With dead and lifeless eyes, Rachel Gardner wishes only to die. Waking up in the basement of a building, she has no idea how or why she's there. She stumbles across a bandaged murderer named Zack, who is trying to escape. After promising to kill her as soon as he is free, Rachel and Zack set out to ascend through the building floor by floor until they escape.
However, as they progress upward, they meet more twisted people, and all of them seem familiar with Rachel. What is her connection to the building, and why was she placed in it? Facing a new boss on each floor, can Rachel and Zack both achieve their wishes?
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Karhu
For over a decade now, the anime industry has been producing one series a season that deserves the highly appreciated title of ironic masterpiece. This time around it's a show about suicidal loli and a massmurderer who refuses to kill her. And it has everything. When I say everything, what I really mean is e v e r y t h i n g, and I have been laughing my butt sore since episode 1. Our story starts off in a spooky hospital where security cameras garnish the walls every 3 inches, doors close behind people's back like it is Ghost Hunt, and possessed typewritersare the ones asking all the questions that matter since our characters don't even bother trying as they are too busy planning to kill themselves. It's bad? No, it's the peak of self-awareness.
The actual events focus around some floor master shit fights because the entire series is based on a video game that was created with goddamn RPG Maker's free trial edition. Need a better prove of quality? That's what I thought. The entire story is real mysterious and apparently everything in it symbolizes some religious nonsense hence why all the 3 different English titles of the show have the word "Angel" in them. Essentially this is lot like Evangelion except fun to watch because the mc only has one mental illness and one of the characters has a pumpkin as a head.
Our cast is beyond incredible. Rachel is surprisingly non-annoying for a 13 yo child who is in angst (even if her every 3rd line consist of the word "kill" and "me"). Isaac Foster is the perfect representation of a generic horror psychopath from any horror game you play on easy and the murderer is an NPC. He also owns a cool scythe and I laugh similarly as he whenever he does anything. His laugh is real sick, reminds me of Orihara Izaya from Durararararara. +1 for seiyuu work. Daniel Dickens is the best character. I have had a blast using the phrase "the plot Dickens" when ever he does anything. MVP material right there.
The art is also beyond incredible. Especially the tight and dark spaces really do add to the overall atmosphere. I mentioned Ghost Hunt earlier and that was favorite horror comedy before this one became a thing. The best arc from that anime takes place in a building highly similar to the architecture in which the entire story of Satsuriku no Tenshi takes part in except more floors this time around. Some of the floors really do offer that video game feeling where the series is its own thing and that manages to serve the immersion the work has to offer.
To me, this Satsuriku no Tenshi offered genuine entertainment. Some of it can be seen to be silly, but I found all of that just add to the overall experience. For example, the dialogue and angst that is best shown in the repetition of the two lines "kill me" and "no" is nothing less than comedic gold, and such lousy cliches as memoryloss were taken exactly as seriouly with this series as they always should be dealt it. Meaning not seriously at all.
J.C.Staff has been fixing their reputation their best since the Rie Kugumiya's loli tsundere era, and thus far, Satsuriku no Tenshi is yet another show from them that looks mediocre, but is everything but. Don't let the criticism ruin the fun as this is what entertainment truly means.
kchan13
*I have only watched the anime, not the manga or game. Thus, this review will be based on the anime alone* After having completely finished the anime, I can safely say that Satsuriku no Tenshi is one of the most frustrating horror animes I’ve ever watched. From the very start of the show, there have been a myriad of flaws involving plot, dialogue, and character development, all resulting in a trainwreck of a show, which is really a shame because it had such an interesting premise. Plot (1/10): The plot to this anime is one of the worst I have ever seen and most of its issuesbegin with it’s progression, or rather, the utter lack of it. Right from the beginning and up to halfway through the story, we can see this show following a typical formula: villian shows up -> zack does something stupid -> Rachel finds a solution -> more talking about killing and then not killing. The ‘mystery’ in the show is awfully boring, with the clues being vague and pretentious, constantly talking again and again about ‘sins’ and ‘god’ but adding nothing to the story. Actually that’s the perfect word to describe this shitty show. It’s vague. Really vague. It always felt like it wanted to impress the audience by being ‘intelligent’ so instead of slowly revealing things to the audience (like a good thriller should), it keeps on sprouting ambiguous and often nonsensical details. In my opinion, this show would do better if it was more straightforward so the viewer would get engrossed in the mystery and its progression.
Another big problem I had with Angels of Death (and probably the most noticeable one) is its repetitive, boring, and edgy dialogue. Basically, it goes something like this:
Rachel: I want to die. Can you kill me?
Zack: Your expression is boring. I’ll kill you when we get outside.
Rachel: Can you kill me?
Zack: What the hell are you talking about? I said I don’t want to kill you.
OMG. JUST KILL HER ALREADY!!
(sorry that was me ranting) All of the dialogue in the story is basically 1) stuff that is really vague 2) stuff we already knew. It’s like it can’t even tell the intelligence of the audience. The whole thing feels like it's constantly going around in circles, with no meaning or wittiness. We KNOW Rachel wants to die. We KNOW the doc has a crazy eye fetish. Just tell us something important already!!
Animation (7/10): For a J.C Staff show, the art is surprisingly pretty. It uses a nice color palette and Rachel’s character design was very attractive. Although Zack and the other villains character design do look somewhat generic, I’m willing to give this section a 7.
Sound (5/10): This department is pretty subjective, but I felt the music in this show to be rather average. It’s not bad, but not very good either. I liked the voice actor for Rachel, but Zack’s voice was straight-up annoying and honestly, I felt like punching his stupid face everytime I hear that voice of his. The villains’ voices also felt extremely annoying, with their over-the-top laughter and eccentric attitudes.
Character (2/10): Our female protagonist, Rachel, is the only one in the entire cast who didn’t manage to annoy me. That’s not to say she’s a good character though. In the entire anime she was bland and emotionless and lacked any type of character development. Overall, she’s the classic kuudere archetype but nothing to make her interesting. We learn nothing about her throughout the entire story, only that she wants to die. We don’t know why she wants to die, what was accountable for her 180 in the story, or even her backstory.
