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As Angel Beats! approaches its 15th anniversary, Jun Maeda, the creator behind the anime, recently admitted that he still doesn’t understand why the series became such a hit.
In a recent interview with Comic Natalie, Maeda discussed the ongoing collaboration between Angel Beats! and his current project, the RPG Heaven Burns Red.
When asked about his current view on Angel Beats!, he admitted that the series holds a different place in his heart compared to fans.
“To me, Angel Beats! is nothing more than a past hit, made possible with the support of those around me,” he shared. “I think its success was exactly as the producers at the time envisioned. Since I was on the receiving end of their production efforts, even now, I don’t know why it became such a hit.”
While Maeda professed little personal interest in revisiting past works, he has recently returned to Angel Beats! through collaborations with Heaven Burns Red, an RPG he developed with Wright Flyer Studios and Key.
In February 2023, the first crossover event between Heaven Burns Red and Angel Beats! introduced new backstories for characters Irie and Hisako.
A third collaboration event, which launched on Dec 27, spotlighted Girls Dead Monster member Sekine and culminated in the graduation of all band members.
Creating Sekine’s story, Maeda admitted, was a significant challenge. “For Irie in the first event and Hisako in the second, I already had some settings and basic scenarios in mind. However, for Sekine, who is featured in the third event, I had nothing planned. I had to create everything from scratch for this collaboration, which made it much harder compared to Irie and Hisako.”
Angel Beats! is a 13-episode Japanese anime television series produced by P.A. Works and directed by Seiji Kishi.
The story was originally conceived by Jun Maeda, who also wrote the screenplay and composed the music with the group Anant-Garde Eyes, with original character design by Na-Ga.
The anime aired in Japan between April 3 and June 26, 2010.
An original video animation (OVA) episode was released in December 2010, and a second OVA was released in June 2015.
Source: Comic Natalie
