So that was Charlotte - the story of a boy who shouldered the responsibility of an entire world.
There are - needless to say - a lot of series in which teenagers save the world, but most of the characters are just thrown into it. They fight because they have no other choice.
But Charlotte in this regard is different. Yuu decides to go and capture everyones ability despite the fact that nobody would blame him if he didn’t. And yet he does. This I think is the defining point of the series.
There are 12 episodes which show what is necessary to make a selfish teenager leave home and save the world. In a lot of stories this process is incredibly easy, often as short as a single episode or a single chapter of a book. But in Charlotte this was executed perfectly. From the fun, light-hearted first episodes Yuu spent with the Student Council, over the tragic loss of his sister and being saved from his own self after that it all builds up to that. And then when he is suddenly shouldered with responsibility he never wanted by a completely random attack he fails. After that his friends take care of him (I think these scenes were extremely important) and at that point he makes the decision only a lunatic or an extremely selfless person would make. But Yuu is,or rather was neither of these and yet it feels completely natural.
The superpower to gain courage - the one he plundered at the very end - was this one superpower Yuu didn’t need. Because this one special power he didn’t gain by plundering, but by experience.
Unlike all those stories which simply tell how the world is saved Charlotte is one which believably shows what is necessary to make the decision to do so.
