Re:Creators

Humans have designed countless worlds—each one born from the unique imagination of its creator. Souta Mizushino is a high school student who aspires to be such a creator by writing and illustrating his own light novel. One day, while watching anime for inspiration, he is briefly transported into a fierce fight scene. When he returns to the real world, he realizes something is amiss: the anime's headstrong heroine, Selesia Yupitilia, has somehow returned with him.

Before long, other fictional characters appear in the world, carrying the hopes and scars of their home. A princely knight, a magical girl, a ruthless brawler, and many others now crowd the streets of Japan. However, the most mysterious one is a woman in full military regalia, dubbed "Gunpuku no Himegimi," who knows far more than she should about the creators' world. Despite this, no one knows her true name or the world she is from.

Meanwhile, Souta and Selesia work together with Meteora Österreich, a calm and composed librarian NPC, to uncover the meaning behind these unnatural events. With powerful forces at play, the once clear line between reality and imagination continues to blur, leading to a fateful meeting between creators and those they created.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Altair Main

Toyosaki, Aki Japanese

Österreich, Meteora Main

Minase, Inori Japanese

Upitiria, Selesia Main

Komatsu, Mikako Japanese

Mirokuji, Yuuya Main

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Kanoya, Rui Main

Amamiya, Sora Japanese

Mizushino, Souta Main

Yamashita, Daiki Japanese

Talker, Blitz Main

Ono, Atsushi Japanese

Chikujouin, Magane Supporting

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Kirameki, Mamika Supporting

Murakawa, Rie Japanese

February, Alicetaria Supporting

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Aoki, Ei Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard, Series Composition

Aketagawa, Jin Sound Director

Katou, Makoto Episode Director, Storyboard, Assistant Director, Key Animation

Arai, Kazuto Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jul 20, 2025

Xeconis

Recommended

Watching this show in for the first time the year 2025 made me forget that this show aired all the way back in 2017. Re:Creators has a premise that turns the traditionally used concepts of isekai and even reverse isekai on its head, and while a premise alone will only market the show, where you get fans and a lasting impact is with good execution. It's a rollercoaster of emotions, and has some of the most intelligent character writing and world building available to see. From start to finish, this show is very smart and knows exactly what it needs to do to deliver an ... engaging and meaningful narrative to its audience.

Starting with the story, Re:Creators begins by subverting the common genre tropes immediately, and maintains the feeling that it belongs in the story and is not just a gimmick for the purpose of writing an interesting synopsis. If your story doesn't have a reason to be something, then it doesn't need to be that in the first place. This show has a real and sustainable purpose to be a reverse isekai and it handles that incredibly well. The systems it has in place for the way the world works and the powers inside it all make sense and compliment the main concepts of the show, the idea that making stories is like making your own world that you can build to be whatever you want it to be, and that those who create should always do so with a passion for their work.

Given the year of its release, the art and animation are very strong. There are shows that have come out in the past few years that don't look as nice or leave as much of an impression as Re:Creators does.

The soundtrack isn't something that knocks your socks off, but it's certainly not offensive, distracting, or anything of the sort. The songs are effective and the sound design gives enough oomph to conflict and other scenes.

The show is one that is rather easy to derive enjoyment from, it's appealing to fans of the genre, and it's appealing to those that may not care for the genre because of the way it subverts and expands upon the concept in an engaging manner to build interest in the outcome of the narrative.

Now it's time for the meat of the show, characters. This will be a thick segment, there is SO much to reward for this part, because this show is VERY clever with its characters on both a macro and micro level.

Re:Creators has a very large cast of characters of many different types. Despite the large roster, they manage to make every single character important and give them believability and a way to garner interest. The designs stand out among their peers, too. Where things really stand out is how clever the writers are with the characters and how they engage with the systems at work in the show. Each Creation is pulled from popular media and the characters chosen are considered popular and iconic. The way most characters become popular or iconic is by being likeable. Every single Creation has traits that make them likeable or gives a very authentic reason as to why an audience may find them popular. It's easy to understand that Mamika probably has a ton of young girls that playground roleplay as her, Alicetaria is a courageous knight that serves as the last bastion of a falling kingdom and that builds sympathy and support, Magane is an antagonistic wild card that knows how to make the most fun out of any situation and keep things interesting which makes her enjoyable. Without fail, every single one of them feels authentic, and this is built up even more by how it's very clear which of them have more complex character descriptions like Selesia or Blitz and which ones were designed in a simplistic way like Mamika or Alicetaria. Simple characters aren't bad characters, and having a diversity of depth just builds up the authenticity of the roster, as an example, a protagonist in a children's show like Mamika is going to have no need for complex morals or mindsets.

