I'm sure many of you remember Kakushigoto from 2020. It was an underrated SOL anime with 12 episodes focusing on the funny and wholesome interactions between a father, a gag mangaka who draws dirty jokes and his daughter, who doesn't know what her dad does for work. This movie is just a compilation/summary/recap of that anime series so if you haven't watched that yet I highly recommend watching it first before watching this movie. As such I'll mostly be discussing about the compilation film itself instead of say, reviewing its story and characters.
The movie is almost 1 hour and 19 minutes long so it's
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Jul 13, 2021 Mixed Feelings
The Accomplice Ending is something that caught my attention ever since I first heard of it.
For those unaware, this was an original ending added for the first time in Persona 4 the Golden which was a 2012 PS Vita port of the 2008 PS2 game. This special adapts that alternate ending which you get if you complete Tohru Adachi's social link. Admittedly, this ending isn't as dramatic as what I thought it was gonna be. What I had in mind was that during the boss fight with Adachi, Yu would betray and turn against his party members mid-battle to join Adachi and take out his friends ... one by one LOL. But what we got was more grounded than that and is actually fairly interesting in its own right. This special is just 16 minutes long as you might've noticed and I would've preferred it if it were longer. But any longer than this and I'm sure A-1 Studio would start cutting corners with their animation work again and what we might've ended up with was another disastrous episode. Thankfully the artstyle is pretty consistent as you should expect from an adaptation of such a highly acclaimed video game. There was nothing wrong with the cinematography of the original scene in the video game so you could watch that for a slightly better (and longer) experience. But there's nothing particularly wrong with this adaptation either. If you played the game then you don't need to watch this since it's not very different from the source material like P4GA was. Still at 16 minutes this is an OK watch if you've played the game a long time ago and need a quick refresher or just looking for a timekiller after finishing watching P4GA. 6/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jul 7, 2021
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 Recap
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Mixed Feelings Spoiler
This review contains spoilers for Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
This anime is just 11 episodes long. It shouldn't need a recap since it's already so short and doesn't have any sort of sequels. But still I'd say this recap is above average. It's only like 50 minutes long, not 20 minutes like a typical episode, but it's not exactly movie size either. And I think this recap benefitted from the length. Sure, a lot of stuff got cut. But what I liked was that it cut right after the Tokyo Tower collapsing incident. Not necessarily the cut itself but it showed that Yuuki was suffering from a headache caused ... by the incident till he collapsed due to sunstroke. At first it seemed as if he died solely because of his weakness. Another thing that you'll notice if you watch this recap (or rewatching the 11 episodes) is Mari's treatment towards Mirai after the death of Yuuki. Mirai was obviously coping hard with her loss so her mind was blocking out the memory of Yuuki's death announcement to keep her sane. Along with that she was also hallucinating a living Yuuki. When I first watched it I thought Mari had a darker face because she was worried about her daughter Hina, not Mirai. But this digest proved me wrong. I should add that this recap skips episodes 5,6,7 completely. It continues from Yuuki saving Mirai from the falling Tokyo Tower debris in episode 4 to episode 8 where they have to take him to a hospital for losing consciousness in the road, so this recap makes it seem like he was taken to the hospital for getting hit by small debris when in actuality it was a much slower process that took time. Anyways this is good for a quick rewatch. But if you think you remember the storyline of the 11 episodes then it's unnecessary. But then again if you read this review you can probably imagine what exactly this has in store so (re)watching it would be totally useless.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jul 5, 2021 Recommended
This OVA is just 23 minutes long. So it's like a standard Maison Ikkoku episode.
The story is about what you'll read in the synopsis. It's bonkers. This takes place in the very early first quarter of MI (Mitaka is still afraid of Soichiro). But it actually feels more like a Urusei Yatsura episode except with Maison Ikkoku characters! You'll know what I mean if you watched both... Can't believe I almost got duped by the last 5 minutes thinking this actually takes place after the last episode of the series. The animation kinda feels off even by 1991 standards... But at least the abominable artstyle ... from Kanketsu-hen aka Final Chapter isn't used here. They try to replicate the style of the series more even though it's not 100% accurate. This is actually a fun watch but it will make you hurting for more Maison Ikkoku episodes if you watch this after completing the 96-episode series... Anyway, Akemi in swimsuit looks hot <3 :D Might be worth watching for that alone :P Oh yeah, Kyoko looks good too!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 5, 2021 Mixed Feelings
So recap movies existed in that time too.
