Friday, August 26, 2016

FIF#18-Charlotte


Yuu Otasaka had it all.  He was the top student in school, had the key to every ladies heart, lead a pretty fun life.  Oh and he was able to do this because he has the power to possess anyones body for about five seconds.  So yeah, he cheated but what else are you going to do with an unexplained power like that?  Turns out, Yuu isn’t alone and when a pair of students with powers come looking for him, his worlds comes crashing down.  Now Yuu is enrolled in a new school, along with his younger sister, and he’s been tossed into the student council.  The culprit behind this upheaval, Nao, a girl who can vanish in front of one person and loves her camcorder.  She wont say why Yuu is here with her and her accomplice, the terrible teleporter Jojiro.  But this new school is filled with kids with powers…and Nao is determined to protect them for whatever, or whoever, wants to harness their abilities for their own purposes.  Welcome to the next level of high school scifi.

With a title as random as Charlotte, it’s kind of easy for me to glance over it (it’s a title as strange as Bleach).  However, while I was at Otakon, my friends who had seen the Japanese Dub were hyping it up quite a bit.  So I decided to check out the world premiere of the English Dub that weekend.  And…yeah I was pretty entertained in all honesty.  Charlotte’s smartly written, goofy but sentimental and a gem that might go unnoticed by many unless you’re in the know.

What made a lot of these first two episodes work for me was Yuu.  This kid is basically the official, fan fiction offspring of Lelouch vi Britannia from Code Geass and Light Yagami from Death Note.  He’s intelligent, if a bit of a cheater, and is a master manipulator.  He’s also got his powers which make him equal parts jerk and genius.  I also like that his powers have drawbacks, if he takes over a body, his own slumps over unconscious, leaving him in plenty of awkward positions.  Actually, for all the lack of explanation as to where these powers come from (though it’s definitely got something to do with a comet we see in the second episode) the drawbacks are pretty hilarious.  I love how Jojiro can control his stopping when he teleports so he destroys roads and cafeterias when he crashes.  Sure he wears body armor but that cant save injuries to his head…which Yuu notes in hilarious fashion.

I was a little caught off guard by how light hearted the first episode was compared to the second.  Episode Two went into Nao’s backstory and things got almost uncomfortably grim.  It wasn’t until later I realized that the studio behind this new tale is also the studio behind the hit Anime, Angel Beats.  That show also had a funny first episode before blindsiding audiences with a heavy drama filled second episode.  It doesn’t detract from anything really, having powers like these kids have is bound to come with some emotional baggage of the epic kind.  But there is a nice balance to it, at least for now, I bet it gets more dramatic as the series goes on.  Thankfully for all the heavy handed beats, Nao and Yuu’s team ups are pretty fun.  Nao is the offspring of L from Death Note and Haruhi Suzumiya…from haruhi Suzumiya, to me.  She’s got a great detective mind but also has a bit of an all controlling God complex about her, it clashes pretty well with Yuu’s self centerness.  They’re a good pair.

I’ll be looking to continue this one for sure down the line.  The mystery of the comet, or whatever cosmic event that caused everyone to develop powers, seems very reminiscent of the first season of Heroes (you know the good one with the eclipse and all that).  And im also curious just what might be coming after Yuu, Nao and their school…almost sort of X-Men esque.  If that’s the case then, “I feel a great swell of pity for the poor soul who comes to that school…looking for trouble.”  My friends were right to suggest this one to me.  Charlotte left a great first impression and I cant wait for more.

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