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「カウントダウン」 (Kauntodaun)
“Countdown”
I’ve talked before about how a limited anime run time and increasing the speed of the storytelling necessarily demands a sacrifice in subtlety. This is something that Rewrite is evidently going through right now. This week, it finally decides to shed some light on the enigmatic leader of Gaia, who up until now has little more than a decrepit old lady who occasionally said something uselessly cryptic. This development is welcome, since up to this point we’ve only known Gaia as that one weird cult with access to Jurassic Park technology. Some fleshing out will do them good, especially if they intend to play up their antagonistic side with the ‘kill all the humans!’ plan (I don’t care how green you are, global murder places you firmly in the ‘evil’ camp). When the development is delivered with a hammer, though, I am less receptive. However Rewrite may dress it up, Kashima Sakura basically narrates her way through her life story and character motivation. In a dream sequence, no less. Lady, if you wanted to vent your resentment for humanity so much you should have started a blog.
This is when Rewrite is already trying desperately hard to simplify. It’s mashed all its routes together, forced all of its main cast to crash at Kotori’s place, and left only Shizuru with Guardian and Akane with Gaia. Even then, it finds that it has to explain everything anyway. That’s mostly been what Rewrite has been doing for the past few episodes, explaining its plot so that it can actually have a plot. That and, in the meantime, moving pieces into place to maximise convenience for later. That’s right, as expected Lucia’s tumble last episode was transparently for the purpose of reuniting with the rest of the merry band, tying off one more potential loose end. Of course she wasn’t going to die; every damn character has points in white magic in this setting. And if she did die, who else would provide the half-hearted fanservice, the Lucia specialty? Actually, I guess Kagari would, but let us agree that they’re better together.
That’s what I’d like to say, at least. Normally, I wouldn’t turn down anime belles licking each other (…okay, I’ll stop) but it really doesn’t feel like Rewrite has the time for fanservice right now. Hello? This is episode 11, and you’re only now explaining that these shady organisations are not just bumming around baking cookies for their charity drive. Look at all these people with nothing to do but get OD’d on caffeine! They’re bored to the point of drug abuse, like Sherlock Holmes. How can there only be three players and everybody has a bye? Who’s coordinating this thing? For a series so compressed and with so much to do you’d think the pace would be a bit crispier.
But now, at last, everyone has given their reason their fight. Everyone is in position to fight. We have simplified down to Gaia, Guardian, and FRIENDSHIP YEAH. We can get to the fighting, right? Look, we’ve double-checked the luggage, everyone’s gone to the bathroom, the engine’s been warm for hours. We’re off. Sing, Valkyrie, sing.
With how the story goes, if they have no plans to rush the story in order to end it in 2 episodes, it would be just the beginning… Well killing the Kagari is always an option that can fit within 2 episodes… If kagari died, you would satisfy guardian’s mission to kill the key and make gaia’s aim to annihilate mankind fail. But there are many subplots that will be not cleared. So it is more likely just the beginning of the story. After all if i remember right, this adaptation this is based on rewrite+ VN so in short the aim is more on marketing the game, making you buy the game so you could find out the ending (assuming it is really is just the start of the story)
This is happening a little too often lately with anime. I get the point they want you to buy more stuff, but at the same time that also loses out on the market that like the anime just for the anime.
They aren’t really thinking about long term here.
If would have been nice if they made the anime adaptation properly like Kyoto Animation did with Air and Kanon.
AIR wasn’t really a good adaptation. It suffered from episode constraints as well.
well IMHO, air anime could have been good if it didnt suffered episode constraints. VNs with story lengths like the ones created by KEY should adapted with 24 episodes so that audiences will understand the story. we have seen that proven with how other VN adapted anime like kanon 2006, clannad, and little busters went with 24 episodes++ just to flesh out the details. imagine if KYOANI adapted REWRITE they wont rush it out. i could see them make anime specials too covering each girl’s arc.
but looking on the other side of the coin, i think they 8bit/KEY may have decided to rush the story on the assumption that people are no longer interested in adaptations with long subplots.
It’s based on Rewrite. Rewrite+ just has a few additional CGs (the one at the end of Terra was much needed for the original), a better Mappie system, character sprite for Inoue (don’t know why the original did) with some script edits (not sure what edits they did but hope they fixed the Mall ending of Lucia’s route, the dialogue to be specific).
Also yeah this is more of a rushed ‘I don’t give a shit’ marketing anime for Rewrite+. The whole ‘original route’ thing so far has just been them changing Kagari’s personality, moe’ing up the characters heavily, adding in fanservice and leaving a lot of information out and cram the bits they are using together badly plus a few other things.
Wouldn’t say this is a good way to gauge Rewrite’s atmosphere, characters, story and overall feel of the VN. It’s much more serious in the character routes for the others (with the exception of Chihaya’s probably, although Sakuya provides some of the best scenes). Personally I feel like this anime is just a bad spoiler for the VN. Recommend reading Rewrite+ once out, each heroine route is very different from each other plus Moon and Terra are amazing.
Kagari:foolish homo sapiens, why you all go to war…let us just basking in glory of feecof
Kotori:…..
Chihaya:….
Lucia:……
Kotarou:Preach it!
Snarky reviews like this replenish my life force. Thank you, Passerby. OwO
Honestly though, the first two minutes of the big bad explaining her reasoning for eliminating humanity was kinda epic, then somehow another mediocre episode just rolled around and i immediately forgot what was that all about again.
Sakura Kashima was always curiously undeveloped in the source material as well, which was kind of a strange choice considering that she’s the closest thing to a BBEG in the series. I do like that she chose Midou as her attack dog, however
Despite them being worlds apart in terms of roles (a mastermind and a rabid dog), their motivations are ultimately the same: spite for the world and everyone in it.
Hey man, there are other perks in this episode. For once, it felt like Kotarou is actually the girl in this show. Muwahaha…
I personally think Rewrite is impossible to adapt in the first place yet at least KyoAni or PA Works or JC Staff might have done something to make the story at least understandable.