The male protagonist Zack isn’t any better, if not worse. Loud, impulsive, and often temperamental, he’s basically your ‘all brawn no brain’ male archetype. He adds nothing to the story, is often very stupid, and is definitely one of the most annoying characters I’ve seen. Not to mention, his ‘tragic backstory’ is one I found to be very generic and a cheap way for viewers to pity him. Overall, it’s not enough to develop his character or make him into a more complex person. Nobody’s expecting an amazing and deep backstory like Kiritsugu’s or even Akashi’s but it’s like this show doesn’t even try.
The villains were all badly made and were all ‘psychos’ with crazy laughs and no personality. They all want to kill the 2 mc’s but for no reason. They were also involved in some stupid plot twist which brought them back to life even though it was stated that they died.
Enjoyment (5/10): I actually enjoyed some parts of the show but most of the time it just felt tedious and uninteresting. Unlike other bad thrillers like mirai nikki or kakegurui, this isn’t very entertaining and is not worth your time.
RiverRode
Mod Edit: This review was originally written for the final 4 episodes which was previously a separate entry and was subsequently merged into Satsuriku no Tenshi. At the time of my writing this, the main page for Angels of Death is sitting at a 6.92, and the top reviews are either negative or not seriously written. However, this was one of the shows I enjoyed most during the Summer 2018 season, so I wanted to write a brief review on its behalf. A major contributing factor to these low scores is that people don’t know what to expect from this show. You wouldn’t know this from thesynopsis above, but Angels of Death isn’t really a horror series – it’s somewhere between a buddy comedy and an otome game, except that all of the suitors want to murder the lead rather than date her (Half of them do still want to date her though). It’s difficult to encapsulate the series in its entirety, but that absurdity is part of the fun.
It might clear up some details if I talk about the source material that this anime is adapting. Although a manga exists, Angels of Death originally started as a freeware RPG Maker game. If you’ve ever played Yume Nikki or something like it (My personal favorite is Irisu Syndrome, which does have a free English translation), you know that these sorts of games can be surreal experiences, and this adaptation absolutely nails that tone while still poking fun at its genre conventions. I haven’t played the game myself, but I’ve been told that the plot of the anime diverges, and I’m definitely interested enough to check it out.
The strength of this series lays in the rapport established between its two leads, Rachel and Zack. The two are an odd couple, but they play off each other really well comically, and it was great to see their dynamic evolve over the course of the show. As they rise through the floors, they go from mutually using each other to actually caring about each other’s wellbeing, and this development is strangely endearing. There was one arc about halfway through the series in which the pair is separated, and those episodes felt empty, but they also made me realize how much I cared about their bond. Despite being a campy horror comedy, Angel of Death’s central relationship is a lot more developed than most anime romances, even if it is founded on murderous intent.
Angels of Death definitely wasn’t the best show of the Summer 2018 season - its middle section dragged on, and it probably would have helped if it had been cut down to a standard 12 or 13 episodes – but there’s nothing else quite like it and I’m glad I watched it. There’s no other show where characters are as likely to get oddly sentimental about their blades as they are to conduct a trial that wouldn’t be out of place in the Ace Attorney franchise, and it was this emotional range that kept me coming back each week. If any of this mess sounds entertaining to you, then I wholeheartedly recommend you check it out.
Stark700
Watching Satsuriku no Tensei (Angels of Death) gave me perhaps one of the strangest impressions of this year. Set in a mysterious building, we immediately meet main female protagonist Rachel Gardner as she is confused about her whereabouts. It doesn’t help that she has no memories except for her name. The show immediately drops viewers into this sort of storytelling out of nowhere and it’s hard to take everything in from the start. Make no mistake. Satsuriku no Tensei is one of those shows where I lost count how many times I rolled my eyes and asked myself just exactly what the hell is goingon.
As the anime is based on a video game, it also does really feel much like playing one. Rachel meets a serial killer named Zack who nearly kills her in the beginning. The show begins to build on its suspenseful plot here onwards as we learn about both characters. An important element of the series is the psychological thriller style of storytelling. The plot can be rather confusing as it sells its ideas through the psychology of the show. With Rachel being in a confused state, she begins to wonder her purpose in the world.
The main focus is Rachel and throughout the series, she wonders around the floors of this mysterious place with no memories. However, she isn’t too desperate to escape and seemingly has a death wish. She mentions many times throughout the show of her desire to be killed by Zack. In order to accomplish that, she hopes to survive long enough and not get killed by anyone else. The anime presents her personality as being a calm girl with a lack of understanding about morality. She finds it difficult to express human emotions and often says what’s on her mind. It’s also noticeable that Rachel believes in the existence of God. In one particular episode, she declared Zack as her “God”. A behavior like this is far from normal but the show emphasizes on her inhuman-like personality at every chance it gets. However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Her partner in crime Zack tunes abnormality up to the 11. Known by his full name as Issac “Zack” Foster, the series pushes the envelope to make him a serial killer. He has actually been involved in previous murder cases before and the show explores some of his past through flashbacks. If you’ve seen his personality, then Zack would definitely be someone you hope to never run into in some dark alleyway. For his personality, Zack is bluntly rude and often uses foul language. He isn’t very intelligent either and between the two, he is more of the muscle while Rachel has the brains. However, there’s no doubt that Zack is mentally unstable and has survivalist instincts. The cause of his mentality is not exactly known and this feels more like a flaw of the show. The creators wants the audience to basically accept Zack for who he is without really getting us to understand him. In essence, I see Zack as a monster despite his alliance with Rachel. He’s the type of guy that gets the thrill of killing without any true reason. However, Rachel does bring out some human-like emotions out of him when the duo are together. As odd as it seems, they are like two peas in a pod that are inseparable.
