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「そのときは彼によろしく If so, I want to protect what he loved.」 (Sono toki wa kare ni yoroshiku)
“That Time I Said Hello to Him; If so, I want to protect what he loved.”
I’m pretty confident if Re:Creators was only one cour we would all be gnashing teeth right about now. Three episodes of pure dialogue, panning scenes, and some hints dropped regarding future events—not what you would call action packed material. While arguably an annoying beginning, personally I’m not minding the situation so far. We needed information on the what and why, and the show has certainly provided that in full now. Could it have been done differently? Sure, but the baseline has finally been set.
This week of course answered our questions regarding conflict, and we now have the beginning of one. World destruction, multiverse resetting and character restoration, certainly a logical conclusion given everything else seen so far. Nevertheless I will be surprised if simple restoration (i.e. “death” to everything currently in existence) is all there is to it. I highly doubt Gunpuku is so simple minded as to only seek destruction regardless of her own existence, it’s too easy. Wreak havoc yeah, ruin the world of the gods sure, but limit it to pure destruction? No there’s something else missing from this premise. Part of me suspects the laws governing how the world reacts to the story materializations are not as clear cut as Meteora hypothesizes, while another thinks Gunpuku has more ambitious desires. If you can reset all worlds, then surely there’s a method to limit the fallout, or hell even control which worlds reset. Guaranteed Gunpuku is more than a simple martyr looking for a sword to fall upon, and she that she likely knows more than readily apparent. At least we can rule out our suicide girl being Meteora’s creator.
Another interesting tangent here concerns the characters themselves. I find it very amusing how Celestia and Meteora only now have changed clothes—as though that’s going to keep them hidden with that special “presence” detection ability—and how food and fourth wall breaking are apparently the running jokes of the show. It’s also fascinating watching some characters like Alice(taria) react to things like plastics and treat them as godsend—certainly showcases their personalities well. I’m especially curious how Gunpuku’s party will develop over time because the hints so far lean towards a turncoat or two eventually. Alice—along with the others—is acting on the assumption of world change with no accompanying consequences Given Gunpuku either doesn’t know the risks of her plan or simply doesn’t care enough to reveal them, what happens when they inevitably come to light? It’s quite possible those like Alice (and Mamika) who wear their hearts on their sleeves could quickly grow cold feet. Me thinks the little group isn’t as unified as Gunpuku would like.
So with four episodes down, where do we go from here? Why exploring the mecha side of life of course. New characters have arrived, we know the conflict (for the moment), and now have the guarantee of further fighting in the near future. Re:Creators has its foundation, and it’s time to build upon it. With the exposition out the way, I’m ready for some battling.
I found the parallel between Meteoria and Alicetaria pretty interesting over the course of the episode. Despite the conflict and struggles of her world in Avalken, and not to mention the game’s director dying before she could ask him what she wanted to ask, Meteora decided to come to peace with the whims of her creators after sensing the care and attention instilled into the game.
On the flipside, Alice straight up abducts her creator and coerces him to (try to) change her world. From what little promo material we’ve seen Alice’s world looks extremely grim and bleak, so I can understand her not caring about her creator’s feelings even if he does really care about his creations. If I had to guess, if any Soulsborne character came into reality and confronted Hidetaka Miyazaki their attitude would be pretty similar to Alice’s, lol. But for better or worse it seems Gunpuku’s camp isn’t have any better luck at actually triggering a successful revision, so it’ll be interesting to see where Alice goes from here.
Yes, it’s very interesting. It makes you wonder how much their in-story personalities affect their choices, doesn’t it?
As she herself points out, Meteora was created as a supporting NPC with the sole goal of helping the hero save the world. She knows from playing the game that the world will be saved and her position in it didn’t seem particularly difficult. It makes sense she would want to keep things as they are if there’s the slightest chance every world could be destroyed.
