Angel Beats opens with our protagonist Yuzuru Otonashi opening his eyes. He’s just died and kinda gone to heaven? Not really…. He’s in some sort of middle ground where he is confronted by a girl boasting a rifle? What the heck is exactly going on? She introduces herself as Yuri and explains that the SSS is currently at war within this high school with Heaven or rather what humans consider to be heaven. Yuzuru ends up joining Yuri and going to battle with the SSS as he confronts things like humanity and what death really means to humans. This is the final battle so to speak.

First off the bat, we have to point out that Jun Maeda was the creator for both of these series. Also, both Charlotte and Angel Beats present themselves as something they are not. Both seem like normal everyday school adventures that the characters are going to live comfortably, but that just is not going to happen! P.A. Works also produced both of these anime. So styles of drawing as well as the way the story is spun to you are very similar. The humor is also about the same. Both Yuzuru and Yuu are transfer students that suddenly find themselves in a progressively darker and darker situation. What it means to be human will be questioned sharply in these series as well as themes like death, resurrection, and the core concept of “with great power comes great responsibility.”

Skip precisely 23 years into the future. A country is now ruled by an organization, called GHQ, that is merciless. They squash any sort of issue before it ever happens and they moved in, taking over in an event called “Lost Christmas”. Struggling against them is the Funeral Parlor, a guerilla-esque ground fighting against the cold military regime. One day, Shuu Ouma accidentally comes into contact with Inori Yuzuriha, a critical member of Funeral Parlor, and now suddenly has the power to draw out powerful weapons that are representations of their spirits and powers. Once a high school student, and now a rebel fighter, Shuu has to accept that what has happened in the past, the GHQ and even Funeral Parlor is not what he thinks it is.

Right off the bat, you have a main character from both shows that suddenly has a “power”. True, Yuu has one, but he thought he was the only one and now he and Shuu both must come to terms with the fact that others like them exist. Thrillers to the core, both of these also take place in high schools so it gives a supernatural high school effect to both show. Also, you have the themes of sharply questioning what exactly is truth, and what is hidden. Finally, what both of these main characters WANT to know is another issue that they face.

Madoka and Sayaka are middle school students and friends. One day though, that changes when a cute cat-like creature named Kyuubey, asks them if they want to become magical girls. It even sweetens the deal and says that they will get one wish granted because it’s a magical creature who can do such. Giving in to impulse, they sign up. They even get to meet another magical girl, rather quickly, named Mami. Mami tries to talk them out of it, but it’s too late and they go with her on a mission. They have to fight a witch? It doesn’t look like a witch and then suddenly, things get very dark fast. Madoka Magica will drive you crazy and keep you on the edge of your seat.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica also, much like Charlotte, starts out cute and engaging and then suddenly takes some sharp turns into places that you don’t ever want to go but are forced to anyway. Death, Time Travel, and Magic are only a few of the core themes that are accepted. Madoka and Yuu quickly learn that what they signed up for was not what they were sold on and there is no turning back. Push comes to shove and ten dark turns later, you have two fantastic shows that are not as they appear. Humanity and the choices that you make can lead to difficult situations, is another massive theme between Charlotte and Madoka Magica.

Steins;Gate opens with the quirky, self-proclaimed mad scientist Rintarou Okabe and his team Mayuri and Itaru, while they create the greatest thing known to man! They are currently transforming bananas in a microwave to green goop. Well…. It’s a start. Suddenly one day, there is a breakthrough and they realize that they are able to send emails via the “Phone Microwave” to the past. Suddenly, Rintarou holds the key to time. He can go back and prevent countless deaths, including that of a girl close to him. Is he now God?

Let’s start with time travel. It does not happen right from the start with Charlotte, but it builds itself up for some critical moments in the series. Steins;Gate is centered around those critical moments of time travel. Both Yuu and Rintarou want to save those close to them and have to figure out the best way to do so. Both start out as a seemingly simple and light anime, but get very dark, very fast. Yet again, you have two main characters with an unfathomable power fall into their laps and suddenly they must question, “What does it mean to be human and what is death?W

The Holy Empire of Britannia is calling the shots and now rules Japan in this dystopian future. Stripped of its name, Japan is now Area 11, and a disavowed prince, Lelouch, resides here. Furious about what has happened to him in the past, he vows revenge in his heart. One day, a mysterious girl named C.C. appears to him and gives him the power of “Geass”. This newfound power allows Lelouch to place anyone who makes eye contact with him under his complete power. Thirsty for revenge, Lelouch sets out on a path of ruin behind the masked moniker of “Zero” to restore himself and serve his sense of justice.

Yuu and Lelouch are both facing a massive problem that they must overcome in these stories. Interestingly enough, both powers come from their eyes and eye contact. These powers are always used to subjugate others against their will while Yuu or Lelouch get to play God. Suddenly the both find themselves in power and using it for their own desires. Humanity as well is questioned in Code Geass much like how it is in Charlotte.

Satoru Fujinuma is a loser. He can barely hold down a part time job, his manga is not taking off, and he is getting nowhere in life. He has this quirk that he calls “revival”, that allows him to go back in time a few minutes to before some sort of accident or tragedy occurs. When he is accused by the police of murdering the only person he is close to in his life, something fires off and he is sent back, not to before the murder but to 1988, where a classmate in Hokkaido was murdered. Satoru now has to piece together the facts and find out exactly what happened to the girl Kayo Hinazuki, but also the circumstances around her disappearance. All while being trapped in a 12 year old’s body.

Don’t be fooled by the cute premise of Boku Dake ga Inai Machi and Charlotte; they will start out cute and then turn into anxiety fuel as you go further and further along. Time travel is yet again shared by these two shows while both main characters desperately try to save a girl that they were close to. Both characters go through, at some point in their lives, a horrible tragedy and through the power of time, try to undo that horror. Playing God yet again with time, their lives, and others lives, humanity and life are scoffed at by the creators. Why you ask? Because you simply need to go back in time to right the wrong that happened.