Story: Natsuki Subaru begins his nightly routine by going to the convenience store to pick up a few snack items and whatnot in order to begin what I can only assume to be a night of gaming in some RPG that he's clocked 50+ hours in, only to find himself in a medieval looking town with animal people, dragon drawn carriages, the usual fantasy stuff. He then gets caught up in a situation involving petty thievery and meets a strange silver-haired girl named Emilia, thus sparking an unexpected journey that delves into the human psyche and Subaru's own hell.
As it comes to no surprise, Re:Zero is one of the big series to have come from the 2016 lineup and for good reason. The focus and main draw of the show comes from Subaru and his adaptation to the new world that he's been transported to, concentrating on specific sets of events that he lives through with the catch being that he is forced to relive these events over and over again on account of the fact that he...well, dies, thus sending back to a 'checkpoint' at the beginning of each scenario until he has been able to get through one run of the event perfectly without any mistakes like a twisted version of a Fire Emblem level. (Yeah, f**k you, Fates.)
Though looping stories like this aren't particularly anything unique as there are actually quite a number of these, Re:Zero's claim to fame is the sheer and utter breakdown of Subaru over the course of the series. In light novel form, this is easily done through the eyes of the protagonist and features monologues that express the slow descent into madness. In anime form however...it doesn't translate well. Due to the constraints of the medium, the story doesn't resonate as well and the actual breakdown part in the middle of the series doesn't come off as heart wrenching or difficult to watch as I had initially thought.
Problems of the series also arise when it comes to Subaru's motive in the series because Subaru...doesn't really have much incentive for anything. More or less, the show just makes up Subaru's motive for doing things as the episodes run by. He doesn't concern himself with trying to go back to his own world (Which is fine because that motive is cliche and boring, but he doesn't seem the least bit concerned.) and he doesn't actively try to seek out answers as to why he's here or why the witch Satella wants him mainly since his focus at any given moment is what's going with the current arc at that moment whether it'd be trying to get Emilia to notice him or going whaling.
In terms of actual storytelling, Re:Zero brings us a deadly fantasy world with many mysteries (that might never get solved) and give more insight to the world with every new arc that the series gives us. At every turn, the series provides more and more detail to the world that Subaru has been placed in and does it at a nice gradual pace that over time, bolsters development for our characters and introduces new ones without flooding the audience with new people that we're supposed to remember or recognize.
In the end, Re:Zero is a series that was doomed to have its problems from the start. Due to the difficult transition from dense source material to a limited 2 cour series, many details were shaved off to fit the time constraint and many of the series's main draw and impact were lost due to the anime's inherent inability to relay that information well. Though White Fox did try their very best to translate the series into an animated form, and ended up making one of the most well received series of the year. (A bit too well received I might add.)
Overview:
+ Well paced world building
- 2 cour constraint shaved off details
- Main draw's impact lost
- Many unsolved mysteries that we may never get answers to
Characters: As mentioned before, this series feeds in new characters gradually with every arc and has quite a number of colorful and...interesting cast members that bring about result in this very odd fantasy world.
Up first we have Natsuki Subaru, the main protagonist of this series and the series's main victim when it comes to anything bad. With the ability to reset back to an earlier 'checkpoint' at the beginning of an event, the majority of Subaru's development comes from these constant resets (And trust me, they're CONSTANT), chipping away at his sanity with every respawn that he gets. Starting off as a sort of jokey character that doesn't take many things too seriously (and doesn't understand many things in this new world), Subaru slowly morphs through lots and lots of tough love in what I can only describe to be meaningful character development as you can clearly see a change from episode to episode. The only problem with this development is that it only comes about and solely relies on one particular girl.
Then we have Emilia, the half-elf girl that...a lot of people hate, for some reason. (Do we really have to have best girl wars in every series? Come on now.) As a character, Emilia comes off as a caring girl who only wants to help others despite being crucified for being a half-elf like the accursed witch, Satella, that everyone in the series hates for bringing about terror on the world. Beyond that, Emilia however is treated more like a figurehead for Subaru in the series more than an actual character. Emilia herself doesn't actually change all that much and is instead the target for Subaru's affections, the reason why he's doing everything that he does in the series. As a result of this, Emilia, the supposed heroine of this series, is pretty much absent for half of the series's runtime as Subaru festers his decaying mind, which...kinda sucks since that means she's more of a plot device.