Meanwhile, Alicetaria IS the hero of her story, a knight templar that has to face first-hand the worst of a hellish setting. She was written to have that single-minded focus. She doesn’t enjoy the same luxuries Meteora has.
In the light of that, Zen’s question about whether the characters are able to change or not becomes a fundamental one.
As what other people (in different places) pointed out, I would like to see what could happen if GUTS somehow found his way into our world.
There’s also a difference in their thinking. Meteora is very logical, she thinks hard about her actions before committing, and as seen here needs time to set her thoughts in order. I think she already planned on siding against Gunpuku; her creator’s affection simply confirmed it was the right decision.
Alice though is definitely your justice type, head strong and acts before considering the consequences. Her mentality is what leads me to suspect she’ll be the first to turn against Gunpuku because she’ll experience a crisis of confidence at some point. If your world can only be changed by resetting it–whatever that means–is it worth following through? Alice has not even considered the possibility yet.
There is also the fact that she may end up not liking the fact that she could potentially save her world, not guaranteed, by harming the innocent people of our world.
Maybe suicide girl created the Princess, assuming she’s the Setsuna the Princess was talking about.
But then there’s Princess’s connection to Souta…
https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Creators/Re%20Creators%20-%2004%20-%2025.jpg
I wonder why the old man’s with team Princess; he doesn’t strike me as the rigid/naive type (unlike Alice and Mamika) who’s easier to manipulate.
I’ll bet there’s some tragedy in his past that he wants to change, hence he’s with Princess.
Don´t understimate Mamika, at first she strike like a naive magical girl but it´s quite clear that after the shock of her first battle in this land she is having serious doubts about Gunpuku and her true motivations so if anyone in that is going desert my money is on Mamika.
Alicetari on the other is a very sad case, the girl comes from a world so crapsacky that the Empire at the begining of Akame ga Kill might pass as holiday resort by comparation for all it seems so far. She has the weigh of the world her shoulders and has a strong sense of justice but most important of all she is DESPERATE, so desperate she does not see Gunpuku is using her like a puppet, but I can almost see the strings!
As Pancakes-san said unity is most certainly not the word to describe Gunpuku´s team and when her true motivations into the light most likely Alice and Mamika will be out for her blood considering their strong sense of justice.
I think that’s the primary hypothesis at the moment, alongside time travel shenanigans. The only unknown is how Souta is tied into things, but I’m guessing he either created Gunpuku’s personality (with Setsuna doing the art), or helped create Gunpuku in the future.
SFW concept art of Celestia and Meteora, detailed in one of Hiroe Rei’s NSFW doujins from a Comiket 2 years ago:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c111/ReddyRedWolf/ReCreators/06_zpsxtwolibc.jpg
He’d obviously been planning Re Creators for quite some time during his hiatus.
Hmm certainly lends some credence to the idea of this show starting a franchise. Unless he pitched the idea to a company recently, this show has been in the pipeline for quite a while.
I wonder if these fictional characters, theoretically emancipated from the linear continuums of their original realities by coming to our world, are now able to independently, without creator-induced “revision,” develop in ways entirely unintended. Can a character who was written as an irredeemable villain find redemption nonetheless through his experiences in our reality? Could the two halves of the central pair in a romance novel, “destined” to be together, nonetheless fall in love with others? Might an idealistic magical girl perhaps become a cynic after observing the moral greyness of this world, in complete contradiction of the clearly demarcated alignments in her own? Would make for some interesting character development if the writers decided to go down this road- somehow I think they’ll flirt with it, but won’t commit to fully exploring it, i.e., I think occasionally the characters might do a thing or two that contravenes their preset profiles, but by and large their personalities will likely persist as “written” with little deviation. Doesn’t strike me as the kind of show to deeply psychologically deconstruct its characters.
