First Impressions / Re:CREATORS / Series Introduction

「素晴らしき航海 I will remember everything that happened to me.」 (Subarashiki koukai)
“The Wonderful Voyage -I will remember everything that happened to me.-“

God this season and early airings. All ready and eager for Saturday viewing, but surprise, let’s just show everything a day early. What, I’m complaining? Bloody right I am, I don’t have the time to cram all these shows in on one night—I need my sleep goddammit! Honestly, however, I cannot lament these generous proceedings too much because I’m definitely liking what Re:Creators has to offer.

This show without a doubt for me was the biggest unknown of the season. Vague story at best, Aldnoah.Zero’s studio producers/director, and two confirmed cours are not the brightest of indications—remember Guilty Crown? Thankfully though, it appears the good aspects will outweigh the dubious. Besides Sawano Hiruyuki’s excellent soundtrack, Hiroe Rei’s influence is immediately apparent in our vanilla dweeb Souta (Yamashita Daiki), who like a kid called Rock finds himself caught up in a world completely beyond his comprehension. Yeah Souta certainly won’t be winning any character of year awards, but I do like the attention to detail. Surfing Pixiv fan art, drawing in Photoshop, hell losing his mind when the computer tablet suffers from the blue screen of death. Probably not 100% otaku, but this boy be representing our hidden sides—don’t deny, you definitely can relate in some capacity.

On the other side we have resident wish fulfillment Celestia (Komatsu Mikako), whom to no one’s surprise winds up with our light novel-esque protagonist and sparks this story’s adventure. Nothing really special here, usual boy meets girl and shenanigans ensure plot—coupled with reverse damsel in distress trope—but again it’s the details that count. I got a huge kick out of Souta flooding the newly Matrix-released Celestia with his passions, and her responding only with a hand and an “I understand”—sarcasm at its finest I tell you. And the driving? Hilarious because it actually finds a civilian use for that mecha piloting experience. Well, at least I’m assuming mecha given that big giant robot fighting against our pint sized Gilgamesh. Too bad Celestia has nothing on Meteora (Minase Inori) who must be after my heart with those philosophical, deadpan jokes. Sweetie, you can lighten my heart anytime.

What the actual story is here though remains a mystery. We have the paladin loli Gunpuku (Toyosaki Aki)—yes, that’s her name—apparently bringing people’s creations into the real world for one reason or another, and Souta bearing some form of relation to her. This bit actually interests me, because Gunpuku’s surprise at Souta’s appearance suggests to me that Gunpuku might be Souta’s unrealized creation (recall his art blockage?) and maybe wants revenge against the “world of the gods” for Souta leaving her a literal figment of the imagination. Who knows, I’m just throwing out ideas, but Meteora’s search for her creator (bets on it being the girl who met the train head first) does indicate this will be a running theme throughout the show. The basis of Re:Creators leaves a lot of room for exploration, and with 22 episodes we certainly have the time for it. Of course this show could be unknowingly steaming towards full bore dumpster fire, but that doesn’t matter, my attention has been fully acquired. No idea what next week brings, but I’m ready and raring to see where Re:Creators goes.

 

OP Sequence

OP: 「gravityWall」 by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Tielle & Gemie

Preview

42 Comments

  1. https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Creators/Re%20Creators%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2022.jpg

    “Welcome to Horrific world of the gods of pleasure”

    Hm,hm she really know what’s her talking about hahaha.

    But seriously that fourth wall breaking was so hilarious

    I imagine light novel with this cover
    https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Creators/Re%20Creators%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2017.jpg

    Will have some fanservice here and there, I wonder how the princess will respond to that

    Goerg
    Reply

  3. Hiroe Rei says he’ll be restarting Black Lagoon this coming May 19th, but it’s unclear whether this’ll be permanent or temporary (apparently he’s been doing ero-doujinshis during his break).

    zztop
    Reply

  4. i know the anime community has been raving about re:creators as if it was some directorial thesis for making good anime but i just found it to be ok. It certainly has it’s strengths but its mostly cookie cutter. One another positive, having mikako komatsu playing a sexy female lead is a plus for me; im a sucker for komatsu

    sonicsenryaku
    Reply

  5. This series looks like its going to be both awesome and potentially hilarious… I can’t wait to see what the MC’s mothers reaction will be when he learns two girls are living him!

    Celestia seems like she will be an interesting character, considering she looks like a red-haired version of Asuna from SAO with a temper to match. ^^;;

    SageM
    Reply

    1. I would laugh like hell if she didn’t even bat an eye lol. Already got a chuckle out of how Souta responded to the events by drinking a glass of milk–it’s as though the show even understands how light novel stereotypical the guy is.

