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Re:Zero = Depression Porn?

I’m just starting season three of Re:Zero. I’ve forced myself to keep going because of all the good reviews and hype.

I mean, 165k positive reviews on Crunchy Roll theoretically puts it in top-tier category.

But it’s mostly pretty boring and just seems like depression porn.

I liked Frieren very much, so I know it’s not simply my attention span.

Is there a payout at some point or is it just more of the same?

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Commentaires

John_Bot2026-01-24 17:14

Yes. It never gets better.

It's sensationalized bullshit that people think is good writing.

It's a fucking trash show

fumei_tokumei2026-01-24 17:16

This comment is sensationalized bullshit.

John_Bot2026-01-24 17:22

Nah, the characters and plot are cardboard

People see a tiny bit of blood and a main character cry and bitch and think there's sophistication there.

It's shit

fumei_tokumei2026-01-24 17:42

You have some weird cardboard in your home.

John_Bot2026-01-24 17:52

My cardboard gets bent over backwards and then can be used again

So yeah, it's better than Subaru cause it doesn't complain the entire time

zachatron50002026-01-24 17:16

I mean I didnt like it but im not a fan of that type of show also depression porn is taking me out

desert67412026-01-24 17:16

if you don’t like it stop watching lmao don’t just insult people who watch it and like it

Kind_Avocado_72192026-01-24 17:20

Where did they insult people?

desert67412026-01-24 17:28

calling it “porn” just insinuates you get off on that type of stuff

Kind_Avocado_72192026-01-24 17:31

It’s insulting the show itself. It’s like when people call the book “A Little Life” torture porn. I guess I’m just used to those kind of references towards media.

UniverseUnchained2026-01-24 17:54

It’s a cartoon show - not a living organism. I’m not insulting the creators nor the viewers, simply sharing my perspective. :)

UniverseUnchained2026-01-24 17:31

That wasn’t meant to offend or insult. I feel like everybody at some point in our life has watched some kind of porn. There’s something for everybody. It’s not an insult from my perspective. It’s just, what kind of porn is your thing? Depression porn is not my thing is all I’m saying. No judgment on anybody else.

QcDiablo2026-01-24 22:22

It's just a quite shallow and reductive qualificative.

abandoned_idol2026-01-24 17:21

You're not mistaken.

Re;Zero is mainly:

1. A fun music band called MythRoid hardcoupled to it. Very fun and edgy songs.
2. Depression Porn effectively functioning as ironic comedy. "I wonder how it will all come falling down next?!"
3. Edgy, dramatic villain monologues with fun speech ticks. Villain voice acting is fun.

But if you want depression porn that DOESN'T loop back into comedy (though I'd argue that would make for a less engaging depression porn), "Made in Abyss" has the lore of "and then it gets so much worse".

Oh, but a subset of the ReZero fanbase takes the "depression" at face value and downvotes me everytime I mention that I enjoy laughing as I watch it.

I'm a ReZero fan too! I like ReZero! I don't even criticize it, this is praise! And I will take those downvotes with love, LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

# LOOOOVE!

**twisted circus music**

The show does not change drastically after season 3. You know the formula.

John_Bot2026-01-24 17:23

The worst part of ReZero is Subaru coming back to life.

The show would be 10x better if that never happened 👏

abandoned_idol2026-01-24 17:25

Actually, Subaru coming back is my favorite part.

Especially during his more embarrassing breakdowns.

**incoherent, mad babbling**

**headbutts the singer-comic-relief character I didn't care for**

The resurrection chorus and SFX are also great.

Oh, and I also love when he gets "taken over" in that one scene and has to escape through death. I genuinely felt "rule of cool" drama during that scene (freaking rare for me in this show).

UniverseUnchained2026-01-24 17:33

That’s hilarious! 😂

QcDiablo2026-01-24 22:24

Absolutely unhinged take.