Side note- That exposition regarding the “apocalypse”…wasn’t great…whatever happened to “show, not tell?” A much stronger narrative approach would’ve been to first show Meteora actually observing space-time distortions left in the wake of the characters’ physics-defying battles- and forming her hypothesis based upon these observations. Rather than having her blurt out important expository information, after returning from being a shut-in for ?several days? to complete her own game, as if she’d attained enlightenment through acting like a hikkikomori (?or something?). To summarize, Meteora’s exposition regarding the apocalypse lacks prior narrative foundation. The writers giving her a magic book that allows her to “just know” stuff really rubs me the wrong way- it’s weak, lazy writing, a poor, contrived excuse to omit proper prior narrative foundation when presenting exposition…
Is it any lazier than having Meteora literally trip over a spacetime distortion to make her have an idea? IMO “show don’t tell” is a horribly overused turn of phrase and should never be touted as an absolute law of writing. Meteora is a smart person, and she built a hypothesis on what she learned from Gunpuku and from seeing the other creations in action in the real world. Just because she took some time to herself to play Avalken doesn’t mean she wasn’t allowed to think in that timeframe. Will her hypothesis be right? Probably for the sake of moving the story along, though not knowing Gunpuku’s real goal in this conflict is definitely leaving some blanks to be filled out still. Scientific theory doesn’t always get the convenience of being able to observe phenomena before a hypothesis has to be built, and IMO this is certainly a case in that manner. Just saying it has to adhere to a ham-fisted axiom of writing to be “correct” is well… lazy.
She also has a magical google book.
I cannot even begin to comprehend how this statement makes any sense. Prior narrative foundation specifically tailored to foreshadow a singular piece of critical expository information is lazier than introducing a plot device in the form of an uber genius with a google book, allowing the writers to wave away the necessity for any and all specifically tailored prior narrative foundation in relation to all future expository information to be revealed? Really? I think you’re stretching your credibility a tad far there, mate. Please, objectively evaluate. One is a contrived, lazy, one-size-fits-all narrative omnitool, the other is not. This is not a difficult concept to grasp.
I never said that this was an absolute rule; making a lot of unfounded assumptions here, are we? The particular piece of expository information at issue here is critical world-building related information. Where world-building is concerned, it is indeed usually better to show rather than tell, or at least to show first before telling for emphasis and clarification. Why? Because showing is what immerses the audience in the reality of a fictional world, allowing them to experience firsthand its intricate environment and physical rules alongside the characters- rather than merely laying information out to the audience like a textbook. On the other hand, an example of a situation where a “tell” approach might be superior is where an engineer-like character is explaining how a Gundam’s beam saber works or something; literal technical information that has little impact on illustrating the fictional world in question, that is nonetheless important for other reasons. This squarely does not include a physical rule/concept central to the main villain’s motivations, and indeed the entire end game of a save-the-world, dimension-leaping epic.
If I had a dime for every time an anime writer has decided to employ shoddy, lazy narrative devices “for the sake of moving the story along,” in the interest of accommodating limited run times and budgetary concerns, I would be a very wealthy individual, let’s just leave it at that…
I don’t even…observation, a central component of the scientific method. All scientific hypotheses are on some level grounded on real, physical observations- directly, or indirectly through studying the recorded observations of others, and/or through mathematical/logical extrapolation. Without any grounding in physical reality, all we are left with is blind (probably religious) faith, which is not at all science. But maybe I’m being unfair here, employing the Principle of Charity, perhaps you merely mean that direct physical observation of phenomena is not necessarily antecedental to the formation of valid hypotheses. If that’s your point, I get what you mean.