The show features a variety of characters with Zack and Rachel finding that out the hard way as they navigate through various floors. It really does feel like a role playing RPG and the more I watched this series, the more I felt compelled to see what events await them. Unfortunately, I can’t really express satisfaction at the characters they encounter on their dark adventure. It seems the show tries to make its entire character as inhuman as possible. First, we got Daniel Dickens, an insane doctor who has an unhealthy obsession for Rachel’s eyes. Then, there’s Eddie, a boy who wears a mask and is in love with making graves. Cathy is introduced as a floor master and someone I’d describe as sadistic. She enjoys toying with others and inflict punishment for her own pleasure. Finally, there’s Gray, a religious priest who loves to pass judgement on others. His actions in the show should be condemned as sinful as he attempts to burn Rachel alive at a stake. It feels like the creator wanted the viewers to hate these characters as much as possible. And if that was the intention, it succeeded. These supporting characters also feel like video game bosses as they are the main obstacle for Rachel and Zack to overcome.
So what now? Does Satsuriki no Tensei really work as an anime? Or does it fail like a half-polished video game filled with bugs that needs fixing? Honestly, I think it’s a bit of both for the main TV series. I mention this because there are still 4 episodes left to debut in home release format. With 12 episodes, the show is incomplete without a proper conclusion. I have not played the game before but there have been some games I’ve played that resembles this show. Games like The Evil Within reminds me of this series as it adheres to psychological horror and thriller. The downside is that I never did once get scared in this show because it’s hardly any scary. Instead, the more accurate representation is more of a psychological thriller. The anime explores the human psyche as we see how these characters behave in unusual circumstances.
Adapted by J.C. Staff, you can easily tell that they were aiming for a dark and grimy setting. The uneasy feeling of the abandoned building and atmospheric feeling never leaves the show throughout the duration of its run. It paints the feeling of being trapped like a rat. Character designs in the series represent a creative style with our two main characters. First, there’s Rachel with her petite stature and blonde hair. She wears a stripped shirt with a white sweater complete with black boots. In many ways, she actually looks rather normal although her character expressions are often devoid of feelings. On the other hand, Zack has the look of a homicidal maniac. Compared to Rachel, he is much taller and wears a hoodie. His signature weapon is a scythe that almost represents him as a living reaper. His character expressions throughout the series is malicious and he is known to break out of insane laughter from time to time. The other characters in this series are decorated with abnormal traits such as Daniel’s freakish eyes, Eddie’s burlap mask, or Gray’s religious attire. The fact is, the creators definitely put their thought into making these characters distinctive as possible.
As a psychological thriller, expect an eerie OST that’s often quiet to bring an unsettling mood. Indeed, the mood of the show is often eerie even during some of the action segments. There are many moments when the music really amps up to make viewers feel like as if they are with them. Similarly, the theme songs contain cryptic lyrics that ceases every moment to make the show as uncomfortable as possible. Finally, I have to give praise to the voice talent in this series. Characters like Rachel and Zack are able to bring their characters fully to life despite their complex personalities. It’s not easy to step into the shoes of an emotionless character like Rachel but I fully embraced her role if judging by her voice. Zack is voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto who is well known for his role as Accelerator from the Index franchise. From this series, he displays his full talent to bring out Zack’s personality to a menacing degree.
There’s a lot more to be said about Satsuriku no Tensei but for its TV airing, the show is more of a base game. I’d treat the reminding episode as DLC content to fully explore the story and give this anime a proper ending. Regardless, this show is not easily recommendable to anyone as the unusual style of storytelling will be difficult to get used to. It’s sometimes not faint for the heart either if you’re not comfortable with watching murder scenes. It almost feels like the creators are trying to get in our heads to see what we're thinking. I would say that giving this show is more suited for thrill seekers or those who watch this like playing a video game.
Zerity
So Angels of death used to say it had 16 episodes but they changed it to 12 and the rest are being released as videos. (is what I heard) Anyways beside that Angels of Death was really just okay. Doesn't really do anything special so it's just kinda average. Although I have my score as an 8 because really I did enjoy it. The show has revolves around Rachel and Zack trying to get out of this building they're in and leave. They start at the bottom floor and just work their way up battling floor masters along the way. Each floor master having their ownweird interest in Rachel which gets weird and annoying fast. Not the battle themselves I think the floor master battles are interesting for the most part but it's the over excessive importance and obsession with Rachel which just gets annoying but again another one of my personal problems with the show.
I think if you're just looking for a fun, fighting, edgy, and crazy show to watch then this show may not be the best choice as they're way more better ones out their but this one is also good if you already seen the other type of shows like this.
Overall honestly was fun I really only liked Zack and that dude with the peanut like mask but that's not to say the other characters were bad though. Had a good time watching this and I think you will too.
RealSheele
Mod Edit: This review was originally written for the final 4 episodes which was previously a separate entry and was subsequently merged into Satsuriku no Tenshi. Satsuriku no Tenshi was a good anime It's a good and honest adaptation of the game. Ok first, we gonna talk about the story (6): A young girl wakes up in a unknown basement and tries to escape it, the second floor's resident tries to kill her and she escapes from death. Finally, the murderer should ally with the protagonist, who wishes to die from him. They met other murderer and finally escapes the basement, with a lot of injuries. Forsaving the protagonist's life and kill her later, the 2nd floor's murderer accept to go to jail. Satsuriku no Tenshi ends with a cliffhanger, the murderer escapes from his jail and kills the psychiatric doctor of the protagonist, they met and... Nothing. just a sentence, which is the name of the last episode "Well stop crying and smile".
It's not really original, but i liked the idea of a giant and incognito basement and of the murderer who's too stupid to survive alone. Not original, but still cool. Some scenes aren't really pertinent in an anime, but we can easily see the prints of his video game inspiration.
I was really disappointed by the final episode, and i was really angry afterview.
