Welcome back, Militia! It’s been a hot minute and your girl is tired. Working two jobs and acting in a musical that hit the stage last weekend definitely drained me, but now I’m back with another Bad Rap for you! Today we are going to discuss a hot-tempered girl from an anime I’m sure will bring back some sad memories from years past. That’s right – we are talking about Yuri Nakamura from Angel Beats!
So for those of us in need of a brief reminder, Angel Beats! is an anime that follows a group of teens trapped in purgatory after facing traumatic ends during their short lives. Their purgatory is designed to represent a typical high school in order to give them a sense of normality in an effort to overcome the trauma and move on to whatever lies beyond. However, this sub-group of kids have no desire to move on. They make it their mission to defeat the Angel and rule this world, using violence and cunning traps.
The leader of this band of brats is none other than Yuri Nakamura. She is headstrong, willful, and the makes of a great leader that the gang follows without question. She makes it her destiny to destroy the Angel to become the ruler… until she discovers the truth of what the world truly is.
This gun-wielding chick is nearly fearless and her efforts are always changing to catch the Angel off guard. It is discovered later how she died and what led her to the obsession of wanting to defeat the Angel in the first place. Watching the horrific murders of her younger siblings and being powerless to stop it eventually ended with her own death, and the guilt followed her to the afterlife that she struggled to accept.
Does Yuri deserve her Bad Rap? Honestly, every character represented in this show deserved cupcakes and a hug, and Yuri is no different. Sure, she spent an abhorrent amount of time chasing power. But she was literally attempting to capture the one thing she craved in life that she never could obtain – control. At the end during Graduation, she finally accepted her place and was given the peace to move on. I don’t think for a moment she deserved a Bad Rap.
So, what do YOU think? Is there another character more fitting for the infamous Bad Rap title? Let us know in the comments below! We always love hearing your take! 👾🎮👾