And going by this most charitable interpretation, sure, Meteora doesn’t need to directly observe space-time distortions to come up with a valid hypothesis about what’s happening to the world. My point isn’t that her theory was magically pulled out of a hat and invalid. Rather it’s that it the presentation was weak. When presenting critical world-building related expository information, you (usually) really need to at least first illustrate through events to the audience, before getting into the technical nitty-gritty- because that’s how you bring a fictional world to life and create impact/immersiveness. It’s like the difference between reading about tennis techniques and actually putting them into practice in a real match- experiencing something is far more visceral and emotive than merely reading or hearing about it could ever be. The presentation of Meteora’s hypothesis lacks prior “shown” narrative foundation, and therefore felt artificial, breaking my immersion in Re:Creator’s world, that was my point. Apologies for an quick and dirty explanation above, but c’mon…hastily written online comments…
The writers giving her a magic book that allows her to “just know” stuff really rubs me the wrong way- it’s weak, lazy writing, a poor, contrived excuse to omit proper prior narrative foundation when presenting exposition…
I agree. Not so much for the lack of a “show, don’t tell” approach (sometimes it can be not only unavoidable, but advisable), but because for less important things, Meteora was ready to hypothesize, try and test, and correct herself if she was wrong (like Selesia’s attempt at a power-up). In those cases, it made sense Meteora would provide lots of exposition. Hypothesis work that way, but then you have to test them.
However, now, without any ounce of previous evidence or observations, she convinces everyone that the real world will be destroyed if fictional characters keep appearing. It makes her look like a Narrative Device rather than a character (although I realize that her character was, in-game, a Narrative Device too).
It’s also a too convenient way to handwave any possible objections against the heroes. “We won’t hold our Creators accountable for toying with human lives because if we stay here for too long the world will explode or something!” “How do you know that?” “Because Meteora said so!”
(If later Meteora is revealed as an Evil Mastermind that has been manipulating everyone from the start, I will eat my words)
It’s not like they could test it apart from waiting for the world to crack anyways. It’s better for them to act thinking of that kind of possibility.
Remember that money is not infinite. Especially since it’s an original IP and not having an established audience or market. Not all episodes can be action packed nor all episodes have an action scene or two. For the money they probably have to work with, I’m glad they went the route they did. I prefer a bit of exposition and glorious action later rather than a slew of lackluster, badly animated action. They also probably had the choice to make it 1-cour with more action scenes, or to make it 2-cour and provide more background and character development. It seems they chose the latter.
Disregarding financial considerations, I agree with PurpleBomber that “show don’t tell” is touted a lot. Entertainment-wise, it’s nice if we can get the exposition in some sort of engaging visuals. Probably why older animes had psychedelic mind-trips during expositions. However, I do not think the current exposition is out of place. There is no need to insert artificial conflict and it shows our protagonists actually doing something in-between rather than waiting for the next conflict to happen, Meteora has taken an initiative in the situation. Boring to watch, but practical.
Personally, the anime in my opinion is still solid and I will wait a bit more before judging it too much. I guess one problem, if you want to call it that is that the anime has yet to establish what genre it will be. Is it a mystery? Is it an action? Will it be more slice of life with action/conflict at critical points?
Am guessing the special sense the creations have is similar to how immortals in highlander series detect one another? (ie it gives you a heads up that someone is in the vicinity, but doesn’t specifically lock on the target)
So the clothes change is prolly to help not stand out in a crowd, although that point is moot with Mamika as kids can easily spot her even in plainclothes.
Is it bad that I see Gunpuku’s side as the most interesting one at this point?
Mamika the hyper-idealistic magical girl being thrown into the real world. Alicetaria, the representative of “hellish world” characters who have a very low opinion of their creators. A mysterious, older, hard-boiled and bearded detective? That sinister girl from the opening and promos? And finally, Gunpuku, who holds (for now) all the cards, has a personal connection to Souta, a secret motivation and the power to change the world. Contrary to Meteora, Gunpuku knows what is going on and could do all the authoritative exposition she wanted.
Ironically enough, of our heroes’ side (barring Selesia), the ones that interest me most are not the creations, but the creators. Looking forward to seeing the writer of the mecha series and the pilot interact.