Now, let's talk about the art (7):
I liked how is designed Satsuriku no Tenshi. Well, yes, it has some bad points, but i liked the chara designs, i liked the backgrounds. It's only my mind, i don't think that you'll have the same.
Third, the sounds (9):
Oh god were can i begin.
Vital (OP) is a good song, PraY (ED) too, and the OSTs gives us a lot of sensations. I really loved it, and i'm really sad. Sad because i didn't find them on youtube or others plateforms.
Now, the characters (7):
Rachel Gardner (4) :
She's an original kind of characters. Intelligent, unexpressive, i liked how she is. But we learn too late her past, and i think it's why i didn't really care about her.
Isaac Foster (8):
Well, i liked Zack. Is past with the old blind man was really touching, his conditions of murderer and honest guy make him a polyvalent character, and that's what's make him an excellent character.
Eddie (3):
He was just the little guy who loves Rachel and made a grave for her. His talent of furtivity in the darkness was kind of interesting, but that's all.
Cathie (2):
Just a sadistic character and that's all. She was stupid as hell.
Danny (7):
I didn't really know what to think about him, he's just crazy. But with his relation with Rachel, i tough he was pedophile. I don't know if he is, but he seems to be like that. From the last episodes, he had a good developement and that's why i give him 7.
Gray (10):
I know nothing about this priest, and that's why i love him. he's mysterious and isn't an enemy or an ally of Rachel. I'm dissapointed about the fact that we don't know a thing about their relationship, but i have some hope for an OVA.
And finally, my enjoyment (7)
I liked the first episodes, but since the 9th, i started to be disappointed, even if i liked to see the evolution of the characters.
Overall's personnal rate: 7
Hope this review wasn't bad to read.
Yautja
My mother always said if you don't anything nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all. Thankfully, this nightmare (and not the scarey kind, ironically) isn't a person. The summary is a cookie cutout of a typical mystery archetype / story setting. The amnesiac in a strange place. Then there's the weird anime twists with a murder with a scythe who laughs like a popcorn machine with a fork in it. Anyways, nothing overtly special or any red flags in the summary. Except for maybe that stupid little bit about fate. Doubt fate locked you in a building. Moving on. Why it's bad. The mysteryas shown in the summary / template isn't anything inherently special. The story writer, the original author or whoever had most input in the anime clearly didn't do anything to improve on that lack of specialty. Nothing interesting or unpredictable happened. In fact it's was the exact opposite. Entirely predictable and boring. Something that kinda shouldn't happen in a mystery horror. The dialogue, events and motivations of characters are tragic. And not in the Romeo and Juliet sense. Mystery isn't an excuse for poor character building, and lack of background knowledge. The procedural, unchanging a repetitive events that last 2 - 4 episodes which only difference from the last arc is a new murderer on a new floor. The shoe horned, poorly thought out religious malformed mutations that embodies every stereotypical and unconvincing religious standpoint or assertion didn't help improve the series either. Lastly, the unsurprising, unoriginal and boring ending didn't improve upon any of the incredibly low bows this series set.
Each floor's murder was uninteresting to say the least. Not ideal for a psychopathic killer in a building of psychopathic murderers. The only difference in their quality or interest to the main characters is due to their lack of presence in the overall story. Which ironically is a good thing. They were already glaringly hypocritical, illogical and or inconsistent. The lack of empathy, fear or genuine interest they inspired would only be compounded by a continued presence. If you switched the names, orders, faces, stories or anything you really want about them, it'd have essentially zero significant impact on the story. The only truly impactful side character is the priest, and his impact is just as rooted in illogical fallacy as are the actions and beliefs of Rachel, the moving doll who's only redeeming feature is she doesn't talk or make as much noise as Zack. The more I see of the dynamic duo of dipshits known as our main characters the more problems I have. Completely uninteresting, unoriginal, unchanging cookie cutter archetype side characters are better than completely uninteresting, unchanging, illogical and irritating main characters. Zack is irritating to say the least. He's exactly what'd you expect a teenager would imagine a teenage murderer to be. He, like all of the characters, is uninteresting and has little originality. Aside from his backstory, which is neither good nor exceptionally bad, he lacks depth and personality or change. It's like someone took Jason and animified him. Rachel on the other hand has literally had no personality. There was nothing interesting about her, her backstory or her actions. She's inconsistent and illogical. Wants to die, but suicide is wrong. Killing people? Eh whatever. Oh this psychopathic murderer will kill me if I help him? Perfect. No problems. This other psychopathic murderer will kill me? Nope. No good, the first one already promised god. Her fundamental perception and practice of religion is insulting even to me as a non believer, I can only imagine how irritating it'd be an actual respectable theologian, not that bad stereotype of a Messiah complex evil priest.
I don't even need to say anything about the voice acting. Zack's voice and laughing makes me want to gouge out my ears with a pair of chopsticks. It's not intimidating or scary. If I heard that in the dark I wouldn't run for the hills. I'd tell the fucker to shut up and cut out his vocal cords if he tried to kill me with his gardening tools. Not exactly what a murderer's 'evil laugh' should inspire. Rachel's entire personality was nothing. Flat, emotionless and unchanging. Guess having no standards is one way to avoid criticism.
I've seriously seen characters who don't talk AT ALL that have better voice acting than Rachel. High Score Girl's Oono is a perfect example. More emotion is conveyed in essentially coughs, grunts and literally no words than any and every word Rachel uttered. As for music. Everyone knows music is a key part of horror and suspense. Doesn't hurt mystery either. This anime lacked any suspense and the lack of good music certainly contributed to that lack of suspense. A pathetic and easy to avoid failure on this anime's part that would have greatly contributed to the overall story.
It was entirely too hard for me to find any enjoyment in a story devoid of consistency or logic but with plenty of plot armor. Blood loss apparently doesn't exist in this world.
The repetitive story, background and general events, lack of atmosphere and good music, and pathetic characters and character past & building. Then religion, an incredibly difficult topic to discuss seriously, being portrayed in such a laughable and contemptible manner compounded the irritating nature of the series and just stacked up on top of the other glaring issues of the series.