      Pancakes
      Reply

  6. Just going to make a comment on the animation. Bit more better than I would expect from a TV anime, wouldn’t be surprised if it drops off quite a bit later in the series. But I do love some of the details they put into it. Like when Celestia opens the window with her sword. You can have an original story in anime, but I do like it when they show things in animation I have yet to see and that little detail I really liked. The compositing and camera angles are pretty nice as well as it keeps even the most mundane scenes interesting to look at.

    Goodwill
    Reply

    1. The attention to detail here is definitely welcome I agree. The one part which stood out to me too was the clock in Souta’s room, the time on it actually changed between Souta’s chat with Celestia and Gunpuku’s appearance–that was really surprising considering how inconsequential the backdrop was.

      Pancakes
      Reply

  7. I wasnt planning to watch this but when i saw the PV in youtube and someone said that its by Black Lagoon’s creator and has a similar heroic concepts like Fate Zero, i did not disappoint with what i see in episode 1 <3

    Celestia is immediately my waifu of the season (gotta love it how they propotioned her slightly bigger/taller than average, thats how you create a hero; they should be bigger than normal human). And that girl with the swordplay was freaking awesome XD the only problem i had with this series is the Mc :/ hmm oh welp.

    Am i the only one who felt a Rozen Maiden vibes in the end of the episode? Jun Sakuraba is Sota in after 10 years and that broken windows scene! Except this time the dolls are "fictional characters" XD

    Awwhhh im already so hyped for episode 2! Glad its 22 eps long <3

    Onion Warrior
    Reply

    1. has a similar heroic concepts like Fate Zero

      Glad to know I’m not the only one who had Fate vibes here. Not that I’m complaining; if anything, I’m surprised this concept hasn’t appeared as often as, let’s say, “high school where teenagers train with magic swords to save the world from generic menace”.

      Mistic
      Reply

  9. If you could bring your characters to life, where would you hide the doujins?

    Also, how can guarantee that this characters would react in the same way like in the anime/manga? Are you their MC? or just an side character? 🙂

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

    1. also driving a mecha is like driving an car, comparing from you. Well, if this real world Car has an automatic gear, then it is possible. just break, accelerator and “getting in higher gear” stick, and voila

      Because most Car driver beginners have nearly the same problem. an Idea in how wide the Car is (“do i pass through this small hole or not?”) and changing Gears (“the Car Engine is crying, what should i do with this stick?”) and the most important part, the centrifugal force in taking curves

      Worldwidedepp
      Reply

      1. Imagine you have an Glass filled with Water on your desktop, and now drive, break and take curves without spilling the water… Yes, driving like water, and your skilled enough.. but do not be to slow

        Worldwidedepp
        Reply

  10. I saw a bit of hype for this show preseason. Not sure if it’s because of pedigree (same director as Aldnoah Zero, script writer from Black Lagoon) or not. Regardless, though it didn’t live up to some of the hype, I thought Ep. 01 was pretty good, probably one of the better shows I’ve watched so far this season.

    I did watch Aldnoah Zero. Wasn’t a huge fan (show had issues), but it did have its moments. Definitely got sense of similar presentation style from battles to pop song inserts (JMO, but I thought Aldnoah Zero spammed that too much). Visual quality was pretty good and the battles had good flow. The various “camera techniques” were a mixed bag. Sometimes good, sometimes overdone/disorienting. Agree with Goodwill’s post that there was some nice attention to detail.

    Characters: I liked Celestia. Good FL, and the part where she got embarrassed when Souta was reading lines from one of her stories was a nice touch. Gave her character some depth beyond female warrior type. Meteora’s fine. Didn’t like her as much as Celestia, but I did like her. As for ML Souta, yeah, checks off some trope boxes including HS student >_> and otaku(ish), but I think he’ll be serviceable. One thing I liked about him and Celestia was their realistic WTF is going on initial reactions. Better IMO than say Subaru from Re.Zero when he first lands in fantasy RPG world and his instant reaction is “Yay! I’m in fantasy RPG world!” rather than WTF is going on disbelief, HOW did/can this happen, etc. Gunpuku seems pretty hax/op to me, but that works better as an antagonist.

    As Pancakes notes, there’s definitely some mystery here. How is Gunpuku bringing fictional characters into “RL”? The why seems more straightforward. She’s pissed off at the creators (maybe her character had too many embarrassing fanservice scenes? :P). Meteora’s creator being the girl who died in the intro does make sense (have to admit, didn’t expect a suicide to start the show).

    Overall, pretty good start. Definitely has me interested in the story and I do like at least a couple characters right off the bat which is always nice.

    — “…Gunpuku might be Souta’s unrealized creation (recall his art blockage?) and maybe wants revenge against the “world of the gods” for Souta leaving her a literal figment of the imagination.”

