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I just wrote a review for Season 1 of Re:Zero to cure my boredom, and I'm still on the verge of resorting to bungee-jumping off my roof so I'll have something to do. Since I don't really want to die right now, I'm just going to write another review. What could go wrong?

This review will cover both the first and second half of the second season of Re:Zero. I'm bored, but not bored enough to make two separate reviews. I might as well go do my homework instead.
Anyways, this will contain MAJOR SPOILERS, so if you just want my opinion without getting spoiled, scroll ... to the last paragraph.

This season is one single arc, meaning that it has a lot slower of a pace than the first season (which covered three). While this did seem to ruin the experience of quite a few people, I personally did not mind the change. It gave more time to develop the characters, which I appreciated. I do admit that the dialogue can sometimes run a bit too long, but not enough for me to lose interest. This arc also takes place in the same location for basically the entirety of this season's runtime, so that could also be a downside for a viewer who wants to explore more of this world that Tappei Nagatsuki created. I also wish that it did explore more locations, but it didn't bother me too much.

(MAJOR SPOILERS START)
The season kicks off right where the first season stopped, and this is where it fixes one of my gripes with the anime. Re:Zero had little to no stakes when it came to life or death. If a character died, Subaru could just die, and revert the timeline to when that person was alive. Here, Rem's memories are eaten, and Subaru is horrified to realize that, when he kills himself, the checkpoint he goes to is a time when Rem has already been killed. This surprised me - Rem was a fan-favorite among the internet and Re:Zero didn't look like an anime willing to kill off major characters. Of course, I suspect there will be a way to bring her back, but only time will tell.

Subaru's more refined and mature personality made me like him a lot more as a character. The first season was based more around Subaru becoming a better person, so that's a given. However, that doesn't mean there isn't growth left. Subaru still believes that he is the only one who can change anything, so he will put himself through insane tasks to save the ones he loves. He is carrying the burden of everyone else on his shoulder, and this season of Re:Zero revolves around him realizing that there are people out there, that, Return by Death or not, can still help him out. The first half kept piling up more and more problems that Subaru would have to overcome. Elsa, the Great Rabbit, the Trial, the Witches of Sin, Roswaal, all of these obstacles created one hell of a challenge, and in the end, he couldn't do it. Not alone. So when Otto, who by the way is one of the best characters in the show, talks some sense into Subaru, everything changes. He uses the advice and help from others to accomplish his goal, which was very refreshing to watch considering all the suffering I sat through in the first half.

Re:Zero's second season has a lot more dialogue thanks to it's slower pacing, and unfortunately, the animation does not complement that. The freeze frames in some scenes kind of removed a lot of the immersion. The animators had to work from home, so it's understandable, but that didn't make the experience any better. However, that's my only major complaint of the season.

The animation in the fight sequences were still impressively well done, so at least it wasn't the atrocity that the second season of One Punch Man was. The story is better than it has ever been, with the pain and suffering being executed a lot better in the first half and the lack of Return by Death's use in the second season being an entertaining, fresh experience. I especially liked the "Parent and Child" episode. Subaru's parents are actually great characters with actual personality, and it gave a lot of background and reasoning about Subaru's personality and behavior in the beginning of the first season.

A lot of mysteries or questions I had were also answered in this season. Emilia's backstory, which I was skeptical about at first, turned out to be a beautiful emotional rollercoaster. The introduction of the Witches of Sin was great and gave some insight about certain events from both the first and second season. Plenty of characters got development, with the most prominent being Emilia and Garfiel. The transition between Emilia's naïve, innocent and frankly childish demeanor to an independent, strong personality was super satisfying to watch. Emilia was a mixed bag for me in the first season, so it was nice to see such a big change to her personality. Garfiel appears to be a mean, angry meathead (so basically like Garfield), but slowly comes into his own as we learn more about his past and his motivations, and he eventually becomes a very likable character. Plenty of other characters, such as Beatrice, Otto and Roswaal all got a lot of development that made them far better and more interesting.

The voice acting is the same as the first season, and it's just as good. Nothing has changed, so I won't go into it too much, but most if not all of the voice actors are phenomenal.
I can say the same about the music. It goes perfectly with the atmosphere set by the anime, and the opening and ending songs are great as well. Speaking of which, I really liked the decision to skip the openings/ending in most episodes to fit in more content. Since I watched a good portion of Re:Zero week to week, having extra story to absorb was great. That doesn't mean I was mad when an opening or ending played. I never skipped them when they did, which I cannot say for any other anime. They are very well done and the music played with them complements them greatly.

(MAJOR SPOILERS OVER)

Re:Zero Season 2 is, in my opinion, a masterpiece. It fixes a lot of what I didn't like in the first season, and it developed a lot of characters. The only major issue for me was the animation. The pacing is noticeably slower than the first season, which leads to longer dialogue sequences, and the setting stays the same for most of the anime, which definitely has put people off. However, if you can get past that, then season 2 of Re:Zero will be a blast to watch.

Thank you for reading the product of my extreme boredom!

I'm bored. So bored, in fact, that I've decided to write my first review on MAL for an anime approximately 5 years old. I've truly sunken to the lowest a human being can sink, but it's too late to go back.