This show is a fools idea of good mystery and a child's idea of a good horror anime. It's basically what you'd get if you asked for a fanfiction of Beauty and the Beast from a weaboo. There's not much to say. It's bad. I could go on and on, put in more effort, but this show is just so comically and unapologetically bad, I don't feel it deserves anymore effort. Unless you like everything from ebola to retardation in physical form, such as the Paul brothers, don't watch this. It's not worth the time, energy or brain cells. It's the worst show to air this season. Maybe even this year. The only happiness I got from this series is when I found out it was 12 episodes instead of 16.
MxS7HGS
I appreciate the anime's story, message, and plot. However, it's not executed well. The initial episodes grabbed my attention, where Rachel Gardner was stuck in a deadly building. I enjoyed the mystery/thriller theme. However, the rest of the show was just her wishing she were dead after witnessing a gruesome murder. She doesn't want to keep living, and she makes that known when she meets Zack and asks him to kill her. Her negative attitude draws Zack's attention to her, and he becomes interested. The anime sometimes seems like it might become predictable or pointless, but the characters' attitudes never change from start to finish.Rachel always wants to die, and Zack always wants to kill. Zack needs Rachel's intelligence to escape the dungeon. Even though Rachel may want to die, she is responsible for Zack's escape.
The show's main theme is to change the perspective of someone who has lost the desire to live and help them find purpose. This differs from most anime, making it a unique and darker concept. It had a deep meaning behind the story. However, The show lacked uniqueness regarding the backstories, conversations, interactions, character development, and action scenes. The story felt repetitive as it followed the pattern of one psychopath after another being defeated by Rachel and Zack. The conversations can also get boring at times. However, the show's deeper meaning got me thinking after I finished watching it. The ending was interesting. It was a big surprise, and I really appreciated the added suspense.
I thought the opening and ending songs were good. The animation quality was also good. I did some research and found out that the anime is based on a game, and to fully understand the story, you need to play it. But since I didn't play the game, these are just my thoughts. If you're interested in a plot that's average and has a deep meaning, then give it a try. Overall, it was okay.
JiangHaoyi1979
Mod Edit: This review was originally written for the final 4 episodes which was previously a separate entry and was subsequently merged into Satsuriku no Tenshi. I'd never understand as to why studio JC Staff decided to split this anime into a 2 part thing where the 1st 12 episodes were left as unfinish and end it with a 4 episode ONA. They could have just included the last episodes on a regular airing schedule, that splitting this up to a 2 part series.......But , enough of that, so what we have here were the last 4 episodes of the parent anime, and quite frankly, itwas good but not good enough when we see Danny the main antagonist coming back to life after being killed by Zack in the 1st episode and other episodes that came with this ONA, in fact in the 1st episode of the parent anime he was SUPPOSE TO BE DEAD!!!!!!! . I were the director and original creator of this series, I would have had 3 Danny's whom have the same level of mental insanity whom were just loitering around, as one danny get's killed another one takes his place or I could have had that Priest Abraham Gray be the next killer in the series that both Zack and Ray should have faced. Now storywise, the plot was simple as it is cu'z it simply involves 2 lesser killers whom were wanting to get outta the dungeon that was full of the most insane and over the top psycho killers that start with a mad doctor Danny, to a insane delinquent Mason Edwards and last a crazy bitch Catherine Ward or at least on the 1st part of the anime . Cu'z it was just as crazy when the director Original creator and produces , decides to bring back Danny instead of making the 2 face off with the priest Abraham . What's crazy was how crazy did the original creator, Nazuka Kudan, conceptualize some shit like this of having Danny resurrected from the dead 3 times in a row . On the character category, was see Zack being this serial killer who was a combination of Hannibal Lecter and Freddy Krueger , while Rachel Gardner was more like a damsel in distress that has a skeleton in her closet, but the turn off here was how the story plot rely on Danny in being this antagonist that keeps coming back and why they didn't utilize the priest to be the last antagonist. Well, anyways the anime has ended in a sour note when we're given an open ending that were left to use adudence as how it ended, cu'z the scenario as to what happened to Zack and Ray after they met again have a lotta holes and conflict, som how do I rate this??????Here's how:
Story-Fair 6: Cu'z one part of me finds it good , but another part of me finds it annoying as to how this ended.
Art-Mediocre 5: Since it was still connected to the parent anime.
Sound- Mediocre 5:Since it was still connected to the parent anime.
Character-Poor 3: I really hated as how how they keep on relying on Danny to be this ultimate antagonist , since he keep coming back from the dead, when HE's SUPPOSE TO BE DEAD!!!!!!! And how Zack and Ray end came to an open and complicated ending.
Enjoyment- poor 3: Cu'z for this to be 4 episode long was just too much of a waste of time, when this could have been just 2 episodes short.
Overall-Poor 3: Has a lotta complications and holes, original creator and director were a bunch of crazies and so as Studio JC Staff.
BOOM!!!!!!! (Mic drop )
ktulu007
Mod Edit: This review was originally written for the final 4 episodes which was previously a separate entry and was subsequently merged into Satsuriku no Tenshi. Please note, this includes the series and the ONA. This horror anime month has been pretty middling in terms of the series we've looked at. We've seen some decent anime and some sub-par anime. We haven't seen anything great but we haven't seen anything terrible either. Maybe we'll be able to break up that pattern with a look at Satsuriko no Tenshi, an anime based off of a horror game. Now, your first thought when I mention anime based off ofa horror game might be my history with trite rubbish like Galerians or Corpse Party. But at least those two were entertaining in their incompetence. And we have reviewed some good anime based off of games. Maybe this will be one of those.
Story:
We open with our heroine, young Rachel Gardner, waking in a strange place where she's chosen as a sacrifice. She quickly discovers that she's going to have to go up through several floors of serial killers to escape the complex. Wanting to die, she approaches one, Isaac Foster, who agrees to kill her after she helps him escape.