Maison Ikkoku is an anime series which has 96 episodes. This movie is just 1 hour 30 minutes long. You can see where I'm going with this. They basically picked a lot of scenes throughout the series from beginning to end and mashed them together in a feature length movie somehow. This series had a lot of plotpoints which makes it near impossible to cut up into a single movie. The overall plot stays the same but a lot of important scenes which added to the experience when watching the 96-episode anime gets the axe. And I think everyone ... who watched the anime would feel the same way when watching this. The following parts of the review contains spoilers for those who didn't watch Maison Ikkoku. Maison Ikkoku is a long-running romcom anime. So it's bound that when they cut a scene it'll piss someone off who actually loved that scene. I'll tell you some of the scenes that I missed: the first kiss scene between Godai and Kyoko, the entire arc about Godai getting a job from Yagami's dad, the "even if it's by a day, please live longer than me" dialogue from Kyoko etc. I understand why the Godai getting a job arc was cut because it was too long to fit in this movie and it could be considered a filler arc when compared to the grand scheme of things. In fact, I can probably understand most of the cuts. It's because of time constraints. But they've also edited scenes that are included in the film for the same reason. To me this was a bigger sin. The one scene that was obviously guilty of this was Kyoko slapping Godai at the train station before graduation exam. A beautiful scene got ruined due to the excessive amount of cuts. I'll stop here as anymore and I'd be considered a whiner. Maybe I already am. One thing I like about some modern recap films is that they sometime add new content to the story. But this film is probably too backdated for that. I half-expected some new scene from the manga to make it here since the original series cut so many little things from the manga. The animation is probably also the same as the series. There's no touched up animation like you might've expected. So yeah, I don't really recommend this movie if you've recently finished watching Maison Ikkoku. But 96 episodes is a long journey, and you might want to rewatch some earlier episodes without accidentally rewatching the entire series. So this might be the solution you're looking for. Other than that I'd say the filler "Final Chapter" movie and the 90's OVA is worth your time more. I'll rate this film the same score I rate every other recap film in my list that have no new interesting material. That's it. Thanks for reading my review.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Mar 24, 2021 Recommended
I already made a review on Part 1 of Season 2. Most of the things I said in it not only still hold true for Part 2, I think it even surpasses them. There might be some spoilers from Season 1 and Season 2 Part 1 but I'll try to keep Part 2 spoilers as vague as possible.
After a 3 month-long break White Fox returns with their Re:ZERO adaptation. The cliffhanger of the last Part was a bit odd and you could kinda tell that Part 1 & 2 were supposed to air back to back. I would've preferred to review both Parts together as ... a complete season as they complement each other and I also didn't want to repeat myself on some things. But obviously, it couldn't be helped considering the state of the world. I guess now it doesn't matter since Part 2 is here anyway and has finished airing. Now the actual review. The first thing I want to get out of the way was the lackluster animation of the previous Part. Since animation switched from studio to home after Episode 5 of Part 1 the quality noticeably took a dip. After the 3 month break, the animation actually improved. Honestly, I'm even more shocked that White Fox was capable of delivering 29:30 minutes long episode for weeks on end. Apparently, Kadokawa paid off ads so that Re:ZERO could fill up the entire time slot for the TV channels it was airing on Japan. I haven't been watching anime for too long but something like this is basically unheard of to me. So I thought this deserves some praise. There are still some weird frames here and there but their numbers are low compared to the last part. Those awkward frames don't take away from the enjoyment too much as the quality holds up in places where it matters the most. Episode 23 "Love Me Down to My Blood and Guts" and Episode 24 "Choose Me" are by far the highlights of Season 2. And this wouldn't be possible if not for outsourcing partners such as A-1 or ufotable studios. Once again, the OP and ED have only been played twice each. So when I said 29:30 minute episodes it means that most of them were actually pure content. White Fox easily could've sacrificed pacing and shove OP and ED in every episode but they didn't. Anyone who watched this season would tell you that their passion for this show is genuine, and I can get behind that. The ED visuals were fantastic, OP visuals were a bit lackluster according to many but I'm shocked that we got an OP at all, to be honest. Since I was talking about OPs and EDs I might as well start talking about the OST. As I said before, music has always been good in Re:ZERO. Do I really gotta say any more? Well, like it or not, I'm gonna. Even though there was a lack of OP/ED visuals in most episodes we still got to hear some of them in the background. And the most notable instances for them were definitely during the Emilia episodes and "Choose Me". I can't talk about OST without mentioning 'Door' by Rie Takahashi and 'What You Don't Know' by Rie Murakawa. Both of them delivered fantastic