Charlotte - Episode 13 "Memories to Come"

I think this is the best way to put what made the show weird. I liked it, I really did, and I hope that people will or will come to appreciate this as a good story- Because I think it is. It’s very nice. With all of its good pieces, there are other parts that are hopelessly underdeveloped. I have more thoughts as to what I think happened here but I’ll save them for another time.

While this may rank quite low (possibly the bottom) of my views of Key works, that doesn’t by any means mean it’s ‘bad’ to me, it’d be bad in relative terms. I think this is still a good anime but… Predisposition toward where it’s coming from, that isn’t by any means unwarranted, is an inevitable thing that will almost assuredly be its grave for eternity.

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I don’t think the execution was that weak throughout the series though, in that regard this episode might be the worst knowing it was the ending (episode 3&4 can pass since they’re early ones, it’s not quite as crucial to pull it all off at that point in time). And yeah, too many parts were underdeveloped… way too many. In the end so many questions were left in the air (Nao’s brother? anyone?).

Maybe it’s just me, but its shortness made it a really dense series, and I absolutely didn’t mind that for the most part - except for the fact that quite a few elements were left behind in the process. But as for what it did tell and the way it told it… I just didn’t find it any bad, except in that last episode of course.

I just hope Maeda gives up on the idea of a 13-episode animation… pretty sure at this rate he’ll never manage.

And yeah, of course Charlotte is going to rank low among any Key fan - and I have to say it’s not pleasing, because “worst” or “2nd worst” sounds bad, even though it actually isn’t. But relatively to other Key works, then it’s sure to be low, even for me, and I can say that all in all I loved it. (That’s what’s so hard about being a Key fan - you have to put even great stuff at the bottom of your list!).

For all its flaws, Charlotte will forever remain underrated, for reasons I can only understand, as upsetting as I find it. I hope it gets more love one day though, because it definitely deserves it.

“lel, this guys ability portfolio is literally Michael Jackson’s wikipedia page with his name replaced with “AAAAAAAAAAA””

Good job PA works

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I think showing exactly that was the point of this scene. Because the power of courage is the one ability that was saved for last. It was the ability which made the job done. That this ability is the one Yuu plundered last shows that it was not necessary to plunder it before. He didn’t need it.

He didn’t need it because he already had the courage to complete this task. The anime has spent 12 episodes for Yuu to develop this courage. Showing this ability as the last one he plunders makes a point out of him not having needed it.

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I agree in that he didn’t need it, but the existence of such a power, as I said, spits in the face of those who have worked hard for that courage.

The series, as a whole, didn’t need that ability, and I cannot for the love of me figure out the point of stressing out the fact that “Courage is the last ability” for anything other than to make things cheesy.

Pepe that doesn’t make any sense. The courage power isn’t in any way taking away from anyone else with genuine courage. It’s word-for-wording a major aspect of the shows message.

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It doesn’t because of a simple reason: These powers are a disease. The series makes a point out of that being the case. That those abilities make the world worse not better. That’s why Yuu has to plunder them in the first place. People don’t and should not need those powers. They should not have this artificial courage. That’s what the anime, that’s what this scene tells us.

Yuu even said to her: “You have far enough courage on your own.” And she has, even after he plundered her ability she still protects him for a few seconds, with fear in her eyes.

This scene doesn’t demean courage, it’s the complete opposite. It shows that the courage developed by ourselves is of far more worth than a superpower which gives it.

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I dunno about that, sure he had the courage to finish it, but dude got BROKE.
Maybe with an infinite amount of courage he could have kept his shit together.

Or do as he did and stupidly walk away from an armed person and almost get himself killed.

The idea is that not only is courage part of the disease because it makes us weaker or is fake- It should be genuine- but it also makes people do really stupid shit.

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Eh, he already broke by then, didn’t seem to register that normals were a thing at that point.

It doesn’t take away from any of the characters, that’s true; heck it really doesn’t affect the story in any way whatsoever. But deciding to use that as an ability cheapens the value of courage: I see courage as something people should gain on their own, and the fact that it is one of the multiple abilities makes it something that can be shrugged off as something that might help with a little bit of magic. I felt demeaned, as a viewer, to say the least.

We can agree in that courage developed by ourselves has more worth than the ability itself; the problem is, the existence of this ability cheapens courage as a whole. It relegates a beautifully human concept into a disease. The mere possibility of having courage become something on a level of being obtainable without taking the necessary steps for it demeans its value and the people who have worked hard for it.

Which is why I am ticked off at the very existence of this power. It doesn’t matter what kind of character obtained it, and what was done with it, but it’s whole existence simply insults me.

At the very least, the character they used to show this power was somebody who could stand up to true courage after losing it. I would agree that that characterization is very good; just that the series would have fared better for me on a personal level without the existence of that power.

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He would have got broke anyway. The main probem lwhich destroyed his psyche was direct damage to the brain because he had thousands and thousands of abilities. Being afraid of the task was also a problem for sure, but it was not what broke his mind. His brain simply couldn’t keep up.