There are two fatal flaws with this narrative. The first is that the story makes very little sense when you think about it to even the slightest degree. First of all, how did the dude who set all this up find all these serial killers and how did he get them to actually agree to all live in this system and work together? Serial killers all have their own shtick. They have certain things they look for in their victims, specific ways they want to murder said victims and they generally don't work well together. How did he persuade them all to work together with rules about who gets what floor? How does he find "sacrifices" who work for all of them? And how did he manage to build this vast complex to house all these killers with no one noticing? This premise is objectively stupid.
But let's put that aside for a moment. Let's pretend that either our brains don't quite work properly or we're really willing to stretch suspension of disbelief and let's talk about the second fatal flaw. Mainly, there's no possible tension to this scenario. One of our protagonists is openly and unapologetically a mass murderer with no redeeming qualities. There is no compelling reason for us to give the remotest shit what happens to him. Our other protagonist wants to die. You'd think that would be easy in a complex full of serial killers, but she decides it has to be this one guy who does it for very insipid reasons. There's no reason for us to care about her survival because she doesn't even care about her own survival. Therefore, any dangerous scenario they find themselves in doesn't matter.
And it is pretty stupid that she's in a complex of murderers and can't figure out how to get herself killed. That would be like going to a university frat party and not being able to figure out how to get laid.
Characters:
The characters in this do not help. Isaac is obnoxiously stupid. Rachel is an insipid nothing character. And the killers they encounter on each floor are just a bunch of stereotypes out off old, cheesy slasher films. Roger Corman's horror films had more menacing adversaries than these morons. It doesn't help that the interactions among the characters are really dumb.
Art:
There are moments where you can see how a floor's design might be a bit creepy, if the execution was very different. That's about the most positive thing I can say for the artwork. The character designs are pretty stupid looking. Isaac wears bandages all across his face, including over his mouth, but he somehow left enough of a hole that he can talk and open his mouth in spite of the bandages being clearly placed on his lips.
The action sequences aren't very good either. They're a bit slow-paced and dull.
Sound:
The acting is not as bad as every other element in the series would lead you to believe. You can tell that Okamoto Nobuhiko, Sakurai Takahiro and some others have skill. The problem is that their performances in this range from stilted to not giving a shit. The music is fairly mediocre.
Ho-yay:
There isn't any in this series. The character dynamics are too boring to have romantic tension of any kind, really.
Areas of Improvement:
Have one serial killer who puts their victims at the bottom of a trap-riddled complex as their thing. If there was one mastermind and you barely saw them, it would have a much stronger, actually creepy atmosphere. As opposed to a bunch of one note idiots on different floors.
Have a protagonist who has a personality and wants to live. It's much easier to care about a character with a personality and be invested when they themselves care. Honestly, I'd have ten characters at the start and show them all going through the floors individually. IE, starting with the first floor and then showing the people who survive that going through the next and so on. The audience would always be curious as to which characters would make it through a particular floor.
Have strong character designs. The characters in this are basically built around taking some horror monster/ slasher like a mummy, scarecrow, mad scientist, warden or priest and making them look really stupid. You would do better just having the antagonist be a somewhat sketchy looking person.
Final Thoughts:
Satsuriku no Tenshi is pretty awful. And not in an entertaining way like Corpse Party or Galerians. The narrative has massive holes. The characters are rubbish. The designs are stupid looking. It's just genuinely terrible. I'm giving it a 2/10.
mimimilk
No spoilers. The game was better. Also sucks that last part of game is not part of the adaptation but comes out later, leaving viewers at a cliff hanger. The story is fine and I enjoyed following the mystery. I did not enjoy the characters much and found them un colorful. Sound effects and music threw out the show was overall very good. Animation quality was nothing impressive but not bad. Story - 6/10 Art - 5/10 Sound - 5/10 They did a pretty OK job adapting the sounds from the game into the anime Character - 6/10 Enjoyment - 4/10 Personal experience. The gamespoiled all exciting events
Overall - 4/10 Do I think this adaptation was necessary? No. Do I hate it and wish it was not made? No.
OtherFritz
Horror is a sparsely populated genre of anime, which is a shame. A good horror series can offer creative concepts, a gripping story, compelling drama and moments of high emotion. Unfortunately, Angels of Death offers none of these things. Instead, this anime presents a mind-numbing barely-plot featuring a cast of characters the audience never properly gets to know and that not even the series itself seems to care about, thinly varnished with superficial allusions to Christianity. This is a series that wants be perceived as cool and meaningful and perhaps even deep, but which puts in none of the required effort to actually be so. Angelsof Death is a series based on an RPG Maker game and it shows. The bulk of the anime consists of the lead characters, Rachel and Zack, ponderously navigating a nondescript murder house while being assailed by a procession of one-note psychopathic killers. While this premise naturally raises questions about the building's purpose or how the characters are connected, Angels of Death is content to brush those inquiries to one side for the majority of it's runtime, only begrudgingly sparing a sentence or two in its last act to deliver an unsatisfying barely-answer. Instead, the audience is subjected to episode after episode of two boring characters wandering around in a stark and utilitarian environment, interacting with the requisite puzzle elements found on each floor. This makes the show feel like a glorified walkthrough rather than anything worth watching.
Speaking of the characters, Angels of Death has a very weak cast, with each member coming across as a human-shaped vessel for a collection of disconnected traits that fail to amount a coherent personality. From the first episode onward, Rachel is unemotive and vaguely defined as religious, while Zack is simple, temperamental and prone to violence. Neither are particularly inquisitive, most of their dialogue consisting of observations on and reactions to whatever situation they've been placed in, leaving very little time for character development outside of the few scattered intervals in which some tepid backstory is delivered via flashback, brining the story's events to an abrupt halt. Needless to say, this utter lack of character makes it extremely difficult to get invested in the lead characters, even ignoring the fact that Rachel's main goal in leaving the building is to be killed, meaning there's little point in rooting for her to survive. The show's antagonists are no less flat, each having one gimmick a piece. Danny is obsessed with eyes, Eddie is a possessive stalker that digs graves, Cathy is a sadistic prison warden and Reverend Gray is a judgemental priest that tests people.