    First, if Gunpuku is “unrealized” – art block or not, then how can she exist? She’s not really “created”, is she? Souta doesn’t even recognize her in any way whatsoever such as “Hey, that’s a character design I was considering! (i.e. he imagined her, but has yet put digital pen to digital paper)”. Even if that’s the case, then still wonder if that qualifies as “created”. If she’s created in the future, it would seem to me that it’s because Souta based her upon his experiences with her at this moment, before he actually “creates” her in the future, and thus a time-travel type paradox, specifically a causal loop paradox.

    I suppose she could be a long ago creation of his that he abandoned and totally forgot about. Maybe that’s why she’s pissed off? Just throwing out an idea.

    daikama
    Reply

    1. As mentioned Gunpuku’s origins were just a quick idea I had, I’m not betting on it, but the relationship between them is obvious. There’s way too much unknown about the premise to make any serious observations, especially what constitutes “creation” as you mentioned. Probably won’t find out for an episode or two yet.

      Pancakes
      Reply

  12. I said it before and I’ll say it again, I’M WATCHING THIS JUST FOR HOTNESS!

    https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Creators/Re%20Creators%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2023.jpg

    And for fuck’s sake, can someone do something about THIS generic son of a quark? Well let me tell ya right now that if Rei used me as the basis for the protag of the show instead of ‘im, you can betcho ass that the show would’ve been A HELL OF A LOT MORE FUN than how it currently is… Trust me ya won’t be disappointed.

    https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Creators/Re%20Creators%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2032.jpg

    And hey Celestia, I just wanna remind you that you’re hot and you rock my world. What’s that? //whisperwhisper Yes, hun yes I know, we’ll bang later, ok? I Promise~~~ The Eizen? You know what, yeah in the Eizen sure. Yeah, love ya too baby! Later~!

    Nishizawa Mihashi
    Reply

  13. Following for now. Interesting premise, but kind of a miss with the male MC. The opening piqued my interest– felt slightly Lain-like, but it turned out to be more of a tease than anything else.

    It’s more interesting than some of the others for now.

    s_w
    Reply

  14. Perhaps because I went blind to this series, without hearing anything of who the creator was or what others commented, I was pleasantly surprised.

    The plot and the meta possibilities are intriguing. The high schooler protagonist is, well, boring and generic, a typical “Brick-kun” type, although I udnerstand he’s there to be the helpless civilian that serves as the audience surrogate to witness the far more awesome fantasy cast instead of the OP otaku-turned-master-swordsman of Isekais. This is the Reverse Isekai; fantasy characters trapped in our world, not the other way round.

    Celestia is a bonafide heroine (reminds me of Lucina of Fire Emblem), Meteora tries too hard but has potential, but the one who has my attention so far is “Gunpuku” (is that her name? Seriously?). She was a external agent in both the real world and Celestia’s world, that she has some kind of vendetta against the “gods” and that she knows Souta somehow. For now, she is the Plot of the story.

    Mistic
    Reply

  17. Cute hot red head aside…

    https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Creators/Re%20Creators%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
    “You see Carl, when you use more than one Stinger MANPAD, you’ll make a grand entrance and everyone will notice you.”

    https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Creators/Re%20Creators%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2010.jpg
    “But you see Carl, in glorious Communist Russia, Ivan use PPSh-41 like violin. Ivan make beautiful music to scare enemy away. No waste bullet like you capitalist scum.”

    https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Creators/Re%20Creators%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2023.jpg
    “But Carl and Ivan, we in Nippon now so must use glorious folded Nippon steel. Folded 1000 timrs make katana sharp. Cut gaijin into 2. No bullets. No noise.”

    Velvet Scarlantina
    Reply

  19. Not really liking what I’ve seen from this so far. The premise it neat and all but from what I’m seeing it feels like it’s going to turn into another “Weak normal human male with some special power is constantly protected by his ever growing harem of OP magical females” which I don’t have a taste for anymore (it died after Date A Live). None of the characters are all that likeable personally (let’s hold a blade up to a guy who you deliberately saved, was clearly helpless and got you out of situation you weren’t going to win!) so maybe that will change with time.

    I’m also kind of sick of Sawano at this point since he just sticks to one composition style and can’t seem to do much else. People give Hans Zimmer way to much shit when his Japanese counterpart does the same thing yet is praised constantly! 😛

    leatherhead333
    Reply

  20. While i am a little late to the party and just watching the first episode I am glad I have somewhere to air my thoughts. Reason I took this up is because in between My Hero and Abyss I have nothing to watch so I figure the next 22 days can be spent watching something interesting and since RandomC was covering it and the art and character and production looks good I figure what not. Really good episode so far and I am definitely intrigued to see where it goes. It helps the reverse damsel in distress seems a bit older and not a loli…so roll on tomorrow…

    Kurik
    Reply

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