Charlotte (Season 1)

Charlotte (2015) is an anime series you can watch online on iFILM. In its world a handful of teenagers develop strange powers, but only for a few years, until they grow up. Yuu Otosaka can possess another person's body for five seconds at a time, and he mostly uses it to cheat his way to the top of his class.

That scam ends when Nao Tomori, the sharp-tongued head of a student council, tracks him down and drags him into a special school that shelters power-holders from researchers eager to dissect them. It opens like a breezy comedy about super-powered kids. Then writer Jun Maeda, the man behind Clannad and Angel Beats, pivots the show somewhere far darker and more personal around the halfway mark.

Thirteen episodes from studio P.A. Works, a complete story that actually ends. The sudden tonal shift splits fans down the middle, and it's the very reason the series is worth your time. A solid pick if you like real drama hiding under a sci-fi hook. Stream every episode of Charlotte (2015) online on iFILM.