Charlotte Review In Few Words (Mini Review).

~From Jun Maeda, the creator of Angel Beats~

Okotsoka Yuu, a guy with a power to posses others’ bodies, uses his power to cheat in his exams and get top grades. Thus enrolling in an elite school. Then using his power again, he gets to hook up with the girl he wants. Things can’t seem to be better, until one day, he somehow gets suspected for cheating, and ended up forced to transfer to Hoshi No Umi high school, a school for people with powers like him. He was also forced to join the student council there, whose mission is to find other people with power and force them to stop abusing them.
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Who Should Watch Charlotte

Since Charlotte is a slice of life & superpower anime, it is obviously a good choice for those who like these two genres. While there was some lack in characters development, and the story was a bit rushed. Charlotte still managed to be enjoyable, making it a good choice for anyone who likes to watch anime purely for enjoyment.

Good Things About Charlotte

• A good amount of enjoyment.

Possibly Bad Things Charlotte

• Charlotte was so short, which made the story to be a bit rushed, and some characters to not get enough focus.
• Some events are not explained in the story, and are never settled.

Story

“With a face this pretty, did you have to pretend to be smart as well”

Yuu Otosaka is a normal student from the outside, but in reality, he has unique superpower, a power that allows him to posses anyone’s body for 5 seconds. He used it to things from peeking on a girl’s underwear to getting full marks in his tests, and successfully enrolling in an elite high school. He continued to use his power to land himself the most popular girl in the school.

So now Yuu is popular, good-looking guy with high grades, and is about to get a beautiful girlfriend, things can’t seem to be better for him. Until one day, he was called by the student council for suspected cheating, with the possibility of expulsion if he didn’t repeat the same marks he got before. And there, he meets Nao Tomori, the student council president of Hoshi No Umi high school, a school with many people with powers like him.

After being caught for cheating, and after being forced to transfer to Hoshi No Umi high school, along with his sister. Yuu had to join the student council in his new school to help it track those with power, and make them stop abusing them until after puberty, the only stage in life one can possess a superpower.

The story goes from there, you will get to see all sorts of different powers in Charlotte, from the ability to hide oneself from people, to the ability to move extremely fast. In the first half of Charlotte, you will see the student council tracks many people with super powers, and in the second half, the main plot develops, which you are either going to like or hate.

It is important to note that Charlotte is a little bit rushed, seeing how 13 episodes are not exactly enough to cover everything needed for the story, 26 episodes would have suited it better.

The Art

Charlotte art is pretty beautiful, I have nothing but praise to lay for it here. The sharp coloring & lighting effects are nice to the eye. Something that’s typical in many anime nowadays. Lucky for us who cares about art in the anime we watch. ^^

Pacing & Enjoyment

The pacing of Charlotte is good, but as the story were not fully conceived, so it losses some points there. But at the very least, Charlotte has a good amount of enjoyment, which is why I can easily recommend it to anyone who is not overly critical of their anime.

Characters

As I previously said, there are not much focus on all the characters in Charlotte, some characters, like Yusarin, gets some screen time, while some others, like the Takajou Joujirou, has no arc whatsoever.

Otosaka Yuu

The protagonist of Charlotte, with the power to possesses anyone for 5 seconds, he kind of has Lelouch aura with how he used his power for his own gains. Except that he was caught for it earlier than Lelouch. :D

Otosaka Yuu is voiced by Uchiyama Kouki.

Tomori Nao

“We are coming in! Actually, we’re already in.”

The female protagonist of Charlotte, and the student council president of Hoshi No Umi high school (See Of Stars). She has a sarcastic side, which is seen when she deals with people with powers. She is always holding her camera with her, which she uses to film those with powers and catch them in the act.

Nao has the ability to make herself invisible, but that only applies one person at a time.

Tomori Nao is voiced by Sakura Ayane.

Takajou Joujirou

A member of the student council in Hoshi No Umi, with the ability to move extremely fast, to the degree he can’t control it, so he ends up with all sorts of injuries. Besides that, he is a guy with a cheerful personality.

Takajo is a huge fan of Yusarin, to the degree that he remembers all sorts of charms she is using, and in which movie it series it appeared.

Takajou Joujirou is voiced by Mizushima Takahiro.

Kurobane Yusa (Yusarin)

First year high school student, and the idol of How-Low-Hello. She later joins the student council since she also has a power.

Kurobane Yusa is voiced by Uchida Maaya.

Otosaka Ayumi

Yuu’s little sister, who is always energetic & hyper. She likes to make omelets rice with pizza sauce for Yuu, which she says it is the secret ingredient of their family, which tends to make the food tastes so sweet, unlucky for Yuu.

Ayumi likes to look at stars at night, and she is knowledgeable about them.

Just like Takajou, Ayumi is also a fan of Yusarin.

Otosaka Ayumi is voiced by Asakura Momo.

The Opening & Ending Songs

Charlotte’s opening, Bravely You, is beautiful, it is one of these opening songs I listened to almost every time I watched an episode.

Charlotte has 3 ending songs, which are aired in the following order:-

• Yake Ochinai Tsubasa.
• Rakuen Made.
• Kimi no Moji.

Anime To Watch If You Liked Charlotte

Yamada-Kun To 7-Nin No Majo

Ryuu Yamada, a delinquent, accidentally falls into a Urara Shiraishi, the school genius with high grades, and ends up switch body with her. Later, it turns out there are other people with super powers in their school.

I am yet to review Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo, but I will post a link to the review here once I do that.

Yamada-Kun To 7-Nin No Majo manga.

Code Geass: Hangyaku No Lelouch

Britannia , the most powerful nation in the world, has invaded Japan, and changed its name into Area 11, thus calling them Elevens, and stripping the Japanese of their rights & freedom.

Lelouch vi Britannia, an exiled Britannia prince, lives in Japan as a Britanian student, and one day, at the middle of a conflict between the Japanese resistance & the Britannian army, he gains the power to order anyone to do anything he wants, which mean he will be able to take revenge on Britannia, the empire that was the reason he lost his mother, and for his sister, Nunnally, to loss her eye sight and ability to walk.

A Certain Scientific Railgun

In a futuristic city made for the sake of scientific development, and specially the study of psychic powers, known as esper powers. 4 girls lead their normal lives and along the way, they find themselves involved with big criminals & conspiracies that revolves around the city.

A Certain Scientific Railgun is set in the same environment as A Certain Magical Index, but with the focus on the scientific part of Academy city. And a good thing about this anime is that the sci-fi part of the anime is so appealing even for those who are not much into that genre, and it manages to be a fun watch without being much dark.

In short, A Certain Scientific Railgun is a spin-off A Scientific Magical Index that’s done well. One that is any Index fan must watch.

Read my full A Certain Scientific Railgun review.

And Finally

While it seemed a little bit rushed, Charlotte is an enjoyable anime as a whole, some of the characters don’t get focus or a back story at all, and some others, like Yuu, gets tons of it. I think Charlotte would have been a very good anime if it was longer than 13 episode, as there would have been a focus on the other characters, and more time to take things a bit by bit.

I hope you liked my Charlotte review, and see you again in another review. And now I will leave you with a pancake. ^^

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Charlotte Quotes

• “Ideas that challenge the orthodoxy are always met with scorn.” – A scientist.
• “With a face this pretty, did you have to pretend to be smart as well”. – Tomori Nao.
• “We are coming in! Actually, we’re already in.” – Tomori Nao.

Review Credits & Sources

• Some of the characters information in this review were taken from Charlotte Wikia.

Links

• Charlotte Anime Posters.