Angel Beats! & Charlotte news from Visualstyle and Dengeki G's magazines

Key News Blog Discussion
#1

Yet more details about the Angel Beats! visual novel have surfaced, this time along with some Charlotte information as well. The news comes from the Visualstyle magazine provided to Comiket 87 attendees visiting the VisualArt's booth. As with last time, our source for this information is a secondhand summary of the contents of the VisualStyle provided by two Twitter users: @kyohuuhina and @claflbex. This information was sourced from a summary posted on 2ch (read here if the link doesn't work). Below is our rough translation of this summary. Keep in mind that since this information has passed through so many hands, there's a possibility information decay, so please take all of this with a grain of salt. We've done our best to ensure that the information we're reporting is accurate, but if it comes to light that we've made a mistake, we'll do our best to correct any misinformation. Please consider following our Twitter for update notifications.

Angel Beats!:

  • The length of 1st beat's common route is comparable to the length of CLANNAD's common route.
  • The battles with the shadows were originally planned to follow an RPG combat format, but this was cut in favour of text-based battles with lots of choices for the player to make to influence the outcome. These battle scenes contribute to a large portion of the game's text.
  • Completing a character's route doesn't necessarily mean that they will disappear. But at the very least, by the end of the 6th game they'll have all disappeared eventually.
  • After finishing a route, you are looped back to the beginning.
  • If a character does disappear, then they will remain absent from the game in future loops. (Credit to @relentlessflame for figuring this one out)
  • Voice recording for the game commenced at the start of the new year.
  • Currently, 2 new songs have been composed.
  • Regarding 2nd beat and onwards, Jun Maeda will at least be writing Yuri and Sekine's routes.

Charlotte:

  • There will be 4 main characters. However, the amount of side-characters to be introduced will number more than that of Angel Beats!.
  • There are no plans for a game adaptation right now.
  • There are 2 GirlDeMo-like bands. They will both have singles/albums released. One group has Maeda doing both lyrics and composition, while the other group has Maeda doing lyrics and another person doing composition.

Along with this, some more information has come to our attention (pastebin). This time, it's an interview with Jun Maeda in Dengeki G's about Charlotte. I've provided a quick and dirty summary of the information below, but if anyone is able to provide a more accurate and complete translation, please contact me and I'll update this post.

  • Delighted to be working together again, Maeda and P.A. Works acknowledge the mistakes they made when producing Angel Beats!, and aim to do with Charlotte what they could not with Angel Beats!.
  • The plan was to produce a very Key-like story.
  • Angel Beats! was never able to take the time to develop individual characters' stories, always jumping from one to another at a rapid pace, and many cuts had to be made to fit the story within 13 episodes. This time, the story will only focus on 4 main characters, two of which are our male protagonist Yuu Otosaka, and our heroine Nao Tomori.
  • The four main characters are members of the student council, and one of them runs a band.
  • Jun Maeda has worked on the OP, ED, and insert songs for the series.
  • Singers have been chosen for the songs, and recording for the compositions has begun.
  • Since the show features two bands, the number of songs featured in the series is quite large. Jun Maeda is incorporating some of the songs he wrote in his youth into the series, and composition is coming along well.
  • The series features a singer who doubles as the character's voice actor.
  • An early proposed title was 'AA', but they later decided on 'Charlotte'.
  • As opposed to Angel Beats! which had a very flashy and fast-paced beginning, Charlotte will start off slow and ease into the plot gradually. They're confident you'll be able to feel more from the story this way.
  • Yuu Otosaka: A first-grade transfer student. An idiot who somehow manages to convince others he's a model student by cheating his way through school. A master of his own crafts, but very awkward when it comes to relationships with others.
  • Nao Tomori: The dominant first-grade leader of the student council. She is very smart and capable, but doesn't like when people fail to acknowledge her efforts. The reason why she carries a camcorder around will be explained in the series.

Once again, please take all of this info with a massive grain of salt, especially the latter Charlotte info which I translated all on my own. If you have a good grasp on the Japanese language and see error in my translation, please let me know so I can correct any mistakes and ensure that this post is providing the correct information.

http://pastebin.com/bpbuAnGm
http://hello.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/anime2/1418875470/524
http://hayabusa6.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/anime3/1419248361/113

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at http://kazamatsuri.org/angel-beats-charlotte-news-from-visualstyle-and-dengeki-gs-magazines/
3 Likes
Charlotte - Pre-Release Discussion & Speculation
Angel Beats! - Visual Novel Details & Ongoing Speculation
#2

Guess this would be a better place to post it. (If there is an issue, I’ll take it down right away)
#3

NICE DESU NE.

