers from God but is making them herself, the same way that the team is creating weapons.

The episode was rated 8.23 from 133 votes.

Angel Beats! - S1E8

#6 - Dancer in the Dark (Season 1 - Episode 8)

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The SSS try to defend themselves against the red-eyed Kanade, but it takes the original Kanade to stop her by stabbing her, only to get stabbed herself in the process. The SSS realize Kanade used her "harmonics" program to create a battle-oriented copy of herself when she sliced the huge fish from earlier, but the clone did not disappear. While Yuri uses Kanade's computer to find something to defeat the clone, the others spend time in class pretending to be good students while actually concentrating on other things. Yuri ends up rewriting "harmonics" so the next time the original Kanade uses it, the clones will be absorbed after ten seconds. After the original Kanade is kidnapped and taken deep underground to the Guild's old location, the SSS pursue. One by one, SSS members sacrifice themselves as they encounter more Angel clones on the way until only Yuri and Otonashi remain. At the bottom, Yuri fights the last clone and Otonashi goes to save the original. After she manages to activate "harmonics", the clone tells Otonashi that the ruthless clones that attacked the SSS all have their own consciousness. She questions with a smirk on what will happen if they were all to be absorbed at once. As the "absorb" program activates, the Angel clones return to the original and Kanade writhes and cries out pain as Otonashi embraces her.

The episode was rated 8.25 from 95 votes.

Angel Beats! - S1E12

#5 - Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Season 1 - Episode 12)

As the girls of Girls Dead Monster and many other SSS members decide to pass on, Otonashi and the others continue to fight off the other shadows, which are increasing in number. Meanwhile, Yuri explores the Guild and comes up against many shadows. She gets ensnared by one and becomes an NPC, but she manages to fight it and returns thanks to Otonashi, Kanade, Hinata and Naoi, who have come to aid her. While they fend off the shadows, Yuri comes across a computer room where all the stolen computers are, and she meets a strange boy who talks about the programmer of the Angel Player software, which manipulates the world. The boy tempts her with the prospect of being God of the world herself, but Yuri declines for the sake of her friends and destroys all the computers. As she rests from destroying them all, she has a vision of being forgiven by her siblings before waking up in the infirmary where Otonashi, Kanade, Hinata and Naoi are waiting.

The episode was rated 8.36 from 94 votes.

Angel Beats! - S1E7

#4 - Alive (Season 1 - Episode 7)

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With Naoi now being a new member of the SSS, Yuri decides to use use ability of Hypnotism to allow Otonashi to recover his memories. In a flashback of Otonashi's life, he reveals that he had no purpose in life. He worked very hard in multiple jobs instead of going to school to take care of his sickly younger sister, Hatsune, who was kept in a hospital. He would buy manga with what little free money he had, to give to his sister, not caring what he brought, or if they were of the same series or chapter. He worked even harder to take his sister out on Christmas, taking on more jobs. After sneaking her out of the hospital, he carries her to the main street to observe the christmas lights. After her death, Otonashi realizes all he worked for, was a "thank you" from his sister, which he got everyday from her. This convinces him to work for a new purpose in his life, which was to help others. On a train to a university Otonashi was going to attend for the first time, after going back to school, he dies in an accident on the train. After the flashback, Otonashi realizes he died without ever accomplishing anything and cries. On a new day, the SSS members go fishing with Naoi & Angel. Angel catches the master of the river and chops it into several cuts using double Hand Sonics. The SSS members then serve the cuts to the ordinary students. Otonashi remembers his first name is Yuzuru and tells Angel to address him by that name while he addresses her by her first name, marking a close friendship.

The episode was rated 8.36 from 96 votes.

Angel Beats! - S1E9

#3 - In Your Memory (Season 1 - Episode 9)

Otonashi stays by Kanade's side while she is unconscious after absorbing the many ruthless Angels. The SSS decide to rewrite some of her programs as a temporary measure and wait to see what happens after she wakes up. Otonashi remembers everything about how he died. After the train accident, he and a handful of others were trapped in a tunnel with short supplies of food and water. Otonashi helped the injured with the assistance of a man named Igarashi. After a week trapped in the tunnel, Otonashi, feeling his life slipping away, registered as an organ donor on his ID card, which prompted the others to do the same. Otonashi died shortly after, moments before rescue workers managed to finally break through into the tunnel. After Kanade wakes up, she remarks that it is a miracle that her original self managed to overcome the other ruthless Angel personalities. Otonashi comes to realize Kanade's sole reason for existence is to help people move on by fulfilling any regret they had in life by giving them a chance to experience a normal youth. Otonashi decides to cooperate with Kanade so everyone can move on, but first he must learn more about their pasts. To this end, he requests that Kanade must fight once again against the SSS. Meanwhile, Angel is reinstated as the student council president, while Naoi returns to being the vice president. The rest of the SSS believe Kanade lost her memories of her time with them and has returned to how she was before. This, however, is the secret pact made between Otonashi and Kanade.

The episode was rated 8.58 from 95 votes.

Angel Beats! - S1E10

#2 - Goodbye Days (Season 1 - Episode 10)

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Otonashi tells Kanade that the first person they should try to get to pass on is Yui because he believes her to have little left to fulfill, only to discover she has many things left she wants to do. This is because Yui was paralyzed in life from the neck down at a young age due to being hit by a car, leaving her unable to have a happy life. Otonashi manages to fulfill her wish of performing a German suplex after some practice, and another wish of scoring a goal single-handedly against five opponents (the so-called Goal of the Century"), though with some extra help from Kanade. Otonashi next tries to fulfill her wish of hitting a home run, but is unable to accomplish this after several days of trying. Yui's last wish is to get married, which prompts Hinata who overheard the conversation to say he will marry her. Despite Yui giving excuses about her being handicapped in life, Hinata promises that they would have been happy together had they met before they died. With her last wish fulfilled, Yui passes on. Hinata agrees to help Otonashi in allowing their friends to finally be happy and pass on. In the school hallway, Ōyama is attacked by a mysterious creature and Noda is able to fend it off. Yuri hears the report from Yusa who calls it a "shadow".

The episode was rated 8.69 from 111 votes.

Angel Beats! - S1E13

#1 - Graduation (Season 1 - Episode 13)

Three days after the shadows incident, only Otonashi, Yuri, Kanade, Hinata and Naoi remain, the others having already passed on. Per Kanade's idea, they hold a graduation ceremony, where they thank each other for their support. After the ceremony ends, Naoi takes his leave. Yuri makes her peace with Kanade before she leaves, followed shortly by Hinata. With Otonashi and Kanade left, Otonashi suggests that they could stay together to help others who come into the afterlife world, revealing in the process that he is in love with her. Kanade is hesitant to respond, as her one regret was never saying thanks to Otonashi, whose heart kept her alive in the real world due to the donor card he left behind when he died. Kanade thanks him and disappears in his arms, as Otonashi cries over the disappearance of his newfound love. Otonashi passes on shortly after. In an epilogue, in the world of the living, a girl resembling Kanade is humming "My Song" when a boy resembling Otonashi happens to pass by and recognizes the melody. When the girl turns to walk away, the boy chases after her to tap on her shoulder.

The episode was rated 8.91 from 110 votes.

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