Re:Zero
“Season 1 Revisited: The Isekai That Revolutionized Anime in 2016”
Shall we revisit the past? The year is 2016. One Punch Man has caused one of the most significant increases in anime popularity polls. Not only is the fandom growing by the day, but the bar for what defines a good show and what distinguishes a good series from a great series has never been higher. Amidst all of this, Haikyu's popularity is on the rise, and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is giving us more Attack on Titan vibes, as Attack on Titan was not seen for nearly four years after its first season.
However, we are suddenly presented with an anime series with an unusual title. Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World. At the time, Isekai was less prevalent, with titles like Sword Art Online and Log Horizon serving as the standard to meet and the newly airing Konosuba serving as the standard not to meet, if you get what I mean.
However, the moment it aired, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World took the world by storm. It was all over the internet and a topic of conversation on X when it was still known as Twitter.
The anime's popularity has remained strong after all these years, too, but looking back at the first season, the innovative idea of having that reset button after a particular point just made that series set itself apart from every show ever, to be honest. Let's look back at one of the most popular titles in the Isekai scene, one that's about to get a sequel this fall season!
Innovation, even in isekai
Now, if I said that Isekai is the most overused, milked-up idea in the entire anime universe, then I wouldn't be wrong. The genre is all over the place, especially at this point in time, and that not only makes it hard to dethrone the ones at the very top since they just keep changing but also makes it nearly impossible to showcase something new that would serve as the perfect respite, that perfect breath of fresh air.
However, this is 2016, and at that time, Isekai wasn't that hot, so even if a series went down the usual route of just going to another world and doing the most random stuff there, it'd be a standout compared to the rest of the sports and action anime that defined the year. Instead, not only did Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World—bring back the whole transported into a new world out of the blue, but it also introduced a setting that caught hold of the fans and never let them go throughout the entirety of its runtime.
That being said, death means going back in time and starting it all over again while keeping those memories that are going to be the perfect PTSD material. What began as the regular quest to recover the insignia translated into something different for Subaru and Satella, even when the guy was confused about why every RPG game surrounded him.
The guy just went out to get some groceries, damnit! But evil never rests, and if it’s an isekai, it's more potent than ever, and thus, it depends upon the newly teleported Subaru to get to the bottom of it all and see what he can do in this new universe!
Characters that define the genre
We have the faces of every genre. Goku represents action, Luffy represents adventure, Gintoki represents comedy and parody, and Clannad is a romantic powerhouse. However, the isekai genre has seen so many great titles over the years that limiting the face to just one character would be nearly impossible. For example, the main highlights are Rimuru, the shield hero who appears even when he should not, and King Kazuma from Konosuba, the newly 'I am an atomic guy'.
For the record, those are just my choices, and it's okay if you have your own since I'm not attempting to provoke an Isekai fan to shoot me. I know how crazy these guys can get. The characters it introduced made Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World so special.
Even when Subaru was nothing but a crybaby as he was getting killed in every direction, Emilia, Beatrice, Rem, and Ram took the anime to the next level. Ram and Rem have been such iconic characters that I can use them to define the whole isekai genre, and it's hard not to see a figurine of those two if you're out anywhere shopping for anime. They both contributed a lot to the popularity of this show, even when the show wasn't all about them alone.
We had a lot of additions throughout the show's runtime, and characters, bad or good, came together to make this anime series rise in the popularity polls every other week. But Ram and Rem were in a league of their own, and they still are. Indeed, most of you have awarded them the highest honor of waifu, and I shall not dispute this.
White Fox is going all out!!
An anime studio that not many people know about, given that they only pick up particular series where either isekai or time travel is the central theme, White Fox has defined these genre elements, and saying that it isn't the best at animating these settings would be quite an understatement.
Seeing the success of the likes of Steins;Gate, and Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World makes it clear that the studio has done an amazing job every time it has picked up a new title, and I've got high hopes for them animating season 3 of this beloved series.
Looking back, the animation played a major role in adding a lot more meaning and emotion to the whole getting killed, traveling back in time, resetting, going at it again, and making the whole sequence bear weight, even at a point when the setting seemed like it was getting overused. Given that it's an isekai, and anything goes as far as an isekai is concerned, it was time to incorporate something else.
But all in all, White Fox did a fantastic job, and it's honestly hard to find someone who criticizes this anime title. I don't know why that is, but fans of Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World—are better than the rest of the Isekai shows if you ask me, but then again, that would just be my experience, and you might have seen something different. The animation was great at that time, even if that's the bare minimum you would expect from an isekai today. However, it's not bad, and the Blu-ray releases have only improved things.
A sound that adds life
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World is home to iconic moments made even better thanks to the voice actors who go above and beyond to deliver the absolute best. Some of Subaru's interactions with the other characters were taken to the next level thanks to Kobayashi Yuusuke's voice acting.
That desperation, frustration, and pain—you can feel it all in his voice, and the voice that defines Natsuki Subaru is one of the best in the business, without a doubt. Not to mention the iconic opening theme song that fits the whole show's theme really well and those progressive high notes at the very end that become a core memory as you watch that sequence every other week.
However, everyone knows that the ending theme takes the cake regarding animation quality and music. Boy, is that something great! Go look it up on YouTube if you cannot recall it; however, I will judge you harshly for that, as it is simply unforgettable.
Saying that Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World—isn't one of the pillars of the modern isekai genre is just wrong. The show was there when none of these other titles were, and it even paved the way for the likes of Jobless Reincarnation, even when that title is downright criminal at times.
I love to go back and watch the first season time and time again for nostalgia, and I’m sure you do, too. It’s a solid 8.3 for me and one of my favorite Isekai titles of all time. Let’s pray that the third season is even better since it’s been a long time coming!
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