*Warning: This review contains spoilers, continue at your own risk*
Ah, Re: Zero, the acclaimed anime of the spring season. I remember how much praise it got, about 5 months ago, some saying "deep stroy and enjoyable characters" and I'd agree with them at some point... But, after undergoing full analysis, not anymore. It's not bad by any means, just not as good as everyone is saying, and certainly not the best anime ever, at least for me...
You see, the anime starts off as every other generic sent-to-another-world fantasy anime, our protagonist Natsuki Subaru, a shut-in coming back from the convenience store, and with no warning
...
whatsoever... He finds himself in another world. Cliché so far, isn't it?
The stroy progresses to the point where the MC starts going insane after going through "suffering" which apparently is the actual story of this anime. And this is, in my opinion, the downfall of Re: Zero.
I'll explain.
Subaru has an ability, which allows him to return back in a specific point in time, everytime he dies (basically a game mechanic in real life). After Subaru realizes his ability, he takes it pretty easy, thinking his the most overpowered person in that fantasy world, because no matter what happens, even if he dies, he can always come back. But, it's not too long until he also realizes how wrong he was, having to repeat the same events he worked so hard to go through, only to die again, consequently affecting his mental state.
The thing is... What was the point of all of the suffering? What is the REAL reason behind all the unimaginable obstacles Subaru had to go through, and repeat them, aside from developing from a selfish prick into a better human who realizes his bad traits and works hard to change? The answer is...
... There really was no ther point. Re: Zero literally focuses on drama and "suffering" as its main plot that drives the story, which makes you think, as the viewer, the entire series' purpose is to introduce well thought out character development, rather than well thought out plot. It repeats the the same thing over and over again, introducing more crazy characters as Subaru suffers more and more, having to die a dozen times or even more before having to die, ONCE AGAIN, which affects the already non-existent plot.
Oh, and the reason I said "well thought out character development" is because I truely meant it, and is about to be explained right now.
Natsuki Subaru has got to be one of my favourite characters in anime history, as well as being my favourite character of the last 6 months.
Why?
Simply, because his whole character in general, and his development is humane and realistic. Honestly, I would've scored this series much lower if it wasn't for that single aspect, wich made this series shine, despite the incoherent plot.
What would you do if you had to go through all of what Subaru went through? What would you do if you had an ability which makes you go back in time everytime you die, but can't tell anyone about it, fearing for your life, even though you want to tell someone about it so badly.
I like that aspect, because the Witch (the one who granted him this ability, I assume) tells Subaru indirectly that he has this ability, and it will affect his relationship with others if he doesn't notify others about it and keep it to himself, and despite being told of this fact, he can't say it to anyone, and if he does, he'll die. Instead of mustering some courage and saying it knowing the consequences, he decides he won't, fearing fo his life. Which leads me to my second point about his characters.
He is selfish. One of the most common feature humans are attributed to. Unlike your generic anime protagonist number 12368, you'd expect him to help people with no reward, because "everyone is safe, that's my reward" ~ Cliché MC 12367
Throughout the entire series, Subaru has been hiding those selfish thoughts, helping the people surrounding him because it's the right thing to do. But, is it really what was going through Subaru's mind the entire time? Was he really helping Rem, Emilia and the others because he WANTED to? Time reveals, in episode 13 specifically, that it was not the case. And of course, as those aspects gather, you'd bash on him, you'd hate him for being like that. But, it's all human nature, and if you think about it, wouldn't you do the same if you were in his place? I mean, who knows? Not like you're gonna get sent to another world or anything of that sort...
And you know what's the best thing about him? Re recognises all his mistakes in episode 18, which was the single most fantastic thing that happend in the show. And speaking of episode 18...
The best episode has got to be episode 15 for me. It was the pinnacle of the show back then. In terms of execution, music choice, it was godly, because it is an alternate ending in some sort. No, it WAS the actual ending of Re: Zero IF Subaru didn't possess the ability Return by Death. Well, by that logic, the show would've "ended" everytime Subaru dies. But, I'd like to think of episode 15 as the pinnacle of all deaths.
Another thing to note is, episode then ending of episode 18 and the following episodes ruined all the premise of the rest of episode 18. Why?
Simply, how on earth did Subaru regain his mental state so quickly as if nothing happened? This is the same point I addressed earlier when I said "what was the point of all of his suffering?"
What was the point of having Subaru go through all of this, only to have him recover so quickly and unrealistically, that it almost ruined the enjoyment of the rest of the show for me? His development as a character AND a person in RE:Zero was supposed to be spot on, only to be trashed by some BS as if the series was rushed... sigh
In conclusion, what do you want me to say? You can feel the anger of the author at the generic shows of nowadays, having OP MC's and generic harem moesh*t anime, and I can actually understand him for that (which I think is one of the reasons, if not, the main reason as to why the author made this show) But to base the entire show on something that is not to be considered or confused as plot is something I cannot find enjoyment in. But I feel as if the author knew that already and focused more on character development rather than story, for the first season that is...
Dec 21, 2016
*Warning: This review contains spoilers, continue at your own risk*
Ah, Re: Zero, the acclaimed anime of the spring season. I remember how much praise it got, about 5 months ago, some saying "deep stroy and enjoyable characters" and I'd agree with them at some point... But, after undergoing full analysis, not anymore. It's not bad by any means, just not as good as everyone is saying, and certainly not the best anime ever, at least for me... You see, the anime starts off as every other generic sent-to-another-world fantasy anime, our protagonist Natsuki Subaru, a shut-in coming back from the convenience store, and with no warning ... 
Jul 28, 2016
Have you ever read over 100 chapters of a manga filled with fillers and absolutely no character development or story whatsoever? Well, guess what? Nisekoi is exactly that! First I'd like to say, the first 60 chapters of the mange were great, outstanding actually. I could give it an 8/10. However that isn't the case, I'm talking about the manga as a whole, and let explain that shortly.
First, I always hated how the mange was stretching itself out, making more useless filler chapters that: One, have no relation to the story, two, are skippable, Three, half the mange is filled with those! Nisekoi would literally ... |
