No, I haven’t committed to covering Angels of Death just yet. It’s just that kind of show where I’m still figuring it out. I firmly believe that an anime adaptation should be able to stand as its own product but I do wish I played Angels of Death game before watching this anime. Had I known what to expect, you probably wouldn’t have found me confused as to what its shtick is.
The pilot was the closest to feeling like a horror story (even if marginially) but now, I really don’t know what to be scared of. That whole fight with Zack and Eddie? I honestly thought it was contrived and cheesy. The prize is just who gets to kill Rachel and that carries so little weight since Rachel really doesn’t care so long as she dies. Had Zack not swear to God he’ll do the dirty deed, she would’ve easily let Eddie kill her on the spot.
That kind of brings me to another point, a lot of the ideologies presented in this anime feel awfully vague. It’s becoming apparent that Rachel is a religious girl but it’s never elaborated beyond the fact that she just believes in God. You see her pray, you see her flare up when God is mentioned (hence why she chooses Zack to be her killer), and that’s honestly it.
One other thing: Eddie argues Zack is too messy as a killer and you do buy it just by looking at the latter but what is Eddie’s deal? He claims he’ll kill Rachel in a “beautiful” manner but our only indication is the (admittedly well-designed) gravestones he’s crafted and his flower decorations. I think if we actually got to see the dead bodies under his wing, we would’ve gotten a better sense of his “aesthetic”.
Strangely though, Angels of Death keeps me entertained in some way. As I already said, the conflict is pretty cheesy. It felt like some weird version of The Backerlorette to me with how they vying for Rachel’s approval. The final area of Eddie’s floor really lives up to the whole graveyard aesthetic. While not stunningly animated, the final confrontation with Eddie had its moments, particularly with how Rachel bests him and gives Zack an opening. I don’t know if I really felt bad for Eddie when he dies but his defeat does have a nice ring to it. Ironically, the gravekeeper gets buried underneath his own craft.
I know some people are disliking how much this anime feels like a well-edited Let’s Play but I don’t know, the video game jargon comes across as unintentionally hillarious to me. By no means would someone realistically point out how useful a conventiently placed flashlight would be but for me, it just adds to the cheese. Honestly, if this story won’t be frightening, at least make it as B-movie as possible. I would love it if the dialogue gets to like Resident Evil 1 level silly. I can imagine something like “That was too close, you were almost a Jill sandwich” fitting in the script just fine.
Thanks for reading!
Angels of Death is officially available on Crunchyroll & Hulu.
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