Western_Promise30632026-01-24 17:21

I agree with you op, apparently we're in the minority though. it's a great show with great characters and the universe is crazy in depth but at the end of the day it's just one fucking gut punch after another.

ududbsisysveiudvdid2026-01-24 17:21

> Is there a payout at some point or is it just more of the same?

what do you consider a reasonable “payout” to be?

anyways, i have never got to season 3 because rewatching the first two seasons were painful and i gave up mid season 2. i’ll give it another chance when i’m in the mood, maybe you should too or drop it if it is not for you.

ChunkierPath512026-01-24 17:29

As much as I love the show, it is definitely not for everyone. Subaru is pretty insufferable for a large part of it, and the constant deaths only to reset can turn people away. If you weren't invested by half way through season 1, you shouldn't have kept going. Re:Zero lays out its structure in its second arc pretty well, Subaru comes across a problem and probably dies to it, resets, and begins to try to figure it out, learning more and trying to save everyone at the cost of his own mental state.

I know that looking at ratings and seeing a show be highly rated makes people think it's good, and generally that is true, but that doesn't mean it's good for everyone. AoT is an example for me, can't stand that show, and yet it's also one of the highest rated shows. The 3 episode rule is a thing for a reason, because it's a good way of knowing if a show is for you, at most for a slower or longer show, you can go 8-10 episodes, but if you aren't invested, it's not worth continuing.

UniverseUnchained2026-01-24 17:34

I thought AoT was depression porn too. 😂

ChunkierPath512026-01-24 17:35

Lol, I just couldn't get into it.

polybius322026-01-24 17:31

I used to think that too, but after rewatching it recently I've come to the opinion that it's a clever spin on the isekai redemption story trope, and that "depression porn" is a rather surface level way of describing it. That aside, there have been multiple payoffs in the series, but if they weren't to your taste than the answer is yeah, feel free to drop it. And if you ever feel like revisiting it in five years do it then. Maybe you'll gain a new perspective.

CyKsFuzzles2026-01-24 17:33

Re:Zero is definitely not a good anime. What makes it popular is how different and high quality it is, lol. And it doesn't press any 'weird' buttons to most people.

Take Tonya Evil for example. a bit different, very high quality, but is really good. Worse rating, but has 1/3 the votes on my anime list. Why? Because it's also a little too weird so it's not gonna get shared as much. A guy gets isekai'ed into a little girl's body and is angry at the god that did it, so he wins a world war borderline by himself.

Re:Zero? Who's this weirdo with no powers who got isekai'ed with literally no powers except to painfully relive periods of time at an unplanned save point? Sounds crazy. The writing's not horrible (other than the MC himself. That's bad), The animation is great. The power of those around the MC is great. And he's running right along side them. Sounds like a good watch.

Another good thing to compare to is something like Death Note. Higher rating than Re:Zero, double the votes of Re:Zero (mostly because of time/time period), good quality, good writing, overall pretty good anime. I don't like Death Note, never have, never will, but I'll still recommend it to people.

TLDR: Re:Zero isn't 'good', it's just popular, different, high quality, and not too weird to share. It also touches the Slice of Life community, which is much bigger than it's main genre's community.

onzichtbaard2026-01-24 18:40

wouldnt high quality mean its good?

CyKsFuzzles2026-01-24 18:55

No. High quality just means good animation / art. Doesn't mean the show was done well or is good.

Look at Solo Leveling.

One Punch Man is great. Not because the writing is good. The writing is pretty bad, but it's intentionally bad. The animation of season 1 was god-tier. Extreme high quality. The hate for it has gone up because season 2 onward has had horrible animation.

1000-MAT2026-01-25 00:22

In short, it's just his taste, nothing more and nothing less than a personal opinion, and in general the arguments in it don't make sense. Dandadan is popular even though it's the story of a guy behind the balls.

CyKsFuzzles2026-01-28 16:18

I don't get why people take this from what I said...

High quality means high quality. The animation is high quality. You can still have bad shows with high quality animation. High quality and "a good show" are not the same thing.

