Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be in another
world? Like in fantasy games and RPG? Or ever gotten curious to what it’s like
meeting mythical and magical creatures and interacting with them? Or even
having a guild or something of the like? Well, if you said yes to that, then
you must be an Isekai fan! What is that anyway? Well it’s a Japanese term for
anime that has another world for a setting. Which means, it could be that you,
like me, are from regular earth and may wound up teleported or transported via
a magical circle or whatnot to another world. Anime with that kind of theme is
called Isekai.
Most Isekai-type anime I am fond of is Konosuba, Tweeny
witches, Digimon, Shield hero and Magic Knight Rayearth, just to name a few. So
I decided to watch Re:zero because it was really popular and the art style
attracted me that I got curious, thinking it must be like the ones I watched. But
apparently, that was not the case. Some aspects were the same as the usual
Isekai anime but they also had some difference. (I was not prepared to actually
love it.)
Before I dive in further, I’d like to inform you that some
spoilers are ahead and that my narrative is meant to showcase my opinion alone
and not represented by any organization or whatsoever with which I have been,
am now or ever to be affiliated.
I’d like to give a brief background of the main character.
His name is Natsuki Subaru. He is an average boy probably in his late teens and
is shown in the first episode wearing sweats. It was that simple at first. He
was seen buying snacks in a convenience store (Mini Stop to be precise) It was
a very normal setting. As this scene
keeps going, some flashbacks or visions of other parts of the episode was being
shown. It seemed that Subaru was not aware of the visions. Soon after he went
out of the store and no preamble, he just blinked and voilà! He is for some
reason, in another world! The world he was teleported into was medieval-looking
and had various creatures but mostly humans were there at that time. The town
he appeared in is later revealed to be Luginica. It is definitely not like
other typical Isekai wherein a creature of some sort starts to explain stuff or
maybe even a fairy transports the main character via a magic circle. There was
no further explanation. The funny thing is that he was even wearing the same
sweats, and armed with a plastic bag of chips and noodles. (Not exactly his
very hero-like expectations at all) Subaru even walks around this other-worldly
town checking if he has some powers but still his expectations failed him. The written
language was unreadable and the money is a different currency. This, he discovers
as he asked a fruit vendor and is shooed away because he was considered
moneyless in this world. Eventually he runs into a group of thugs followed by a
running girl who is later known as Felt. Felt was actually a thief who was
running away from someone she stole from and did not stop to help Subaru. In a
while after being harassed and beaten by the goons, another girl appears. This
time it is Emilia. (Take note that this is her real name but first goes to
introduce herself as Satella.) She is a beautiful half elf with silver hair. A
slight segue, she is voiced by Rie Takahashi who happens to voice Megumin from
Konosuba. Fun fact: Re:zero has a fun spin-off and crossover with other Isekai
anime, titled: Isekai quartet and Rie Takahashi will be playing both roles.
Continuing on, seeing a helpless Subaru, Emilia, along with
her familiar Puck, saves him from the goons. But thinking initially that it was
Subaru who stole her Insignia. After clearing up the misunderstanding, Subaru
returns the favor as a “good deed” and helps Emilia to look for the thief. In
looking, they wound up in the slums of the town late at night, in a loot house
of Old Man Rom. Subaru went inside the
dark loot house because no one answered and stumbled upon the corpse of
presumably, the Old man Rom. Subaru hears a female voice. Unfortunately, the
killer was still inside and slashed him. Emilia also enters and gets killed
first. Subaru, writhing in pain dies moments later. Yes. He died. The main
character died.
Now, while I was watching, I was surprised by the turn of
events. This was shocking to me because it was really unexpected. I was
thinking like, “what the heck was that?”
The episode is not yet finished. It’s longer than most anime
and continues on to Subaru a moments later being alive! How? The next scene
after he died, he was right back to where he started – talking with the fruit
vendor in the town. However, Subaru clearly remembers where he was before and
how he died so it was confusing to him as to me. Now, I’m going to stop here
for now because I am not going to summarize everything afterwards that
happened. I already revealed the gist of how the story goes. (I even feel I
revealed too much) but for me, what I said above is the biggest highlight and I
want to express how things led to it. I wanted to give a background to how
thrilling and exciting the first episode is! Did I like it? Yes! Do I want to
keep watching? Yes! Is it highly recommended to fellow anime enthusiasts? Yes!
I especially admire Subaru. Despite being a regular person, his personality is
really great, considering he just got himself in really dire, life and death
situations. He was in pain. He was slashed, and killed! Despite what happened
(and keeps happening) he still wants to be a hero for Emilia’s sake. In the
succeeding episodes, I think we can see more of his heroism and a closeness
between him and Emilia will be evident.
Overall, this anime is really great! The story is
entertaining and this is just the beginning but it already packed a punch! The
second season also got released this year and as soon as it was released, it
was already the talk of the town, much to be expected of a great anime anyway. I
also hope that a third season will be underway because Re: zero is definitely
one of my favorite Isekai anime.
Despite loving the storyline of this anime, I don’t think
I’ll be daydreaming about being in another world for the time being. Dying and
dying all over again doesn’t seem too appealing to me.
Note: This is one of my handwritten review that I submitted last Nov. 18, 2020 to Aniradio+ for my anime reviewer application. Unfortunately out of a rough estimate of 2,400 applicants, I am not one of the 20 who were chosen.
Copyright
Star Ashley Cruz
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