Not long after the third episode of Angel Beats aired, the internet was flooded with complaints:
"Joy.jpg (Old Thief Lin Special Edition)"
"I'm seriously impressed. Lin's words can't be trusted at all."
"Remember Puella Magi Madoka Magica? The first two episodes were sweet, but the third turned into a tearjerker. Now Angel Beats is the same—two episodes of comedy, then the third hits you with the feels. Didn't he say he was tired of the Madoka formula and wouldn't use it again?"
"From the moment they revealed everyone had died, I suspected it would be a tearjerker. Yuri's flashbacks in the second episode also felt off. Now it's clear—my suspicions were correct."
"Old Thief Lin, you never disappoint!"
"He claimed he wanted to bring joy to himself and the audience. Now I understand—this bastard Lin Zhiyan actually finds making the audience miserable enjoyable! Damn him!"
"Lin Zhiyan, the 'joy criminal'! Lock him up and throw away the key!"
Of course, the reactions weren't all complaints.
Many people were also seriously discussing the plot:
"That Angel... I don't feel like she's actually a bad person."
"Definitely not. They promoted her as the Main Character before the show even aired. How could she be the real villain?"
"What if there's no God or angels in the afterlife? What if it's all just Yuri and the others' own misunderstanding?"
"The first two episodes were hilarious, but the third one wasn't funny at all. It was quite touching, though."
"Yuri and Iwasawa's backstories were so heartbreaking. Maybe only teenagers who suffered terribly in life end up in the world the Male Lead is in?"
"I used to think Angel Beats! was a lighthearted comedy, but it seems it's not that simple. While the overall tone might be lighthearted, the core theme is probably healing."
"I'm suddenly curious about the Male Lead's life story. Based on the first episode, if you die from a head injury, you might lose your memories in the afterlife. So, maybe he died in a car accident?"
In truth, the plot of the third episode wasn't particularly depressing or heartbreaking. If anything, it was a little bit heartwarming.
The songs sung by Iwasawa Masami were also quite beautiful.
If this hadn't been Lin Zhiyan's animation, and if he hadn't said in an interview that he hoped the series would bring joy to both himself and the audience, then even after the third episode aired, there would have been nothing to criticize.
Fortunately, the criticism was directed at Lin Zhiyan himself, not the animation's content.
The animation's popularity remained unchanged, and it didn't plummet after the third episode aired.
Lin Zhiyan's reputation was already polarized: his fans adored him, while his haters relentlessly attacked him, even though most of the latter also loved the animations he had created.
After the third episode of Angel Beats was released, his reputation took an even worse hit.
Fortunately, this bad reputation didn't affect his animations. It was the kind of harmless, inconsequential notoriety that Lin Zhiyan himself didn't care about at all.
Despite this, amidst the wave of criticism, he still posted on the internet using his own account:
"I'm genuinely not interested in Depressing Anime, and Angel Beats isn't really one anyway. To say I enjoy 'depressing the audience' is a gross misrepresentation.
The third episode might not be entirely pleasant, but even a lighthearted animation can't be joyful from start to finish. If it were, who would remember it once it ended?
Lightheartedness is important, of course, but an animation shouldn't be so superficial. That's just my personal opinion.
As for the bit of angst in episodes two and three, I can only say: relax. After watching so many of my works, haven't you learned that this is standard practice?
Life is a mix of sweet and bitter. A great animation should reflect that. I'm not saying the greatest art in the world is depressing, but for an animation, a bit of angst is normal. What's the big deal?
As long as it doesn't harm the animation itself, Lin Zhiyan doesn't care how infamous it becomes. After all, he rarely appears in public these days, and the security guards at the company building would never let anyone start a fire.
As for his residence, that was even more of a closely guarded secret; even within the company, very few people knew where he lived, so there was no need to worry about security in that regard.
A slightly tarnished reputation really wasn't a big deal.
That being said, some of the accusations were unfair, and he still needed to defend himself. He couldn't just let himself be unfairly slandered.
After he posted his response, it naturally drew another wave of criticism from some netizens, but some also spoke in his favor:
"True. If an animation is pure joy from beginning to end, viewers will probably only remember the 'joy' label after it ends, without any lasting impression of the specific content. From this perspective, I think Angel Beats' approach was correct."
"It's fine to have some painful or depressing parts, as long as it's not overwhelmingly so, not just for the sake of being painful, and not just for the sake of being depressing."
"Actually, it's hard to find an animation with absolutely no depressing content. Even Natsume's Book of Friends, another healing animation by LSP, has some sad moments, but that doesn't stop people from finding it healing."
Based on the first three episodes, Angel Beats isn't really a depressing anime. Even though the ending will likely involve everyone in the afterlife making up for their regrets and then moving on to the next world, if all their regrets are resolved, it would still be a happy ending, even if they have to part ways. After all, staying in the afterlife forever isn't a long-term solution.
I feel like Lord Hayashi is truly innocent this time. It's just that after a string of depressing anime like Death Note, Code Geass, Gurren Lagann, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Anohana, everyone's been traumatized.
Whether it's depressing or not is another matter, but I'm really enjoying Angel Beats so far. I hope it maintains this quality going forward.
Actually, I don't even think Rebellion Story counts as a depressing anime anymore. And even though Anohana ended with the main character ascending to Buddhahood and parting ways with her friends, the core story was still healing-focused. Angel Beats is even more clearly leaning towards a cheerful and healing tone, so there's really no need to force the "depressing" label.
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