Although interesting, this means Sekine and her girlfriend are separate.

Fucking stupid@bad writing.co.jp

AA lmao

4 Likes
#4

Regarding the disappearance of characters in the Angel Beats games, I think what it’s saying in the three points is this:

  • Not all the routes will necessarily result in the character disappearing (like the Iwasawa route in particular, apparently), but eventually all will disappear
  • Once you complete a route, you’ll loop back to the beginning
  • If you a clear a route where someone disappears, they won’t appear in the next loop

So it’s less that you can’t clear the route again, but more that in the next route the cleared characters won’t be part of it. Sort of more like “New Game+” I suppose. Even though it loops, it’s a continuation, and each time you restart it’ll be a bit different because of the characters who are not there any longer. By the sixth game, the loop start may be barely recognizable, I suppose, as most of the other characters will be gone. This is a fairly interesting gimmick, but would probably be overwhelming to write if not doing it in chapters like this.

#5

Wait, I’m still confused, isn’t that contradictory? It says they won’t necessarily disappear, but then it’s saying how they do disappear.

#6

Yeah, it basically suggests that they won’t all necessarily disappear during their routes, but if they do disappear in their routes, they’ll be out of the game for all future loops. But, if they didn’t disappear in their route, they will disappear in another way/for another reason at some point in the future.

In other words, it sounds like you can’t necessarily assume that every route will end with that person disappearing right then and there. Their story may continue in future chapters.

(Edited phrasing to clarify a bit.)

1 Like
#7

Mkay. It’s a bit of a confusing message, but I think I get the picture. I’ll update the post.

#8

“you can no longer pick choices that lead to major scenes focal to that character, but if a scene calls for their presence in general, they will be there”

#9

What are you quoting?

#10

Man, they’re just going ham with giving details and sneak peeks for the VN.

#11

Myself, interpreting what that means.

#12

Yeah the sentences in the angel beats part were kind of confusing. I tried translating them myself, but couldn’t get the gist. Thanks for the clarification @relentlessflame!

The Charlotte news is really great. I think one reason they may be introducing so much characters is for… well, merchandising :stuck_out_tongue: Even if one character isn’t a main character, if the fans find her cute, we can expect merchandise, or, who knows, yet another mobile game hahahaha!

Love to see two bands, and since there are two composers, I am also excited to see a different range of styles for the two bands. secretly hoping for a jazz-style band

So yeah, nice news to start the year, and more hype for what is to come!

1 Like
#13

Woah that is really unique.

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#14

Thank goodness for that. All I can think seeing those letters is ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’.

And I’ve only just managed to memorize all the names of the SSS members too. Having so many characters isn’t necessarily a good thing, but hopefully they’ll manage to make them all memorable in some way.

#15

It made me think of a battery. o_o
I know there was some electricity in the PV but that name is pretty bad ahaha

Charlotte is a really nice name~

1 Like
#16

Keep in mind that “AA” was just short for whatever name they original had for Charlotte and it was inspired from “AB” Angel Beats.

1 Like
#17

So you’re saying the title was going to be two words starting with the letter A?

#18

Yeah,Maeda liked the idea at first but there were some problems with the name later so he dropped it.

#19

So it wasn’t just AA then, but something abbreviated as AA? Hmm.

#20

Pure speculation: If so, then… maybe AA is somehow related to A.B. (Angel Beats)?

Anyway, I still believe there’s a connection. It is just a hunch (that there may be at least some kind of indirect references or crossovers with AB or other series). Ok, I’ll stop daydreaming for now.

post update: (AIR/AB related pure speculation)

I’ve just re-watched a scene where Misuzu ascends to the sky as a bright comet (view from the ground). Official scene. I was wondering, what if the comet in Charlotte… ?
I know it may be too much, but still… I expect some sort of crossover, I read somewhere about it soon in a forthcoming Key creation. Now, daydreaming mode off. Besides the voice acting will be a problem now among other challenges.