Started Watching Re: Zero
I am currently 7 episodes into Re: Zero debating on whether to continue or not. There are some things about the pacing of the show so far that make me sort of disinterested, and I’m curious if, after reading this post, anyone can confirm if the show continues with these things. Cuz I do like the plot concept and characters, but writing lows are just bumming me out.
For instance, there have already been a few times where characters will be in a serious situation where they address time constraints, but then proceed to have a ton of dialogue while standing there. Why not have this conversation take place while running to the problem? Or maybe have less dialogue? There are times where Subaru has an “aha!” moment, but then goes on to do something that totally contradicts the “epiphany” he just had. Part of me thinks that the show is trying to say “oh Subaru’s kind of a dummy lol”, but I don’t think he is dumb. Sure he doesn’t know anything about the world he’s in but that doesn’t make him generally daft or less self-aware, so these moments just don’t make sense to me.
These kind of writing choices are what make me not invested in a story, and with episodes being an hour long I prefer not to watch 50 episodes of something where this continually happens with no character development. I lost interest in Fairy Tail for very similar reasons if anyone sees what I mean (Fairy Tail is pretty formulaic with kind of a same stuff different episode vibe to me).
Anyone have any insight to whether the show keeps doing this stuff throughout?
For instance, there have already been a few times where characters will be in a serious situation where they address time constraints, but then proceed to have a ton of dialogue while standing there. Why not have this conversation take place while running to the problem? Or maybe have less dialogue? There are times where Subaru has an “aha!” moment, but then goes on to do something that totally contradicts the “epiphany” he just had. Part of me thinks that the show is trying to say “oh Subaru’s kind of a dummy lol”, but I don’t think he is dumb. Sure he doesn’t know anything about the world he’s in but that doesn’t make him generally daft or less self-aware, so these moments just don’t make sense to me.
These kind of writing choices are what make me not invested in a story, and with episodes being an hour long I prefer not to watch 50 episodes of something where this continually happens with no character development. I lost interest in Fairy Tail for very similar reasons if anyone sees what I mean (Fairy Tail is pretty formulaic with kind of a same stuff different episode vibe to me).
Anyone have any insight to whether the show keeps doing this stuff throughout?
Commentaires
I guess it's a sort of limitation from adapting the novels that focus more on the psychology of the characters and how they think rather than what they're doing while they discuss.
I would disagree. Having it before the rescue helps establish why Ram is so willing to do something so dangerous and directly attempt a rescue (despite have very inadequate combat power). The info about their relationship isn't essential for the viewer in that moment, but it's important to Ram and drives all of Ram's actions as to why she's being so reckless in her rescue attempt.
Though I'm not exactly sure which scene you're talking about. The scene before they go into the forest (by Beatrice) all feels very pertinent to what they're about to do. The scene where Subaru has the sword flashback is one where he's explicitly tired, so he's taking a break (a reasonable reason to not be on the move). And then when Ram talks about her relationship with Rem, they're also walking at the same time (with Ram ahead of Subaru and pausing to let him catch up). There's also a bit of a pause when they cross the river that feels a bit long to me (particularly afterwards), but a river (and bank) isn't exactly ground that one ought to rush through imo.
As a viewer, seeing Ram ponder why the people like Subaru so much, Subaru making the joke about the bug in his pocket, Subaru tell Ram the people like her too, and then walking not running away after being attacked give me the impression the situation is not being taken seriously by the characters. You don’t need the specifics of Ram and Rem’s relationship either to understand that anyone would do anything even fight a losing battle to save the person they care about the most. But if Ram is willing to do anything to save her sister, would she really be entertaining this small talk when she knows any delays could mean her sister’s death? I personally don’t believe she would.
However I will say that this single example isn’t like, “I hate this moment it’s dumb and this show sucks”. My issue with the early part of the show so far is that the show runners keep making choices that undercut the themes/emotions/stakes they spent time setting up, and when that happens it’s slightly annoying and makes the story less cohesive and engaging for me.
Standing around and yapping or doing absolutely nothing when time is of the essence is a core tenet of basically every anime I've ever watched. I think it's just a limitation of adapting novel/manga content to anime and not having an unlimited budget.
