After a 3 month-long break White Fox returns with their Re:ZERO adaptation. The cliffhanger of the last Part was a bit odd and you could kinda tell that Part 1 & 2 were supposed to air back to back. I would've preferred to review both Parts together as a complete season as they complement each other and I also didn't want to repeat myself on some things. But obviously, it couldn't be helped considering the state of the world. I guess now it doesn't matter since Part 2 is here anyway and has finished airing. Now the actual review.
The first thing I want to get out of the way was the lackluster animation of the previous Part. Since animation switched from studio to home after Episode 5 of Part 1 the quality noticeably took a dip. After the 3 month break, the animation actually improved. Honestly, I'm even more shocked that White Fox was capable of delivering 29:30 minutes long episode for weeks on end. Apparently, Kadokawa paid off ads so that Re:ZERO could fill up the entire time slot for the TV channels it was airing on Japan. I haven't been watching anime for too long but something like this is basically unheard of to me. So I thought this deserves some praise. There are still some weird frames here and there but their numbers are low compared to the last part. Those awkward frames don't take away from the enjoyment too much as the quality holds up in places where it matters the most. Episode 23 "Love Me Down to My Blood and Guts" and Episode 24 "Choose Me" are by far the highlights of Season 2. And this wouldn't be possible if not for outsourcing partners such as A-1 or ufotable studios. Once again, the OP and ED have only been played twice each. So when I said 29:30 minute episodes it means that most of them were actually pure content. White Fox easily could've sacrificed pacing and shove OP and ED in every episode but they didn't. Anyone who watched this season would tell you that their passion for this show is genuine, and I can get behind that. The ED visuals were fantastic, OP visuals were a bit lackluster according to many but I'm shocked that we got an OP at all, to be honest.
Since I was talking about OPs and EDs I might as well start talking about the OST. As I said before, music has always been good in Re:ZERO. Do I really gotta say any more? Well, like it or not, I'm gonna. Even though there was a lack of OP/ED visuals in most episodes we still got to hear some of them in the background. And the most notable instances for them were definitely during the Emilia episodes and "Choose Me". I can't talk about OST without mentioning 'Door' by Rie Takahashi and 'What You Don't Know' by Rie Murakawa. Both of them delivered fantastic performances for their insert songs <3 If you haven't watched Part 2 yet and don't know who the latter is, you're in for a surprise. The last bits of "Love Me Down to My Blood and Guts" parallels Episode 18 of Season 1 "From Zero" in many different ways. I just wish Arai Satomi got an insert song too :( The overall OSTs were also phenomenal. You're doing yourself a disservice if you watch the episodes without a nice pair of headphones! But something that was even more amazing was the cast's portrayal of their characters. Once again Yusuke Kobayashi knocks it out of the park with his performance. But his and Maaya Sakamoto's highlights were mostly in Part 1. In this part, we got an amazing portrayal from Rie Takahashi and her voicing various transformations of Emilia which I'm trying hard to not spoil! Other notable performances include Arai Satomi as Beatrice and Takehito Koyasu as Dio- I mean Roswaal.
Let's talk about the characters. I strongly believe that Re:ZERO isn't a plot-driven but a character-driven show. The plot revolves around the characters and the characters revolve around the plot. If you can't really see their relation then you might not be able to appreciate the true genius of Re:ZERO. Re:ZERO puts its characters first above all else and that's where the heart of this series lied since Day 1. The character development of Emilia is undoubtedly the highlight of the Season. She went from a mostly off-screen "main" character from Season 1 to a useless pathetic crybaby in Part 1 of Season 2 to one of the most beloved and memorable characters in a short time with organic development. She has definitely cemented herself as one of the two leading characters of Re:ZERO (finally)... but whether or not she's "THE best girl" is still up for debate, according to some folk anyway. Subaru went from a useless pathetic crybaby (like Emilia) to one of the chaddest of chads in no time as well. Anyone who unironically used to call him a "self-insert main character", "weak mc" or a "simp" (despite Re:ZERO predating the term ironically) is literally proven wrong by the 2nd episode and again in the last two episodes. Even I used to think Subaru was somewhat of a self-insert main character while watching Season 1. But he has successfully established himself to be his own character which is something very rare to see in modern isekai shows. If your definition of "strength" exclusively relies upon physical strength then I can see why you'd still say those things and completely miss the point of the characters. Again, Re:ZERO isn't a typical shonen d@#k measurement contest about which characters can bust the largest nut like let's say in Dragonballz. It's not an action, power fantasy isekai harem show either. (sorry for the random rant) That being said there was a surprising bit of action in the last few episodes which were well-animated. Other highlighted characters of the season include Otto (BEST BOI), Garfiel (dammit, both Otto and Garfiel best boi), Roswaal, Ram (best girl?), Beatrice (also best girl) and many other characters whom I might not mention because of spoilers. Re:ZERO isn't about its waifus, nor is it about torture porn for sadists. It's about the characters. Even if you can't fully invest in all of the characters, you should still be able to acknowledge their growth at the very least.
