July 23rd, 2016
"Why Re: Zero is garbage" for dummies
Anime Relations: Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu
Because it appears that several salty Re: zero-tards cannot seem to comprehend why I believe their favorite show is garbage, here is a more comprehensive list of my reasons.
My biggest gripe with this show would probably have to be the characters. There is hardly any development present in any of the main + side characters, and for the most part they are one-dimensional generic characters that would fit into any modern anime. Genericity is not necessarily a bad thing, but when you're able to replace these generic characters so very easily because they don't have any unique place in the story, that's a huge indication of shitty writing. These characters are defined mostly by their generic traits, and that's what makes them poorly written.
Stupidbaru:
It surprises me that people actually think that Subaru has had any significant character development whatsoever. He's introduced as a NEET who happens to be randomly teleported to a fantasy world. There isn't much background that the audience can work with, and thus it becomes difficult to relate to him. This is especially true because his personality is so different from what we typically expect from a NEET. He's outgoing, happy-go-lucky, and he has absolutely no problems socializing with others from a different universe. There's no solid explanation as to why his personality is the way it is (in fact his background is quite contrary to what we're presented), and this makes it even more difficult to relate to him. He appears to me as a generic (this is what I mean when these characters are defined by their generic traits), happy-go-lucky teenager who has been slapped a random background as a NEET. Thus, it's difficult to sympathize with him, because I don't see him as "Subaru Natsuki", I see him as "Generic Anime Boy A".
In addition, his IQ does seem to be quite a bit lower than average. It takes him ages to figure out things that viewers figured out in seconds, and he doesn't use his death loop power as an advantage over his enemies (i.e. memorizing battle patterns or inventing a strategy). Any viewer with half a brain would be frustrated watching this retard flail around helplessly in his stupidity.
Emilia:
My main problem with Emilia was her unexplained affection towards Subaru. One of the main reasons why some viewers felt sympathetic towards Stupidbaru was because others lost their memories of him whenever he went back in time. Yet, despite the unfamiliarity, elf girl seems more than willing to trust this strange boy, and she goes as far as to reciprocate his feelings. Out of the blue. In a way, Emilia seems to be the perfect, accomodating, cardboard trophy wife. The reason why she shows so much affection towards Stupidbaru is not clearly explained at all. Clearly the writer wanted Emilia to act a certain way to appeal to fans who do use Subaru as a self-insert, and thus the fan-service.
Her outburst in ep 13 would have made much more sense if it had happened earlier, and the whole conversation between Emilia and Subaru felt out of place. Subaru had always been a disobedient lapdog since ep 1. It only makes me wonder why Emilia ditched her "perfect waifu" facade while scolding Stupidbaru. One could argue that she finally snapped after all this time, but again imo it doesn't fit with her "overly patient" character trait that's been emphasized this whole time. Clearly the writer + directors wanted to create drama, and thus the unexplained change in character.
Subaru also transforms by going full retard mode. His reaction could be explained by a few choices: 1) That was how he truly felt this whole time, he has now revealed his truly selfish, retarded self (i.e. wish to fulfill a hero/martyr complex or "I want to feel useful" complex) 2) The author wanted to cater to the edgelords and show how Subaru is such a "complex" character 3) A combination of both.
His delayed mental breakdown at the death of blue haired maid and the villagers also makes me wonder why the writer chose to put his mental breakdown 14-15 episodes in, instead of near the beginning. Subaru has already experienced blue haired maid dying before, he's experienced "scary" shit before, he's experienced death before. His breakdown into full autism mode is not well explained, and it's quite delayed in the series. Which makes me believe that the author put his breakdown there in order to garner extra sympathy from the readers, or as a convenient plot point (i.e. he becomes easier to kidnap). Again, it feels unnecessary, and it feels like it's there to cater to the 12 year old edgelords.
At this point, Subaru also seems to have completely forgotten the idea that his power may not be unlimited. He will fearlessly, and stupidly, throw himself into dangerous situations without thinking of a backup plan. Thus, it always appears to me that Subaru is a cardboard cutout character that changes his emotional reactions in order to best appeal to the audience. If the viewers want him to be angry and edgy, that's what he'll be. If the viewers want him to be scared and mentally broken down, that's what he'll be. There is no consistency and logic to how he acts, especially given the times at which he chooses to act certain ways.
