Charlotte starts off with an interesting premise then gets confusing and ends the anime in an inconceivable plot hole. It steals heavily from the far superior Puella Magi Madoka Magica in terms of plot in the second half. Without further ado lets begin!
Plot: Yuu is a normal teenager with a twist, he's able to take command of someone's mind for a few seconds. He uses this power to cheat in school exams and try to look up girl's skirts (basically things any teenager would do if they had his power). His life gets turned upside down when he runs across a girl name Nao who blackmails him and his sister into joining a school for people with supernatural abilities. Together with Teen Idol, Yusa and comic relief Jojiro, they form an after school club to try and find other supernatural users abusing their powers in the city.
Opinion: The premise sounds interesting enough until you realize their superpowers are not very interesting. And what starts off as a lighthearted slice of life fantasy anime turns into something much more complicated and darker later on. I personally wasn't a huge fan of the storyline all the way through and found it hard to finish the anime. 2/5 Soul
Setting: The anime is set in modern day Japan and while the animation looks beautiful, a lot of the time the anime plays out in the dull looking high school. Not that an anime mostly set in a high school is bad it's just I would've liked to see the world they live in in more detail. There are scenes in the final episode that go far and beyond the high school. 3/5 Soul
Characters: Many consider the characters in Charlotte to be the weakest link in the show and I have to agree. I'll list them one by one and give my general thought on each.
Yuu: While I found certain problems with the character's writing, I do appreciate the writer trying to show character development with him. He starts as a generally unlikeable character and tries to go through a transformation towards the end.
Nao: The main heroine and the biggest flaw of the series. A weird mix between cheeky and a tsundere, outside of the first few episodes she contributes nothing. Her power is to be able to turn invisible to a single person and she's bullied for it because...(?)
Yusa: Yusa is a teen Idol and unfortunately her personality doesn't stray too far from what you would expect. Instead character growth is given to her sister who resides in her. I'll explain, she has the ability to play host for the dead, but the dead has to be her sister. When her sister takes over, she has the ability to wield fire. She along with the next character contributes nothing to the story outside of comic relief and a little character drama.
Jojiro: Contributes absolutely nothing to the show outside of a few failed jokes.
Character wise this anime lacks a lot. You don't care what happens to these characters at all because while there is a semblance of character development, they're not interesting characters to begin with. 1/5 Soul
Overall: It's hard to talk about why I disliked this series as a whole without talking about (and spoiling) the second half of the anime. I decided I would not spoil animes that came out recently (2015,1016) so I just need you to take my word for it, the second half of this anime (especially the final episode) kinda sucked. That does not mean this anime is without merits, the music and the animation is beautiful. 2/5 Soul
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