Seeing the score on MAL for this anime, you may consider me one of the more skeptical viewers of this anime.
Concerning spoilers, I will not mention any characters by name which appear past episode 5 except when they don't have any foreshadowing before their official introduction - e.g., when a character appears much later but doesn't have any mystery or plot twist in hand.
Otherwise: very light spoilers, mostly for the story section (epsiode 15-18).
So let's start with the story:
Story: 6/10
I'm a defender of "open" stories or worlds. Just because certain information is thrown in your face, doesn't mean that it has to be explained. For
...
instance, the dragon, what or who keeps Subaru from telling about his "Return by Death", Roswaal's motivations or the reasons for them etc.
Explaining may dissolve the plot so it should stay focused on what will happen.
But in one part I'm torn:
Subaru's restrictions to why he cannot tell anybody about his Return by Death are never explained. If he could, it'd have solved conflicts rather easily. On the other hand, the restriction got discovered rather early on so it feels like it's not an asspull and considering the ability, I could arrange with it easily.
Also, the first season has lots of humor and while not everything hits the mark for me, it's far better than the near-complete vanish of any humor in the second half.
Very short rating for episode chunks by "arcs" (a.k.a. partition that makes sense to me):
1-3: 8.5
4-11: 8
12-14: 5
15-18: 3/4
19-21: 7
22-25: 5
As you can see, the episodes vary in quality.
Basically, what makes the first episodes much better is that you feel some kind of progression. A proper introduction as by the first three episodes, the foundation for further plot elements up till the end of the first half and then...well then, the plot actually begins to lose its road.
The second half of this anime sounds more like an afterthought than a coherent plot; reason being that the first and second half aren't that well connected.
1-3 & 4-11:
In the first half, Subaru gets his first taste of the reset "function" and afterwards gets to solve the "mystery" that is going on in Roswaal's domain. I think the use of the reset "function" was interesting here as while he died quite a few times, he seemed to learn something from it and even comes to the conclusive idea at the end.
12-14:
In the second half...oh my. 12-14 feel like filler to be honest. I'm sure that if you cut these episodes out, you wouldn't really miss anything, flashbacks in later episodes would bring the relevant parts up anyways.
15-18:
You get introduced to an antagonist in a very weird way. What bothers me most is the motivation of him and the whole group to begin with. I know that religious cults are very easy to make antagonists of but seriously, everything they have - from their "love" (which might make the most sense...and that's already flimsy) over the gospel to their reason for their existence.
It just sounded like they needed an antagonist so they just made a crazed cult member, he doesn't even have a connection to anything happening before.
I critizise that antagonist because it's lacking. Otherwise, I wouldn't have minded the lack of a big bad.
Then, Subaru, after some agonizing reactions, gets free from the antagonist in a pretty ridiculous way (guess some characters have instant revival even after their limbs and neck getting twisted) just to arrive at Rooswal's domain and getting beheaded by a big monster.
The other episodes in the bunch just feel like pure Subaru torture porn - they add really nothing new, they're just there...
And episode 18 is just a gem...17 minutes of talking, among it a 4 and 7(!) minute quasi-monologue with an kind of aggravating conclusion because Status Quo Is God and that causes the plot to stick to the plan you could see miles away instead of letting the plot naturally flow in another not-so-contrived direction.
The reason why I hate this part while I love episodes 4-11 is simply that the first mystery is confined. That is important as it means that you can guess along what's the key to survive and it keeps you up on your toes till the real culprit is revealed. You also have your humor sprinkled here and there, the suspense is always on a certain level and you get a satisfying ending out of it. The characters were also much more interesting or fun to be around.
And Subaru wasn't a dunce.
19-21:
By far the best part of the second half. Wilhelm is an interesting and compelling character even if a bit stereotypical. The other characters are also one-note but a few still got my sympathies.
The enemy was kind of cool with how it works even if I find the clue which helps the characters to beat it a bit jarring as it isn't implied very well, thus feeling more like convenience. But the execution was still good in my opinion as it felt action-packed yet more relaxing and easier to watch than to what happened earlier.
22-25: It's an ending arc, I guess. Honestly, there isn't that much I can say about it. It was alright even if the antagonist wasn't that interesting. The arc had nevertheless some good moments.
Very mixed episode ratings. As 15-18 dragged so much and 12-14 felt pointless to me, I had to give the story overall a 6 instead of a 7.
Characters: 6/10
Subaru:
I like the fact that he is very genre-savvy which makes good material for the humor in the early episodes. In combination with that, the gore/blood helps to quickly destroy that naive thoughts of his about this world. He can be quick with his wits as he'll be the one to come up with plans for certain battles, making him somehow like Yuuji from Shakugan no Shana.