performances for their insert songs <3 If you haven't watched Part 2 yet and don't know who the latter is, you're in for a surprise. The last bits of "Love Me Down to My Blood and Guts" parallels Episode 18 of Season 1 "From Zero" in many different ways. I just wish Arai Satomi got an insert song too :( The overall OSTs were also phenomenal. You're doing yourself a disservice if you watch the episodes without a nice pair of headphones! But something that was even more amazing was the cast's portrayal of their characters. Once again Yusuke Kobayashi knocks it out of the park with his performance. But his and Maaya Sakamoto's highlights were mostly in Part 1. In this part, we got an amazing portrayal from Rie Takahashi and her voicing various transformations of Emilia which I'm trying hard to not spoil! Other notable performances include Arai Satomi as Beatrice and Takehito Koyasu as Dio- I mean Roswaal. Let's talk about the characters. I strongly believe that Re:ZERO isn't a plot-driven but a character-driven show. The plot revolves around the characters and the characters revolve around the plot. If you can't really see their relation then you might not be able to appreciate the true genius of Re:ZERO. Re:ZERO puts its characters first above all else and that's where the heart of this series lied since Day 1. The character development of Emilia is undoubtedly the highlight of the Season. She went from a mostly off-screen "main" character from Season 1 to a useless pathetic crybaby in Part 1 of Season 2 to one of the most beloved and memorable characters in a short time with organic development. She has definitely cemented herself as one of the two leading characters of Re:ZERO (finally)... but whether or not she's "THE best girl" is still up for debate, according to some folk anyway. Subaru went from a useless pathetic crybaby (like Emilia) to one of the chaddest of chads in no time as well. Anyone who unironically used to call him a "self-insert main character", "weak mc" or a "simp" (despite Re:ZERO predating the term ironically) is literally proven wrong by the 2nd episode and again in the last two episodes. Even I used to think Subaru was somewhat of a self-insert main character while watching Season 1. But he has successfully established himself to be his own character which is something very rare to see in modern isekai shows. If your definition of "strength" exclusively relies upon physical strength then I can see why you'd still say those things and completely miss the point of the characters. Again, Re:ZERO isn't a typical shonen d@#k measurement contest about which characters can bust the largest nut like let's say in Dragonballz. It's not an action, power fantasy isekai harem show either. (sorry for the random rant) That being said there was a surprising bit of action in the last few episodes which were well-animated. Other highlighted characters of the season include Otto (BEST BOI), Garfiel (dammit, both Otto and Garfiel best boi), Roswaal, Ram (best girl?), Beatrice (also best girl) and many other characters whom I might not mention because of spoilers. Re:ZERO isn't about its waifus, nor is it about torture porn for sadists. It's about the characters. Even if you can't fully invest in all of the characters, you should still be able to acknowledge their growth at the very least. If Part 1 was about the buildup, then Part 2 is about the delivery, and boy does it deliver. The tension is at an all-time high but not in the same way as Part 1. After the first episode, and ESPECIALLY after the 2nd episode, you get the gist of what's to come and you can't help but smile and still be surprised as things play out. Re:ZERO Season 1, and by extension Part 1 of Season 2 covered the worst qualities of the protagonist Subaru. Not many shows have the balls to address the weaker aspects of their main character, at least not in the way Re:ZERO does. Part 1 also dealt with Emilia, but if Part 1 was Subaru's part then Part 2 is Emilia's. She's the second main character of Re:ZERO. It was unfortunate that Season 1 didn't focus more on her, leaving Rem to take up all the spotlight after the first half of Season 1. But now Rem being in the state she is in not only leaves the door open for Subaru's growth but also Emilia's. To some people that might've been a terrible sacrifice but to me who never really watched the first season solely for Rem it's actually worth it. I don't think I made it clear in my last review cause of spoilers so I think I should now, Rem's exclusion from the main plot of Season 2 isn't a weakness. Too many people before Season 2 used to say, "Subaru's RBD is too OP", "it's not an interesting power", "it's a plot device which ruins the story and makes it boring" etc. Rem's comatose state and Subaru's inability to save her right away expose the fundamental flaws of his RBD, something that can be called a curse. It's not his own power and he certainly can't control it, he never could. By repeating loops we can see sides of characters that are impossible to see in a normal linear anime or shows. Tappei Nagatsuki takes full advantage of this time looping technique in his story. This was true for Season 1 as well. But Season 2 takes it to a different level. Time to address the most common criticisms of Season 2. I've heard from many people that it has "too many flashbacks" or it's "too boring". I can't comment too much about how boring it may be to other people as different people watch different anime for different reasons. If you already watched previous seasons then you probably have a rough idea of what's to come, but even then this Part will subvert your expectations in a