Solo Leveling is pretty mid in my opinion. The anime adaptation didn't really do the story justice. It's extremely highly rated and extremely popular. Even broke Crunchyroll. It's got very high quality animation. If you look at a writing point of view, objectively alone, it's not very good. If all you care about is surface level combat and "aura farming", then sure, Solo Leveling's great. Anything more than that and it's not a good anime.

God of High School. Amazing animation. Plot was out right bad. Again, if all you care about is surface level things like "ooh, combat cool. Punch kick fast" then great. It's probably high on your list. It was not a good anime outside of that.

I've never watched it, but I've heard high praise of Guilty Crown's animation and great music, but heard the story was horrible.

TLDR: You misunderstand things. You can have a bad high quality anime/show. Don't mix the meanings up.

1000-MAT2026-01-28 16:44

>You can still have bad shows

Who decides what's bad, you?

>Solo Leveling is pretty mid in my opinion.

As I said, it's a matter of opinion, because in my opinion it's a horrible story.

>The anime adaptation didn't really do the story justice

No, the anime is much better than the original; the original is even worse, but again, that's just my opinion.

>It's got very high quality animation.

There are many anime with much better animation; the animation quality here isn't that high

>God of High School. Amazing animation. Plot was out right bad

This one, and many others, prove that animation is not the same as popularity.

>I've never watched it, but I've heard high praise of Guilty Crown's animation and great music, but heard the story was horrible.

How do you know if you haven't watched it?

>TLDR: You misunderstand things. You can have a bad high quality anime/show. Don't mix the meanings up.

I'm not saying that; I'm saying that it's up to the individual to decide what is good or bad.

CyKsFuzzles2026-01-28 16:53

You're mixing the idea of something being good to you and something being objectively good.

Anything by Studio Ghibli is objectively good. High quality animation, good story, great writing. Someone can still dislike it. That does not define if it is good. That is whether they like it or not. "Good to them" vs "objectively good". Contextually good, vs good/well made. The only problem here is your understanding of the language that is being used.

I think Harry Potter is a good story. I don't like it, that doesn't make it bad, that means I don't like it.

One Punch Man season 1 had phenomenal animation which skyrocketed its popularity. The manga/the original story, was made as the story being more of a joke. The entire idea of Saitama is "the strongest". That doesn't mean the story itself was good. And it certainly doesn't mean everyone enjoyed the show. But from your point of view, calling something good means someone's opinion is involved. No, that's not what the words mean here.

1000-MAT2026-01-28 17:02

>something being objectively good.

Who decides that? You can analyze all the technical aspects to make an objective assessment, but in the end, no anime is free from personal opinions.

>But from your point of view, calling something good means someone's opinion is involved. No, that's not what the words mean here.

>But from your point of view, calling something good means someone's opinion is involved. No, that's not what the words mean here.

No, someone's opinion will always be involved.

So where did you get the idea that Re: Zero isn't objectively good? Or is Tonya Evil objectively good?

CyKsFuzzles2026-01-28 17:05

This has become a useless and honestly annoying conversation. Good luck arguing with yourself from now on.

Shock-Lobster2026-01-28 17:13

This argument looks like it's still going on, but it seems like you need to look up what "objectively good" means. Yeah, someone's opinion explains why they think something is good, but the overall rating of something is not just defined by someone's opinion of it. Often it is based on commonly agreed positive values. In anime, a story having cohesion, the story feeling like it could be real, how easy it is to understand or interpret.

1000-MAT2026-01-28 18:22

I know what "objectively good" means, the point is that all art forms are subjective. You can even do an analysis using values accepted by the majority of the community, and it will still be subjective.

A great example is Tanya Evil, which he claims is of high quality; perhaps he forgot about the poor 3D in season 1, and to be objectively good, like, why is it objectively good?
He also says that it's not well-received because it's controversial, but is he forgetting about the existence of Mushoku Tensei?

Ultimately, it's all his personal opinion.

