Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-
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whiskeyii
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A little torn on this finale. On the one hand, I thought they way they dealt with Betelguese's possession was very clever, but without being able to read Subaru's Death Note, it kind of took the wind out of the conflict--not to mention that the carriage really should've been set aflame by all that oil on-board, and that it was erroneously back to normal in the later shots. The Otto bits, while funny, also seemed a little wordy for a last boss battle, and it dragged on just a bit too long for me.
But I while I also share a lot of NeverConvex's concerns that Re:Zero seems more rote now that it's less psychological, I do see where the production staff sort of wrote themselves into a corner, a la Shirobako's fictitious Aerial Girls ending. Anything other than a conclusive ending with pay off would've felt anticlimactic at best, even if it was more realistic and novel. With that in mind, Subaru saying "Yeah, I was an asshole" but with actually good intentions this time around instead of the entitlement masquerading as good intentions from before, and Emilia being touched by someone actually, genuinely caring for her (Roswaal's intentions notwithstanding, since we know very little of him) seems about as good as can be expected, though it is a crying shame we never got some solid Emilia development. Regardless of how much I enjoyed myself, I do feel that Re:Zero suffers from some pretty big flaws that keep it from being "A" material in my eyes. I feel that Subaru himself, especially in the early episodes, is enough of a caveat that he might (and apparently did) turn some people off entirely. I also feel that one's appreciation of Re:Zero's more nuanced moments, particularly involving Subaru's characters development, is dependent on whether or not the viewer can acknowledge Subaru as being genuinely in the wrong; there were more than a few people I ran into (not on this forum) who thought that Subaru was totally, absolutely, 100% in the right because it was all for "love"--and while that might be more the viewer's fault than the show's, it does make me wonder if there was a way for Re:Zero to get across that particular message more clearly, especially to the people who it was meant for. Anyways, my final rating would be a B+ that flirts with occasionally being an A; if a B++ existed, that'd be it, I guess. A strong series with some very moving sequences, but with some execution caveats. |
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zrnzle500
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Yeah you saw that same sort of lionizing with Oregairu's protag, Hachiman, what with the Batman (of the Dark Knight trilogy specifically) comparisons. Which I think that show properly quashed in Zoku. I think they did enough in the peak of the show in the beginning of the third arc, that if the fans want to lionize him in the way you describe, that's on them not the show. |
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jtiskool305
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Great job on the reviews, Theron. This show was quite amazing and with the bit of flaws that have been said here I honestly can't say I've seen an anime in recent years that has held this type quality all the way from episode one. This should be the standard in production for every anime. I feel like the people that were working on this show loved this show and actually intended on making the best show ever (as cheesy as that sounds).
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Dayblack
Posts: 148 |
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I recommend reading the novel light is much better than the anime.
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kinghumanity
Posts: 365 |
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I think Re:Zero is in contender for Series of the Year, if only because studios seems more and more interested in pandering and squeezing money out of idols, cliches, and tropes than actually putting in honest effort in writing and characterization. One can definitely see the amount of effort the entire staff at White Fox put into this show. Re:Zero was a fresh air, but it definitely wasn't without flaws.
1. For all its excellent pacing in the first 2/3 of the series, the last 1/3 seems to be speeding through the source material at the expense of many finer plot details, making it hard to keep up without having read the LN beforehand. 2. The last 1/4 of the series, in my opinion, is the weakest. Here, the series basically presents a standard Hero Saves The Day By The Power of Friendship And Gets The Girl story. They did the job well, but after the dramatic plot and character development of the previous arcs, one can't help but think this was a bit of a let down. 3. Although Re:Zero deserves commendation for having well written, unique, memorable support characters like the twins, Wilhelm, Crusch, etc, they came at the expense of the main female lead. Emilia was woefully underdeveloped as a character. She didn't even do much. She learned a bit about coming to terms with her status as a half elf, but beyond that, she was really just an objective for Subaru. |
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
Posts: 1014 |
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That be some serious bait you got there. 
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dash56
 Posts: 151 |
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Oh Re:Zero, you couldn't help yourself and give us a happy ending without throwing in some hints of tragedy to come.
From the very first episode I was hooked and had a blast watching this week after week. A definite quality drop towards the end but nothing major that took away from my enjoyment. Was it the best? I don't know but it certainly has been my favorite this year. Nothing better than jumping onto a show cold and being completely taken away. Maybe if I build a shrine to the anime gods they'll grant me a second season. All I've gots is 5 yen but rumor has it that may be enough for a certain god. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18271 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Dayblack: You realize that I'm just patently ignoring you at this point since you're just a broken record of complaints about the (grossly overstated) imperfection of anime adaptations?
I read not a single word of the source material before starting the series and had zero problem keeping up with things.