While Angels of Death is listed as a horror anime, a label that the gloomy art style and decently atmospheric soundtrack make a token effort to earn, in truth, the series' horror themes are only skin deep. With its motley character design, superficial religious imagery and semi-frequent indulgences in action, it's not hard to tell that the anime is trying harder to be cool than it is to be scary. One can always tell when the leads are or aren't in danger, undermining any potential for tension, and the series' attempts at dark imagery are few, brief and unimpressive. What little ambition Angels of Death has manifests in attempts to build ambiguity (it would be too generous to call it mystery) about the history and mental state of the protagonist, Rachel. Alas, even if the show gave this plot point the focus it deserved, it would still culminate in a series of unimpressive and sometimes laughably predictable twists that only undermine the viewer's investment further while saying nothing meaningful. In general, the show has very little to say, existing seemingly for its own sake while using its imagery as set dressing that contributes nothing to the story.
To conclude, Angels of Death is an anime that fails at just about everything it tries. Its on-screen action is dull and tedious, its attempts at horror are non-existent, its story is a pointless slog, its characters are cardboard cut-outs and its imagery is piss-puddle shallow. At the time of writing, I genuinely cannot think of another anime that has bored me this much and I can think of no reason for a person to subject themselves to this series. If you're looking for a horror anime with actual tension, watch Another instead.
WalterShite
This anime is incredibly well written and the characters are all great. The development of rachel and zacks relationship is really well done. The set-up and story are unlike anything i have seen and it only gets more and more unique as it progresses. This anime has exagerrated violence (in certain scenes) but for the most part it keeps it realistic. This anime doesnt follow the typical tropes that would be expected. I truly think this is a criminally underrated show that more people should watch. At points this anime can get quite complex but personally i didnt find it confusing and understood the storywell. 10/10 would recommend to anybodybody who likes dark shows and horror themes.
Watashi35
I don't understand how this show is rated so low relative to ordinary shounens that often break 8.0. From the scoring, I expected this to be some bland disappointment, but I was pleasantly surprised. Say what you will about the premise being hilarious or this not being that scary, the true impact of this show is how it deals with divine themes and the nature of humanity. Almost no show has ever made me cry, my eyes have been dry through many of the supposed popular saddest scenes. That said, this show actually did make me tear up. I don't want to spoil anything, but somethingabout the characters and this show truly spoke to me on a deeper level about what it really means to be human, even despite the fact that the situations presented in the anime are often quite patently unnatural and no one watching would be involved in them (hopefully).
Perhaps I've lost my sense of taste, but this show felt like quite nearly a masterpiece that elicited more suspense and emotion than nearly any other anime I have seen, and thus I give it a stellar 9 (it is quite rare for me to give scores of 9+, as shown by my list).
Story: 8/10
Art: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Character: 10/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
Anasyub
i rarely write reviews but i have to for this anime because I do not understand why this has such low ratings, like this is such an underrated anime. This has to be one of my favourite horror animes and its so well done because the concept at least to me was so different. It was the setting of this building and the bond between zach and rachel that really sold this for me. Its not some out of the world amazing new concept but it felt fresh due to the characters being so different than each other. I have played the game for angels ofdeath and its one of my favourite rpg maker horror games ever...and I watched the anime after playing so I may be a bit biased because when I played the game the anime wasn't out. This anime is such a perfect adaption to the game, usually game to anime adaptations are crap. Its very hard to adapt games especially rpg which rely so much on interaction but this anime really did it so perfectly and I'm sad it doesn't get the credit it deserves.
This anime isn't generic scary that relies on jump scares and gore, its got a very psychological aspect and u feel for the characters because the stories are just nicely adapted. Its a very great watch and I strongly recommend going into it with an open mind.
TheThirstyOne
Watching "Angels of Death" was quite a tumultuous journey, and I don't mean emotionally. Now, I won't go into massive detail about the plot, since the synopsis is right on the page; it would be redundant of me to make you read it twice. However, I will discuss the things I liked and the things I disliked about this anime. First, the things I disliked. For starters, the animation in the opening wasn't as fluid as I'm used to. It was kind of snappy and abrupt, rather than flowy and smooth. However, I did get used to this rather quickly. Another thing that I didn'tlike too much was the constant talk about God. Now, I am a Christian, so I do believe in God; however, I don't get offended when people don't believe. For me, the constant talk about "be my God" and "there is no God" and "you swore to God" just seemed...unnecessary to the story. Like, I realize why it was there, but it just came off as pseudo-deep. I rolled my eyes quite a few times, especially when it was talked about continuously throughout an episode. I also didn't like Rachel's character too much at first. I found her annoying. It got better, though. Finally, I won't give spoilers since it's a relatively new show, but the ending left me pretty disappointed.
Now, on to the things I liked. For one thing, I really enjoyed the mystery surrounding Rachel's past. I was pretty satisfied with it when it was revealed. This goes for Zack's past, too, though his backstory was more emotional for me. This leads to my next point: the characters. Though not all of them were my favorite, there were two shining stars for me: Zack and Eddie. Zack was easily my favorite part of the anime. He was funny, cool, brash, and protective. He had a tough exterior, but like Rachel said near the end, "He's not a monster. He's a human." A human with a heart of gold, if you ask me. He was also pretty sexy, so that helped out a lot. Eddie, despite being a psychopath, was just really adorable and likable. I actually felt bad for him, despite how murderous he was. I also grew to like Rachel near the end, which is a good thing. Another thing I liked was the relationship between Rachel and Zack. Though initially involved in a Predator-Prey dynamic, their relationship evolved into something morbidly sweeter than that. I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried during their exchange in Episode 15. The OP and the ED were both excellent, though the ED takes the cake for me. It was beautifully sung by the woman who voiced Rachel in the Sub. Rachel's theme was also very beautiful. The artwork was really nice, and the animation was actually pretty fluid in the show, unlike in the OP. Finally, I really enjoyed the character development that took place in Rachel and Zack.
