Story: 3/10
I tend not to give ratings lower than a five unless I felt that it was poorly done and/or insulting, and unfortunately Re:Zero falls under the category of 'poorly done.' The list is a bit long, so I'm going to number off the problems I had with the story and plot along with a description of why I felt it was handled carelessly.
1.The setting. Yes, another fantasy setting. I wouldn't mind watching another anime with a fantasy setting as long as it had interesting mechanics or some additional feature unique to that world, but Re:Zero provides us with a world that has no character nor value to it. Although I may not have like the anime Grimgar, what kept me watching was that unnerving feeling you got whenever the goblins are killed by the protagonists because the show intentionally 'humanizes' the goblins, making it harder to watch when the 'hero' of the show strikes down a creature struggling to survive. Re:zero has nothing like this that makes it stand out from the rest. It's bland, it's boring, and overall uninteresting. Although many people say they didn't like how the setting was introduced, I honestly didn't see a problem with it since it was established straight away.
2. Return by Death. Subaru's ability to return by death (see what I did there?) It's a nice concept that could have been handled better. Subaru's 'checkpoints', as he calls them, are very conveniently placed right after emotional climaxes or scenes that build a lot of tension. Not only does it take away any sense of fear that Subaru may have to relive those tense moments, but it also screams 'lazy writing.' Now, I hate comparing this to Steins;Gate since everyone else already does this, but that choice that is presented somewhere towards the last four episodes, where Okabe must either save Makise or Mayuri, is what made his ability to see "Steiner" so interesting, because it was both a useful tool as well as a curse. Re:Zero tries to take advantage of this without seeming too similar to Steins;Gate but ends up making Subaru seem irrational and unrelatable (I will talk more about this in the character section) whenever he tries expressing his feelings. This is probably due to the inability to say anything about Return by Death, which is kind of a double-edged sword as it restricts Subaru's dialogue; and unlike Okabe, Subaru does not have as much inner monologue.
3. Story arcs. I'm not a big fan of story arcs in such a short anime, but I enjoyed the first arc with the bowel hunter. Everything that followed after was a complete mess. After finally finishing the anime, I look back and wonder "What was the point of the first arc? To introduce the second arc? If so, what was the point of the second arc, because everything past episode 15 ignored it entirely?" The story's structure is clumsy, probably because it's a light novel adaptation and it didn't translate well into animation, but that's no excuse for a poorly implemented story.
Wow that's a lot of text, I'm so sorry, but that was just the beginning. If you are still here, congratulations! You either really didn't like Re:Zero or you really loved it and came to criticize (which I am entirely open to). Anyways, let's continue with the art.
Art: 6/10
The character designs were a bit bland in my opinion, other than our hero, Subaru, who is rocking that track suit. The animation held up almost all of the time although there were a few instances of low detailed shots, but it's not that noticeable. So why a 6/10, you ask? Well, its the CG. I typically don't like CG in anime because it doesn't mesh well with everything else, and there is a lot of CG in Re:Zero. It just takes me out of the experience because it is so out of place and unnecessary. Speaking of unnecessary, the amount of blood and gore is (and I hate to use this word but it's the only thing that pops to mind) edgy.
Sound: 7/10
Probably the best part about the anime. While most of the songs were used to fill in soundless scenes, it did the job and set the right tone. There was only one song that stuck out to me which was titled "Requiem of Silence." I can't really comment about how well the Japanese voice actors did, but the only problem I had was with Emilia whose voice always sounded the same no matter what expression her face had.
Character: 4/10
Oh boy, get ready for another wall of text. I always see people commenting about how realistic the characters are in Re;Zero, but no matter which way I look at it, I can't seem to understand anyone's intentions. I appreciate that they tried to go for deep, psychological emotions since it is really hard to portray, but I don't understand any of the character's actions. Why is Subaru so social and charismatic if he was a neet in his previous life? Why does Subaru say he is doing everything for himself when all he does is things for others? It's stuff like this that pulls me out of the experience and makes me not connect with any of the characters. On an unrelated note, the appearance of these characters feel unnatural and forced. Some characters will get entire episodes of character development just to be tossed aside and never seen again until key moments. It begs the question why they were even given so much screen time in the first place when they are not even playing a role in the final episodes. Finally, I really disliked the main antagonist, Betelgeuse. His character is WAY too over dramatic to a point where he is not even a threat, just an annoyance. What happened to well developed villains like Shogo Makishima who don't just shout 'desu' every ten seconds? It's almost insulting. None of his powers make any coherent sense and are hardly if never explained in the anime.
Enjoyment: 6
Taking into account enjoyment is redundant since my enjoyment comes from what I've sated above. I will say though that although I pointed out a lot of negatives, there were some tense moments that kept me interested in watching the next episode, so my viewing experience was not as bad as it may seem.
Overall: 5/10
It's simply an average show with good visuals and sounds smacked on top of a messy story. Although I give Re:Zero a 5/10, that does not mean that I think it was bad, it had its good moments and its bad moments, but I don't think one outweighed the other. I know my opinion may not be popular, so if you'd like to rebuttal any of my arguments in an intellectual manner, I encourage you to do so. Thanks for reading this really long and unnecessary review!
Side Note: Sorry if there are spelling or grammar mistakes, or just poor writing; I sort of rushed a bit because I wanted to go to bed before 1 in the morning
