1st Beat

The visual novel based on the Angel Beats! franchise is a project by Key's Visual Arts, currently under development.

Plot

The story of the visual novel is said to be based on the Angel Beats! anime series and retains the role of Yuzuru Otonashi as the main character and protagonist. The player takes on the role of Otonashi, a newcomer to the Afterlife who finds himself in the middle of a struggle between a group of students who call themselves the Shinda Sekai Sensen ("Afterlife War Front"), or SSS for short, and a mysterious girl who is known under the alias of "Angel". The story will undergo changes based on feedback by the fans of the anime series. It also stated that Otonashi will be very different than his original personality in the Anime. 

Development

News of a visual novel based on Angel Beats! started on November 2010, when Jun Maeda, who previously worked on bestselling visual novels like Air, Clannad, and Kanon, stated in a public audience in Kyoto University that there is a possibility of an Angel Beats! visual novel in development in the future. In addition to this, Dengeki Visual Arts' president Takahiro Baba tweeted at a later date that the progress of the visual novel's development would be evaluated in 6 month's time.

However, during August of 2011, ten months after the announcement by Maeda, Baba implies a clear lack of progress within the development team on this replies on his official Twitter account. According to Baba, decisions have not been finalized and the game "hasn't progressed that far". As a result of these tweets by Baba, many fans speculated about the possibilities of the Angel Beats! visual novel being canceled.

On April 15, 2012, an announcement by Key Visual Arts in a press conference releases updates on the Angel Beats! visual novel. According to the said announcement, the visual novel is "in the works", with no specific details about the project, including whether if it is going to be an upcoming title or not. In a statement in his Twitter account, Baba stated that the game is not yet at the stage where an announcement would be possible, hinting at a slow, but steady pace of the game's development. A year later, Baba posted that the status of the visual novel project would be revealed before summer of 2013.

Tweets by Maeda on April 12 reveal that the music and scenario of the visual novel is currently under development. Maeda also stated that he is also planning to write new songs for Girls Dead Monster for the visual novel.

On March 28th, 2013, Visual Arts released the book All About Visual Arts ~VA20 miracle~ as an information guide for all Key games and other Visual Arts games. Including in the book were interviews with Jun Maeda among others. In one interview with Maeda, he confirmed the Angel Beats! visual novel was being worked on, unofficially confirming its existence.

Kashida Leo, co-writer of one of Key's previous works, Little Busters!, and Kai, co-writer of one of Key's previous works, Clannad and Kud Wafter, were also said to be working with Maeda on the project. In addition to this, on February 5th 2013, Visual Art's president Takahiro Baba tweeted^{[citation needed]} that the Angel Beats! game is still in the works as well, although some development on the project would be made after the summer of 2013.