If Part 1 was about the buildup, then Part 2 is about the delivery, and boy does it deliver. The tension is at an all-time high but not in the same way as Part 1. After the first episode, and ESPECIALLY after the 2nd episode, you get the gist of what's to come and you can't help but smile and still be surprised as things play out. Re:ZERO Season 1, and by extension Part 1 of Season 2 covered the worst qualities of the protagonist Subaru. Not many shows have the balls to address the weaker aspects of their main character, at least not in the way Re:ZERO does. Part 1 also dealt with Emilia, but if Part 1 was Subaru's part then Part 2 is Emilia's. She's the second main character of Re:ZERO. It was unfortunate that Season 1 didn't focus more on her, leaving Rem to take up all the spotlight after the first half of Season 1. But now Rem being in the state she is in not only leaves the door open for Subaru's growth but also Emilia's. To some people that might've been a terrible sacrifice but to me who never really watched the first season solely for Rem it's actually worth it. I don't think I made it clear in my last review cause of spoilers so I think I should now, Rem's exclusion from the main plot of Season 2 isn't a weakness. Too many people before Season 2 used to say, "Subaru's RBD is too OP", "it's not an interesting power", "it's a plot device which ruins the story and makes it boring" etc. Rem's comatose state and Subaru's inability to save her right away expose the fundamental flaws of his RBD, something that can be called a curse. It's not his own power and he certainly can't control it, he never could. By repeating loops we can see sides of characters that are impossible to see in a normal linear anime or shows. Tappei Nagatsuki takes full advantage of this time looping technique in his story. This was true for Season 1 as well. But Season 2 takes it to a different level.
Time to address the most common criticisms of Season 2. I've heard from many people that it has "too many flashbacks" or it's "too boring". I can't comment too much about how boring it may be to other people as different people watch different anime for different reasons. If you already watched previous seasons then you probably have a rough idea of what's to come, but even then this Part will subvert your expectations in a positive way. If you think this season is boring cause of "flashbacks" then let me correct you, without spoiling too much. There were only 2 or 3 real flashback scenes in the whole season. "But wait! That doesn't add up!" you might think. I'm assuming you already watched Part 1 but let me just give you a refresher, the Sanctuary Witch Trials are NOT flashbacks. They're extremely integral to the characters, and by being integral to the characters, they're also integral to the overall narrative. I'd say even the "real" flashbacks are extremely important in giving context about the other characters. These aren't your average cliché flashbacks that take place right before a fight scene and only screw up the pacing. There's a bunch of them in this Part, I agree, but not one of them wasn't well done or felt unimportant. All of them served a purpose.
Another common complaint is that this arc is "too long" or "it stays at the same place". This is objectively true. The first season of the anime covers the first 3 Arcs from the novel. Season 2 only covers Arc 4 from Episode 2 and spans the entire season. But I don't believe this to be a weakness. It's true that Season 1 spends way much time exploring different locations and characters, but the actual world-building in Season 2 surpasses Season 1 by a long shot. It's also true that Season 2 doesn't have a lot of returning characters from Season 1, at least not for long, which may be disappointing to people who are fans of the missing characters. But what it lacks in quantity it makes up for it with quality. The returning characters from Season 1 who stick around get amazing characterization and the brand new characters are just as interesting as characters from Season 1, if not more. Heck, I'd argue the latter is more true.
Not a single moment in Part 2 is wasted or feels like filler. If anything, White Fox delivered more than what any of us expected which makes this more than any 'average' Light Novel adaptation. There were some cut content unfortunately like any other LN adaptation. Even some important moments cut from the LN are still present in the freaking manga adaptation of the same story. Despite this, in my opinion, there was no dull moment in this season except for maybe a few small instances. I'm just hoping that the cut scenes will get readded in the next Season/Arc of Re:ZERO anime. Re:ZERO might've just become one of my favorite anime of all time which I can't really say about a lot of the recently released anime. Season 2 feels like a dream even after the unexpected success of Season 1 and many years of silence. I'm just worried about a sequel. Re:ZERO episodes every week pulls some great cliffhangers so I'm used to them but what I don't understand is why White Fox doesn't do the same thing with the season finale. Basically a repetition of the original cut of the Season 1 finale. Still I'm hopeful for a potential Season 3.
10/10. No, BS.
