Story: 9/10
The concept and foundations for Re:Zero are most certainly nothing new. Time-travelling, reincarnation/being reborn, and of course a fantasy world. At a glance the more meticulous of us would realize this is the exact same as countless series we have seen in the past. KonoSuba, Steins;Gate, DanMachi, and an uncountable amount of more series have all focused on one of these aspects to a high standard, so I myself wasn't coming into this anime with high hopes.
But oh boy was I wrong.
An average teenager, Natsuki Subaru, is suddenly transported into a fantasy world after a brief visit to the grocery store. Upon arriving in this world, he is attacked by a group of thugs, only to be saved by a mysterious girl by the name of Satella. Things seem to be going well, but unbeknownst to them, something much darker is prowling in the shadows. Soon, both Subaru and Stella are brutally murdered.
Not only did Re:Zero successfully pull off the entire time-travelling aspect, which in itself is very difficult to work with, but it was able to take the generic 'transported into a fantasy world' idea and put their own edge on it, making an upbeat, light-hearted setting into something much deeper and darker. As oppose to focusing on the good stuff, it tends to focus more on the things you would find in the shadows, the darkness. Death, suffering, gore (sometimes unnecessary and over the top) are all common. It focuses largely on the impact of dying countless times on an average person's state of mind, and how it can change them as a character, but we'll get onto that in a second.
Now, the story and pacing here is slightly slow. It focuses on worldbuilding, as every anime that should have several seasons would normally do. A lot of people seem to have dropped after the first few episodes because of this very reason, but that is most certainly a stupid thing to do for Re:Zero.
Granted, it starts of slow. Yes, it seems like nothing new at the very beginning and everything seems very bland and perhaps for some even displeasing to watch, but later on is the turning point. Character development rockets, the story actually begins to head somewhere and it does not hesitate to change characters entirely. It was even more gratifying because of that slow beginning, and I have to admit I was not expecting it and it made it all so much better.
Characters : 9/10
Let's start with Subaru. Natsuki Subaru is your average teen, much like you and I. Weak, unremarkable, it would be like taking any old 17 year old and placing him in a fantasy world. That is what Subaru is essentially like.
However, Subaru has one power in this world, and that is Return by Death. Upon being killed or dying in any way, shape or form, Subaru is transported back to a specific checkpoint or place he was at previously, with all memories of the incident intact. Naturally, after this occurring several times, we are able to see this take effect on Subaru's mind.
Subaru constantly suffers at the hands of his power, and the ways he die, the memories of the incidents are all rooted deeply in his brain. As previously mentioned, every aspect of Subaru screams average, and such experiences would drive any average person insane, and surely enough that's what happens with Subaru.
The fact he is average is what makes him relatable, and makes everything seem much more real to me. He isn't some overpowered, Mary Sue/Gary Stu character that is able to effortlessly deal with any problem in his path. Because he is average, we are able to suffer with him. Because he is unremarkable and unnoticeable are we able to feel sympathy for him. Because he is average, we are able to feel much closer to him and feel much more emotional whenever any negative occurrence comes about. Finally, it's because he is average that we are able to put ourselves in his shoes, and follow the story much easier. The way his character develops throughout the course of the story is very apparent and incredibly well done, and every minor change is notable. We are able to see how an average teenager deals with constant death and suffering, and how it evolves him as a whole. This, without a shadow of a doubt, is one of the high points of his character and all characters in this series. Subaru also affects everyone around him. In fact, Subaru is probably one of my favorite characters in recent years. We absolutely hate him, but it feels like we're meant to. After all, he is like us. He's an idiot, we all hate him, his decisions are just illogical and it makes you want to punch him at any given moment because of it. But, the reason I love his character so much is because of what comes about later.
Subaru accepts who he is. He is able to accept his flaws, and who he was as an individual. In fact, he takes his flaws, sets them as his very foundations, and strives to make himself a better person. He changes himself, and the way he talks and views others, and it was all amazing to watch. A character who actually got a lot of development and come to term with who he really is... It's something that is rarely seen nowadays.
Aside from the main character, we have a large and diverse supporting cast, all with their respectable roles and links to Subaru. Emilia, Rem, Ram, and countless others all make the story as great as it is. But there are a few characters I think deserve to be talked about in detail.
Rem. She is by far the most focused on and developed character in the series, on par with Subaru, the MC himself and even more than Emilia. Initially, she seems to be cast to the side, and is just a source of humor. At least, at first.