Turns out my guess about Gunpuku being out for blood was more or less coreect but I have my doubts about Meteora´s theory, I think she´s being a little optimistic here, if the universe starts getting there is no real garantee that it´s going to reset itself like computer, If you ask me I think it could go crashing upon itself, until nothing remains.
Yeah, the thing about the reset seemed oddly specific. I mean, one thing was theorizing that the presence of fictional beings in the real world could affect the laws of the universe, so better keep things low for the moment and see what happens. But Meteora seemed pretty sure of the effects, pretty sure of the consequences and stated that the only thing they should do is to get back home ASAP. A huge leap in logic, I think.
Not really IMO, Gunpuku’s side has technically received the most background information currently, and we get to see their personalities more because they’re fighting to change something. Good example is where Mamika and Alice have a girl moment, but Meteora’s self-reflection is passed over through plot-related exposition. We haven’t really had any development for our protagonists yet.
Mm, not so sure about the “more” background information part (nothing can beat Meteora’s lengthy expositions and Selesia’s detailed interaction with her Creator), but perhaps what we’ve seen is narratively juicier even if the amount is less? Gunpuku’s hidden agenda, Mamika’s idealism crash, Alicetaria’s knight templar tendencies… You can almost see the development potential.
Also, personally, I find their motivations more relatable.
I can see how Gunpuku’s revenge against the gods (with a heavy hint of a more personal grudge), Mamika’s idealism crash and Alicetaria’s knight templar determination move them, especially when you’ve just discovered that gods exist and make people suffer for entertainment. Meanwhile, Meteora prefers being an observer and doesn’t feel a need to question her creator because she had a good world and a good life in said world. The End-Of-The-World-Out-Of-Nowhere theory actually makes it look worse rather than better, because it looks more like a deus ex machina to justify Meteora´s stance.
https://randomc.net/image/Re%20Creators/Re%20Creators%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
Official production interview states Hiroe wanted Gunpuku’s hideout to be a boundary dimension located between the real and fictional worlds, but later decided to put it in the real world.
Sometimes Hiroe’s scenes are not written in detail, so anime staff have to fill in the blanks (ex. he writes that Mamika transforms, staff have to come up with sequence).
https://www.sunday-webry.com/events/re_creators_naked/interview04/
PS. Apparently his original plans were inconvenient for future developments-he describes the boundary world as filled with ruins.
I read somewhere that the Japanese are starting to get upset with the exposition, and the producer apologized for it. That’s very troubling if it’s true.
Can you provide the link to where you read this?
I found it.
https://twitter.com/hiroerei/status/858334736975970304
I don’t get the “Japanese” getting upset or apologizing from it though. It was just Hiroe Rei being critical of Aoki for making the monologue far too long.
Not sure of Hiroe Rei was being critical of himself or Aoki-san. My Japanese is still weak sorry.
Meaning that the viewers want more action in the next episodes? This an anime 22 confirmed episodes, they need a little time to establish the fundation fo a good story, it´s not good to rush this kind of developments. In my case I´m quite happy to how the is going but I agree they need to put some action in the next episode to balance things a little.
I can see where they are coming from. At about the 3rd or 4th episode, people will decide to watch or drop a show. A 4th episode with a ton of dialogue, no action, and a character like Meteoria who talks in a very annoying way will likely mean drop for me.
I can believe it, dialogue-heavy episodes are not bad by themselves, but stringing three in a row pushes things. The exposition choice here is strange when certain aspects would be incredibly easy to tie into fights. Good example is the world resetting, just need a Matrix glitch occurring during/after a fight and Meteora to then go “aha, hypothesis supported!”. Fills in the blanks, gives us answers, and retains some action.
Well, just in case what I said above I needed any more affirmation…
Isn’t that just what a bunch of anons has been saying base from a single twitter post. People exaggerate there, you know.
Thanks Pancakes for the coverage, after reading your impressions, I have decided to watch this and and enjoying it so far. Also the music from Sawano Hiroyuki is pretty darn good.