A major flaw noted by critics, however, was the length of the anime, with its short run leaving many of the characters' back-stories unexplored.

is set in the environment of a high school in the afterlife, a type of limbo for people who have experienced trauma or hardships in life and must overcome them before passing on and being reincarnated.

He meets Yuri Nakamura, a girl who invites him to join the Afterlife Battlefront (死んだ世界戦線, Shinda Sekai Sensen), or SSS, an organization she founded and leads which rebels against an unseen God for their unfair circumstances in life.

Other than the SSS members, the afterlife is populated by fabricated students and teachers, whom Yuri refers to as "non-player characters" (NPCs).

After the SSS manages to demote Angel from her position, Otonashi partially regains his memories with the aid of deputy president Ayato Naoi's hypnosis.

Yuri destroys the source of the shadows, which were created by computers programmed to activate when love was detected in the afterlife to prevent it from becoming a paradise.

Her affection for the members of the SSS allow her to finally overcome her regret, and by this time, the only other ones who have not passed on are Otonashi, Kanade, Hinata and Naoi.

The five remaining students hold a graduation ceremony before Naoi, Yuri and Hinata pass on leaving only Otonashi and Kanade.

In an alternate epilogue, Otonashi becomes the high school's student council president and helps lost souls depart from the afterlife while waiting to see Kanade again.

The original creators of Angel Beats!, Jun Maeda and Na-Ga of Key, were interviewed in the July 2009 issue of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Magazine.

Maeda cited that Angel's image had changed considerably over the development process and that originally she was similar to Shiki Ryōgi from Kara no Kyōkai.

Works' studio in Toyama Prefecture to meet with the production staff in the hope that one day Aniplex could collaborate with them on a project together.

[36] Maeda focused on making jokes an important part of Angel Beats!, leading Toba to seek out Seiji Kishi to be the director, because of his experience in directing and his pulling power influence on the staff of P.A.

Kishi commented how, far from just being a comedy, the series contains many different aspects, including flashy action scenes, live musical performances, and drama.

Kishi stated that normally he would be hard pressed to cover this range of aspects, but was motivated by Maeda's uncompromising attitude in regards to the script.

character designer and chief animator Katsuzō Hirata during the production of Gurren Lagann (2007) with his skill as an artist and ability to finish work quickly, but thoroughly.

[48][49] Three drama CDs, written by Maeda and performed by the anime's cast, were released with the first, fourth and sixth limited edition BD/DVD volumes.

[48][50][51][52] The seventh BD/DVD volume featured an original video animation (OVA) episode, as well as a bonus short which serves as another epilogue to the series.

[20] The in-story band Girls Dead Monster is made up of the real-life singers Marina as Masami Iwasawa and LiSA as Yui.

: Thousand Bravers" was held on August 1, 2010, at Studio Coast in Shingiba, Koto, Tokyo featuring singers Lia, Tada, Marina, LiSA and Karuta, as well as several voice actors from the anime.

[67] A BD/DVD video album box set titled Girls Dead Monster starring LiSA Tour 2010 Final: Keep The Angel Beats!

[71][72] A series of seven illustrated short stories written by Jun Maeda and drawn by GotoP titled Angel Beats!

A special extra chapter focusing on Girls Dead Monster was published in the sixth volume of Dengeki G's Festival!

The 4-koma: Our Battlefront March Song), was serialized between the December 2009 and October 2013 issues of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Magazine.

[88][89] Heaven's Door was available in English on Kadokawa Corporation's ComicWalker website and app,[90][91] and was licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment,[92] but only the first volume was released.

Heaven's Door released in December 2016, Maeda revealed that subsequent volumes had been cancelled, with the content that had been planned for future games used as a basis for the manga Angel Beats!

[123] A common theme in supernatural anime, according to Martin, are souls discontent with their former lives, but the concept of Angel Beats!

In the series, "maintaining distinctiveness is essential for survival as an individual," which Martin calls a "sly condemnation of the rigorous conformity impressed upon students by Japanese schooling."

[123][124] Stig Høgset at THEM Anime Reviews, however, panned the series in part because it "overloads the story with too many elements in an attempt to please as many people as possible."

/ Brave Song" was awarded a Gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) in May 2010 for shipping over 100,000 copies.