Re:Zero is an anime where my opinions have shifted a lot since I've watched it. Sometimes, I'd have my eyes glued to the screen, and a select few times I would struggle moving on the next episode. However, in the end, I decided that it was really good.
I picked it up because of a friend's recommendation with no expectations. To be completely honest, ... the only thing I knew about it before watching was the infamous "I love Emilia" meme running around the internet, and I didn't even know the context of it. This was also my first isekai, so my original opinion did not include any perquisite knowledge of isekai tropes.

THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN LIGHT SPOILERS, but will not include anything related to the second season

Re:Zero's premise was very intriguing considering I had practically no anime under my belt when I watched it for the first time. The "transported to a fantasy world" seemed kind of stupid even to someone who hadn't watched a isekai anime up to this point, but I could get past that. The Return by Death ability that the main character, Natsuki Subaru had created a ton of possibilities, allowing the anime to display dark and gory content with little consequence and letting the viewers observe the many sides of the characters without panning away from Subaru too much. However, I also think this was a double-edged sword in a way.
The anime can't really kill off characters because Subaru's ability can just bring them back, removing a lot of potential tension that certain scenes could have. This didn't make the anime not entertaining for me; I still loved it. But I can see why many people could be turned off because of that.
The thrill I got from watching Re:Zero was Subaru trying to figure out how to solve a problem utilizing his Return by Death ability. Not only was it seeing him come up with strategies to win, but also what it did to his individuality. After all, even though he cannot be destroyed physically, he can mentally. He isn't always willing to just throw his life away to do it right next time, even if he knows he can come back. Once again, however, changes to his personality overtime wasn't all good for me. Subaru can act really stupid or annoying sometimes, and it's what almost made me drop the anime half-way. Sometimes his behavior is justifiable; being killed over and over can do that to someone, but that doesn't make it any easier to sit through.

I have been bringing up quite a few negatives about the story of this anime, but there are many pros that definitely outweigh the cons for me. The characters are some of the best I've ever seen in anything, like, ever. Subaru, despite all my complaining, definitely gets a lot more bearable as time goes on. Emilia, the main love-interest, was a bit of a mixed bag at first, but she was still definitely better than a lot of other characters I've seen from other shows. The two sisters, Rem and Ram, are both really good characters in their own way, however there is obviously an internet favorite, which should be obvious if you haven't been living under a rock. Beatrice is personally my favorite character, and no, I'm not a lolicon. Her quirky personality but also obvious inner-conflict is what made her so entertaining whenever she was on screen. Roswaal was, admittedly, kind of annoying at first, with his way of speak and all, but he grew on me quickly. It's good that they made all these characters likable, as we see them quite a lot. Every character has depth and personality, while also being mysterious and intriguing. This even include many of the side-side characters, such as the royal selection candidates and even the antagonists. One problem I do have with these characters is that they are rarely funny. That wouldn't normally be a problem, and there shouldn't be comic-relief in an anime that takes itself seriously, but it's obvious that the writer wants you to laugh at his haha funny jokes. However, it typically makes me cringe instead, especially from Subaru.

The art is probably this anime's weakest point, and that's not really a bad thing. This anime is carried by it's story and characters, so I don't think the art doesn't need to be anything special. The CGI did sometimes make me cringe a bit, but it wasn't that bad. Re:Zero still has impressive production values that allow for some very nicely choreographed action sequences, which were a blast to watch. There's not too much else left to say; don't expect outstanding animation, but also don't expect it to drag down your enjoyment of the series.

I don't really pay attention to the sound effects of an anime, unless they are noticeably good or appalling. However, I can say that the music, composed by Kenichiro Suehiro was outstanding. While they weren't something I would listen to by themselves, the music greatly enhanced what was happening on screen. The upbeat soundtracks, while not being anything extraordinary in my opinion, still conveyed the emotion well. The hype-inducing action music made any action sequence way better. The best for me, however, were the slow, dark pieces that would give me goosebumps every time I'd hear it. These soundtracks were all used in appropriate times, and the anime would not be the same without them.
The voice acting is absolutely phenomenal as well. Yūsuke Kobayashi, Subaru's voice actor, conveyed joy, anger and pain beautifully. Other voice actors, such as Rie Takahashi (Emilia) and Inori Minase (Rem) had masterful vocal performances too. All and all, the sound in Re:Zero is an eargasm and enhances the viewing experience greatly.

One last thing I'd like to mention is the psychological/horror aspect. This is what made the anime so enjoyable for me. It was sometimes really scary or unnerving, contrasting well with how upbeat the anime started off. The voice acting definitely made the horror land. I don't think it would have been as good without proper vocal performances. However, at some point it did get a bit old. I would think to myself, "When is this going to end?" Anyone who watched the first season should know what I'm talking about. However, when it's not in your face for multiple episodes consecutively, it's good.

Re:Zero isn't for everyone. If you think Subaru is so terrible that you can't watch the anime because of him, I completely understand. If the lack of stakes make you lose interest in what you're seeing, that's fine. If you just hate the isekai genre, hey, I do too. However, I really enjoyed Re:Zero. Even with some pretty major flaws that definitely hurt my enjoyment, overall it was entertaining as hell and got me really invested in the story and characters.

This review was more of a way for me to burn time, but if you somehow found this and read it to the end, I appreciate it!