It exists to empower true courage, it’s literally speaking to everything you’re saying about the human trait. From my perspective you should love it, I’m so confused lmao. The ability is labeled as a disease just like how being really charismatic doesn’t make someone a good person as someone mindless may view it, because that person could easily be full of shit.

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I guess I get your point, but isn’t it the process that gets you to your courage what actually makes it worth something? That if you only have the courage, but not the experience that was necessary to achieve it, all that it will do is make you run into situations which will basically kill you, like this girl?

This girl might have had courage as her superpower, but isn’t it a fact that without the hard work all she had was something that kills her?

I think it’s because, on a personal level, it’s something that I already hold as a fact. I don’t need a story to come in and tell that to my face. Having it as an ability only solidifies its portrayal of this fake courage for the sake of reiterating that fact. That would be an explanation as to why I hate it, despite you thinking that I should love it.

I only used the word “disease” as a response to @Velunari’s portrayal of it. My personal wording would be “instantly-obtained ability” to highlight what I am trying to say.

That’s not exactly how I view courage, though… If she did die, it wouldn’t be her courage that killed her; even genuine courage would have put her in the same situation. It takes courage to put your life on the line for others, and while commendable, going in there without a plan for failure speaks not of one’s own courage, but of their lack of ability in foreseeing situations.

I can’t help but think of how this episode would have been better if paced out to an entire series. It was very dense with good scenes that would have been better if they could have been expanded on.

The first few episodes could have expanded on Yuu tearing apart that first syndicate, gaining the power to find other power users, and could have dealt with just how monumental the task was. Because Yuu just kept getting more and more powerful, the initial country would have been the hardest, and you could have devoted quite a few episodes to that. Really, this is the section that you could stretch out as long as you want, developing the characters in the region, the plot of the area and everything else. Unlike later arcs, Yuu doesn’t yet have they power to blaze through this country, so he actually has to deal with the region’s risks (2-6 episodes)

Getting the ability to find carriers and incubate them was also pretty monumental, because it allowed him to deal with the future as well. You could have easily devoted an episode to that scene. (1 episode)

The healing ability definitely left Yuu with two big moral quandaries. Perhaps he could see the girl healing the villagers, and maybe she would have some injury to herself that she didn’t heal, leading Yuu to believe that it couldn’t apply to yourself. He could fight with the morality of stealing the ability from her, and eventually decide that he had to. After that, he could realize that she just chose not to use the ability on herself (that would be a cool revelation) and then he suddenly has to deal with the possibility of healing his eye. (1 episode)

The buildup of voices in his head is something that could be foreshadowed for a while, and those scenes with collapse and him losing control in his sleep could really push the show in a new direction for the second half. By this point, he’d already be so powerful that the task would seem doable, but now the psychological aspect is catching up to him. That arc could develop towards the Arizona scene, where Yuu still can’t remember himself fully, but still finds resolve because of those memories buried deep within. (3 episodes)

Here we would see Yuu at the height of his power and resolve. He has all of these abilities, and can only remember his mission, not even himself. We could have that same short montage of Yuu teleporting around, saving the ability users from the scientists, etc. This is where we throw in the last wrench of his plans: his abilities are starting to go away. Now he’s been on the journey for over a year, and his powers are fading. Moreover, his plunder ability is showing a weakness, the more powers he takes the shorter he keeps them. Now he’s rapidly powering down, and his mission is not yet complete. Soon he reaches the last country, and fights against time to incubate the remaining carriers. With those taken care of, we see him lose the powers he gained at the beginning of the journey. He has to track down the last handful without the aid of his map, and we see him relying on the abilities of the student council to get the job done. We end with that scene of the random guy; Yuu still has one more power user to find, only plunder left to use, and his end is at hand. The girl comes to save Yuu, and he completes his mission. He’s completely lost recognition of the world and considers his journey to be at an end. But as he gets shot by the assassin, he faintly remembers a promise he made, a promise to come back home…Cue epilogue.(2 episodes)

That would have been a pretty intense and full series, but instead we got it all in 24 minutes. I can’t say I’m surprised, but I do feel like it’s a bit of a missed opportunity. The ending we got was satisfying, but I can’t help wondering at what might have been. It would have been a lot like (REWRITE SPOILER)the Terra arc in rewrite. A long solitary journey.

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Uhhgg, I honestly dont even know what to seriously think of this mess, besides it being a mess. Lots of people criticize Angel Beats for being chaotic, but Charlotte was way worse imo. I mean, you can claim whatever you what about the first 12 episodes all being development leading up to episode 13, but the fact is story-wise its all over the place, and never has a goal.

I’ve seen lots of people, even those who were liking Charlotte the whole way, say that they think episode 13 was kinda a let down, wasnt that great of a way to end the series. But to me 13 was just like the rest of the series: There are certain parts where it actually gets really good, and it had the potential to be that good the entire time, but it never acts on that and always seems to fizzle out. So in some way, I am satisfied with 13.

A week ago I would have told you that I probably didnt appreciate Charlotte as much as I could have because of my huge expectations going into it. But 13 changed my mind on that. I feel like Charlotte was gonna be this thing that it turned out to be, not matter what I expected.

