If you are wondering if this anime is worth your time, I say this: if the premise catches your eye, or the character designs, or anything at all, I absolutely implore you to check out the original visual novel. It's deep. It's beautiful inside and out. It's got a message that cannot be ignored. None of which can be said about this travesty of an adaptation. 8bit did not know what they were doing, and do not deserve five hours of your time spent here. Avoid this trainwreck at all costs.
The story jumps around like a pinball in a dryer. There is no semblance of cohesive storytelling to be found. It takes bits and chunks of the branching "routes" from the visual novel and attempts to tie them together in a haphazard, charmless sort of way. At first I wondered if this was on purpose, like the show was just meant to be a treat for people who have already read the source material it is based on, but no. No reader of the visual novel can find anything redeemable at how badly 8bit botched this.
Characters have been derailed extensively. Shizuru, Lucia, and especially Kagari act in ways that are unthinkable for their VN counterparts. Kagari is supposed to be an ominous, mysterious entity, a legitimate threat to Kotarou's peaceful life and instead becomes a caffeine-addicted, narcissistic victim of fart jokes.
The one thing that Rewrite gets right is the music. It's taken straight from the visual novel, some truly great pieces that practically tell a story all by themselves. The voice actors are all returned to reprise their roles for this adaptation, but Chiwa Saitou, whose turn as Kotori Kanbe made the character one of the most beloved in the novel, sounds almost chronically bored. It's a shame, but I think even she saw that this script and this adaptation would be lovingly omitted from any resumes she makes going forward. Kana Hanazawa, my favorite seiyuu of all-time, returns as Kagari, but I've already mentioned how badly they've botched her character, and it feels like KanaHana knew it too. She puts forth only just enough effort to keep the dysfunctional train on the tracks.
The art is dreadful. The characters, whose designs are lovingly detailed in the visual novel, are reduced to frilly moeblobs with very little detail. There are some decent panning shots of Kazamatsuri, but that's about it. And the CG monsters that crop up routinely during the show are just about at the point where they might have looked passable in a 1980s Gundam show. But it's now 2016, and these CG dinosaurs and leaf dragon look pitiful. Perpetually locked at somewhere south of 18 frames per second, it feels like you're watching a particularly unappealing PlayStation 2 game.
In short, this is something to be avoided. I thought I had learned my lesson when I watched their dreadful Absolute Duo adaptation, but at least that was a case where the source material was also uninspired and trite, so 8bit could be almost excused for going through the motions in adapting it. Rewrite is not only great, but a downright tome of greatness, with nearly 100 hours of content. There was no way they were going to be able to do it justice with just 13 episodes, but I would have at least respected an honest attempt to try. Instead, I got a fanservice-laden clusterfuck of scenes that go nowhere, schizophrenic pacing, dull action scenes, and an ending that teases the inevitable second cour. I'll be taking a pass on that, 8bit. Don't take it personal. I'll be too busy "Rewriting" my brain to cleanse it from this disaster.
Until next time, may the Song of Destruction be heard all across 8bit's headquarters.
