History YMMV / AngelBeats

** The {{A|nAesop}}esop of the series seems to be: "Any desires you may have or actions you may take in life are completely useless and you shouldn't have them. Strive instead for nonexistence. All you should want is to be erased, you and your meaningless journey though life." While it might sound like a particularly bad example of {{Glurge}} to Western viewers, it is essentially the main aesop of Buddhist philosophy, a belief rarely enforced in anime media but yet very idiosyncratical of a country in which Buddhism is the second main religion.
** Alternatively, the Aesop could be interpreted as "Even if you're treated cruelly by life, you can still find happiness and bring joy to others, and those feelings won't have been meaningless, for your existence and the life you've lived has value even after you're all dead and gone." Still somewhat {{glurge}}-y, but, well, it's Key.

** In regards to Hinata and Yui. Originally their abuse of each other is fairly equal, albeit Hinata is prone to attacking Yui more than the other way around and for no apparent reason, either. Yui only attacks him out of revenge and even then it doesn't last since he's quick to deal out DisproportionateRetribution on her. It becomes this when we find out that the reason why Yui acts [[GenkiGirl hyper and sort of annoying all the time]] is because [[spoiler:[[TearJerker she was paralyzed in an accident at a young age from a car slamming into her back and was bedridden and cared for by her single mother until she died]]. This revelation made Yui just an unacceptable target]].

** The SSS Battlefront's initials are referred to as the "[[Manga/{{Bleach}} Soul Society]] of [[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya Suzumiya Haruhi]]".

** One popular fan theory fueled on by the alternate ending to the series is that [[spoiler: Otonashi is the programmer of the school. This fits into and addresses the ContinuitySnarl of how he seemingly ends up in Limbo despite dying without regrets, and how he ended up there at a time where Kanade was already there despite him having died ''before'' her, with his heart having been used to prolong her life afterwards.]] Apparently this theory was {{Jossed}}, as Maeda stated that [[spoiler: Otonashi vanishing at the end of the final end credits sequence was meant to signify that he passed on shortly after Kanade had, choosing to make the opposite choice of what the Programmer did.]]

** Other contenders would be [[spoiler:Iwasawa's last concert in Episode 3 that ends in her vanishing from the underworld]], [[spoiler:Yuri in the computer room in Episode 12]], and [[the final scene of the series in Episode 13, where Otonashi learns that his donated heart is inside of Kanade and then has to say a tearful goodbye to her, completely breaking down when she disappears.]]

* SignatureScene: For many people, [[spoiler:the ImagineSpot of what Hinata and Yui's life together could've been]] is this, due to being quite possibly the series most emotionally devastating TearJerker.

* TheScrappy: In the original anime, many fans do not much care for [[InsufferableGenius Takeyama]] due to his much colder and disdainful personality compared to the other Battlefront members, his genius hacking and analytical skills ultimately not serving much purpose after his first appearance, and his single defining character trait being the RunningGag of [[DontCallMePaul wanting to be called "Christ"]], which is beaten into the ground because [[StaticCharacter he simply refuses to accept that no one wants to call him by his code name.]]

* TheScrappy: In the original anime, many fans do not much care for [[InsufferableGenius Takeyama]] due to his much colder and disdainful personality compared to the other Battlefront members, his genius hacking and analytical skills ultimately not serving much purpose after his first appearance, and his single defining character trait being the RunningGag of [[Don'tCallMePaul wanting to be called "Christ"]], which is beaten into the ground because [[StaticCharacter he simply refuses to accept that no one wants to call him by his code name.]]

** Since the anime is only 13 episodes long, there isn't a lot of time to focus on any of the interesting side characters, so they come and go without us knowing anything about their pasts, nor do they get a decent sendoff onscreen. This is [[AuthorsSavingThrow somewhat alleviated by the manga and visual novel adaptations]], which go more in-depth into the characters and where they came from prior to dying and joining the Battlefront.

** The events that transpire between [[spoiler: Kanade leaving her Student Council President position]] and [[spoiler: the Shadows appearing]] feel like they were meant to span more episodes than they actually lasted, and this is due to the series's story having been planned for 26 episodes but the episode number was cut by half, leaving only 13 episodes in which to tell the story.

** In regards to Hinata and Yui. Originally their abuse of each other is fairly equal, albeit Hinata is prone to attacking Yui more than the other way around and for no apparent reason, either. Yui only attacks him out of revenge and even then it doesn't last since he's quick to deal out DisproportionateRetribution on her. It becomes this when we find out that the reason why Yui acts [[GenkiGirl hyper and sort of annoying all the time]] is because [[spoiler:[[TearJerker she was paralyzed in an accident at a young age from a car slamming into her back and was bedridden and cared for by her single mother until she died]]. This revelation made Yui just an {{Unacceptable Target|s}}]].

** In regards to Hinata and Yui. Originally their abuse of each other is [[SlapstickKnowsNoGender fairly equal]] albeit Hinata is prone to attacking Yui more than the other way around and for no apparent reason either. Yui only attacks him out of revenge and even then it doesn't last since he's quick to deal out DisproportionateRetribution on her. It becomes this when we find out that the reason why Yui acts [[GenkiGirl hyper and sort of annoying all the time]] is because [[spoiler:[[TearJerker she was paralyzed in an accident at a young age from a car slamming into her back and was bedridden and cared for by her single mother until she died]]. This revelation made Yui just an {{Unacceptable Target|s}}]].

