Rewrite

Key, a brand of VisualArts, created a novel by the name of Rewrite. Now, everybody was excited as soon as they got the news that this novel was getting an anime adaptation, as fans waited for years to have their wish come true. Key’s fans know very well that the success behind Key’s work lies in the Supernatural+Harem combination.

So today, we will be reviewing one of Key’s Supernatural anime, Rewrite. This combination might seem superficial to some, but they make it look significant, and there is a lot of thought put into it. Let’s talk more about it in our review down below!

Rewrite introduces us to the city of Kazamatsuri, which is a well-developed city surrounded by greenery. Our main protagonist, Kotaru Tennouji, is a nosy high schooler who loves teasing Haruhiko and is in love with Kotori.

Kotaru has supernatural abilities. He can rewrite any part of his body to increase his power or speed. Other magical creatures are attracted to him. Kotaru revived the Occult Club after meeting with the president of the Occult Research Club. They recruit Kotori, Chihaya, Shizuru, and Lucia. The club then goes on different adventures. Kotaru and his friends are oblivious to the dangers they will face right ahead.

This anime follows the same formula as most of Key’s work. The story is plodding from the start, and we’re introduced to a supernatural setting. We have the most generic characters ever, and that’s the basic formula of Key’s works. If we compare it to other anime like Clannad, it was able to move us.

On the other hand, Rewrite couldn’t move the viewers at all. We couldn’t feel any emotion while watching it. But Rewrite does have humor, a lot of humor.

Some of the episodes of Rewrite are bearable to watch. They’re acceptable. But a few of them feel like they’re rushed and a chore that must be finished as soon as possible. It’s tough to sympathize with the characters because they’re not given enough time to be thoroughly analyzed. Their stories haven’t been told properly. The storytelling is very weak as each girl didn’t get her fair share of backstory.

The story will make no sense to you if you haven’t gone through the visual novel first. That’s because it took a few chunks from Rewrite’s graphic novel’s different routes and made it into an anime series.

So, plotwise, Rewrite is a complete wreck.

The characters in Rewrite are all pretty generic. However, they have different personalities and are funny in their own way. There are a lot of characters in Rewrite, which we believe are too much for a short anime like this. And this is why their feelings aren’t appropriately explored. We’re not given enough information about a good chunk of characters to sympathize with them.

In the visual novel, every detail about every character is provided. And we’re talking about side characters here. The main characters are even worse when it comes to clarity. The harem members are not even explained adequately. In the visual novel, they’re explained because there are different routes. In the anime, there are no routes, and because of that, we don’t get enough explanation. Overall, the character department lacks in many ways.

The first few episodes of Rewrite were bearable to watch because the animation was decent. However, the last few episodes were awful in terms of animation quality. There was CGI all over, and it was not looking good.

The character designs are the same in Key’s other works. They look weird, to be honest, with such big eyes and petite figures. Sometimes when the characters are moving in the anime, they look funny. Their movements are not very clean. They’re lagging.

Another thing that put us off was an excess amount of brightness. There is too much light everywhere, and the colors are too bright. The animation didn’t impress us either.

The only thing that’s good about Rewrite is its music. The music is straight from the visual novel. All the voice actors are the same, but Kotori’s voice sounded boring. Her character was loved because of her voice, but it didn’t sound good in the anime.

The opening soundtrack, “Philosophyz,” sounds incredibly good. It is even better than the visual novel’s theme itself. The second opening soundtrack is just average. It’s nothing compared to the first one. The ending soundtracks are equally beautiful and very catchy. So, we have to give it to the music department for creating an excellent soundtrack.

Rewrite is a complete mess. It didn’t remain faithful to its incredible visual novel. It would’ve been better if Rewrite had 26 episodes. Only then would it have made some sense. With only 12 episodes, it was hard to tell the story and explain things thoroughly. So, if you’re a fan of Key’s work, you should definitely stay away from this anime. It’ll only disappoint you.