Overall, this anime was a rather frustrating watch for me. Though it was good, it waited until Zack's backstory episode and the second-to-last episode to really show some emotion. When it did, I loved it; other than that, it was just pretty good. The pretentious talk about God really brought the show down for me until Zack and Rachel had a heart-to-heart about it. Rachel was so annoying sometimes that I nearly quit watching. However, despite all of this, the good outweighs the bad. The mystery was fun, some of the characters were great, the character development was refreshing, the music was beautiful, and the relationship between the two main characters was great to witness. So, with all of this in mind, I had fun with this one, and I do recommend it if you can be patient with it. I'm sure you'll find some enjoyment in it.
Final Verdict: 7/10
MillennialDemon
You might think an anime that takes place in an orderly and contained environment that demands very simple and clear story goals with literally 6 characters and 16 full-length episodes to develop at least the main 2 protagonists would be pretty good or at least damn focused, but unfortunately you would be mistaken! I like the concept of an anime based on a RPG maker horror game with distinct levels that represent character struggles, because I like the limitations of a story like that. But despite a good set up that I thought was rife with opportunity to explore characters via personalized settings and challenges, Angelsof Death failed to be a compelling narrative, because the characters we explored were… well. Really only Zack and Rachel received narrative attention and they were bafflingly uninteresting and unrelatable, and the small cast of secondary characters who were opposing them were walking cliches that left no impact whatsoever and just weren’t explored, period.
Far too much of the dialogue was repetition and reaffirmation of the narrative linchpin that doesn’t make sense (so we gotta reiterate it constantly so please just suspend your disbelief) – “You promised you would kill me when I get us out of this dungeon right? You’re definitely going to kill me? I can’t let you die because I need you to kill me.” “Yeah, heard you the first time, I’m definitely going to kill you, so be useful or I won’t kill you!”
And so all of the characters talked a lot, but no one really said anything, and nothing tangibly changed in our protagonists. Rachel herself says when her character arc ended and she got over her hangup about God and being forgiven by Him: “It’s not as if I myself have really changed. I’ve just accepted who I am. And I don’t wish to be forgiven anymore - no one would forgive me. That is why I still want to die.” But she still has a hangup about her and Zack’s promise in general, it just has no relationship to God anymore, and she is still walking towards the exact same goal… her reasons why have shifted slightly to the left, but nothing drastically changed.
As for Zack’s “development”… I don’t think he did develop so much as we just learned more things about his past overtime, all of which did nothing to make him remotely sympathetic or even particularly complex. Without spoiling much, near the finale Zack says: “What is the point of leaving here without Rachel?!” and that surprised me for about 2 seconds, because I thought Oh, he realized he cares about her? Had his dynamic with her had become more important to him than his ultimate goal of leaving this place? But then I realized the more likely answer is that he caught her Promise Hangup Disease and was panicking about not fulfilling his promise to kill her after 15 episodes of talking about said promise constantly all of the time literally every episode it was honestly 80% of what they talked about SERIOUSLY WE GET IT. So I don’t think we ever really moved from square one with him, either.
So even if the characters may have SLIGHTLY changed how they think about the dumb linchpin of the story, they act on it in the same as they would have without having been challenged at all. So it comes off as pretty dissatisfying, because I was expecting that a story as character driven as this would have very dynamic protagonists, but alas…
(It also goes without saying that a big reason I was never particularly committed to these characters in the first place was because the idea of a suicidal 13 year old girl having a deeply messed up relationship with an adult serial killer that hinges on their mutual promise of him definitely killing her later isn’t terribly appealing to me.)
Basically: I can forgive the creepypasta-esque ridiculousness of this story, I can realize the characters look like they were conceived in a design contest on deviantart in 2009 and accept that, I can listen to Zack’s grating maniacal laughter layered over a rock music montage and Danny pronounce the name Rachel with 54894 extra syllables approximately 83478 times – but I can’t forgive having watched 16 full length episodes of an anime that is focused on just 2 characters, wherein they are never challenged quite enough to actually budge from the (completely irrational) beliefs they held from the start.
5/10 for having clean, consistent artwork, decent animation and direction, some great tracks on the ost, and not being a particular chore of an anime to get through and Thank God Having No Romance Elements That I Could Parse – but ultimately feeling like a waste of time and potential.
katsukyyy
The characters are pretty well done (referring to the design and the moral portrait), instead the plot is miserable. In fact, I can't even say what the plot is, because in my opinion I don't think it has one. It gives me the impression that this anime was made just for fighting and to show the audience what well-made characters it has. ART is a decent one .... nothing impressive .... moreover in some situations even quite stupid. I can't complain about the sound, but it's not one of the best. In short, I do not recommend this anime .... you can try the first fewepisodes, but in my opinion it is a waste of time.
halbeats
one word: underdeveloped. huge potential but the story is premature. with 16 episodes and two main characters we should know them through and through and evolve with them. this happens but really only in the last four episodes do we see substantial growth. loved zack, okamoto was great as his voice actor. he recieved the most backstory. ray isn't as developed and suffers for it as she felt lukewarm. dr. danny was consistently a nemesis, no backstory. the priest was unbuyable, he constructs this psychopathic lair of psychological experimentation and then grows a sliver of a heart toward the end. idk. eddie was a cute character.cathy was crazy and fun. all in all potentially two more characters we could connect with but zero backstory.
ultimately the plot construction was unstable and i think the producers/writers should have taken more liberties to build the dialogue from the original game. at least the art was nice.
story 4 art 8 sound 8 character 3 enjoyment 6 overall 5.
sighing to myself because there was real potential here.
oh well, i'll stop sighing and smile. glad to have taken the ride.