positive way. If you think this season is boring cause of "flashbacks" then let me correct you, without spoiling too much. There were only 2 or 3 real flashback scenes in the whole season. "But wait! That doesn't add up!" you might think. I'm assuming you already watched Part 1 but let me just give you a refresher, the Sanctuary Witch Trials are NOT flashbacks. They're extremely integral to the characters, and by being integral to the characters, they're also integral to the overall narrative. I'd say even the "real" flashbacks are extremely important in giving context about the other characters. These aren't your average cliché flashbacks that take place right before a fight scene and only screw up the pacing. There's a bunch of them in this Part, I agree, but not one of them wasn't well done or felt unimportant. All of them served a purpose. Another common complaint is that this arc is "too long" or "it stays at the same place". This is objectively true. The first season of the anime covers the first 3 Arcs from the novel. Season 2 only covers Arc 4 from Episode 2 and spans the entire season. But I don't believe this to be a weakness. It's true that Season 1 spends way much time exploring different locations and characters, but the actual world-building in Season 2 surpasses Season 1 by a long shot. It's also true that Season 2 doesn't have a lot of returning characters from Season 1, at least not for long, which may be disappointing to people who are fans of the missing characters. But what it lacks in quantity it makes up for it with quality. The returning characters from Season 1 who stick around get amazing characterization and the brand new characters are just as interesting as characters from Season 1, if not more. Heck, I'd argue the latter is more true. Not a single moment in Part 2 is wasted or feels like filler. If anything, White Fox delivered more than what any of us expected which makes this more than any 'average' Light Novel adaptation. There were some cut content unfortunately like any other LN adaptation. Even some important moments cut from the LN are still present in the freaking manga adaptation of the same story. Despite this, in my opinion, there was no dull moment in this season except for maybe a few small instances. I'm just hoping that the cut scenes will get readded in the next Season/Arc of Re:ZERO anime. Re:ZERO might've just become one of my favorite anime of all time which I can't really say about a lot of the recently released anime. Season 2 feels like a dream even after the unexpected success of Season 1 and many years of silence. I'm just worried about a sequel. Re:ZERO episodes every week pulls some great cliffhangers so I'm used to them but what I don't understand is why White Fox doesn't do the same thing with the season finale. Basically a repetition of the original cut of the Season 1 finale. Still I'm hopeful for a potential Season 3. 10/10. No, BS.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Feb 5, 2021 Recommended Spoiler
I already wrote a review of Season 2 Part 1. I kinda regret not doing a review of season 1 first. But now that Part 1 of Season 2 has finished airing and Part 2 is airing, thought this might be the time to look back on season 1.
It's 2021, Re:ZERO Season 2 is going strong, no longer are the days when people had to suffer from there not being a true sequel to season 1. So, a lot of the things mentioned here are from the perspective of someone who's up to date with season 2 (atm 43 overall) and reflected back into season ... 1. In other words, it's from the perspective of someone who's from the future a la 2021. Even if you didn't read my review of season 2 or watched it, you'll be fine as there will be no major spoilers. But before the review, I want to give some more thoughts about the isekai genre as a whole, since Re:ZERO was one of the first isekai series I watched. So bear with me, will you? (Or you could just skip to the review...) Ah, isekai. Probably one of the misunderstood genre of anime out there. Misunderstood by both the anime consumers AND anime producers. In [Current Year] anime watchers are sick of the loads of new isekai shows they get every year. At least one new anime of the season seems to be a brand new isekai show. And some people believe this trend will continue until this genre is sucked dry so hard to the point the audience doesn't care about it anymore. (Yet people will keep consuming it anyway) Re:ZERO anime came out in 2016. Probably at the height of this genre's popularity. Danmachi came out last year, KonoSuba first season just aired. Nobody expected this to reach the phase it's in today. In that regard, many people now are retroactively looking at Re:ZERO as the black sheep of the isekai genre. Thinking it's responsible for all the trash and mindless isekai that spawned later. Though it is true successful shows give birth to lots of cheap knockoffs, I don't necessarily believe Re:ZERO was responsible for it. At the time it was airing the isekai genre was already very popular through the shows I already mentioned and other things. This genre isn't anything new. I don't know the whole context of how it came to be, but Re: Starting Life in Another World From Zero (based on a Web Novel written in 2012 by Tappei Nagatsuki) did take advantage of the fact that the isekai genre was crazy popular and at a time when anime of this genre was still considered 'fresh'. So with that out of the way, on to the actual review. Story and presentation: One of the common complaints of isekai shows is that most of them are too similar. Most of them seem to take place in a fantasy setting that seems to be directly inspired by something like Dragon Quest. On the surface level Re:ZERO looks no different. You might be forgiven for thinking it's just an overrated generic isekai harem trash. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Re:ZERO isn't "dark" or "smart" like some claim to be. If that's what you were expecting it to be then you ought to be disappointed. Re:ZERO knows exactly what it is and it does it perfectly. Many isekai shows have overpowered main characters or people who don't seem "real". One of the things I love about Re:ZERO is that Subaru is basically an anti-thesis to those overpowered MCs. I do think OP characters can be well written (just look at Mob Psycho 100), but I don’t think an OP protagonist fits into an isekai storyline too well. In my opinion, isekai shows are about someone who used to be an average guy dealing with scenarios that are impossible in our day to day lives. Subaru is someone who did nothing special in his past life deserving him any special treatment in the next. Most, if not all, of his actions are justified when looked at from his POV. That being said he still has room to grow. Anyways, the story is about a boy Natsuki Subaru getting isekai'd into an unfamiliar world. But instead of being greeted immediately by a cute girl like in a typical isekai, he was greeted coldly as if his entire summoning was a mistake. One thing I love about Re:ZERO is that most isekai shows incorporate RPG or gamelike formulas with stats so it can easily make the viewer understand power scaling. Re:ZERO does none of that sh#t and tries to keep things fairly realistic. However, this show is very gamelike in one aspect. If you were around the internet in 2016 there's one videogame you possibly heard a lot about which would be Dark Souls III. And there is a reason that Re:ZERO used to be called "Dark Souls of anime" (Ik that joke is overdone now). And the whole reason for that is because this anime is largely themed around death, mostly about the main character. Just like in Dark Souls, or in any video games really, death isn't really the end, it's just a part of the game. And no other anime of the same genre nailed as perfectly as Re:ZERO did, even the ones that are severely gamelike. I believe Re:ZERO, (especially season 1) is mostly a character-driven show, so I'd like to discuss more things about its characters (and the role they play in the story) in its own section. Characters: You've probably heard two things about the main character Natsuki Subaru. "He's a realistic character", and "he's annoying af". I don't think these two contradict each other. Realistic characters don't necessarily mean "good" characters. But in the case of Re:ZERO, I'd say Subaru IS a good character. Some people will say that he became a good character only from season 2, I disagree. Season 2 only provided further context towards Subaru that makes the viewers understand him more, but he was still a well-written character since pretty much the beginning. He is a simple character, but there's nothing particularly wrong with that. He's not written like some definitive moral compass who's always right. He's a teenager who makes questionable decisions, and he makes mistakes. A lot of them. But with the power of a plot device called 'Return by Death,' he has the chance to not only undo his mistakes but learn from them. It's not a foolproof superpower and it doesn't always 100% work. Sometimes it takes him multiple attempts to learn a single lesson. And that's basically what the gimmick of this show is. Try>fail>redo>fail again>redo again>succeed. And I don't think it's a bad thing, but is one of this show's strengths. Although this is very similar to Steins;Gate I wouldn't say Re:ZERO is a time-traveling series. The closest thing it can be called is time looping. The deuteragonist of this show is definitely supposed to be Emilia (the whole reason Tappei wanted to write Re:ZERO is for Emilia), but after the first couple of episodes, it starts becoming less and less true, unfortunately. She gets almost no screentime around the middle of the season and the little time she does get doesn't develop her character much. If anything, this show is more about Subaru and... Rem, you probably heard her name before. She's undoubtedly the star of this season and definitely brought a lot of attention and hype towards this series, despite being merely a side character according to MAL. I personally disagree with her overtaking Makise Kurisu as the top female in MAL though. She's not even that good of a yandere. Oops, I don't wanna spoil anything more about her to those who are new but if you know, you know. There are also characters like the 4 other Royal candidates, Rem's sister Ram, Roswaal, BEATRICE, Petelgeuse, Reinhard, etc. I remember the name of almost every side character in this show which is rare for me because I rarely pay attention to all the side characters in other isekai shows or anime in general. This just speaks how interesting each of the characters is in this show even though their full potential isn't explored in this season. Art: The character designs of this anime are incredible. Emilia looks beautiful, Rem/Ram looks cute, Beatrice is adorable, Elsa is hot, Roswaal looks like a clown, Subaru looks like an average dude with muscles, etc. The world design is a bit meh tbh but there are some interesting locations like the Roswaal's mansion. Overall the art quality is better than average but the animation that represents said art is even better. I never really appreciated how well Re:ZERO Season 1 was animated until I rewatched it and after Season 2 started airing. It's definitely one of the more