And I can definitely see an argument for that. However, I saw the more intense parts earlier this season less as a "let's make Subaru suffer for being what he is" scenario and more as a "let's give Subaru an attitude adjustment by teaching him some harsh lessons" scenario. Not showing the benefits of him have learned those lessons and taken them to heart would, to my mind, have been much more of a storytelling failure. Besides, I thought that they were pushing the limits of what they were doing to Subaru as it was. They stopped before it became noxious.
Agreed, and I said basically this in the last episode review. In fact, to my mind that's the one true weak point of the series as a whole. As for some other comments made, that this series didn't end on a cliffhanger was just fine with me. This approach gave a sense of closure to the third story arc, much like Subaru's scene with Rem at the end of episode 11 gave a proper closure to that story arc. In fact, given how much heat Western fans commonly give anime titles which do the opposite, I'm a little surprised at how many complaints are being voiced about that here. As for Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju being better? That's one of those cases where I can respect the quality of a work without actually liking it. It's doubtful that I'll ever finish it (especially given the direction I heard it went), so it's a non-entity as far as my yearly ratings are concerned. |
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zrnzle500
Posts: 3767 |
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Yeah I can see that not being to your liking. I don't imagine you will be surprised if (or perhaps when) some of the other reviewers have it in theirs though. By the by, how far exactly did you get? Looking at the list of stuff airing next season, I don't know that there is one that would likely beat Re:Zero in Key's picks, but the season hasn't started yet, so who knows. |
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Paul D. Atreides
 Posts: 128 |
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Watched the finale last night.
Some people have placed this show in the you're in the game-genre alongside shows like: Sword Art Online, Log Horizon, Overlord, etc. But I wonder if you can really call it that since it's never specified that he's inside a game. Sure he thinks he is a first, but isn't that just due to him being an otaku? I think it would be more accurate to place this in the transported to a fantasy world-genre alongside shows like: Fushigi Yûgi, Twelve Kingdoms, Outbreak Company, etc. The thing I really appreciate about Re:Zero is that unlike a lot of other self-insert shows it's very sincere. It's not just a huge power-fantasy where his shut-in lifestyle will suddenly pay off and make him a badass. He genuinely struggles and suffers, and make big mistakes with horrible consequences. Episode 18 totally nailed it, showing not only the deeply flawed human being inside but also offering a way forward (which has now payed off in the finale). That is something I've come to learn about compelling stories. They don't just take human emotion and sweep them under the rug so the plot can progress, they take the time to process them even if it means to take a break from the plot. And that's why I agree that Re:Zero is a strong contender for Series of the Year. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
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As to the "Death Note" use, the left page has "eh" and "so" in hiragana and the right page kanji looks like they were going for one that means "villain" or "disaster". Not sure if they meant "eso" as that is "gangrene".
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Galap
Moderator
 Posts: 2354 |
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Wow, there was really some balls to the wall animation there in this episode, both in the action and character animation areas.
I personally found the middle of the series to be the strongest (everything after the insignia arc and before the long talk with rem), but both the beginning and ending were good in their own right. My first though upon reaching the conclusion is that I hope the entire source material is adapted, because I want to see the entirety of this story very much but have no interest in reading light novels or manga. Ultimately, I'm a bit of two minds on the conlcusion. On one hand, this fell a little into the trap that so many things do of becoming a little boring when they decide that Stuff Needs to Start Happening, and we're in fight scene after fight scene with the whale and the cult and all that, and all the interesting character and confusion stuff goes a little to the wayside. On the other hand, I feel like this is one of the few cases where it doesn't seem like the main characters won just because they got lucky. Even though he essntially only did it through trial and error, subaru's course over the series really captures what it feels like to try to something and get something right. |
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kinghumanity
Posts: 365 |
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Emilia definitely was not one of the story's strongest characters.
You know who Emilia reminded me of? Asuna, from the second arc of SAO. The story put her in a similar position, where she was active and strong in the first half, but after that didn't do much except be the object of the MC's goal, although Re:zero did it in a less obnoxious and offensive way, so I'll give them that. |
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cloud8100
Posts: 550 |
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Hope we can eventually get a second series. I'd love to see arc 4 animated and it would also provide more of the development and screentime Emilia needs. They did leave it open for another one.
Man, am I gonna miss this anime though. It's one of the few series I've actually sat down and kept up with every week. Hoping they get a release in the UK asap. I know it's been licensed but they may wait for a dub. I dunno. It'll be weird each week without it now. |
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whiskeyii
Posts: 2256 |
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Took a gander at reddit; according to them, the author confirmed on Twitter that Subaru wrote "owari" or "the end" in the in-universe language. Sources (if you can read Japanese): https://twitter.com/nezumiironyanko/status/777542682616864768 https://twitter.com/nezumiironyanko/status/777542882785845249 |
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