Anime ● Review: Charlotte
- Very Average Joe
- Jun 17
- 3 min read
English Title: Charlotte
Japanese Title: シャーロット
Director(s): Asai Yoshiyuki
Screenwriter(s): Maeda Jun
Studio: P.A. Works
Released: 2015
Runtime: 13 episodes, ~24m each.
Starring: Uchiyama Kouki, Sakura Ayane, Mizushima Daichuu, Asakura Momo, Uchida Maaya
My Verdict: Not the worst ever but unfocused and clumsy plotting and pacing with too many conveniences.

● A high school boy named Otosaka Yuu can take possession of another individual for five seconds. Using this ability, he cheats on his exams and even gets into a prestigious high school. As a stupid narcissist, he solely relies on this tactic, putting in more effort to find out who to take over when it is easier to just study.
● Setting aside that this doesn’t entirely explain how he manages his homework, he is eventually busted by high school students Tomori Nao and Takajo Joujiro. Apparently, some young people go through a phase, somewhat like puberty, of having superpowers before they lose it. Using said powers risk exposure and capture by the government for study and experimentation.
● So, Yuu is convinced to transfer to Hoshinoumi Academy along with his younger sister, Ayumi, which includes moving into an apartment next to the school for not just their personal protection but of the whole powered community. Yuu is also recruited into the student council which Nao is president.


● The plot follows Yuu as he with Nao and Joujiro try to find other powered teenagers and convince them to stop. About the first half of the series takes the episodic approach of “powered individual of the week”.
● The tone is a mix of high school drama, slice-of-life, some action as well as comedy, usually of Yuu’s situation or his reaction to their daily stupidities.
● Of course, there is some focus on Ayumi and, to make the student council an even-numbered and gender-balanced group, a teen idol named Nishimori Yusa joins. The latter is somewhat of a cheap way to insert more drama and comedy into the series.
● Yuu is supposed to be good-looking although he obviously has attitude issues, thinking he can always get his way. He is not likable, which is deliberate, and whilst good characters need not be likable people, there is nothing particularly interesting about him either.
● He is in a way quite pathetic, initially not appreciating how good of a deal he has but it is satisfying to see Nao handle him. She is the “no nonsense” chick who barely tolerates him, kicking his butt, literally and figuratively.
● The worldbuilding is quite clumsy. For example, how the youth get powers is not explained until toward the end of the series.
● Another example is that the dangers for the powered are real, hence the need for secrecy, and yet, despite having schools (and an apartment complex) with all the people required to run it, somehow the secret is maintained.
● Nao has a lot of authority and funding. She is able to skip class to hunt powered individuals with no consequence. Clearly, the authority and money behind the school are also behind her. But this only partly explains the previous point.
● There are other conveniences for the sake of drama. For example, a mental patient who is known to lose control physically is not restrained. More pertinent to the plot, the lack of security measures and personnel for the powered community is implausible when money is not an issue.
● Halfway through the series, it shifts suddenly to the sci-fi thriller aspects of the story. Multiple signposts are provided and the potential dangers for powered community are clearly established since the start so even though it is not a surprise, the shift is still sudden.
● The pacing picks up too and although it avoids the repetition seen in other stories with a similar premise, the progression is a bit crude. It can be repetitive within the episode even if it avoids repetition across episodes.
● The character designs are typical but they are drawn well enough. The environment looks good. Overall, it mostly has a clean look.
● It is interesting that powers are seen as a disease and that it is simpler if they didn’t exist. Of course, one of the proposed solutions is a vaccine. How convenient.
● In short, the series is somewhat clumsy in terms of its worldbuilding, plotting and pacing. Although it is appreciated that it tries to incorporate multiple genres, it fails to have a primary focus consistently throughout. The conclusion (final episode) is over-simplistic and implausible.
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