Speaking of catering to 12 year old edgelords, the gore and violence in this anime feels extremely out of place, forced, and again, something that's there to appeal to the edgelords. Artistically, this anime's style simply does not do gore well. You have Kawaii Girl B on one side batting her dish-plate sized eyes, and then a twisted disfigured body on the other. As a personal fan of gore, it pains me to see it being done so tastelessly.
Subaru saves her most likely due to the fact that he's a horny teenage boy who felt attracted to the first cute girl he saw. At this point, he's not too concerned with his power.
Twins:
Annoying as shit, and their arc was hardly significant but it was very drawn out. Again, they're given very typical "tragic" backstories in order to garner sympathy from the viewers. Stupidbaru finally realizes that his power may not be infinite, and develops a fear of "actual" death. Wow, character development? Nah, he continues to die in order to help a bunch of twins that he hardly knew for a month or so. I'm sorry, but knowing "faces, names, and the dreams" of people is hardly "knowing" someone well. Any possible character development is thrown out the window as Subaru continues to be some stupid, selfless, hero wannabe.
"But muh plot is so complex and deep":
No, it really isn't. Do you really believe the political games and schemes those dragonstone bitches plan could be as complicated as a scheme from a show like House of Cards? If I can understand most of what's happening by watching at 4 times and/or 2 times the normal speed, it's probably very straightforward. This show is meant to be watched without having to think about anything. The writers and animators will throw death and violence at you until they lose their initial shock values, and they simply becomes tools to make scenes "edgy". Subaru will break down, cry, get angry, act like a retard, but only if it's necessary to shake up the already stale plot. In fact, it's quite easy to become distracted from the main "plot" of the story with Subaru's stupid antics and the unncessarily excessive violence.
With regards to Subaru's power, we can see that it hardly has any significant consequences. No one who's "relatively good" will ever die in this anime, because Subaru will do anything to save them. As seen from previous episodes, Subaru will only have a complete mental breakdown when it's convenient for the plot; his countless traumatic deaths never did much to change that happy-go-lucky attitude anyways. This makes for a very boring scenario, because the protagonist + any decent people around him are nearly immune from the heavy consequence known as death. Thus, death becomes pretty devalued and it loses its significance and shock value once viewers realize that Subaru will save anyone within a 10 mile radius of him for god knows what reason.
My biggest gripe with this show would probably have to be the characters. There is hardly any development present in any of the main + side characters, and for the most part they are one-dimensional generic characters that would fit into any modern anime. Genericity is not necessarily a bad thing, but when you're able to replace these generic characters so very easily because they don't have any unique place in the story, that's a huge indication of shitty writing. These characters are defined mostly by their generic traits, and that's what makes them poorly written.
Stupidbaru:
It surprises me that people actually think that Subaru has had any significant character development whatsoever. He's introduced as a NEET who happens to be randomly teleported to a fantasy world. There isn't much background that the audience can work with, and thus it becomes difficult to relate to him. This is especially true because his personality is so different from what we typically expect from a NEET. He's outgoing, happy-go-lucky, and he has absolutely no problems socializing with others from a different universe. There's no solid explanation as to why his personality is the way it is (in fact his background is quite contrary to what we're presented), and this makes it even more difficult to relate to him. He appears to me as a generic (this is what I mean when these characters are defined by their generic traits), happy-go-lucky teenager who has been slapped a random background as a NEET. Thus, it's difficult to sympathize with him, because I don't see him as "Subaru Natsuki", I see him as "Generic Anime Boy A".
In addition, his IQ does seem to be quite a bit lower than average. It takes him ages to figure out things that viewers figured out in seconds, and he doesn't use his death loop power as an advantage over his enemies (i.e. memorizing battle patterns or inventing a strategy). Any viewer with half a brain would be frustrated watching this retard flail around helplessly in his stupidity.
Emilia:
My main problem with Emilia was her unexplained affection towards Subaru. One of the main reasons why some viewers felt sympathetic towards Stupidbaru was because others lost their memories of him whenever he went back in time. Yet, despite the unfamiliarity, elf girl seems more than willing to trust this strange boy, and she goes as far as to reciprocate his feelings. Out of the blue. In a way, Emilia seems to be the perfect, accomodating, cardboard trophy wife. The reason why she shows so much affection towards Stupidbaru is not clearly explained at all. Clearly the writer wanted Emilia to act a certain way to appeal to fans who do use Subaru as a self-insert, and thus the fan-service.
