I actually really liked this for the most part. Firstly, when your lead cannot die there's a tendency to have it seem like there are no consequences and thus no threat. Every film I can think of which deals with the idea has the character confront this problem at some point. But by not hiding from the pain and fear of death, each time he dies it seems like a shocking, horrible experience that he naturally wouldn't want to suffer again. This means that he tries to preserve each and every life, with only a slight recklessness and calmness about lethal scenarios separating him from an ordinary character. This makes the plot seem far less repetitive than other lethal reincarnation stories. He doesn't systematically approach each scenario planning around his deaths to gain knowledge or advantage. Each time he tries something completely different until one approach works, or something that he learned in a past life becomes of key significance.
Another great thing about the way his loops make him look utterly useless. This wasn't an angle I'd ever considered before, but when you get everything right on your first try (as far as everyone knows) and nobody sees all the ways you could have failed they're going to assume you're just lucky or that the situation was never that serious; otherwise you'd have had to try harder. That must be just incredibly frustrating. That he's the most important member of any team isn't particularly obvious to people since he lacks any useful skill. Most stories of this sort (well, all really) have their lead learn new skills using their infinite opportunities to gain experience. Since he's so reluctant to die (and seems generally to act like he's the PC at the center of an RPG), Subaru never learns much of anything about how to fight. People have to do it all for him. That's a great change for the protagonist, and it leads to the series coming up with many new and different ways to have him prove his usefulness and remain proactive despite being, generally, pretty useless.
Of course, that perception of uselessness wouldn't be possible if he just told somebody about his ability. Storywise, this would open a whole new kettle of fish and place him in quite a different role. But the series has a clever way of handling this that not only provides a logical limit to his behavior but builds on the wider story. Somehow his ability is connected to the evil witch who's responsible for most of the bad things that happen in the show. Whenever he tries to tell anyone about his "return by death" he feels her hand crushing his heart and has to stop before he dies. It's a great idea. It prevents him from ever explaining why he's useful while also making his whole situation and behavior slightly ominous (what does she want him for?) and even manages to advance the plot since the closer the witch's connection to him is, the more attractive he smells to any monsters in the vicinity. Thus, he makes an excellent bait.
This inability to discuss his powers also enhances rather dramatically one of the typical features of such a story: the trauma of watching those you care about die over and over again. People keep sacrificing themselves to save Subaru, and he can't tell them to stop as explaining would kill him (or in one case them). Watching people throw their lives away to protect somebody who's basically immortal is so frustrating that it'd drive anyone a little mad.
The other aspects of the show are good as well. The animation is first rate. Everything really looks fine and detailed. Character designs are generally great, even if none of them really stand out. The characters themselves are a bit of a mixed bag. Subaru is notably full of good and bad components. He's convinced thoroughly of his own importance and strives to fill the hero role that he believes is his by virtue of being a PC. The fact that he generally is the most important character there but can't tell anyone is a good source of drama. But his self-importance does make him very annoying at times, and the payoff comes late and takes far too long to explain. Really, you get the idea from just the last couple of sentences don't you? but it takes an entire episode for them to explain it. It also makes him peculiarly motivationless at times, which is a problem from a dramatic standpoint. Still, it's deeper than most Anime characters go, and his flaws are at least acknowledged in the end.
Other characters are, as I said, mixed. The chief love interest Emilia is Typical Anime Princess #5. Very generic and non proactive. Some of the details about her are interesting, but she's not really much of a character. The twin demon sisters Rem and Ram are better constructed, although it takes a while for them to get beyond kawaii maids. And these are the main characters for the first half of the series. Fortunately, the second half expands on this character base and brings us Emilia's rivals for the throne. And each of these characters is interesting and has a well-developed personality and goals. They each have a knight protecting them, and again they are distinct and entertaining. The villains are rather less impressive. While the witch herself is built up very effectively through hints and innuendos, the main villains are an assassin called Elsa, whose main character traits are that she enjoys gutting people and licks her licks sultrily a lot, and Betelgeuse, a mad high priest of sloth who's basically a gross clown who moves like a marionette and constantly bites the tips of his fingers off and bleeds from his eyelids. He's gross, completely mad, and not very entertaining or threatening. Better are the generic mad cultists, who wear cool KKKish black robes and can sink through solid objects.
The series peters out without resolving much of anything unfortunately, but I understand that another season's in the works so that's completely understandable. They do at least resolve a few character issues and finish their small scale quest. The world feels big and so many elements are introduced that there feels like a whole world of story to expand on. I'm looking forwards to the next season of this series and hope they can expand on some of the elements that really worked here.
