Watching animes has been my go-to pastime for quite a while now. They are easy to devour since some shows only have 12 episodes with a 25-minute runtime each. I've always been amazed because every time I watch one, it brings me to a new world that I haven't explored before. Mad props to all the creators who are involved with the storytelling and production for they never run out of stories to tell.
I recently finished watching Charlotte, a 13-episode series (available on Netflix) that focuses on children with superpowers.
SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!!
Yuu Otosaka, its main protagonist, is first introduced by showcasing his power.
He can possess any body he wants to but only for five seconds. While he's inside the body of someone, his own body becomes paralyzed. He always finds this limit to his power annoying and points it out whenever he can. He uses this ability to cheat in exams. He would go from one of his smart classmates' body to another to copy their answers. I think it's normal response for someone who isn't trained to use his power for the greater good. Through this, he becomes first in their batch. He attracts the female population because not only his grades are enviable, he also has the looks that leaves them charmed.
Unknown to his knowledge, he is being followed by Nao Tomori, who has powers herself.
She can choose to be invisible to anyone she wants to. However she can be seen by others, which makes her a repeated subject of bullies.
Together with another of their kind, Tojiro Takojo, she confronts Yuu about his being a cheater. He denies their claims and walks out. Nao stops him and tells him to transfer to their school, Hoshinoumi Academy, where children like them can be safe.
Yuu, along with his sister, Ayumi, transfers to Hoshinoumi.
He becomes part of the student council as per Nao's command. They look for children who have special abilities like them. They warn them not to use their powers recklessly for they can be taken and experimented by scientists. Nao tells the story about his brother and how he was taken by scientists to be some sort of a guinea pig and study on him.
Her brother becomes detached from reality because of the numerous experiments done on him. Nao wants to prevent others from experiencing what her brother has gone through.
At first, Yuu helps them cos he's obliged to but eventually he realizes the importance of what they do as a group.
In the third episode, they find Yusa, a popular idol, and learn that she serves as a medium of her deceased sister, Misa, who has pyrokinesis. Yusa also becomes a member of the student council.
With the help of one another, they manage to find the others and convince them one by one to stop using their powers because the scientists might find interest in them and they might suffer the same fate as Nao's brother.
Everything's going well until the council finds that someone who lives at Yuu's building has a very dangerous power which is to collapse or destroy everything within reach. He's a bit suspicious that it might be his sister cos of some strange circumstances that had happened to her days prior. They confirmed that it was his sister but they weren't successful at stopping her. Ayumi's classmate attacks her because of some personal issues and this triggers her to unintentionally collapse a part of their school building. She didn't survive the collapse. Yuu is left alone. He doesn't want to do anything aside from eating ramen and burying himself in his blanket.
He locks himself in his house. He stops going to school and disregards his student councils tasks. One time, he decides to withdraw cash from his account and uses this to go to another place. It's as if he becomes another person right away. He uses his power thoughtlessly to fight others. Nao secretly follows him and convinces him to turn his life around. He listens to Nao and goes back to his usual routine.
Yuu starts to show interest to Nao. She invites him to watch her fave band's concert. He goes to the concert with her.
A song suddenly stimulates some of his childhood memories. He remembers that he and his sister were in a guarded facility with other children and that armed personnel dictate what they should and shouldn't do. He also learns that they had another sibling, Shunsuke.
Their older brother erased their memory so he could be free to perform his goal to save others like them. He has the ability to leap through time. He builds the facility that houses people like them. He manages to do all these with Kamagume by his side. Kamagume is the one who reintroduces Yuu to his brother.
They reveal Yuu's real power which is looting. Basically, he can wield anyone's power and take it as his own. This makes him the most powerful but dangerous of them all. They conceal it from him cos he might not be able to handle it properly.
They are also told of the story about where they got their powers from. Charlotte, a comet, is the source.
The time comes when he needs to use this power to save them all. Nao carefully thinks af a plan. She tells Yuu that the only way to stop terrorists to destroy them is to wield all the powers from everyone who has them.
Yuu successfully loots all the powers with an aid of a map that shows him where to look. Of course, it doesn't come without sacrifices and hardships along the way. Everytime he uses his power, he forgets a part of him. As a consequence, he becomes confused and agitated. Nao and the gang saves him just in time.
I generally enjoyed the series, albeit some forgivable plotholes. Some just don't make sense? Case in point: They mentioned that after puberty, they lose their abilities but Yuu's brother still has his power? Anyway, I liked that the ending is satisfying; I couldn't ask for more. It's not at all surprising since it's created by Key, a Japanese animation studio, which is also responsible for the production of Angel Beats. The characters are introduced individually by highlighting their abilities and the flaws that come with them. They get along with each other despite their differences. One of the most emphasized themes is love, centering around sibling relationship--Yuu to Ayumi, Shunsuke to his younger siblings, Nao to Kazuki, and Yusa to Misa.
I also liked that they thought of the power to wield all the other abilities, which they simply called looting, but they also gave it the most pitfall. The person who continuously uses this forgets things about him gradually. And, who are we if not for our memories? As for Yuu, thankfully, all his friends, especially, Nao, are there to help him regain himself piece by piece.