CyKsFuzzles2026-01-28 16:57

Look at the anime Ghost Stories. That show was pretty bad, the dub at least. It was literally made with "We don't have the proper translation, so just have fun dubbing over this". And as a result, what is objectively not good has been very entertaining. Making it fun to watch or at least fun to laugh at / make fun of. Someone could also think that it is very good. That doesn't make it good. That means they liked it. "I think it's good" is different from "it is good"

1000-MAT2026-01-28 18:23

That's still your personal opinion.

QcDiablo2026-01-24 22:26

Why are you talking like Subaru's lack of power is a bad thing lol?

Just say you like your action.

UniverseUnchained2026-01-25 03:56

Nobody’s allowed to have an opinion but you 😂

QcDiablo2026-01-25 04:04

If you read the comment I replied to you'd have noticed that Subaru's weakness was pointed out as an objective flaw of the series and not as an opinion/preference. Which is exactly what I criticized.

CyKsFuzzles2026-01-25 05:14

It is his main character flaw. I didn't say it's a bad thing for the story, but that's the answer to this post's general question. It's something different, and that's very share-able.

Low-Complex-51682026-01-24 17:34

Frieren as your example, lmao

timpkmn892026-01-24 17:57

It's not even close to what I would call "depression porn". The protagonist suffers, but still manages to overcome most obstacles.

If it was depression porn, it would just keep getting worse.

DragonDogeErus2026-01-24 18:18

> Is there a payout at some point or is it just more of the same?

You might consider Subaru's speech, Garfiel's Gorgeous Tiger fight, and Subaru's tag team fight in season 3 to be the payout you are looking for.

North5142026-01-24 18:31

Why are you watching dark fantasy, if you don't like it's premise? When you pick up a new story, you should look beyond "reviews" and "hype". Frankly, in most cases, if you don't enjoy the show after EP 1 you should drop it, forget pushing to S3 lol.

Anyway, Re Zero seems to be more like noble dark storytelling, rather than actual "depression porn" grim dark storytelling. You rarely get that in anime. Granted I have yet to read the LNs, and of course we don't know how the story will end, but yeah...I don't get the impression of grim dark from it.

onzichtbaard2026-01-24 18:36

i also am not a fan of rezero, just keep in mind that a show being popular doesnt mean that you have to like it

Moshimoshi-Megumin2026-01-24 19:34

Lol it’s really not that bad, it’s like 20% depression, 20% action, 60% waifu. If Rezero is depression porn, I don’t know what even to call something like This Monster Wants to Eat Me

QcDiablo2026-01-24 22:19

It's not depression/torture porn. Those who initially watched it for that reason usually dislike most episodes of the series. It's generally a rather hopeful story where the characters struggle to reach that light at the end of the tunnel and the few times they get to experience it a little are quite wholesome. I think there's a few pay outs in each season/arc, but you may not consider the same things as payouts.

Honestly, as much as people call Frieren slow, it's not really that slow lol. It goes through several arcs rather quickly and most of these arcs have a fairly good quantity of action and spend little time on details.

Re:Zero's story progression *is* slow, even if a lot of stuff happens in each season. May "dense" is a better word for it. The author doesn't mind using several episodes/chapters to develop a single character and spends a ton of time on details that slow down the story. It definitely has a hit or miss pacing overall.

If you don't like those details or don't catch them on your first watch, there's a good chance you find Re:Zero boring. Just drop it if you don't like it. I personally find it a lot less boring than most action show.

1000-MAT2026-01-25 00:16

What are they going to invent now?

Comedy pornography? Romance pornography? Culinary pornography?

UniverseUnchained2026-01-25 03:57

Too late…

lonewolff122026-01-26 23:14

Its repetitive in an addictive and creative way, everytime the protagonist dies there's a new storyline, few things changes and rest stays same, obv will say that its great but not for everyone.

Sufficient_Mango23422026-01-28 16:50

The payouts come throughout the series. Even as early as arc 1.