beautifully animated shows of 2016 with some use of CGI here and there but thankfully none in any important segments. I have to give kudos to White Fox for making some of the episode lengths longer than your normal 23-minute length of typical anime. The opening and ending themes were so amazing, they were missed in the episodes that skipped them but I understood the reasoning behind it. Certain episodes wouldn't hit the same with a bop opening playing before it. Sound or music: Speaking of openings, the songs in this anime is memorable, especially the character songs like Stay Alive by Rie Takahashi and Wishing by Inori Minase. Myth & Roid and Re:ZERO goes hand in hand at this point with their *killer* insert songs (haha getit). One of the OST Requiem of Silence will forever haunt me in my memories along with the scene it played on in Episode 15. Like I said in my season 2 review, music in Re:ZERO was always good, and it started from here. The voice acting for each of the characters was solid. Yusuke Kobayashi for Subaru and Rie Takahashi for Emilia was excellent casting and will probably remain as my favorites. Honorable mentions include Rie Murakawa as Ram and Takehito Koyasu as Roswaal. Enjoyment: I thoroughly enjoyed this show when I first watched it in 2017. Albeit rewatches can drag a bit in the middle, I still think it's a highly enjoyable and rewatchable show. The beginning especially is done remarkably well and is more than enough to get anyone hooked. The mystery and the unpredictable nature of this show are amazing. I'm not one of those people who only watched this show for one particular waifu. I do think the worth of this show goes well beyond that. If you are one of those people then I feel sorry about you. I wouldn't recommend this anime to anyone looking for waifus and a fun time because this definitely isn't about that. Conclusion: I thought Re:ZERO was a good show from the start but Season 2 somehow retroactively makes it even better as you start appreciating aspects of it that you previously missed. That doesn't mean it's better than Season 2. Season 1 laid the foundation for what's to come next but it definitely can be enjoyed on its own. Hell, many people thought this was a complete show but it couldn't be further from the truth. If you do view this as a standalone show, it actually isn't anything that special or impressive. But once you realize that this is basically just the beginning of a much grander series, things start to look a lot brighter. Overall I'll rate this season 8/10. Pretty good for a starting season. I just hope this series will keep improving itself and be better just like its characters. And Season 2 is very much an improvement of its formula in probably every possible way. I can't wait to review part 2 of season 2 and then wait 4 years for season 3 again. This series does deserve better, and it deserves your attention. Thanks for reading my spoiler-free review. I highly recommend reading my Season 2 review(s) as they include much more information because I deliberately avoided saying the same things again in this review.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 30, 2020 Recommended Spoiler
Finally, the preliminary round has ended as the final episode just finished airing. What you see now is the updated and final version of my season 2 part 1 review, as promised.
Ah, after 4 long years, the long-awaited sequel to the 2016 isekai anime Re:ZERO ~ Starting Life in Another World has finally arrived much to the joy of anime fans and myself. The original season was one of the most popular anime of 2016. I’ll focus on not only how season 2 compares to the first season and how it improves upon the foundations laid by the first season, but also how it treats ... the isekai genre as a whole. Re:ZERO is an isekai anime. It shares many tropes typical of the isekai genre by now. The first season came out in 2016 around the time the isekai anime trend started to boom in popularity. Now every season of every year seems to feature some sort of brand new isekai show. There's no doubt this recent "success" of isekai shows had some part to play in bringing back this beloved show. There are undoubtedly many people who are sick of seeing these new seasonal isekai shows, but this is not a brand new isekai anime of the season. It's a sequel to a pre-existing show from a few years back. Now with that out of the way, let's continue to the review. There will be no major spoilers of season 2 in this review. Plot/setting: Many isekai shows borrow a lot from other media like video games, especially from fantasy settings like Dragon Quest. This is very much the case with Re:ZERO, for the most part. But we all know that ideas don't mean a lot, it's the execution that matters. Unlike most isekai shows nowadays which employ worlds that are very game-y with video game UI and leveling systems, Re:ZERO throws all that away and opts for a slightly more realistic fantasy setting. The world of Re:ZERO feels like a world inhabited by people as opposed to NPCs. There are no in-game UI or level-up system. Instead, the only level up we get is the emotional development of the characters who inhabit this world. If you've watched the recently released Director's Cut of the first season (which is missing from MAL's database for some reason) then you already got a sneak-peek into the beginning of 2nd season. If you haven't then don't fret, the extra post-credits scene of the DC ver. which sets up the 2nd season is included in the first episode. So basically the 2nd season starts off immediately after the 1st season. After 4 whole setup episodes, the fourth arc of Re:ZERO finally kicks