** In regards to Hinata and Yui. Originally their abuse of each other is [[SlapstickKnowsNoGender fairly equal]] albeit Hinata is prone to attacking Yui more than the other way around and for no apparent reason either. Yui only attacks him out of revenge and even then it doesn't last since he's quick to deal out DisproportionateRetribution on her. It gets to the HarsherInHindsight point when we find out that the reason why Yui acts [[GenkiGirl hyper and sort of annoying all the time]] is because [[spoiler: [[TearJerker she was paralyzed in an accident at a young age from a car slamming into her back and was bedridden and cared for by her single mother until she died]]. This revelation made Yui just an {{Unacceptable Target|s}}]].

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Yui prevents Hinata from winning his team's baseball game in episode 4, just as Otonashi realized that [[spoiler:if Hinata were to make the catch that's exactly the same as the one he failed to make in life, he'd move on]]. Six episodes later, back on the baseball field no less, [[spoiler:Hinata helps her move on by promising to marry her in her next life even if she's paralyzed in that life too, meaning if it weren't for him ''she'd be stuck in Purgatory for a long time!'']]

** Angel is the cutest [[VideoGame/StarCraft Protoss Zealot]] you'll ever lay eyes on. And turned UpToEleven in [[spoiler: in the finale where she smiles, sings a song about mapo doufu, and [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Angel_Beats_-_13_-_Large_15_961.jpg does this]]]]. And with the revelation of her ''Harmonics'' skill, there's a possibility that she can become [[Franchise/TheMatrix Agent Smith]]. [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Zealot Smith]], even.

** The same thing occurs with [[spoiler:Yui and Hinata]] in Episode 10. Considering the only sort of expression either has expressed at each other are various levels of annoyance, it comes as quite a surprise when [[spoiler:not only does Hinata say he loves Yui but [[UpToEleven wants to marry her]]]]. Even if [[spoiler:it was to help her pass on]], it's still really sudden and doesn't come with a lot of buildup.This becomes more apparent when compared to the development of Hinata and Yuri's relationship in the prequel manga, which seems much more romantic in nature. In comparison, Yui and Hinata's rushed relationship seems more sibling-like.

** Many fans felt that the [[spoiler:Otonashi and Kanade's LastMinuteHookup]] at the finale came a bit too unexpectedly, as up to that point it is never made evident that his feelings for her are romantic in nature or more intense that a tepid friendship (or even a surrogate fraternal relationship, as the anime suggests sometimes). This is one of the most divisive points of the series, and a good part of detractors of the finale would have liked it better without them hooking up or at least having more development previously. Then again, given the short run of the anime, the latter would have been difficult to pull without falling in a probably not better received RomanticPlotTumor. Some might not even interpret the love between the two characters as being romantic, though [[spoiler:Otonashi]] telling [[spoiler:Kanade]] he wants to "be with her forever" has obvious romantic connotations for many viewers, so this could fall under RelationshipWritingFumble either way.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** Otonashi saying that God cannot just give people fake happy endings as if their lives weren't real is more funny when you realize that this was made by [[Creator/KeyVisualArts the same guys]] [[DeusExMachina who pull happy endings]] [[AssPull out of their asses]] whenever a main character's world comes crashing down.
** Or if you really want to go literal, fake happy endings as in the [[VisualNovel/{{AIR}} kind]] where [[DownerEnding it looks bad]], [[AllThereInTheManual but if you look hard enough,]] [[WildMassGuessing (or believe in a theory)]] [[BittersweetEnding it's more sweet than it sounds]].
** Some of Otonashi's wild imagination regarding SSS operations became this, [[spoiler:especially the giant monster fish and SSS fighting multiple Angels]]. Both of which turn out to actually happen, albeit slightly differently from what he imagined.

** Many fans felt that the [[spoiler:Otonashi and Kanade LastMinuteHookup]] at the finale came a bit too unexpectedly, as up to that point it is never made evident that his feelings for her are romantic in nature or more intense that a tepid friendship (or even a surrogate fraternal relationship, as the anime suggests sometimes). This is one of the most divisive points of the series, and a good part of detractors of the finale would have liked it better without them hooking up or at least having more development previously. Then again, given the short run of the anime, the latter would have been difficult to pull without falling in a probably not better received RomanticPlotTumor. Some might not even interpret the love between the two characters as being romantic, though [[spoiler:Otonashi]] telling [[spoiler:Kanade]] he wants to "be with her forever" has obvious romantic connotations for many viewers, so this could fall under RelationshipWritingFumble either way.

** Most of the cast also qualify but varies from character to character. Yuri, Iwasawa, Naoi, Yui and even Hinata have significantly worse pasts [[spoiler: consisting of murder of loved ones, guilt and death, parental abuse and death, death of loved one, long term paralysis and depression-fueled fatal drug addiction]]. Other characters don't even have that much development.