*This post contains some spoilers for Re:zero and images that may spoil those who have not watched the series , plus a trailer for season 3 . If you want to watch the series before seeing the new trailer I would skip this post entirely , watch season one , The OVA Memory Snow , the movie, Frozen Bond and season 2, but if you’re curious and want to know if this series is for you read on.
So I read a lot of anime blogs on here , and watch a ton of anime. More so than most live action shows if I’m being honest, I’ll maybe watch a two or three live action shows a year and the rest is just anime. But this is my first time really writing down my thoughts on a series . But I had to with the third season of Re: Zero -Starting Life in Another World , which comes out this October.
I first saw this as it was being released in 2016, this was kind of odd time for anime for me. My fiance and I love anime , but he had been picking some kind of boring and or generic shows. But there was definitely a silver lining in 2016 as Overlord was airing (another of my favorites ) Konosuba , we had finished Parasyte as well . And at first I had my reservations with Re;Zero , I had never heard of the source material ( Light Novel ) and was expecting a generic fantasy isekai , but was pleasantly surprised with the worldbuilding , characters and storyline.
Our main protagonist is a young man who finds himself transported to a medieval style fantasy world while stepping out of a convience store. There really isn’t an explanation as to how he got there as alot of Isekai fiction has main characters die before coming to a new world. Suburu is just there . He’s see’s animal people, carts pulled by dragons and meets a half elf , Emilia . She’s pretty much our secondary protaginst later in the series . But for now I’ll focus on Suburu and why this show differs from alot of other Isekei and fantasty animes. He’s pretty much powerless . He’s somwhat weak , even though he does his radio calisthenics , and he’s in a strange new world that’s actually quite dangerous. And it isn’t until about the end of the episode we find out just how dire his situation really is . He dies , horribly, and later regains conciousness right before he meets Emilia . He seems to be cursed with a power he dubs Return By Death, and is basically forced to die and expierance this metal anguish until he can get things right. And he dies alot ! Plus the added terrible bonus of seeing people he meets and befriends die as well. Oh and there’s witches ! Suburu himself being cursed or blessed (depending on how you see it ) by one of the most powerful and feared witches in this world.
And this is what sets it apart from other similar fantasy anime shows. We have protagonist that’s main power is just dying and starting over , and many of the storylines are more akin to murder mysteries. he has to figuare out how he died , who killed him, why and if someone else he cares about dies , he may have to kill himself to save them. And while he starts out a bit immature , a mix of positivity and sometimes cringy follishness , he does grow . And it makes his victories even more sweet. The other show I often compare to is honestly Steins;Gate which has a time traveling scientist going back in time and trying to save his friend’s life and also stop World War 3. The character is oftentimes broken in the mind and battered but they keep going and thats what makes stories like this very endearing to me. I also appreciate the cute character design like the Maids above, Rem and Ram. It contrasts really nicely with the oftentimes sad or brutal aspects of the show. Plus the twin maids who I at first thought were the cringy finishing each other’s sentences twins trope actually averted it by making them very different later on. Maybe not so much in appearance but Rem and Ram both have very different story arcs and personalities.
Same goes for this cute little guy who you could mistake for just being a very cute talking animal , but is actually a very important powerful character. He has his own goals and mysteries that aren’t really gone into till quite later in the series and movie.
And Roswaal , who has one of my favorite Japanese voice actors ( watch the show in Japanese the cast is amazing !). when we first meet him , the main character thinks he’s a clown , but he’s a lord of a land and powerful magician with some ulterior motives of his own.
And I probably won’t really touch too much on season 2 as I’m currently rewatching it , but it’s amazing too ! I’ve only watched season 2 once , where as I’ve watched the first one two time, well three since I’m hyping myself up for the third round. I love this show , it’s mix of fantasy , whimsy, bloody scenes , sometimes heartbreaking , but still very uplifting somehow at the same time . And yes it’s one of those shows that will most definitely make me cry , Plus I will always remember this scene and how it’s still one of the most iconic scenes for me in modern anime .
I’m beyond hyped for Season 3 and definitely reccomend those who want an anime show that isn’t your typical shonen, or isekai . And I would reccomend this for even people who think they don’t like anime , It’s got it’s goofy moments but at it’s core its a drama about trauma , overcoming adveristy and the characters while cute are definitely well rounded and 3 dimensional. Oh and here’s the trailer !
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