off. And it finally covered some important story beats of the first season and also solved many "plotholes". The show takes a very slow and promising approach in telling one of the best arcs of Re:ZERO from the novels. The story of Re:ZERO is continuous. Rarely does it leave you with any room to breathe. Every moment is tense and action-packed. No moments are wasted because all of it is central to plot progression in one way or another. Season 2 is only halfway done. Part 2 aka the actual meat of the season has been delayed to January. Some novel readers might even say the whole of Part 1 was just a setup for what comes after aka Part 2. Does that mean it’s not worth experiencing the first half of the story until the second half arrives? Absolutely not. Part 1 has its own stories to tell. Part 1 of Season 2 has some of the best loops in Re:ZERO history. Each loop has a mystery surrounding them which gets unveiled one after another in a very unpredictable manner. If you never read the novels and watch purely the anime, without spoiling too much, I’ll just say that you’re in for lots of surprises that drop like bombshells. Many of which are unanswered questions from season 1. Art/animation: I’m one of the few people who thought the anime art style of Re:ZERO season 1 didn’t match the quality of the light novel illustrations. They’re very close but they don’t quite nail the beauty seen in the ln illustrations except in a handful of places where the anime can outshine the ln illustrations by Shinichiro Ootsuka. He makes great art that’s difficult to emulate in animation. Season 2 art style is very faithful to the 1st season. However, I think the art style of season 2 is slightly more true to the light novel illustrations. The art of the world itself looks like a pretty generic fantasy setting. But the character design of the main and brand new characters is amazingly drawn and memorable. They don't seem out of place in any way except for, of course, the main character who is literally out of this world. This is more from the first season but his design does a good job standing out in the environment as an anomaly for that world. I don't really watch Re:ZERO for its animation or fight scenes. This show isn't about that. And it's definitely not about an overpowered MC destroying enemies like in a typical isekai power fantasy. There are a few well-done scenes that are handled amazingly in this part of the season. Now here comes a fun fact, every episode after episode 5 was drawn from home by the White Fox staff because of COVID-19. Season 2 was originally supposed to air in April right after where the Director’s cut of season 1 left off. And I believe at the time the splitting of cours wasn’t yet announced. They were delayed because of the inevitable. I’m happy to confirm that each episode after episode 5 was still handled well. There were some scenes with awkwardly drawn frames but nothing that breaks the immersion too much. I have faith that these few frames will get fixed in the Blu-ray release or maybe a Director’s cut version of season 2? And oh boy, despite the limitations White Fox managed to deliver oversized episodes. Most episodes were over 26 minutes long. And that’s WITHOUT the openings or endings included. Episode 4, which was one of the most important and memorable episodes of the entirety of Re:ZERO might just go down as one of the best single anime episodes of the year. The amount of emotion poured into that episode, and what comes after that are surreal. White Fox are masters at creating tense situations from the source material they adapt even more intense. One of my personal favorite shows of all time is Steins;Gate from the last decade. If White Fox can keep up the quality that they’re producing today, then Re:ZERO might just become their highlight show of this decade. And that’s saying a lot, since Steins;Gate is one of the best modern classics ever produced. Sound/music: Music has always been good in Re:ZERO. If season 1 was about memorable music then season 2 is about fantastic sound design. Season 1 had some amazing atmospheric tracks but season 2 blows it out of the water! Animation of the season might’ve lagged behind a bit because of real-world circumstances but holy sh*t, did they somehow manage to surpass their sound quality from 4 years ago! Important scenes are paired with music that makes them feel more intense. Scenes with mystery and revelations are also accompanied by appropriate tracks. Sadly some fan-favorite tracks like “Call of the Witch” are missing here. But I think some of the newer tracks more than make up for that by creating a moody atmosphere not present in the original. Trust me, watch this season with a pair of good quality headphones. You owe it to yourself! The opening of season 2 is absolutely phenomenal. The song performed by Suzuki Konomi is incredible and the animation that goes along with it is a significant step up from season 1's first 2 OPs. This is one of those hard to skip openings of the season. Just for the fantastic OP, I'll give this an extra point. The 1st ED to season 1 is memorable. Luckily we got a new ED that's amazing in not just presentation but also sounds the best out of the 3 ED there are. I don’t think it’s better than “Stay Alive” performed by Rie Takahashi (aka Emilia) but it still stands on its own and fits the theme of season 2 quite nicely. But unfortunately, as was the case with most the 1st season episodes there are more episodes without any OPs OR EDs than there are episodes with them. In fact, I only saw 2 episodes that included the OP, and a few more of them included the ED, but not the visuals. You know the