He can also use his weaknesses and past experiences in earlier time loops to his advantages.
On the other hand, oh boy. His obsession over Emilia can be very annoying and especially his emotional scenes can be infuriating, both due to intensity and what length of said rants. It also doesn't help that some face expressions look rather weird (more in the Art section).
He can be witty, but in other times, he can be really rash and dumb. "Stay here?" Rush to Emilia. "Do this and that" Do something opposing that since you think it's better for her. That can become really annoying really fast. And it feels like after each big speech about what he laerned from, he doesn't take to heart for the next arc. That makes "progression" really frustrating.
Emilia:
First thought was: obvious love interest. But in the first arc, she fought with magic. And she looked pretty good in it. However, afterwards...that impression vanishes. She's even only barely seen after episode 5 or 6 and and in the second half, she does nothing of substance. Considering she looks like the female protagonist, she's get very little screentime, making her character far less developed than other characters.
By herself, she isn't interesting either in my opinion, we just don't see too many glimpses of her.
In the end, she even feels more like a burden than a character that can fight with magic. She's becoming the damsel in distress for the protagonist to rescue. That's Asuna from Sword Art Online all over again.
Rem & Ram:
The maids of the Roswaal mansion. In a team, they are interesting. They are maids who serve people, but they act more like how employees would talk about their customers behind their back. Just that they do it in front of Subaru. And to describe it with Ram's words: "Honesty is my best virtue!", and that blunt honesty makes them a fun couple for Subaru to bounce off.
Special mention goes to Rem, inofficial female main protagonist as she gets by far the most screentime. Everything after episode 6 (except 12-14) gets heavily dominated by her, especially when it comes to interaction with Subaru. Her character story is a long flashback which I dislike but she's in other areas really solid. A character I can actually like.
Roswaal:
Don't see much of him. Just his relationship to his maids bring up a few questions which I actually like though.
Felt:
Uh...she IS likable but rarely to be seen after the first arc. In 12-14, she feels shoehorned in as her appearance there makes zero sense.
Beatrice:
Typically harsh loli. Don't see her that often after the mansion arc.
Puck:
Same fate as Beatrice. The chemistry with Subaru is honestly one of the best things Re:Zero could ever bring out. It feels refreshing, they bounce off each other really well, they feel like a great manzai duo as they even play along the sentiments of the other. So special mention for him, just too bad that he's rarely seen afterwards.
Cannot say too much about the antagonists as there isn't much to say there.
Art:
It looks beautiful, just some faces, especially when Subaru's in rage or despair, look really, really weird and make me giggle instead of see his suffering. The timing can also be off.
Sound:
Opening and Ending themes you rarely hear as it mostly ends in credits while in the episode or even without music at the end.
Special mention goes to episode 15 and 19: 15 for having quite the interesting scene to start the ending for with appropriate good music and 19 for just being kind of hilarious how it breaks the immersion by having a ringtone at the end. I think in that sense, the sound direction is great.
OTHER:
Worst cliffhangers and cliffhangers solutions ever. They try to add up suspense but the solution of said cliffhanger is pointless often enough.
CONCLUSION:
Interesting experience that, same as Attack on Titan, suffers from a teeeeeeerrible middle part. Also it avoids taking risks by having plots progress in entirely different directions (thinking about Subaru and Rem/Ram).
I'd only recommend to watch the first half and maybe the episodes 19-21 but otherwise, I wouldn't watch it completely again.
Oct 20, 2016
Seeing the score on MAL for this anime, you may consider me one of the more skeptical viewers of this anime.
Concerning spoilers, I will not mention any characters by name which appear past episode 5 except when they don't have any foreshadowing before their official introduction - e.g., when a character appears much later but doesn't have any mystery or plot twist in hand. Otherwise: very light spoilers, mostly for the story section (epsiode 15-18). So let's start with the story: Story: 6/10 I'm a defender of "open" stories or worlds. Just because certain information is thrown in your face, doesn't mean that it has to be explained. For ... 
Aug 2, 2015
Kill la Kill
(Anime)
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Kill La Kill: it made my head hurt, but not because it's terrible, rather because it's one heck of a ride. It likes to be over the top and it will show. I decided to watch it because there was a big hype around it and saying goes that it was a very interesting show. So I watched it, thus my review:
STORY: I'd split it in two parts: the plot which you can kind of tell from the premise and the second part which...is not so foreseeable. The first part consists of Ryuuko searching for her father's murderer and the secrets around it. For that, she needs ... |
