Angel Beats! (2010)
Otonashi wakes up on a plaza with no memory of who he is or where he is. He's a teenager and a teen girl nearby has a sniper rifle. The girl is Yuri and she is aiming at another girl, Angel. Yuri explains to Otonashi that they are in the afterlife and Angel is there to force them onto the next level. Yuri wants to recruit Otonashi into her group that fights against Angel, trying to take over the school. Otonashi initially doesn't believe her and goes to warn Angel. Angel tells him that she is the class president and this school is the afterlife. He demands proof. She magically creates a sword and stabs him in the heart. He wakes up in the school infirmary, seemingly unharmed except for his bloody shirt on the floor next to him and the agonizing death he underwent. In the afterlife you can't die but getting killed still hurts badly. He decides to side with Yuri until he gets his memories back. Yuri's group is the Afterlife Battlefront (though they are constantly trying out new names for their group) and they enact various schemes to keep Angel off guard and themselves from being "obliterated."
The story has an interesting blend of comedy and pathos. The characters are endearing, especially as their backstories are revealed. All of them died in hard circumstances and struggle with their feelings about life. The school embodies the Christian concept of Limbo, though the characters are Buddhists and assume obliteration means being reincarnated, probably as something awful like a barnacle or a water flea. The characters struggle with the meaning of their existence and how much control they should have over their lives. The ending of the series (it's only 13 half-hour episodes) is surprisingly moving. Who knew an anime could be such an effective tearjerker?
Highly recommended--it's streaming on Netflix or available through Crunchyroll.
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