Adding in more discussion here, because why not! Pretty sure starting next month, we’ll be discussing it even more 
Anyways, what I want to discuss is related to this topic I made some time ago: Individual routes having bearing on main story: significant or not?
In other words, do you think that the Angel Beats VN is going to have the character routes give bearing to the main story? Will the success of the true route depend on the success of the character routes? Or will they just be all side routes showing an alternate ending?
While thinking about this, I also thought about the fact that, well, the anime exists. Under the assumption that they won’t invalidate everything that happened in the anime (which they could!), how will they put it in? Will the anime story be just one route (likely Kanade route)?
Or will all routes be part of the anime timeline
BEGIN SECTION ASSUMING THAT ROUTES HAPPEN IN THE ORDER OF THE ANIME TIMELINE
For example, Iwasawa’s route could be something that you choose to go into, and get more information about, allowing you to witness her disappearance in episode 3. After her ending, you will be booted back into common, to continue and go into, possibly Yui’s route (episode 10) and maybe Matsushita’s route occurs before he goes training in the mountains, and so on
If that is the case, then one route does not necessarily mean character disappearance after the end of the route. For one, the entirety of GDM disappears at the same time, which would mean the events that happen in Sekine/Irie/Hisako route must happen before that instant. Then the rest of the SSS members, who disappear in the 3-day period after the final battle. Unless the bulk of the routes happen in this 3-day period, then the routes must happen before that, which, again, would not necessarily mean that route end = character disappearance.
END SECTION
That was just a thought, though, which is unlikely to happen.
What is more likely is that the anime is just one route, whereas the other routes follow a different timeline.
If that’s the case, then we will see the disappearance of characters outside their own routes. So only the route consistent with the anime would have to show the disappearances as they occurred in the anime.
In that case, I’m willing to scrap the idea of everyone disappearing after the final battle and have them disappear in a different way in the individual routes. But then we are brought again to my main point: will these alternate timelines be brought together somehow for the true route?
Like I said, these are all assuming that they won’t invalidate the anime just because they are making a superior VN for the series. AB is a mixed media project, after all, and each form of media contributes to the story as a whole; none of these are an “adaptation” or “reinvention” of the other.
