May 15, 2019
NO PLOT SPOILERS
While I’ve read the Manga, my review will be based primarily on the Web Novel, which I consider to be the most enjoyable way to consume the Re:Zero story due to the more intimate understanding you receive of the characters' internal thoughts and feelings as the plot progresses.
Thus, art will be excluded from the rating.
Story - 10
Anyone hoping for something quickly gratifying will not find it with Re:Zero. The story is very slow to progress. In fact, 15 volumes in, and questions we’ve been asking since chapter 1 have yet to be answered. On the contrary, it is at a faster pace that
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more questions are added than answered. However, that’s not to say that it wastes time or fails to provide information. In fact, it does a marvelous job of ensuring that every chapter is a necessary inclusion. (Mayo on the side) This story is one to be savored, and I dread the day that it wraps itself up.
Character - 9
Natsuki Subaru is a flawed character; and that is intentional. You may get impatient, and you may facepalm in disgust, but there are real consequences for his personality failures, and like anyone who grapples with their own shortcomings, he will struggle and adjust in order continue on for himself and the people he cares for. Be ready to suffer and struggle with him. He very much progresses from the person he starts out being.
The other characters naturally endure their own faults. However, that does not necessarily mean you won’t find them charming or enjoyable. Re:Zero does a very good job with showing how changes in environment or knowledge can alter a character’s reactions and priorities. It fleshes out the supporting characters’ dispositions, and allows the reader to truly understand who they are and why.
There are exceptions to this, but for the most part, every character introduced in the story is cherished by the author, and breathed life into.
Enjoyment - 10
Personally, I very much prefer concise stories with dissimilar arcs and zero fluff. So it’s a testament to Re:Zero’s ability to maintain the flow of itself over its many volumes that I find such a slow progressing story to be the #1 most enjoyable in my collection.
I’ve chuckled, I’ve cringed, I’ve cried many times, I’ve had my perceptions changed, and Re:Zero constantly reminds me that it’s not afraid to rob me of what I expected to be a happy ending.
It is addictingly refreshing, and I’ve yet to find anything which can satisfy me in the same way.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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