However, this changes drastically as the story progresses onward. We learn about her dark past, and we learn more about her as a whole. She develops feelings for Subaru, and becomes incredibly loyal to him, and always stays by his side even in the direst, darkest of times. Rem is undoubtedly one of the reasons that Subaru is as good a character as he is. She is able to drag him out from the brink of insanity and make him strive to be a better person. The characters in this series are all linked/connected to each other in some way, shape or form, and it's pleasing to watch. The chemistry between Rem , Subaru Emilia and some other characters is just a gift and definitely a high point of this series. She quickly becomes 'the' character that comes to mind when thinking of Re:Zero, but even she has her flaws. I feel like her character was made and developed, or actually altered from the initial source material in order to make a sort of love-triangle best girl rivalry in the series. For this, a lot of material on others was cut but I'll get onto this in a second here. She almost seems to be designed to be what many have called her 'waifubait'; to be an ideal 'waifu' to the viewer. I can't say I agree, but I can't really say I disagree with this either. She's a good character, but she also has her flaws.
Emilia. Cute, shy, kind, lovable. These things make a lot of people like her right from the get-go, but what I liked most about Emilia was the fact that she was independent a lot of the time. Usually, the lead girl will stick to the male lead at all costs, and rely on him quite a bit. On the other hand, Emilia can easily live without Subaru and even rejects him and stays away from his several times in the story. Aside from this, there isn't too much to say about her as she only appears much in the first half. However, something really bothers me about the way the anime portrayed Emilia as a whole.
For whatever reason, they cut out a lot of backstory and important information about Emilia. The result made her seem much more of a bland character, and made her seem like she did not receive any development whatsoever throughout the series. In fact, she did, but it just wasn't as obvious, and one thing that tends to bother me about this is that people overlook the fact that you're meant to connect the dots and figure it out on your own. It isn't directly thrown into your face, you're not really spoon fed all of the information. This series will have several moments like this. You'll need to pause, you'll need to think about what has happened and how this affects the characters as a whole. I can't stress it enough how important it is to do this in order to fully realize the scale of how good and well-developed the majority of the characters are in this series.
There's also characters like Felt and Reinhard, Rosewall and many others. They rarely ever get any screentime. Reinhard and Felt were both made out to be something big, they seemed like they'll be important to the series as a whole and will partake a major role in deciding how the story goes.
That assumption could not be more wrong.
Quickly, characters like the three mentions are cast to the side. Just like that. After all the build up with Reinhard being a strong badass swordsman he disappears from the story completely later on. Same with Felt and Rosewall. They get mentioned, but don't actually make an appearance.
Sound: 9.8/10
The sound for Re:Zero was simply amazing. The openings and endings were the type that would be stuck in your head for hours after hearing them, and would be easily remembered. They were also unique and had their own style. One thing I actually liked, was that they were sometimes skipped at crucial moments in the story, so that it flowed much easier, instead of being obnoxiously thrust upon you. This lead to me enjoying and savoring them much more. Aside from the openings and endings, the OST's used were also brilliant. Every single one of them was expertly executed, and they were all pleasing to listen to. The voice actors did an absolutely outstanding job with the characters and the singing, in fact i'm still in awe of how good Betelgeuse's voice actor was and how well he was able to depict his insanity. Same goes for Rem and Emilia's seiyuus, they perfectly conveyed their emotions throughout the series and each emotional scene was just THAT much better because of them.
Art: 7.8/10
The art was pretty good. The detail that went into a lot of the characters, most notably Emilia, was great. She was beautiful at all times, and the series did a good job with the lighting too, being able to change from a light-hearted and upbeat scene to dark and sinister in the space of a few seconds. One downside to the art in my opinion was the CGI used in the background, which animated the random people on the street and whatnot. I found it quite distracting, and sometimes it drew my attention away from what was actually going on. Another thing was that with Re:Zero, much like a lot of anime, the quality of the art and the fight scenes dropped majorly towards the second half of the series. This is normal however, but aside from these two things I quite enjoyed the art.
Enjoyment: 10/10
I haven't enjoyed a series more than Re:Zero in years. Sure, I haven't watched too much myself, but the blend of dark, psychological trauma and a fantasy setting were brilliantly done and kept me drawn in constantly. At one moment, characters would be chatting happily, and the next something would happen completely out of the blue, followed by a creepy well-done OST that just gave me an "oh shit" feeling. I wouldn't even seen the time flying past. Most elements of the story were brilliantly executed, and I was always on the edge of my seat wishing and begging for more!
Overall: 10/10
Overall, I'd say it is certainly a 10. It's not anywhere as good as the light novel for several reasons, but I would say it's still 100% worth watching. Hopefully, with further seasons, we'll be able to see this anime progress and become much, much better.