Even so, these Creations have room to grow from their experiences in the real world, showing that while they have preset personalities and mindsets, they are capable of change within the confines of their deep-rooted perspectives. This is seen many times throughout the show, and the growth these Creations have after meeting Creators and learning new things is another factor in making this cast of characters so likeable. Each Creation has a character description that acts like a filter on the way they navigate this unfamiliar world and collect new information. When they meet with their respective Creators, they have drastically differing reactions to their personalities and even have different things that they're looking for to ease their minds. Some just want the Creator to have put passion into their world, others scorn the Creators for creating tragedy, and more than one are shocked and disappointed with the idea that they live for the entertainment of people looking upon their lives from another world entirely. Every action taken by the Creations is in line with their personalities, some are conniving, some are naive, some are dedicated, and others are uncaring. Each inclusion adds another piece that plays a natural and important role in the narrative.

The Creators are similarly diverse and certainly are not lacking. Matsubara's passion is the most notable one, because he's a driving force of inspiration throughout the show. Suruga's depth of understanding of her own Creations makes her stick out, too. Marine's clear self doubt despite her skills is something many can likely relate to and her enthusiasm over meeting all these Creations is almost unmatched among the Creators. I could keep going but nothing else mentionable is as noteworthy enough and also avoids the spoiler territories.

And now to turn to one of the stars of the show. Altair. To put it simply, Altair has a laundry list of positives going for her. As a key player in everything that happens, she's constantly involved in some way, and Altair delivers on all fronts. I would love to gush about this character for a dozen sentences or so, but much of the excellence this character delivers would be regarded as a spoiler. Without touching those details, she is an incredibly likeable character with unique circumstances among this roster of already very diverse characters and this is instantly spelled out in the very first episode before our two leading protagonists, Sota and Selesia, even have a proper conversation. Adding on, her design is fantastic, her actions are stylish, she's entertaining to watch, she challenges others, her abilities are cool as heck, and the way she interacts with the systems of the world are a major part of the plot and the execution of it is incredibly clever and keeps the audience on its toes. Altair is easily one of, if not the, most engaging characters in a show that already earns the attention of its viewers with ease.

Re:Creators is a very smart show that deserves all the praise and attention it gets, and even more. What hasn't even been mentioned yet is how self aware this show is. As a story that focuses on storytelling and the fictional worlds created by stories, it doesn't falter to mention the minute details. Most authors don't bother to flesh out all the details, because the reader doesn't particularly care for the way bread tastes in that world, what matters to them more is how much bread they have or if it's stale. Not many pieces of media have stories within their stories beyond things like myths and legends or historical records and origin stories of heroes from the old days. These kinds of topics get brought up multiple times with the show being aware that it can deliver a meta commentary on the nature of stories and audience reception on top of the standard themes it brings to the table, and while this kind of message about stories can be delivered through another method, the self aware and sometimes seemingly 4th wall breaking nature of fictional characters being brought into a fictional real world talking about their stories while they're still in a story that we, in the real real world, are witnessing unfold is layers dee and gives a unique lens to deliver this type of commentary through.

An incredible work of art and a masterclass of intelligent character and world design/writing.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jun 27, 2025

LauSan_PH

Mixed Feelings

If you got nothing to do and you want something that isn't your usual generic slop, this is good enough.

Pros: Unique, creative, great animation and soundtrack, very meta
Cons: TERRIBLE PACING, Bland and excessive exposition, it shifts awkwardly between serious and meta

Maybe I am just too old for this, younger audiences who weren't exposed to similar themes might lack the wisdom to pick up on contextual clues. Hence throughout the show they keep talking as if you're an idiot that needs to know the context of everything they do. It varies per episode, but I would say on average it's a 70-30 kinda type (70% Dialogue/inner ... monologue + 30% action).

Monogatari serie and Steins;gate pulled it off, I am entertained and it had my attention. But this... it gets worse after every re-watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Jun 4, 2024

thedaddyoh

Not Recommended

Funny

What a let down. A very interesting concept and idea but its execution was mostly one thing; boring. The fight scene's are done pretty decently all the way through, and theres actually an interesting take on a recap episode. But overall the characters, and their relationships were about as interesting as watching paint dry. I think reading the entirety of rent a girlfriend is a better use of your time (i wouldn't wish that upon my worst enemy). It took me maybe 6 months to get through this 22 episode show due to the absolute dullness. The first 1/3 is entertaining, but after the exposure ... to this interesting idea wears off you're left with an incredibly mundane experience. Some people might enjoy it as a whole, I definitely did not and don't recommend it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Re:Creators Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Apr 15, 2017	310 replies	by rainsdropzx »» Jul 26, 7:29 PM
	Poll: Re:Creators Episode 21 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Sep 9, 2017	269 replies	by LempsPC »» May 29, 8:17 AM
	Bad choices; Another wasted potential anime ( 1 2 ) MCA5EY - Sep 14, 2017	50 replies	by Yabasawa »» May 13, 4:38 AM
	Poll: Re:Creators Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - May 6, 2017	245 replies	by MidnightStar5 »» Mar 24, 1:34 PM
	Poll: Re:Creators Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Apr 29, 2017	218 replies	by dspr »» Mar 15, 9:05 PM