So many unnecessary and redundant dialogues are present that sours the taste of so many good scenes
It's worth noting, that the Director's Cut's most notable change is that it combined 2 25 minute episodes into 1 50 minute episode. So it's very valid to just watch the Director's Cut in halfs. They're easy to tell when the original episodes end, because the last frame in every almost every episode of Re:Zero is the title screen.
Tbh, if you have access to the original episodes, I'd recommend that over the Director's Cut. The only new content in the Director's Cut is that they teased the first scene of S2 at the end of S1, and the Director's Cut removes some ED insert songs (sometimes replaced with literally no music), which I think affects the impact of said scenes. If you wanted to switch to the original episodes, you'd want to continue at episode 14.
If pacing and dialogue-heavy scenes frustrate you, I’d suggest skimming through some of the slower exposition-heavy parts or reading summaries for some arcs. Personally, I think the story’s concept and character arcs shine through enough later to make it worth it, but it’s understandable if that style just doesn’t click with you.
If you already like the concept and characters this early, there is payoff ahead, especially when Subaru’s growth stops being subtle and starts hitting you in the face. It never becomes a fast-paced action show, but it does get way more emotionally grounded and consistent than those early episodes. If you bounced off Fairy Tail for formula reasons, I think you’ll appreciate that Re:Zero actually commits to consequences instead of resetting everything neatly.
Imo, I think there is a decent chance you'd be interested in continuing, given how you surfaced your criticisms (compared to the usual complaints of just hating Subaru's general existence).
the first season is where the lowest, humiliated subaru has been so far for the adaptation, given he's still new in this world and his mindset is still the neet guy from japan that never challenged in his life before.
you might find his goal supporting emilia is ridiculous given s1 don't focused on her character so him sacrificed everything so much for her might make you hate her but that's kinda the point of s1, it's about subaru overcoming his struggle so there's gonna be a lot of times where he rises and fall harder in this world.
for me: i will say it's very satisfying to see him change to be better near the finale of s1 but a lot of people might see that's too long for a character development.
i love early re:zero, its more like a psychological horror than an isekai.
he has to work real hard to gain the others trust.
There were heaps of elements I liked though:
* The death loop dynamic hasn't been explored much in other isekai and is quite fresh
* It's about a powerless character trying to (forced to) overcome adversity over and over... Lots of other isekai start with the MC being OP and owning everyone, so again it's pretty fresh. Normally I like that kind of underdog stories but the MC being mentally weak meant being forced to go through 5 traumatic loops where he dies in the end meant he ends up being hysterical and pretty cringe
* World building is great
* Animation is really top-tier, especially the action bits. This is definitely not a budget production.
* Lots of great VAs in the lineup
What I didn't like:
* Mentioned above but the MC is unhinged and the dialogue rarely makes sense. I get he's frustrated over having to loop over and over, but half the time it's just him hysterically screaming shit that other characters have no way of understanding
* I don't know if this is an anime only thing, but a lot of it is "tell not show". Something would happen and a character would stand there and just... spell out exactly what happened. Definitely agree with you on the standing there and yapping part. Maybe it's a thing they brought from the novels.
* The pacing gave me whiplash
* Lots of cringe characters, not only the MC. Feels like the only personality some of them have is that they talk funny.
1. Not much to say. Re:Zero novels often focus a lot on the psychology so character reactions (especially Subaru's) make much more sense in written form. I think if you're paying attention the anime still conveys it well enough.
2. A lot of this goes down much smoother in written form, but there's still a lot of show-don't-tell that most anime-onlies miss. For the yapping, in the novels you get a ton of descriptions about how and why each character thinks something, but there's relatively little about what they're doing while they yap, so you don't actively have to watch them do nothing. You have a short line when someone does something, but if they just talk you just get the dialogue and what they think.
3. I feel like it depends on what you're focusing on. But yeah it's definitely "differently" paced than most other anime.
4. I feel like this is sign of a comprehension issue lol. Each character clearly has a unique personality and way to think, with the additional detail that each character has a purposely different view about love. The author is super thorough with that. The funny speaking is to help recognizing them when they say something in the novels. If you read "Have a good day!" you have no idea who it is, but if it's "Have a reaaaally good day!" you know for sure it's Emilia who's talking. You can easily recognize the character even if they're not "in view" in a given scene (which oddly enough happens a lot in Re:Zero's novels).