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"You are, an amazing guy, Natsuki Subaru" - Natsuki Subaru

For context I have read arcs 1 - 8 of Re:Zero, equivalent to volumes 1 - 38, but this review will be completely spoiler-free.

The author of Re:Zero, Tappei Nagatsuki, describes Re:Zero as a story about a "boy without self confidence, trying to let his feelings known to a girl also without self confidence". While it's true that's mainly what this story is about, the journey we get to that destination is one filled with some of the greatest, painful, yet life altering moments that can only be told through the framework Re:Zero has created. You see ... the main character fall to the lowest of lows and see him peak the highest of highs as the story progresses, watching him grow in such a unique way that it makes the reader want to gain more confidence in themselves while reading.

Each arc in Re:Zero also feels more different than the last, introducing new characters while also creating great character development for previously introduced ones, expanding upon world building and overall lore of the story, and constantly getting out of it's own comfort zone to create scenarios that always feel fresh, new, and with creative plot twists. There's a lot to love about Re:Zero, especially in it's character department. Despite the large cast of characters that get introduced throughout the story, each character have their own unique personality, motivations, personal backstory and growth, expanding on familiar tropes while still making them feel three-dimensional. Ultimately giving the reader some of the most rememberable and inspiring quotes, monolongues, and speeches as a result.

The world itself feel so enriched in lore and content that you can find yourself getting completely absorbed in it. While the Re:Zero light novel is mainly Subaru's story, there's tons of side content available that has signifiance to the main story, making it feel like the world is so much bigger and grander outside of only Subaru's journey. Which is no small feat considering how enthralling and emotional Subaru's journey really is, with moments leaving you absloutely speechless and pontential to go even further. The different themes explored, creativity of each arc, ambition in storytelling, mysteries that keep you at the edge of your seat, psychological moments that make you look up at your ceiling thinking to yourself what just happened, and surprising consistency in writing despite the length of the story, makes Re:Zero truly a one of a kind experience.

This review is coming from someone who hasn't read the manga and watched the anime with completely no expectations, only going in out of curiosity. Let me start off by saying that this show started airing at the worse possible time as Spring 2021 was one of the most stacked seasons in anime on the same level of that of the previous Winter season. Because of this, Shadow's House ended up being one of the most underrated anime of the season with it getting not enough attention that it honestly really deserves.

The story takes a fairly slow start and really takes it time to ... immerse you into the world. It may seem really boring at first but eventually it will start making sense that this show is a bit more unsettling and overall mysteriousness the more you watch, keeping your interest with lots of questions and answers throughout. This show is often compared to The Promised Neverland in this aspect though with the execution of both of these being a bit more different. By the end it leaves you with a satisfying ending leaving room for a possibility of a 2nd season. A common thing talked about it's ending is that the show actually takes an anime original route in the possibility of a 2nd season never arriving. Anyone familiar with CloverWorks' attempts with anime original endings knows that they seriously do not a good job at it, though in this case I actually give it a bit of pass. If you're an anime only watcher like me, the anime original route will almost be not noticeable unless you actually know when it begins. And even with the knowledge of knowing it's anime original, nothing feels super forced or rushed, maybe it does to manga readers but as an anime only you really don't need to worry about it. Especially since it's confirmed that the ending actually had very few manga spoilers, so if you do decide to read the manga after your experience isn't spoiled.

The art isn't anything to special but that doesn't remove from the fact that it's really good. There weren't probably a single time where I thought the art was off in anyway and it for sure went well with the overall story. What definitely takes the cake was the music and overall sound. The OP was very unique with it's lack of vocals and only consisting the classical instrumental, with the ED probably being the best this Spring 2021 season as a whole. The background music throughout the show were also really fitting and went well with it's moods. The characters aren't anything too crazy, or any that sticks out expect for maybe Emilico and Kate, but they all are very fun and great characters and add a lot to the show in the form of great moments and overall company.

This show was without a doubt one of my favorite series with my enjoyment throughout being really high. Went in with no knowledge or expectations and went out feeling with excitement and even ready to start reading the manga, though I'm not sure if I'm going drink my normal tea while reading.