Beyond these two, the series hosts a variety of characters that vary in terms of plot importance. From characters that grow alongside Subaru like Rem and Wilheim to other members of the tertiary cast that serve to create conflict or beat down Subaru again for being ignorant with the ways of this new world. Either way, these side characters add a lot to the world and admittedly are a lot more interesting than the main characters.
Overview:
+ Character development for characters beyond the main cast
+ Interesting side characters
- Subaru's development comes off a bit flat
- Emilia is treated more as a plot device than a character
Art: Produced by White Fox, Re:Zero has a very good production quality as expected from the company with a vibrant color scheme and crisp animation that has both been able to create lighthearted moments and dark, dramatic scenes without changing itself all that much, especially during the moments when Subaru really loses it.
Overview:
+ Good quality animation
+ Artstyle is flexible with the moods of the series
Sound: In terms of the OST, the OPs for the series Redo and Paradisus-Paradoxum really hammer in the action-filled psychofest that Re:Zero creates over the course of its runtime. For me, these two are the two most memorable tracks to come out from the series. The EDs don't really have much to them, so to me, I don't feel like they don't have much worth to mention. (Also, they really like using that choir sting a lot. Bit strange.)
In terms of voice acting, Kobayashi Yuusuke did a fantastic job with Subaru, filling in the character's desperate nature and doing a fair job at filling in the gaps of character development that we don't get due to the anime's lack of internal monologue.
Overview:
+ Good OPs
+ Nicely dramatic voice acting
- EDs aren't really that noteworthy
Personal Enjoyment: Usually, I'm not one to follow the herd when it comes to watching shows. My policy when it comes to popular shows is to generally avoid them lest I be crucified for saying that the series is 'Not Good' or 'Has Problems' from the rabid fanbase that praises certain shows like they're gifts from gods or be too high praise for the show's actually good qualities from the cults of people that detest a series like they're birthed from the devil. But since I've heard good things about Re:Zero and all of my friends were watching it (yay peer pressure), I decided to give this show a chance and ended up with a series that...was decent but had issues that were somewhat glaring.
Did I like this series?
Admittedly, I did actually enjoy this series. It was a bit of a different twist on what I'm used to watching on a seasonal basis and while it wasn't the end all be all series that I was looking forward to week after week, it was still an enjoyable watch and wouldn't mind seeing more of it as improbable as that might be. Also, I liked how even Subaru's most perfect runs of a string of events aren't always that perfect. Which is nice; I hate seeing things go too easily.
What didn't I like about this series?
The show just didn't have enough impact. A lot of praise for this series comes from how the series amps up the mental assault of Subaru's mind with the phrase "It gets worse" thrown around a lot to answer back the question on whether or not Subaru gets a break or not. This is largely due to a narrative issue and anime's inability to translate such dense material very well, but the problem still stands since I really didn't feel that gut wrenched at all when watching this series as many people claim it is. (Maybe that happens in later volumes, I don't know.)
Would I recommend this series?
Many people would probably say, "YES! Watch this series because it's soooo damn good!" To that I say...no. Admittedly, while Re:Zero is an interesting show and has many unique properties to it, I can't in good concious say that you should watch this show. Subaru dives down into an unlikable character before becoming a person worthy of redemption, the show still has a lot of holes in its lore than don't really get solved, and the amount of actual progression for the series is very little since Subaru resets every few episodes to the exact same event, which eats up a lot of runtime and forces the series to never move past 3 events, all of which are probably done over the course of 2 or so months in the show. So while this show is interesting and a good contender for a spot on your list of watched anime, it's not the savior of anime, it's not a must-see, it's just a decent show that has its ups and downs like a lot of other shows.