Her outburst in ep 13 would have made much more sense if it had happened earlier, and the whole conversation between Emilia and Subaru felt out of place. Subaru had always been a disobedient lapdog since ep 1. It only makes me wonder why Emilia ditched her "perfect waifu" facade while scolding Stupidbaru. One could argue that she finally snapped after all this time, but again imo it doesn't fit with her "overly patient" character trait that's been emphasized this whole time. Clearly the writer + directors wanted to create drama, and thus the unexplained change in character.
Subaru also transforms by going full retard mode. His reaction could be explained by a few choices: 1) That was how he truly felt this whole time, he has now revealed his truly selfish, retarded self (i.e. wish to fulfill a hero/martyr complex or "I want to feel useful" complex) 2) The author wanted to cater to the edgelords and show how Subaru is such a "complex" character 3) A combination of both.
His delayed mental breakdown at the death of blue haired maid and the villagers also makes me wonder why the writer chose to put his mental breakdown 14-15 episodes in, instead of near the beginning. Subaru has already experienced blue haired maid dying before, he's experienced "scary" shit before, he's experienced death before. His breakdown into full autism mode is not well explained, and it's quite delayed in the series. Which makes me believe that the author put his breakdown there in order to garner extra sympathy from the readers, or as a convenient plot point (i.e. he becomes easier to kidnap). Again, it feels unnecessary, and it feels like it's there to cater to the 12 year old edgelords.
At this point, Subaru also seems to have completely forgotten the idea that his power may not be unlimited. He will fearlessly, and stupidly, throw himself into dangerous situations without thinking of a backup plan. Thus, it always appears to me that Subaru is a cardboard cutout character that changes his emotional reactions in order to best appeal to the audience. If the viewers want him to be angry and edgy, that's what he'll be. If the viewers want him to be scared and mentally broken down, that's what he'll be. There is no consistency and logic to how he acts, especially given the times at which he chooses to act certain ways.
Speaking of catering to 12 year old edgelords, the gore and violence in this anime feels extremely out of place, forced, and again, something that's there to appeal to the edgelords. Artistically, this anime's style simply does not do gore well. You have Kawaii Girl B on one side batting her dish-plate sized eyes, and then a twisted disfigured body on the other. As a personal fan of gore, it pains me to see it being done so tastelessly.
Subaru saves her most likely due to the fact that he's a horny teenage boy who felt attracted to the first cute girl he saw. At this point, he's not too concerned with his power.
Twins:
Annoying as shit, and their arc was hardly significant but it was very drawn out. Again, they're given very typical "tragic" backstories in order to garner sympathy from the viewers. Stupidbaru finally realizes that his power may not be infinite, and develops a fear of "actual" death. Wow, character development? Nah, he continues to die in order to help a bunch of twins that he hardly knew for a month or so. I'm sorry, but knowing "faces, names, and the dreams" of people is hardly "knowing" someone well. Any possible character development is thrown out the window as Subaru continues to be some stupid, selfless, hero wannabe.
"But muh plot is so complex and deep":
No, it really isn't. Do you really believe the political games and schemes those dragonstone bitches plan could be as complicated as a scheme from a show like House of Cards? If I can understand most of what's happening by watching at 4 times and/or 2 times the normal speed, it's probably very straightforward. This show is meant to be watched without having to think about anything. The writers and animators will throw death and violence at you until they lose their initial shock values, and they simply becomes tools to make scenes "edgy". Subaru will break down, cry, get angry, act like a retard, but only if it's necessary to shake up the already stale plot. In fact, it's quite easy to become distracted from the main "plot" of the story with Subaru's stupid antics and the unncessarily excessive violence.
With regards to Subaru's power, we can see that it hardly has any significant consequences. No one who's "relatively good" will ever die in this anime, because Subaru will do anything to save them. As seen from previous episodes, Subaru will only have a complete mental breakdown when it's convenient for the plot; his countless traumatic deaths never did much to change that happy-go-lucky attitude anyways. This makes for a very boring scenario, because the protagonist + any decent people around him are nearly immune from the heavy consequence known as death. Thus, death becomes pretty devalued and it loses its significance and shock value once viewers realize that Subaru will save anyone within a 10 mile radius of him for god knows what reason.
Posted by halmoni | Jul 23, 2016 2:49 PM | 0 comments