opening and ending are good when you complain about the show skipping them for you and focusing more on the plot. The voice actors/actresses do an amazing job. Especially Echidna voiced by none other than industry veteran Maya Sakamoto. Her casting is perfect for the job since Echidna is one of the most important characters of season 2 and boy does she deliver. And speaking of characters… Characters: This is going to be my personal favorite part of this review. I've always considered the heart of an isekai series to be the characters. Most isekai shows sacrifice story and world-building just to make fun characters. Many isekai shows with fantasy setting borrow your standard Dragon Quest-inspired worlds with a very generic plot like "slay the Demon Lord" or something like that and rely mostly on the characters to be an entertaining show. I wouldn't say the same is true for Re:ZERO, at least not completely. The world of Re:ZERO is fairly competent and will only keep getting better as more chapters are written. But it's the characters living in that world who are the highlights. And sure enough, the newly introduced characters in the 2nd season are fantastic, especially Echidna, who not only stands on her own as a beloved character but also furthers the lore of the series. She became the much-needed face of Re:ZERO after the fall of the blue-haired demon maid at the start of the season whose name I can't quite remember. At least for this season, Echidna is going to be the poster girl, not Emilia, and definitely not that ill-fated blue imouto (sorry). Echidna isn’t the only new character introduced into this season. But she sure stole the spotlight (and also stole many people’s hearts lol). Returning characters from the first season are still the same or went through drastic changes. Some are gone and may not appear in this season for plot-reasons. Characters such as Roswaal and Ram get some interesting development that sets them apart from their season 1 selves. And there are a few other characters returning from the first season who contribute a lot to the overarching narrative and stand out as more important than ever before. I won’t spoil whom I’m talking about. I wanted to dedicate a separate para for the main character. Subaru Natsuki must be one of the most overhated and misunderstood MCs of any anime in recent years. Not just because of the bandwagon haters for his rejection of Rem (which I find dumb) but because of his incompetence as a protagonist. The latter of which is totally understandable in the case of season 1. Lots of people judged him from the basis of 1 season which was an incomplete story. But Season 2 gives him an opportunity to grow past his past mistakes and become a genuinely likable character. If you've watched till episode 4 then you know what I'm talking about. The Subaru you saw in season 1 is not the definitive version of himself. And neither is the version in season 2. He’s a character who’ll continue growing as the story progresses. In many ways, Re:ZERO is like a character study of Subaru. An average guy from our world facing impossible scenarios in a different world. One of the best ways to force his growth has to be the trials of the sanctuary, which is an ingenious plot setup. The most disappointing character of this part of the season however is Emilia. Who remains largely unchanged from season 1. Instead of her getting more developed like the rest of the cast, what we see are only her weaknesses. This was definitely not her season. I expect her to redeem herself in part 2, just like Subaru redeemed himself in this part. As for the blue-haired demon maid I was talking about aka Rem, well I never liked her as much as the masses did. I thought she was good in the first season but in this season she was turned into nothing more than a plot device. I think we do deserve a break from her and let the other characters receive the spotlight. And so far they delivered. I wholeheartedly believe we’ll be fine without her for a while. Conclusion: I'm someone who very much enjoyed the 1st season and was patiently waiting for a sequel. Now that my prayer's been answered I enjoyed every moment of season 2. Each episode of Re:ZERO ends with cliffhangers. And the ending of this part leaves us with a 3-month long cliffhanger. I genuinely believe the cliffhangers make the experience even better. This is something you won’t be able to experience after a certain amount of time passes. But it is still enjoyable to binge the series. That’s how I watched season 1 anyway. If you are someone who didn't like the first season or were put off by it before even finishing it then I don't know why you would want to watch this, but if you have an open mind then this season has the potential of changing your opinion about Re:ZERO (or the isekai genre in general?). I know I treated Rem, one of the most important supporting characters of season 1, too harshly in the characters section. But if your enjoyment of Re:ZERO anime is dependent solely upon one waifu then I don’t think this season is for you. Better not to watch it than be disappointed. But people who watched Re:ZERO for what it was rather than for the waifubait, like myself, can’t wait to see what’s to come next. Part 2 of season 2 has will air in January of 2021. And you bet I’ll be keeping my eyes on that one. Most of my ratings from the preliminary review largely stand true in my final review. Story: 5/5 Art: 4/5 Sound: 4/5 Character: 4/5 Enjoyment: 5/5 Overall (average): 4.4 Overall (rounded for MAL): 10 Thanks for reading.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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