I unfortunately think this episode did require some great suspension of disbelief, although I think it was handled pretty well, to the where I was able to just forget about what I pointed out in the 12 discussion, how this in no way should have been possible, and I feel like they neglected many sources that could have stopped Yuu in favor of just powering through this episode so we could get to the end. Despite that I was still able to get into this episode, so like I said, it was done well.

I just have to agree with @Takafumi here and say that if this episode had been the whole series, with the rest of the show woven into it to slowly understand the backstory and development, that would have been freaking amazing. But its not that, and I wont judge it for not being that.

And finally, let me end with the reminder that despite how much I have complained about this show, even in this very post, I do not think Charlotte was a bad show. I’ll save all my major, overall thoughts for a discussion on the whole series, but I will at least say that I definitely think Charlotte was worth my time.

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Man, everyone’s being all analytical and shit, meanwhile I just have one thing on my mind. When Yuu and Tomori are falling in the OP, at that time Yuu mouths something. But, what is it? I’ve been thinking for the last hour or so that 帰る(read as KaeRu) makes the most sense. It’d obviously be a reference to Yuu’s promise to come back home. The reason I’m skeptical is because it doesn’t really look like he’s mouthing a U-sound, but it’s not like I’m a lipreader or anything.
BTW, I know I’m weird for putting this much thought into this.

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The last episode was a worthy climax for the series, though may not have been a worthy finale. Or should I rather say it was a worthy finale, but not the finale we wanted? Here’s the thing: I personally never managed to predict what would happen in the next episode. (And I’m really talking about “next episode” stuff, not stuff like “Shun is Nao’s benefactor” or “Ayumi will die”. A lot of that stuff was easily predicted by the community). It always came as a surprise. So I expected the finale to be the biggest surprise of them all - only to be surprised by the lack or surprises. Everything happened more or less the way Nao explained it in the previous episode. Yuu will have to travel the world stealing all powers (the only thing I partially did manage to predict), he’ll have trouble communicating because he sucks at English, he’ll be overwhelmed by the power he holds and go insane, he’ll become a monster and in best case, he’ll return home after finishing the task.
Considering the shift in tone at episode 6, I really expected Yuu to die in the end. Well, losing your memories and not recognizing your loved ones comes pretty close to death, but it doesn’t feel nearly as tragic - and there’s still some hope for recovery.
Coming back to the “finale we wanted” thing: In that regard, this episode was like pretty much like the rest of Charlotte: It was different from what we had expected. But putting those expectations aside, I think it was a solid and impactful finale. I definitely enjoyed watching it.
I may be adressing the expectations issue at a later point in time.

This episode definitely had a ton of really cool moments.
Yuu stealing the power to heal from a good-natured person - cool.
Yuu deciding not to time leap and save Kumagami - cool.
Yuu losing it and becoming accelerator - cool.
Courage girl trying to protect Yuu even after having her courage plundered - cool.
Hospital scene, Nao’s reaction as Yuu doesn’t recognize her anymore - cool.
Just to name a few examples.

Concerning the next part, I’ll hugely agree with @Velunari:

All of this series was only ever about Yuu.
This episode wasn’t everyone’s battle. It was Yuu vs. World. We have not been shown how Shun holds off foreign attackers as he defends the power users in japan. That’s because it didn’t matter. That wasn’t Yuu’s battle. Everything that ever happened in this story was for Yuu’s sake. Ayumi died, Nao followed Yuu and kept watching over him, which kinda brought them a bit closer together, Yuu got Nao’s brother healed, but then he undid all these things via time travel. And as it turns out, that was completely fine. All that mattered were the effects these events have had on Yuu - their contribution to his character development.
Why did Shun have Time Leap? So that he could create his organization and tell Yuu “leave japan to me”. That way, Yuu had a safe home to return to.
Why did Kumagami die? So that Yuu would realize the gravity of the situation.
Why did Joujirou exist? To be Yuu’s friend and to help Yuu settle in in his new school and the student council.
Why did Yusa and Misa exist? To be his friends and so that Yuu would fully understand what taking away someone’s power means.
Nao’s case is pretty obvious, too. After all, it’s her last present that enabled Yuu to keep a sliver of sanity and press on with his nearly impossible task. She always had his back and she kept him from straying from the right path. She was his reason to come back home.
All these things happened in order to prepare Yuu for this fight. He didn’t lack power or combat-related skills. Plunder is pretty op and as we’ve seen in episode 7, he’s pretty good at winning fights. What he lacked was the inner strength, courage, something worth fighting for, etc. All of these things have been given to him over the course of the previous 12 episodes.

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Totally agree. Really wish this could have been what the rest of the show was like, instead of maybe just one cool moment per episode if any.

[quote=“Naoki_Saten, post:59, topic:2015”]
All these things happened in order to prepare Yuu for this fight.
[/quote]I really wish we could have seen so much more of these relationships though, because thats something Key has always done amazingly well. Instead I feel like too many of these were almost pushed to the side in favor of continuosly moving on to the next chapter of the plot.

Not enough connection between the characters, not enough connections between the plot, I feel like thats really what hurt this show for me.

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